Air-conditioning is a luxury in my world. Compressors, evaporators, electric clutches, if that junk fails I never bother to repair it because my trucks are not worth the investment. Running without AC requires open windows and I heard the 4-cylinder sport bike coming up behind me on the left. He was about three car lengths back and well up into the RPM range. You may not like that sound but it was music to my ears.
The main point is I heard him. So many motorcycle anti-noise campaigners claim that exhaust noise is one direction and useless as a safety measure. Like no one in front of you can hear your blat-blat-blat. The naysayers turn into online audio engineers describing the physics of sound and how loud pipes can’t possibly alert anyone to your presence. And they are full of crap. I heard the bike coming up behind me.
Go ahead and argue sound is annoying on a motorcycle. Push for better rider training. Explain to me how citizens shouldn’t be disturbed from their slumber as they text down the highway running over anything not traveling their same speed and trajectory. Say that loud motorcycles are causing Cagers to dislike us and that lawmakers will try and ban us. It all may be true. Those are worthwhile arguments.
But don’t tell me you can’t hear loud pipes. With your widows up and the stereo blazing away you probably can’t but there are other, less-insulated road users that can hear the outside world. Bicyclists, walkers and people without air conditioning will be alerted to your motorcycle long before you collide with them. Electric car owners report that pedestrians wander in front of their silent rides. That kind of stuff won’t happen to a drag-piped, stretched-swingarm Hayabusa spinning 9000 rpm.
Loud pipes can’t be both annoying and unheard on the road. The effect is even more pronounced in town: A straight-piped hog announces itself blocks away. The damn thing sounds like a bear rifling through garbage cans but I know it’s out there somewhere because I can hear the big V-twin stumble and fart like internal combustion is not settled science.
Sure, pipes make more noise towards the back because that’s the direction they are pointed. Would it be so bad if some Whopper-eating, stereo-adjusting, GPS-programming car driver heard you a few hundred feet before running your annoying ass over? If sound doesn’t equal safety then why are street-driven motorcycles equipped with horns? You can’t have it both ways.
Personally I don’t like loud pipes. They wear me down on long trips so I mostly run stock mufflers. My Husky came with an aftermarket muffler that is pretty loud but I leave it on out of inertia.
Has anyone’s life been saved by a loud exhaust system? Who knows? It’s difficult to prove a negative, something that didn’t happen. Trying to work within the system or to curry favor from others by silencing your motorcycle is a mug’s game. Run whatever exhaust system you prefer. Motorcycles, loud or quiet, are going to be annoying to the general public. Our very existence seems dangerous to them and their anger towards us isn’t noise related. It’s because we are not following the rules.
The guy a few houses down idling his loud-piped equiped Harley for 20 minutes in his driveway before riding off is a little off-putting though. He got mad when I rode my old DT250 back and forth in front of his house “clearing” the carbon out of the exhaust though…..
Ha!
Well said.
Even if they’re pissed,they noticed you. Better than getting run over.
I believe in loud street bikes,and quiet dirt bikes.
Seems reasonable as there are few cars to run you over in the dirt.
😲 i’ve had a couple of thousand Kawasaki both of them Had Kerker 4 into 1 hatters I played with them constantly with no baffle in the megaphone on it wouldn’t break glass you could split it into and different pair. it was music to my ears I could not get enough of it we would go piping
I do not agree, if you want to make noise tape your horn button down. I have been riding since 1972 and all loud pipes have done is piss off non riders. If you want to ride safe, ride as if you were invisible because you are to many car and truck drivers.
I agree loud pipes piss off others. Do you think the noise alerts people and make riding safer?
Hi Joe, I have to disagree with much of what you said about loud pipes. In my experience it’s mostly a pathetic “hey look at me” statement, much like drooping pants or purple hair. It’s particularly obvious when a rider is sitting at a stoplight revving his engine just to be obnoxious. Living in an urban area I can hear the unnecessary noise for blocks.
But you heard it. That’s what I’m getting at. Some people think the noise does not make a difference in safety. I think it does but I still run stock pipes if I have them.
For or again , NOTHING will ever be done bout noisy pipes in MY lifetime. I have owned / ridden bikes BOTH ways. There is just SOMETHING about the older you get the quieter you get . I hope to live a lot quieter !
True
Putting aside the look-at-me, bad-name-for-motorcyclists arguments for a moment, the question is: Do loud pipes make you safer on a motorcycle?
I think they do. I have no study to show this just my own ears hearing the loud bike and taking notice. I think that is better than a silent bike just appearing alongside my truck.