Exhaust noise

More hassles with my 1999 SV. I had regulator rectifier problems that are now sorted, what with one thing and another, the bike was left sitting for about 4 or 5 weeks.
Yesterday we put the new battery and regulator in, the bike fired up but it kept cutting out. We changed the spark plugs, cleaned the HT leads and the cutting out has stopped and the tick over has stabilised but the exhaust makes loud PHUT noises, sort of a backfire but not quite, more like air exploding out. We put fuel additive in and took it out for a blast up the road to see if it cleared, checked that the air box was seated correctly and all seems to be ok there, all of the exhaust is of a similar temperature with no cooler bits but the noise persists, particularly when the throttle is turned, and when ridden, there is no noticeable loss of power.
I've had the odd backfire over the past few months but nothing that particularly surprised me so it feels like a new problem rather than an existing one manifesting itself.
Any ideas or solutions, especially cheap ones?

I would personally run it for a week to get rid of ant crud that might have settled. My old GSXR is sorned at present and only get fired up once every couple of months and that backfires and pops until she has got nice and hot even then she still isn't 100% and really needs a good run to strtch her legs a bit.

could be as tims says a build up of crud but a good blast should clear her throat ! !

alternatively get the mixture settings checked maybe she`s a bit rich ! !

Thanks - that sounds like the best excuse in the world for a good blast - and finally the usually lame excuse for tearing up the tarmac of 'just cleaning the carbs' is real.

Well, the exhaust noise hassles turned out to be a loose clip on a fuel hose near the air box!!! A neighbour who happened to be a car mechanic toddled along, put the old rectifier back and took it off again, pushed and poked a few things, started fiddling with the carbs and gave things various twiddles and realised that there was fuel only going to one carb and decided that there was a hose problem. Bit galling really as I'd been checking every hose but the clip to this one was in place so I can be excused for missing it.

The problem area, and one for others to look out for, is the two hoses sitting next to each other, next to the airbox on the left side of the bike, that are held in place next to each other by a circular wire clip that you use pliers to prise apart (don't know the technical name). Because the clip was loose, the fuel hose had kinked. Simples! The poor bike was either about to be thumped by moi in frustration or carted off to our local VERY EXPENSIVE bike garage and I shudder to think what the cost of this fault wuld have been.

On a funnier note, my other half took the bike out as suggested, bearing in mind that it was backfiring continually. He went along a road, under an echoey railway bridge, and waited for the lights, at which point a chap innocently walked under the bridge and then jumped out of his skin at a massive backfire. Shouldn't laugh (hahahahahahaha).

Just out of interest for those of you that don't know,if you flick the kill switch off and on you can create these "backfires". Great fun for those of us with a childish sense of humour,especially in tunnels.

number6 wrote:Just out of interest for those of you that don't know,if you flick the kill switch off and on you can create these "backfires". Great fun for those of us with a childish sense of humour,especially in tunnels.

No, I didn't know that but now that I do........., so next time I'm waiting for the lights to change at the railway tunnel in Didcot, listening to the rumble of the train to Paddington overhead, I shall have a little play.

Cassandra wrote:

number6 wrote:Just out of interest for those of you that don't know,if you flick the kill switch off and on you can create these "backfires". Great fun for those of us with a childish sense of humour,especially in tunnels.

No, I didn't know that but now that I do........., so next time I'm waiting for the lights to change at the railway tunnel in Didcot, listening to the rumble of the train to Paddington overhead, I shall have a little play.

it only works when your moving love...you will just kill the engine when your sat at the lights

bigdave wrote:

Cassandra wrote:

number6 wrote:Just out of interest for those of you that don't know,if you flick the kill switch off and on you can create these "backfires". Great fun for those of us with a childish sense of humour,especially in tunnels.

No, I didn't know that but now that I do........., so next time I'm waiting for the lights to change at the railway tunnel in Didcot, listening to the rumble of the train to Paddington overhead, I shall have a little play.

it only works when your moving love...you will just kill the engine when your sat at the lights

Thanks 'love', will not be a girlie ha ha

Correct."On the move" a quick flick gets unburnt fuel into the exhaust which ignites when the engine kill switch is flicked back on. Works best with race cans,but I've been told it is possible to bend valves doing this.Can't see it myself but don't blame me..............................

if its loud noises you want..BUY AN MTC CAN awesome!!!..........and dinnae listen tae chucky and big ned!!haha.cheerz davie

dav1250 wrote:if its loud noises you want..BUY AN MTC CAN awesome!!!..........and dinnae listen tae chucky and big ned!!haha.cheerz davie

Well, being a woman, I'm not likely to listen, now am I? Funnily enough, I quite like the sound of the original exhaust, nice and honest, and it echoes around the cul de sac nicely. Now, living 200 yards away is the owner of a souped up 1000cc V Strom of all things. Now that REALLY makes a noise. Loads of mods done for nothing and was used in a catalogue and now it sounds very..........loud. The birds fly for cover and we hold on to the ornaments when he does a U Turn. Still trying to work out if I'm impressed or not.

dav1250 wrote:if its loud noises you want..BUY AN MTC CAN awesome!!!..........and dinnae listen tae chucky and big ned!!haha.cheerz davie

davey your exhaust is quieter than a doormouse with a mouthfull of cheese