Don't again say the reason is so car drivers know you are there. That's just a chicken shit reason to justify making extremely loud noise which Noone likes. It's midnight now. Two Harley riders, one with a back seat female go blasting down a quiet street at full throttle, slow down for the upcoming Stop sign then, set there momentarily revving their disgusting two wheel, shit box noise makers. People live here and are asleep. There are two retirement homes here with many elderly folks, some in bad health, needing peace and quiet. But these morons must crank on it and shatter the night. The damn place needs a noise ordnance posted and enforced by some huge fines. These riders dig hearing this shit so much, maybe it should be piped right into their helmets. For them to enjoy. I think I will file a complaint with the city about this. So enlighten me please, what is the real reason you Hog guys need to be so loud ? Give ne the real reason. Not a screw you but the real reason behind it.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
Don't again say the reason is so car drivers know you are there. That's just a chicken shit reason to justify making extremely loud noise which Noone likes. It's midnight now. Two Harley riders, one with a back seat female go blasting down a quiet street at full throttle, slow down for the upcoming Stop sign then, set there momentarily revving their disgusting two wheel, shit box noise makers. People live here and are asleep. There are two retirement homes here with many elderly folks, some in bad health, needing peace and quiet. But these morons must crank on it and shatter the night. The damn place needs a noise ordnance posted and enforced by some huge fines. These riders dig hearing this shit so much, maybe it should be piped right into their helmets. For them to enjoy. I think I will file a complaint with the city about this. So enlighten me please, what is the real reason you Hog guys need to be so loud ? Give ne the real reason. Not a screw you but the real reason behind it.

I have the same complaint locally about loud cars and trucks also! I live right on a corner with a stop sign on my road. All day and night, people are blasting by in horribly loud cars and trucks. I told my wife the other day that I'm thinking of switching to nothing but straight pipes and blasting by these people's houses at night to see how THEY like it! If there are noise ordinances against this, they most definitely are not being enforced. I even contacted my local PD about it about a month ago, to include the road in front of my house being used as a make-shift drag strip, but absolutely no response whatsoever!

Loud cars, motorcycles. Can you say, "Attention Whores?"

"Notice me! Notice me!"

Immature clowns who irritate us because negative attention is better than no attention.

The real reason is they like hearing their loud exhaust and (mistakenly) believe others will be impressed with their loud motorcycle. "Look at me". Some car and pick up owners do the loud exhaust thing for the same reason. Then there the cowboys in their big rigs using their obscenely loud Jake brakes on level roads through towns and neighborhoods.

I agree give tickets for noise pollution and don't forget those shrieking leaf blowers! My friend and I were sitting on her porch enjoying our coffee when two different lawn crews showed up at two of her neighbors. Two mowers along with 2-3 weed eaters fired up all at the same time, it was awful. Then rather than use a broom (they don't use brooms anymore) they fired up the blowers which sounded like little jet engines. We finally gave up and moved inside.

But wait!

Then they install a car stereo that is louder than the exhaust.....

Makes for the supreme douche baggery.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
I agree give tickets for noise pollution and don't forget those shrieking leaf blowers! My friend and I were sitting on her porch enjoying our coffee when two different lawn crews showed up at two of her neighbors. Two mowers along with 2-3 weed eaters fired up all at the same time, it was awful. Then rather than use a broom (they don't use brooms anymore) they fired up the blowers which sounded like little jet engines. We finally gave up and moved inside.

In my day we had rakes, brooms, and reel push mowers…and we liked it!

Ridewv and rainman covered it extensively. For some reason some Hardly Ableson riders feel the need for full open exhausts that were manufactured to hear in space. And the owners must really get off on it. They are just insane loud.

There is a massive difference between those and a tasteful exhaust on a Ducati Twin or V4, Aprilia V4, Yamaha crossplane 4, or Honda V4. Louder than stock but not obnoxious unless it’s at redline, but none of us to this shit in the middle of the night. Typical a rural twisty road setting, mountain setting, or the track, and rarely at redline. Usually just the midrange…

I agree there is plenty of douchieness with the loud exhaust and loud stereos, but



My first bike as an adult was a Honda Shadow Sabre, it had an open exhaust when I bought it. Pretty loud

I then bought a Honda CTX 1300, very quiet bike.

