Patent ID: 7854290

Claim:
A vehicle having multiple silencers, comprising: a chassis carrying a seat; a steerable pair of front wheels and at least two rear wheels coupled to the chassis; a steering member for steering the front wheels; an engine carried by the chassis for powering the vehicle; at least one exhaust manifold operably coupled to the engine; at least one exhaust pipe coupled at one end to said at least one exhaust manifold; a first silencer coupled to the other end of the at least one exhaust pipe; a second silencer coupled in series to the first silencer to route exhaust from the at least one exhaust pipe through the length of at least one of the first silencer and the second silencer, wherein first and second distinct and substantially parallel first and second routes of travel are defined by the first and second silencers, the first route of travel causing exhaust gas to travel through the length of the first silencer and the second route of travel causing exhaust gas to travel through the length of the second silencer after first traveling through at least a portion of the first silencer the second silencer only indirectly coupled to the engine through the first silencer such that the second route of travel is the exclusive exhaust path through the second silencer; a crossover tube which couples the first silencer to the second silencer; the crossover tube is a predetermined length which creates a distinct exhaust rarefaction wave reflected from the second silencer; the rarefaction wave reflected from the second silencer is distinct from the rarefaction wave created by the first silencer; and the rarefaction waves from the first and second silencers travel back up the exhaust pipes and reduce engine pumping losses.