Is it the muffler, the engine, or both?

Question

You know how cruisers and sportbikes have distinctly different sounds?

The deep roar of like a Harley or the higher pitched sport bike.

Could someone put a different muffler on the sportbike and get a deep tone like a cruiser, or is this sound more so attributed to the type of engine.

Answer 1

cruisers are 4 stroke "V" engines, street bikes are mainly 2 stroke. and cruisers have open exhaust, street bikes are muffled. and also the rpm is the huge difference. cruisers are low rpm, torqier engines. street bikes have loads of high end power. cruiser = 3000 rpm, street = 8000 rpm (not excact). If any of this is wrong, it is my fault, im not big on cycles haha

Answer 2

Both

Answer 3

THey get close but the only motor that sounds like a Harley is a Harley

Answer 4

The sound of a particular bike is mainly due to the motor.  Most cruisers have a v-twin engine and will make the potato-potato noise while most sportbike sound like a blender because of their inline four cylinder engine and the rmp's they run at.  The four cylinders run a rpm's that v-twin engines would blow up at during typical commuting, many of the 600cc bikes now have redlines of 15,000+ rmp.  There are sportbikes out there that have v-twin engines, Ducati and Suzuki make some good ones and they will sound like a cruiser in a way.  On top of all of this you can change the exhaust on bikes to make them sound deeper, richer or just plain louder, but in the end the sound you hear on a particular bike and why different bikes sound differently is mainly because of the engine that powers the bike.

Answer 5

The sound is more attributed to the engine. Although the exhaust system does have an effect on the sound, its effect is more of a effect that either muffles the sound or let's it flow through freely without muffling it.

Answer 6

You would get a deeper tone, but it is still a high revving bike and will always have that sport bike sound no matter what exhaust you put on it.

Answer 7

You can add different sizes and shapes of pipes to you're exhaust and deepen the sound a lot. But it will still have the basic sound of the engine. Sorta like the individual human voice. It can change from high to low, but will still sound like that person.