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[bammerburn]

Does anyone have any data on the dB level of electric motorcycles - in particular or in general? Just wondering.

[cloroxbb]

Decibels are a relative measurement. If I told you that they are 20dBs, would that tell you anything? Now the threshold of pain in dBSPL(sound pressure level) is about 120. I test rode a Zero DS last saturday, and the wind noise was louder than the bike. I didn't even notice the motor whine, but I only got it up to 70mph.

[NoiseBoy]

I have a decibel meter but there is no real standard for measuring the noise of motorcycles

[kensiko]

The faster you go the less you can hear the motor

[Doctorbass]

Before spending time on EV i was playing with diy hi-fi speakers and SPL car audio... I have all that fancy professional stuff to measure the dB.

It can go from 40dB to 180dB and have a 31band spectrum analyzer.

It is called SA3055 with high SPL option from AudioControl.

I will see if i can take some measurements for you guys .

Doc

[Mike Werner]

You can't really measure it. With ICE motorcycles, cops will place a meter next to the exhaust and start the engine. That gives an accurate reading, but you can't do that with an electric motorcycle. So you have to measure it while riding, and then you get all the other noise pollution, like wind, wheels, chains, etc. The only way would be in a lab I guess, with no sounds but the whine of the engine.

[MostlyBonkers]

It would be interesting to get a reading of one passing at 80 mph. That's motorway speed here in the UK and close to the top end of the speed current models will sustain. If anyone is smart enough to record the sound and split the wind noise from the mechanical noises, that would be interesting too.

From my two test rides, I can say that the wind noise drowns out any mechanical noise from around 40 mph.  Always wear earplugs unless you're staying in the city. Then perhaps still wear them so you don't have to listen to the traffic!

[morimaxx]

If you want to get the noise profile of a Zero you may put it on a dyno.
Here is a video of mine:
I didn't measure the noise but we stood 2 metres away and it was as loud as normal speaking, i guess 60 - 70 dBA.

[Richard230]

When my dealer was performing the magnet-throwing test earlier this year, the shop technicians were complaining that the SR was much louder than the standard S when running at full throttle.  I was told that it was so loud that they only wanted to run one test a day as the noise drove everyone in the shop crazy.  I also spoke to the general manager and she said that when an SR was being tested she could hear it in her second floor office about 80 feet away and behind two closed doors.  While my S was being tested, all I heard was a slight whine, while I was sitting on the other side of the shop wall about 30 feet away from the bike.  So I guess when you are talking about Zero noise, you need to specify which model Zero you are referring to.