I was very concerned about the sound change also. I have not heard a sound clip that is truly accurate of the change. I posted in another topic that it seemed the tone change got raspy. After installing ours, a Pitbull / Lamonster bypass pipe, on our 14 with a 1330, the tone is not raspy like a sport compact Honda Civic. I suspect the sound clips done in a garage or near a building generate weirdness that records inaccurate sounds.
On the road, under throttle input it is certainly louder. Not offensive. The exhaust note is mid tone, not a shrill, and honestly gets on in the 3200 rpm range and up. However, once the throttle is backed backed down to hold a steady setting or speed, my wife says there is no change.
One person reported his wife noticed a change in the smell. He reported she could tell a difference in the smell of the exhaust fumes while riding. We have never experienced excepting the initial firing and heating of the pipe, and maybe red lights in the first few miles. Possibly it has changed and one day the stop light and wind direction will make it more obvious.
Overall, on the 14, the change has been very positive. The exhaust sound under throttle is good, we do get some popping on deceleration. Throttle fully closed and the tire is pulling the engine through. Some call the burble. Not bad, did it with the cat also, but not as noticed.
FWIW, ours runs a bone stock oem muffler. Make sure you give it time to get the computer to realign itself after install. We did not hook up to BUDS, just rode and noticed very minor changes as the computer analyzed the O2 readings and dialed it in.
All the best.
PK
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