Do they reduce the sound? Is the difference audible at idle and high rpm?
BHPian ostrish recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
AEW Silent Baffles
I had installed the AEW TE102 pipes mainly for the looks. The stock pipes are very bottle gourd and I wanted more of a ridge gourd. (There are more macho descriptions like rocket launcher etc. but I think Interceptor owners are mostly vegetable market-type people so this analogy is more appropriate)
Seeing that AEW offered more silent baffles, I was happy to try them as I am always worried about cops hearing the custom exhausts.
I also tested them, here in the background you can see a field recorder on a tripod, meant to simulate a 5’10” policeman standing 6 feet away. Yet to verify if this is truly the median height of Bangalore policemen.
Some highly scientific data of sound at idling RPM. In the screenshot of the DAW, you can see that the waveforms on top (old baffles) have a larger amplitude than the waveforms below (new baffle).
Here’s a comparison of the EQ graphs. I think the mids and highs are all engine clatter and most of the low freq in this chart is from the exhaust. This is again at idle.
- So, does the new baffle reduce sound? Yes
- Is the difference at idle audible? Yes, but only if you compare them back to back. So you will not get caught if the police sir has highly trained ears.
- Is the difference at high rpm audible? This is to be seen. My tests were in the basement which is not an ideal place to test for loudness (or to rev one’s bike).
Generally comparing loudness academically is a difficult problem for laypeople and audio engineers both. So the next report will be based on “feel” on the open road.
Update
Pipes are almost as silent as stock! There is more grunt in the note post 5k compared to stock RE, but overall the sound is much closer to stock RE than stock AEW. Stock AEW made the bike brraaapp-y and that effect is totally gone. I almost miss it now (easy to bring back though). This baffle is a great option for people who don’t want a louder exhaust.
Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
