In Spring, One’s Ear Turns to Motorcycles…

More Photos Below!Gallery
I don’t like really loud street bikes, or repetitive buzzing in a dirt bike, but…

There’s a lot of bike sound I do like.

For passive listening, even a two-stroke dirt bike can be tasty now and then in the mid-distance, for a few minutes.

A Harley has a nice sound, in moderation. The snag is that Harleys aren’t in moderation. They’re as common as lawnmowers. It ends up being too much of a good thing, so they don’t stand out anymore. At events with lots of bikes they’re the wallpaper that distinctive sounds stand out from.

I include reasonableness in my test for good sound. An affordable, everyday type bike with a great sound is a bonus to me. I leave room for the exotic, but another plus is a bike that sounds good just tooling along modestly. Fans of some bikes say they don’t come on until they’re pushed hard: sorry, not my main bag.

I don’t own a bike and I’m not really in the market, so here’s what I did instead: I listened to a few YouTubes. : ) In my surfing around I found several bikes that were standouts for me. I’ve had experience with a few bikes in my life and they still draw me hard, so nostalgia must be a factor, but a few are new arrivals. What’s nice is that the bikes I like the sound of best would make dandy everyday bikes. I note that no “crotch rockets” made the grade. I gave em a try. I’m sure they’re dandy in the curves, but that whine isn’t in my Top 10 for the ears.

So…here’s what I found that I liked best:

*Yamaha XS 650 — inline twin — an early 80’s Triumph copy — you can still get nice ones for $1K — big online cult. (Owned.)

*Honda XR 650 dualsport “thumper” 4-cyl, street-legal, nice for dirt roads, short commutes — a deep note.

*BMW R75 from 1970’s. (Friend had.)

*Royal Enfield 500 Bullet — everyday bike from India, maybe also the UK — 70mpg reputation.

*Suzuki GS850G — ’80-’86 — called “best ever street bike”, very reliable — said it wants to be driven hard. (A thrifty freeway-worthy bike. One’s for sale locally for $1K…hmmm…)

*Suzuki GT750 — mid-’70s — the only big 2-stroke street bike — cult following — water-cooled, nickname in UK/Euro “The Kettle” — still very fast — maybe it’s the sound contrast that’s appealing…or not. Surprise doesn’t really count as “quality”… OK, it’s obnoxious and you wouldn’t want to hear one very often in your neighborhood.

*BMW R80GS — dualsport, early 80’s. (Friend had.)

*2-stroke dirt bikes — pure chainsaw

*4-stroke 250 duallies — a bit of thump but kinda whiney.

OK, so here are a bunch of YouTubes that show what I mean! …

Yamaha 650 Special:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTbszF5we-4