I probably won’t get an aftermarket exhaust

I had recently been contemplating replacing the stock muffler on my motorcycle with an aftermarket unit. There are several reasons for it, which do include how it looks, but realistically the main driver has always been “so it’s louder.” No point in pretending.

An experience yesterday has pretty much turned me off on that idea though. I was leaving the mall after giving a bunch of money to Nordstrom. I packed my new shirts away into my tank bag then got on the bike and started it up. Before backing out I let a family walk past behind me.

Coincidentally they were getting in the car next to me, and this tiny little girl, maybe 2 or 3 years old, is holding her hands tightly to her ears and looks like she is going to cry. She’s staring at the bike like it’s a monster that’s going to eat her. I felt so bad I apologized to her mom. Then as I was backing out, I heard her yell “mommy what is that?”

So, the stock exhaust is not all that loud to me, but it is still loud enough to scare children. Since that’s really the only reason to get an aftermarket exhaust it no longer seems like such a good idea. Sorry kid!