I think loud pipes can save lives, but they don’t need to be loud all the time. My bike is quiet at idle, only loud if I really rev it.
The only thing Harleys are good for is converting gasoline into noise. Don’t really mind high-strung bike engines, is is more of a shriek than a disturbing noise.
“Selfish asshole” is a little redundant, don’t you think? They’re generally part and parcel. 
Yes. Speaking as someone who’s put hundreds of thousands of miles on various motorcycles, increasing your visibilty will do far more to keep you safe than increasing your volume.
Auxiliary lights, front and rear, extra flashing brake lights, a headlight modulator, and anything else you can think of are really, really good ideas.
And, even it’s true that “loud pipes save lives” (which I doubt), why should that be a blanket pass to violate the law, and the peace of others? Running a siren and lights on your car would undoubtedly make you safer, but nobody is arguing that drivers be allowed to do that, right?
Finally, let me say how annoying I find it that the New York City police, who will happily write you a ticket for something as trivial as dinged paint or a dirty license plate, seem to completely ignore the law that requires motorcycles to have mufflers. Real mufflers.
Perhaps you are simply a sociopath. Not that it is a good thing, but it beats being a psychopath. Sorta.
I get to talk to injured motorcyclists all the time (when I don’t have to talk to their grieving families instead). I think it’s fairly telling when car drivers say “the motorcycle just came out of nowhere…” when I never hear the same sort of argument from bikers. Bikers always seem to see the cars that get them. And I don’t believe for a minute that motorcycles can teleport so it seems more likely to me they’re just hard to see. And here’s my point: we let deaf people drive, but not the blind. I think that speaks to the larger recognition that driving is primarily a vision-based activity. You can’t count on a driver being able to hear, but it’s a good bet they can all see. And I’ve never heard anyone complain about bikers with too much light or clothing that was too flashy. It is disappointing that loud pipe people can’t just fess up and say they like to make noise for its own sake. But to hide behind “it’s safer!” makes me a little embarassed for them. If there was ever a way to go back in time to prove it, I’d bet all I own that the first rule ever invented by humans was, “Don’t be a jerk. The penalty for that is we use you for bear bait.” I think it’s lucky for loud-pipers that we no longer engage in neolithic cave bear-style hunts.
I still don’t believe there are vast numbers of people who are “just dickheads,” I have to believe folks just see things differently and are acting as sensibly as a situation demands. It’s the most effective way to address politics, religion and mental illness. Well, as long the offended parties retain the privilege to use offenders as bear bait.
Oddly, it occurs to me that a lot of bikers might object to being thought of as bear bait. Heh…this is definitely the strangest planet I’ve ever lived on.
So do helmets, and theyre quieter
I ride
That’s the one I’ve never understood, do motorcycles in general idle that badly that one has to keep revving them up at stoplights? If so, maybe they need to spend a little more time tuning them or something. Even lawn mowers and weed eaters can idle without having to rev them up all the time.
Check with your local and state ordinances first. Just as the idiot pipes being discussed here are illegal but generally unenforced, so too are a number of the other safety measures you mention. Headlight modulators have now become legal on a federal level, but only if they comply with a specific standard. Many jurisdictions ban flashing brake lights and/or accessory lights unless they meet very specific criteria.
Though in practice if you are sensible about it, you will seldom get hassled.
Maybe you should read, too. Just a thought.
Possibly.
I don’t care.
Well, definitely an asshole. [Nitpick: “sociopath” and “psychopath” are considered more or less synonymous in the psychiatric community, although both terms are now outdated. Unless you are an expert debating some historical semantical nuance, for all intents and purposes the two words should be considered as synonymous.]
Second rule of life: Never rule out stupidity.
I already said that in my first post. Try to keep up.
Well I’m glad we’re all on the same page here.
indeed
We had our first really hot night here in NH last night (got up to high 80s during the day).
I had my family room window wide open with the ceiling fan going and watching Max Manus on Netflix.
Every 10 minutes or so I would be greeted with the obscene noise and vibration of some douchebag on their loud bike as they drove by my window.
Joking aside, the noise is such that it penetrates my home. How the fuck is this legal?
At one point a car alarm went off about half a block away and the sound of a passing bike actually drowned it out (I wouldn’t doubt it if the sound of the bike set it off in the first place).
It is so incredibly annoying seeing the few ruining it for everyone else.
If you need loud pipes to save your life, it’s probably because you are driving in a way that motorists don’t expect a vehicle to behave, like swerving in and out of traffic, driving between lanes, cutting corners short, and so forth. Motorcycles are more maneuverable than cars. Great. That doesn’t exempt you from traffic laws! You know what really saves lives? *Not driving like an asshole. *
On a related note, not long ago I was passed on an interstate by a speeding bike that I observed making several sudden and unsignaled lane changes, weaving through the heavy traffic to get ahead. As he passed, I noticed the driver was wearing a bright orange T-shirt with “CAN YOU SEE ME NOW ASSHOLE?” printed on the back. My reaction was to exclaim “Fuck you!” out loud. Yeah, it’s just a stupid shirt, but here you are driving like a maniac in traffic, insulting everybody as you go by and basically stating that your safety is my responsibility. Just, Fuck You.
What an excellent and thoughtfully considered answer. And so useful!
“Why do you throw your garbage all over the ground when there are trash cans nearby? People work hard to keep this park clean.”
“Why don’t you flush the toilet after you use it? Do you really think people want to see and smell your shit?”
If only this attitude were fatal, or at least concurrent with sterility. Maybe one day!
Unfortunately it is the opposite 
Why can’t you be bothered to use birth control?
“I don’t know why I don’t care. I just know that I don’t.”