I would have to disagree on the Jap multi opinion to an extent. Don't get me wrong, the raucous howl of a Jap missile being given the berries is a heart racing sound especially vented through a quality race muffler and ridden by someone who knows their stuff and is prepared to bury the needle deep into the redline through the gears, but...........

Despite the factt that I ride a Jap 4, I had a brief foray into the world of V-twins and whilst a completely different sound (not quite so manic) it was an aural delight. I had a TLR equipped with Yoshi race mufflers, I ventured on a marathon road trip a few years ago accompanied by two pals also sporting race can equipped TL's and the sound we made bombing down the auto routes of the continent was like a squadron of German bombers flying under the radar overhead. I remember we majestically swept past a kiddie in France on a TS125, he was giving it the big squeeze, jacket balooning and filthing his way with blue smoke, we were keen to catch the ferry so were shifting, the kid visibly jumped as we swept past in close formation, the poor kid must have thought a squadron of Spitfires were up his ****, truly a tremendous sensation of V-twin power pulsing through you and a fantastic accompanying soundtrack. Everybody got well out of our way all trip (apart from ironically enough an Audi RS6, who had the temerity to flash his lights for us to move over whilst negotiating the Bay of Genoa from Pisa to Monaco, but that's another story).

What about the wail and clatter of a two stroke HMMM? Singles I agree the sound of a big mono thumper whilst stirring doesn't compare to the others, it's more in the useability for a single, try riding a big Yam WR400 or similar on the dirt, that is a fantastic experience, you can really feel the shove in the small of your back.

I think it's horses for courses and the sound should be secondary to the usage, sound being just one part of the whole experience. Get it while you can, with Euro 3 firmly ensconced and type approval and other associated propose baylox being pushed through, ear plugs will become redundant and a thing of the past.

'Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than squeezed out of a tube. That is why God made fast motorcycles'

Sideways through time

• Big single - great noise
• V-twin - great noise
• Parallel twin - great noise
• Triple - great noise
• Jap in-line four - great noise
• Jap V4 - great noise
• In-line six - great noise
• Two-stroke twin - great noise

Classics, modern, whatever.  All provided that they are being ridden correctly (which may not be the same manner in each case) and blessed with a decent pipe and can. Shudder, hammer, rumble, wail, trumpet, scream, howl - it don't matter.  What matters is someone is giving it maximum beans and having fun.

If it sounds like a wet fart or a Nissan Micra wrapped in cotton wool, it ain't a motorsickle.

One of the best and most memorable biking experiences of my life was listening to the classic bike racing from Cadwell in about 1989.  I couldn't see for the crowds (I arrived late) so I lay on my back in the sunshine and just listened.  The race of classic 500cc four-strokes against 250cc 2-strokes was sheer music - descants, baritones, basses all in a kind of manic harmony.  Who needs drugs?

--

2003 ST1300 Pan Euro
1995 Yam XT600E
http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

Beautiful sound.

Most annoying sound though is the sound of 50cc's who think that by blipping the throttle, it sounds like you're changing gear and you're not riding a one geared broken hairdryer. Not mocking 50cc riders in general (everyone has to start somewhere) just those who think they sound cool!

Yamaha FZS 600 Fazer ... in gold! 

Ride safe, and look out for the Rainbow of Death!

^{There're only 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count, and those that can't.}

^{Roses are red, Violets are Blue, I'm a schizophrenic ..... and so am I!}

^{Take pity on the man who invented the drawing board, when he screwed up, he had nothing to fall back on.}

^{Stuff everything, I've always got my bike.}

Warning! Sixties alert!

--

2003 ST1300 Pan Euro
1995 Yam XT600E
http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

Blimey, change your mind like the wind No 6 don't yer ?