A muffler is the key component of a full exhaust system. An exhaust system controls the emissions of gas where the muffler acts as the noise controller. You can call it silencer too. It means you still can emit the toxic from your motorcycle without using or installing a muffler, but with much loudness, which may not be wise all the time or even is not legal everywhere. Riders love to get a unique and attractive sound from their bike, which should not be harsh and over the limit of tolerance. An aftermarket muffler is the only solution in favor of this equation. But how much do mufflers cost when you need to install a new one for your motorcycle?
Basic Working Science of a Motorcycle Muffler
What does a muffler do on a motorcycle? It muffles the sound instead of amplifying it while emitting burnt gas out of the cylinder. But what’s the process based on which a muffler reduces sound efficiently? Mufflers are built using sound-absorbing materials. A more significant function exists there in addition to the materials used. The way it is built ensures a reflection of the sound waves inside the muffler in a way that each wave cancels another wave out, confirming nearly no, less or a tolerable sound generation at the end.
How Much Do Motorcycle Mufflers Cost?
That’s an easy question where a technically tough answer needs to be provided.
Do you know why?
Because you’ve to get answers to the next questions before knowing the closest price range for your required muffler:
- What do you need – a Stainless Steel, Titanium (Ti), Aluminum, or Carbon Fiber muffler?
- Is your concern about sound control, extra performance or both?
- Do you emphasize Aesthetics or Appearance?
- Is your concern Weight?
- Are you planning to be economical?
- Is your engine small or big?
- Does your bike engine include a single-cylinder, V8 or else?
- Do you’ve separate pipes for each cylinder?
- For which brand of motorcycle do you need a muffler?
All these questions combined will give you too many answers, ending at a variety of price points. It means – by questioning that, you’re just leaving too broad a space for a possible most correct answer.
However, we won’t make it more puzzling for you. We can tell you a tentative price range based on answers to all those questions to make it simple for you. Motorcycle mufflers may cost you between $150 to $1500. You will find some economical options within $150 to $300. But for quality options from some of the market leaders like Vance & Hines, you must be ready to spend more or less $500. However, expensive units may go up to $1000 or $1500, so we observed in the market.
Why are Motorcycle Mufflers so Expensive?
You may assume that motorcycle exhaust systems or mufflers cost less than that of cars. That’s wrong! If you see the price of a car and motorcycle and then compare the price of a car muffler and motorbike muffler, you’ll find proportionately they are pretty much similar.
An example may clear it. Suppose you have a bike worth $7000 and a car worth $32000. You replaced the car muffler with a $1600 new one and a bike muffler with a $400 new one. Although the difference is visible, they are proportionately 5% or 6% of the vehicle’s price.
It’s not possible to answer as to why it’s so expensive. Probably because the manufacturers can do that, not because they need to.
How Much Do Custom Mufflers Cost?
Custom mufflers or full exhaust systems are meant to replace the manufacturer-provided stuff with your motorcycle. However, being custom, they may be of different designs like you want, but must be suitable to your bike’s cylinder, engine, and other related components. Based on the design, appearance, materials used, motorcycle model, and issues, the cost may vary between $400 to $1500 for replacing the muffler only or $500 to $200 for replacing the entire exhaust system of your bike.
Is it Cheaper to Build Your Own Exhaust System?
You can build an exhaust system, including a muffler, for your bike, but that won’t probably be cheaper than standard market expenses. It’s rare where a homemade exhaust is cheaper than buying an aftermarket motorcycle exhaust. Conversely, it’ll probably end up with more expenses than you spend to buy a quality branded catback.
Last Words
Getting a muffler helps you in two ways – (i) by converting the sound into quiet, and (ii) by making that more attractive. It may be a little bit expensive, but worth the money.
