Had a set of SE slipons installed on my 08 Heritage about 500 k ago. Was told by the stealer at the time that they were not so loud as they would alert the boys in blue, but would fail if they got EPA tested.Got put through the ringer by the EPA at a police blitz tonight, so was a bit nervous. Was told it failed the stationary noise test by 1 db, but he was not going to defect it on that. 88 db at idle, and I suppose 95 db during the test (as the limit is 94 db I think). Suggested I have a recheck done in 12 months to see if it had got louder and take appropriate action if it had. The guy had called his mate over to hold the handheld tacho while he did the noise test. After the test he commented to his mate " and they were screaming eagles". I got the impression he expected them to fail big time. I've read somewhere that the new SE's are not as loud as the old ones.
I told the guy these were stamped. He got down and read all the fine print (better eyes than me) then pointed out the label on the swingarm. They are stamped as being comliant with 80db. After reading he said this was for a ride by test, and in Vic they have to pass the stationary test. He could have been a real prick and failed me, particularly after the runin he had with the guy in a nissan before me, but seemed like a fair enoigh guy. pays not say anything to upset these guys if you think its going to be close. Bit of a no winner to do that.
Spot on Rowie a mate had the new ones fitted to an 08 soft tail custom which now sounds like a sewing machine (ok, a HOT sewing machine),, if your looking to dump yours, lucky (HDforum member) is looking for same......too da loo.............j
Must admit I was suprised they were so close. Personally I like the sound, throatier than standard but not so loud as to be uncomfortable at highway speed. Its hard to tell how they sound from on the bike, and I'll be bu..ered if I'll let some one else take it so that I can hear it. Brother in law is putting the same pipes on his heritage next month, so it will be interesting to see what it sounds like. The EPA guy suggested I get retested voluntarily in 12 months because they will probably be louder by then. I should have known better than to ride up the main street the same weekend as the swapmeet in Ballarat. The Police/EPA were pulling in all non standard looking tin tops and most bikes for checks. Would have been interesting to see their figures, lots of out of towners seemed to be in the crapper.
Thanks for the replies guys. As soon as I got home I checked out all the epa stuff on the staet aand national websites. The test was done at an abandoned servo. probably had 10 m clear at the back/sides, but there was a rain shelter over where the bowsers had been, and a solid wall about 15 m on the left, a KFC drive through about 20 m behind and a low fence with cars parked against it in front way that would have reflected the noise a bit, plus a bit of passing traffic.on the right. I know a guy who knows a guy etc so I might be able to tee up a cheap test by an independant accredited guy to see what it runs at ( if I need to). For the moment I am pretty happy with the "low" noise level.