I immediately noticed more and more people trying to run my ass over because they didn't look in their fargin mirrors


Anyway, a soccer mom pulled out in front of me, seven broken ribs, separated shoulder and a totaled bike. I'm still not ready to get back on one, maybe never will but if I do you'll be able to hear it

I love the sound of an inline four with a 4 into one exhaust

That whole " Loud pipes save lives " is bullshit . Thank you , and good day .

Last year I bought a nice 2008 Harley Sportster that was in excellent condition with low miles but with V&H slip-on mufflers that were obnoxiously loud. I don't know how the previous owner could stand to ride the thing? And the slip-ons even had the baffles in them. Fortunately I have another 08 Sportster that while not in as nice condition did have the stock mufflers so I switched and now the better one sounds nice and is a pleasure to ride. I put the crappy V&H's on the other sportster now I just need to sell it.

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:

I love the sound of an inline four with a 4 into one exhaust

Not sure you'd like this one because it's stock and pretty quiet, but I love how it sounds.




I don't know if a louder exhaust would have stopped the lady pulling out in front of you? Happened twice to me in daylight, both times my headlight was on, bright white helmet, one time wearing a high viz riding suit and I saw the elderly man stare right at me as he pulled out and broadsided me. If they didn't see me with all that I seriously doubt they'd notice if I had a loud exhaust pointing out the back with all the other road noise. Hmmm, now maybe if we point loud exhausts directly forward....

quote:

I don't know if a louder exhaust would have stopped the lady pulling out in front of you?

No, it was the people switching lanes not bothering to see if anyone was there

Every now and then a Harley or Indian come through with factory exhaust and those are much quieter. Even sound pretty good. It's the darn full blown custom guys that change out to the noisy pipes. We have a couple locals driving a Chrysler 300 and a old BMW which win the loudest car award. Were I a LEO. It's Summer so the punishment will go on.

During my Cop days, I wanted to cite all the noisy, look at me types.
But our court wanted the noise measured with a decibel meter and measured in a just so manner. My PD did not have a decibel meter so... No tickets.

I remember a BMW motorcycle ad from the 1960s, showing a BMW on a quiet country road. The ad's headline stated, "At 50 mph, the loudest sound you will hear is the swish of the front tire on the pavement." The ad did not exaggerate.

My hypothesis is that loud bikes create more antipathy towards all bikers which results in aggression, compared to any possible improvement to safety for the loud bike.

When they've run bikes past sound meters with loud pipes it shows nearly none of the sound projects forward.

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
I agree there is plenty of douchieness with the loud exhaust and loud stereos, but



My first bike as an adult was a Honda Shadow Sabre, it had an open exhaust when I bought it. Pretty loud

I then bought a Honda CTX 1300, very quiet bike.

I immediately noticed more and more people trying to run my ass over because they didn't look in their fargin mirrors

I've had the same thing. Riding w/ a HD friend or two, no problems.
Riding by myself on my Honda, constant dodge ball getting from point A to B. You learn to expect it and just give a friendly wave even though you almost experienced GBH or death.

I agree, the loud noise is annoying but to say it doesn't make their presence known in traffic is ignorant. It can't be both, "It wakes up the neighborhood", while also being too quiet in traffic. The are loud all the time for good or bad.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dsiets,

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:

quote:

I don't know if a louder exhaust would have stopped the lady pulling out in front of you?

No, it was the people switching lanes not bothering to see if anyone was there

I got that all the time and after the first year of riding, you don't ride next to anyone.
But if you encounter heavy traffic, things get complicated.

I almost had a young mother (I thought I saw a baby in the back seat) push me into a semi.
Thank God for Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration. She saved me quite a few times.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
I remember a BMW motorcycle ad from the 1960s, showing a BMW on a quiet country road. The ad's headline stated, "At 50 mph, the loudest sound you will hear is the swish of the front tire on the pavement." The ad did not exaggerate.

You're taking me back to when I first got interested in BMW motorcycles.

As others have said, it's purely narcissistic. While having a somewhat throaty sound to a bike seems reasonable, the only reason to have loud obnoxious pipes is so people will notice. Not from a safety point of view, but purely because their frail egos have to get constant attention. It's kind of similar to the reason they dress like pirates.

Can't embed this because I'm stupid, but here's a great clip explaining it:

Loud bikers