Let’s talk about the benefits and drawbacks of removing your motorcycle exhaust’s baffles.
Removing the baffles in an exhaust is a great way to enhance the sound of your motorcycle and make it sound cooler.
However, removing your bike’s baffles can be a bit of a double-edged sword. Here is a breakdown of the benefits and the drawbacks of removing motorcycle baffles.
Downside: Possible legal issues
Depending on where you live and how well enforced noise pollution laws are in your region, removing the baffles from your motorcycle’s exhaust could open you up to some legal troubles. Baffles are meant to make your bike quieter and reduce noise pollution, so removing them might put you on Johnny Law’s radar.
Be sure to research local noise regulation laws before making any modifications to your bike. If you already removed the baffles, they are just as easily reinstalled.
And if you bought a bike that had its baffles removed by the previous owner, don’t worry. Exhaust baffles are relatively inexpensive and you can probably find a set at your local auto parts store.
Upside: Louder sound
Baffles are included in the design of an exhaust system to help make the exhaust a little bit quieter and more easily compliant with noise regulations. Removing said baffles will dramatically increase the sound of your bike’s exhaust and give it a deeper, fuller sound.
This is a great, budget-friendly way to make your bike sound cooler without doing a full system exhaust or even a slip-on.
And besides making the bike louder, removing baffles also changes the quality of sound. So don’t be surprised if your bike sounds a little throatier when you delete the baffles.
A Pro: Increased performance
More power, baby!
Removing the baffles of your motorcycle exhausts COULD make for a decent increase in the bike’s performance. This is thanks to the exhaust gasses now flowing more freely and allowing the engine to get rid of them faster, thus making it feel a bit peppier.
At any rate, it won’t be the most dramatic difference, and you shouldn’t expect to get a 10 HP boost in power just by removing the baffles in your motorcycle exhaust!
A Con: Decreased performance
Less power…baby???
Yep. Removing the baffles in a bike’s exhaust may not be the quick and easy performance hack we all hoped it would be. This is because motorcycles are tuned from the factory to work with the baffles installed. With the baffles removed, the engine’s air-fuel ratio is not in its optimum state.
So how do you remedy the situation? Well, tuning the bike or possibly remapping the ECU should get you some extra performance while also making the exhaust note louder and deeper. That’s pretty much par for course with most exhaust mods.
A drawback: Possible voiding of the bike’s warranty
Say you just got a brand new bike. You roll on out of the dealership grinning ear to ear. But what’s this? The stock exhaust lets out a weak whimper every time you twist the throttle.
‘Aha! I’ll just remove the baffles and get more sound out of the exhaust. Easy!’
Now it’s a month later, and you take your bike in for its first maintenance, which is covered under the warranty. But what’s this? The dealership tells you that the bike’s warranty has become void because of modifications to the exhaust system.
Ok, ok. This might sound far-fetched and unrealistic. After all, what kind of warranty would become void just because of a simple baffle removal?
But these are just the type of loopholes and technicalities that dealerships like to use. And yes, I’m still salty about that free oil change I was denied. You put a little old turbo on your bike, and suddenly the dealership acts as if they’ve never seen you before!
If you bought a new bike that is still under warranty, maybe wait until the warranty period expires before deleting the baffles. And if you bought an older motorcycle, you probably won’t have to remove the baffles at all because the previous owner will have already done so!
Conclusion
So there you have it, folks. Those are the pros and cons of removing motorcycle baffles. With r baffles removal it really comes down to personal preference and how you want your bike to sound and perform.
Personally, if we want to keep the stock exhaust on any of our bikes, the first thing we do is remove the baffles to get a freer-flowing exhaust which creates that louder, deeper exhaust note.
That said, the laws surrounding noise and emissions standards are pretty lax in our region, so we can get away with it. If you live in an area where removing baffles is frowned upon, it’s best to think twice about doing so.
If you do decide to remove the baffles on your bike, here is a video that might help:
