With two really beautiful adventure bikes - BMW F900 GS and Yamaha Tenere 700.
Went from Berlin to Niederfinow and back - both directions on a different route.
Initial situation / problem statement:
I live in Germany and own a BMW F900 GS.
It's a really nice bike to ride, in general. I'm rather tall, so I like its ergonomics. It comes in the (2025) "Trophy" colour variant and already came with quite a few optional extras (including the "keyless" system, quick shifter, tyre pressure monitoring and alarm system) and I upgraded it quite a bit (high wind shield, higher seat (870 mm --> 890 mm), original luggage rack with aluminium cases, third-party sat-nav) to make it better suited for long-distance touring and to work around a few limitations that it has in its stock state. However, one thing I still don't like about it is the engine sound.
And yes, I do understand that "Euro 5+" is very restrictive in this regard.
At idle RPM, all that comes from the exhaust system is infrasound. The gas column in the exhaust system oscillates primarily with a frequency of around 10 to 11 Hz, exactly one octave below the firing interval of the engine, which should be roughly 21 times per second at idle. The engine noise you hear primarily comes from the camshafts, valves, timing chains, etc. The exhaust system appears to be heavily muffled. When you rip the throttle open and reach high RPMs under high load, the bike goes like: "Raaaaah!"
(At least that's what I heard in videos. For obvious reasons, I can't really hear my own exhaust sound when I ride my bike.)
It really does sound a bit like a dirt bike or an airplane (propeller plane) engine - which is kinda funny, since BMW was manufacturing airplane engines in their early days, but it's not quite my preference when it comes to motorcycles. Also, the huge stock exhaust system really doesn't look that appealing to me.
Desired state:
My goal would be to get rid of the "octave down" effect and be able to hear each individual ignition at idle, while smoothing out the sound and pressure waves under high engine load or at high RPMs. Ideally, I'd also get a (significantly?) shorter rear muffler for aesthetics. I really think that the "Bazooka" of an Akrapovic silencer looks a bit excessive.
I also noticed that the bike is very clean emissions-wise and stays by a factor of 8.6 below the legal limit for carbon monoxide emissions, and by a factor of 2.5 below the legal limit for both hydrocarbon and nitrous oxide emissions. It would be cool if hydrocarbon emissions were a bit higher, since I like the scent. I mean it seems like there's considerable "headroom" to the limits required by the emissions class.
Potential issues / questions:
Now the bike is "Euro 5+" compliant and the stock exhaust system includes headers, a catalytic converter (with Lambda probes before and after), then a pretty large and heavy reflection- or interference-based primary muffler / resonator beneath the swingarm and a long absorption-based secondary muffler (manufactured by Akrapovic) on the side. So the bike is definitely heavily muffled.
What are my options to improve the sound and aesthetics of the bike?
I often hear that it's only legally possible to replace the rear muffler, but that the catalytic converter and front muffler must remain stock for the bike to remain road-legal. Why would this be the case? Why would the rear muffler be legal to replace (with a road-legal part that meets noise limits) but the converter and front muffler won't? I mean, I'm pretty sure law doesn't regulate how many converters or mufflers a bike has or what their arrangement in the exhaust system is, as long as it meets noise and emission limits, or does it? Is it no longer possible or allowed to produce (?) or install a (road-legal) "full system" replacing everything from headers via catalytic converter and mufflers for modern motorcycles under "Euro 5+" regulations? Are these systems generally illegal by now? Or is it just that people imply that "replacing the front muffler" will mean deleting it and the link pipe will not be road-legal and the bike will exceed noise thresholds?
So what would my options be, realistically?
From an aesthetic point of view, I like the relative compactness and dual-exit design of the "Remus 8 2.0", though it's still rather large compared to a true "short can". Not sure how much (if any) it would actually "improve" the sound either, since it's only a secondary muffler, but most of the actual sound dampening appears to happen in the primary muffler.
Any other recommendations?
Availability of aftermarket parts appears to be quite limited so far. The bike's only been on the market since February 2024. My hope would be that the availability of aftermarket parts will improve once manufacturers had more time to design and certify components and more bikes go out of warranty and more people start tinkering with it.
Germany also has a "legal specialty" that any modifications which worsen the emissions behaviour (including noise) will invalidate the vehicle's operating permit. However, since EU law overrides national law in this case, as far as I understand it, an EU-homologated part can be legally installed in Germany even if it worsens emissions behaviour. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
My neighbour only has a small "stub" of a muffler (SHARK RCT) behind the catalytic converter on his bike. No multi-muffler system, etc. It's clearly an aftermarket system, but he claims that it's road-legal. His bike is also homologated as "Euro 5+", but it sounds like a formula one car and smells like heaven (if you like the scent of gasoline). Not sure if I should believe him that it's actually road-legal, but when I heard and smelled that bike I was like: "Well, that much is still allowed?" - So I'm kinda now exploring my options.
Any recommendations? Will third-party exhaust components (e. g. rear muffler) fit underneath the stock luggage rack? How difficult will it be to install? Is this something I could do myself? I assume I will have to take the luggage rack off, since the rear muffler basically sits underneath it?
Zunächst einmal hoffe ich, dass ich den passenden Subreddit für mein Anliegen gefunden habe. Die meisten Posts sind technischer Natur, aber ein bisschen was anderes gibt's ja hier auch.
Ich habe meinen Motorradführerschein seit November 2024 und mein Motorrad seit Februar 2025.
Im vergangenen Jahr (2025) bin ich insgesamt 6000 km mit dem Motorrad gefahren, davon 2800 km während einer elftägigen Tour von Berlin über Hannover nach Utrecht in den Niederlanden und zurück.
Dieses Jahr bin ich irgendwie "dekonditioniert" oder wie auch immer. Ich habe bereits zwei längere Touren wegen plötzlicher Erschöpfung und Kreislaufproblemen abgebrochen. Mein Hausarzt hat mich untersucht, aber mein EKG ist unauffällig. Es konnte keine Ursache ermittelt werden.
Ich würde gerne Motorradfahrer aus meiner Gegend für kürzere Ausflüge am Nachmittag oder Abend finden, um wieder Selbstvertrauen zu gewinnen, aber auch um generell weitere Biker aus meiner Gegend kennenzulernen.
Ich habe dies bereits angekündigt in ...
Aber bisher hatte ich nicht allzu viel Erfolg.
Ich habe auch ein paar Biker in meiner Nachbarschaft direkt angesprochen, aber soweit waren die Reaktionen eher ausweichend. Man "fachsimpelt" ein wenig über Motorradthemen. Ich sage: "Lass uns doch demnächst mal gemeinsam fahren." - Dann kommt: "Ja, klar!" - Ich nenne meinen Namen und Anschrift, sie jedoch geben nichts von sich preis. Ich nehme das als Zurückweisung. Wären sie interessiert, würden sie preisgeben, wer sie sind, Telefonnummern austauschen, etc. Ich sehe / höre die Leute hier teils mehrmals am Tag an- und abfahren. Wenn man sich sieht, grüßt man sich, etc. aber jeder fährt weiter für sich, was ziemlich frustrierend ist.
Ich suche keine "lange Anbahnung" über die Teilnahme an irgendwelchen "Events" in der Hoffnung, dass man da mit Leuten ins Gespräch kommt, sondern idealerweise eher eine Art "Grindr für Motorradfahrer". Nach dem Motto: "Ich möchte in ner halben Stunde fahren. Wer kommt mit? Treffpunkt XY." - Klick, klick, klick, drei "random" Leute aus der Gegend drin (oder meinetwegen auch nur "1-on-1") und ab dafür.
Es gibt wohl eine App namens "ride with me", die mehr oder weniger genau das bieten soll, allerdings scheint die nicht weiterentwickelt / "gepflegt" zu werden. Daher ist sie für aktuelle Geräte nicht verfügbar. Außerdem wäre natürlich auch die Frage, wie viele Leute dort tatsächlich registriert wären und dementsprechend wie groß die Reichweite tatsächlich wäre. Ich denke sie wäre sehr überschaubar.
Über konstruktive Vorschläge freue ich mich.
I'm M/37, ride a BMW F900 GS (105 HP), which I modified a bit for street touring.
Got my motorcycle license in November 2024 and the bike in February 2025.
Last year (2025), I traveled a total of 6000 km with the bike, 2800 km of which were during an 11-day tour from Berlin via Hanover to Utrecht in the Netherlands, then riding around in the Netherlands with up to three other fellow riders, then traveling back via Hanover to Berlin. Unfortunately, the guy who organized this last year had an accident in September 2025 (riding a damn moped, not even a motorcycle) from which he still hasn't recovered, so it's a bit unclear whether he'll be able to ride this year.
This year, it seems I'm somehow deconditioned or something. I already cancelled two long-distance tours (one during the tour, needed to have my bike hauled back, one already in advance), both due to sudden fatigue and circulatory issues. My GP checked me, but ECG seems normal. Diagnosis is inconclusive.
Anyway, I'd like to find fellow riders in my area for shorter (relaxed) trips in the afternoon or evening, to build confidence again but also in general to get to know fellow riders in my area for potential activities.
I already announced this in ...
But so far I didn't have much luck.
I also talked to a few bikers in the neighbourhood in person, but so far reactions have been rather evasive. Like we "smalltalk" a bit, mostly over motorcycle-related stuff. I say: "Well, let's ride together someday." - They say: "Yeah sure!" - I tell them my name and where I live, but they reveal nothing about themselves. I take that as a rejection. If they were interested, they'd reveal who they are, exchange phone numbers, whatever.
Perhaps I have some luck here? Or perhaps someone could point me somewhere where I might be more lucky?
I finally have the time to ride / travel after I've been super-involved with my job for several years, so I want to seize the opportunity, but somehow it doesn't really seem to work out so far.