Thanks texases…that brought back memories from my days at McConnell AFB.
Met a KW pulling logs and 3 other vehicles+a Harley going up a 9% grade today and guess what was making the most racket?The Harley.
The old hogs had manual spark control and retarding the spark fully at idle would cause the exhaust to blat-blat-blat noticeably and require opening the throttle to prevent stalling.
The sound is enticing,but quickly annoying when its too loud.They finally figured out the British sports cars had an enticing exhaust note,some Folks experienced dissatisfaction when the exhaust systems were replaced.
@kmccune Back in the late '60s, MG built a bunch of MGBs that had a high pitched while in their differentials. The factory approved fix was the removal of the resonator from the exhaust system.
Back when the Miata first came out I read that Mazda put a lot of design effort into replicating the old MGB exhaust sound. It matters.
I haven’t read nearly all these posts, but in case no one has pointed this out already, a lot of the V-twin bikes you’re hearing out there aren’t Harleys. The big 4 Japanese makes have gotten steadily better over the decades at reproducing the Harley look and sound, to the point that even I, a former HD enthusiast, have to look quite carefully to be sure.
Back in the day, I had a 1974 Sportster with big-bore cylinders and stroker lower end, upping the displacement from 61CID to 89. It had wide open drag pipes, and would vibrate the clothing on your body.
The car I hear most with loud exhaust is the Mustang GT. Not quiet from the factory, and they get (much) louder with some of the aftermarket systems.