KosRider
Well-Known Member
Recently, installed a Marks 4-2 stainless steel exhaust with 14" mufflers on my stock 06 w/o any problems. (Thanks to you Mod Monkey, it?s not stock ANYMORE !!)
Made the recommended changes: 1) set the A/F screws to 3.5 turns out and 2) shimmed the carb needles to 0.038? (used two #4 steel flat washers, that mic?d in at 0.019? each, from the Radio Shack assortment pkg #64-3022) Also found that you can use a #7 (1/2 x 3/8 x 1/16) o-ring as a spacer under the head of the plastic retaining screw (the screw with the slot for a flat head screwdriver) to keep the shimmed needle from pinching when the plastic retaining screw is tightened. Just don?t over tighten to force the o-ring out or maybe use the next size smaller o-ring (#6?).
The deep rumble sounds and the performance gains from these Marks pipes are fantastic; just as others have posted about and videos show on this site. But for me, the overall sound level was just too loud. Yea, yea ? I know? what a wuss ! Tried riding for several days around town & on the highway to see if I could get use to it; just couldn?t. Many V-Max Forum members have written how much they enjoy this extra loudness from Marks pipes, but I found myself feathering the throttle to consciously keep the sound down when riding around town. Never had to do this with the stock system; wasn?t about to start now.
Phoned Mark to discuss if there were any options to reduce the sound level and he suggested trying some baffles he designed for his system. Mark said the baffles would reduce the sound level somewhat, but honestly didn?t know to what level since he wasn?t aware of anyone trying them on a V-Max! I?d be the first!! Mark?s only concern was whether the baffle sound reduction would be acceptable for what I was looking for. Because customer satisfaction is so very important to him, he offered to send me a set of baffles to try and instructed me on how to install. What a guy!! :clapping:
With the baffles in, I got to tell ya, the sound level is GREAT; exactly what I was looking for. Loud enough for those around you to notice but not loud enough to set off car alarms driving by! I estimate that the baffles reduce the overall sound of the exhaust system by about 25% - 30% from where it originally was. But more importantly, the deep rumble sounds and performance gains remain with the baffles in. I was pleasantly surprised by this. I would have expected, even bet you, there would have been a noticeable performance drop having baffles added, but after several rides with both, I sure couldn?t tell.
Everyone?s preference is different, as it should be, when you customize your V-Max exhaust sounds. If you?re considering adding Marks pipes to your Mod list, you can?t go wrong. The sounds and performance are SWEET ! And if you find the exhaust music a little too high in decibels, the little extra for the baffles ($50.00 for the pair) IMO is well worth it to take that exhaust music down a notch, for your listening pleasure!
So for now, the baffles will remain part of my Marks exhaust system for the type of riding I do. But if I ever need to make more noise riding with my fellow V-Max riders, a simple swap-out of the baffles can be done. Then I?ll be able to set off car alarms driving past parked cars like they do!
unk:
Made the recommended changes: 1) set the A/F screws to 3.5 turns out and 2) shimmed the carb needles to 0.038? (used two #4 steel flat washers, that mic?d in at 0.019? each, from the Radio Shack assortment pkg #64-3022) Also found that you can use a #7 (1/2 x 3/8 x 1/16) o-ring as a spacer under the head of the plastic retaining screw (the screw with the slot for a flat head screwdriver) to keep the shimmed needle from pinching when the plastic retaining screw is tightened. Just don?t over tighten to force the o-ring out or maybe use the next size smaller o-ring (#6?).
The deep rumble sounds and the performance gains from these Marks pipes are fantastic; just as others have posted about and videos show on this site. But for me, the overall sound level was just too loud. Yea, yea ? I know? what a wuss ! Tried riding for several days around town & on the highway to see if I could get use to it; just couldn?t. Many V-Max Forum members have written how much they enjoy this extra loudness from Marks pipes, but I found myself feathering the throttle to consciously keep the sound down when riding around town. Never had to do this with the stock system; wasn?t about to start now.
Phoned Mark to discuss if there were any options to reduce the sound level and he suggested trying some baffles he designed for his system. Mark said the baffles would reduce the sound level somewhat, but honestly didn?t know to what level since he wasn?t aware of anyone trying them on a V-Max! I?d be the first!! Mark?s only concern was whether the baffle sound reduction would be acceptable for what I was looking for. Because customer satisfaction is so very important to him, he offered to send me a set of baffles to try and instructed me on how to install. What a guy!! :clapping:
With the baffles in, I got to tell ya, the sound level is GREAT; exactly what I was looking for. Loud enough for those around you to notice but not loud enough to set off car alarms driving by! I estimate that the baffles reduce the overall sound of the exhaust system by about 25% - 30% from where it originally was. But more importantly, the deep rumble sounds and performance gains remain with the baffles in. I was pleasantly surprised by this. I would have expected, even bet you, there would have been a noticeable performance drop having baffles added, but after several rides with both, I sure couldn?t tell.
Everyone?s preference is different, as it should be, when you customize your V-Max exhaust sounds. If you?re considering adding Marks pipes to your Mod list, you can?t go wrong. The sounds and performance are SWEET ! And if you find the exhaust music a little too high in decibels, the little extra for the baffles ($50.00 for the pair) IMO is well worth it to take that exhaust music down a notch, for your listening pleasure!
So for now, the baffles will remain part of my Marks exhaust system for the type of riding I do. But if I ever need to make more noise riding with my fellow V-Max riders, a simple swap-out of the baffles can be done. Then I?ll be able to set off car alarms driving past parked cars like they do!
unk:
