Well - given the three options, I guess the second (accountant) fits me best.
s/accountant/geek/
Why you ride the bike is not important to the original question, if I can try to drag this back on track…
Why is it legal for a guy with a pickup to go put a loud exhaust on his truck but not a motorcycle. Why is it legal for a soccer mom in a minivan to replace her muffler with a (non-EPA registered) Meineke muffler and my motorcycle not.
The reason for the new laws is that a small subset of people have modified their motorcycles to be obnoxious. However, the laws are, in my opinion, poorly written and go beyond what’s a reasonable response.
I know that loud exhausts piss off people. No problem. I accept that “loud pipes save lives” is a very weak argument.
I had hoped that the collective voices of the SDMB people, especially the input from those of you who are pissed off by loud pipes, might come to an agreement on what’s a reasonable, enforcable, way to craft a law. The desire is to come to a middle-ground meeting point between the reasonable ability for a motorcyclist to replace his 'cycle’s pipes (even just because they’re damaged) and the also reasonable desire for a citizen to not have 120 dB of cycle roaring by his house.
I have absolutely no doubt that loud pipes can save lives, but I doubt that is the primary motivation of many people that install loud pipes. It’s to stand out, to show off a little. I don’t think showing off a little necessarily warrants a complete psychological analysis.
I have a great deal of doubt. I can’t hear even the loudest pipe in my car, at freeway speeds, with them coming up behind me. As they pass, after they are already out of the “blind spot”, then I can hear them. No highway or crash safety experts have endorsed the claim “loud pipes save lives”. And, of course, if the rider can’t hear other traffic, then he’s worse off.Many forget that loud pipes means that the rider can’t hear worth crap.
Freeways aren’t where most of the accidents happen, IIRC most motorcycle accidents are at intersections or just cases where they misjudge a curve or hit gravel and dump the bike. If a motorcycle with loud pipes comes up behind you at a stop light in the next lane to the left or right, you will hear him. You might not see him, but you’ll hear him.
Well, how do loud pipes help “where they misjudge a curve or hit gravel and dump the bike”? How would they help if I am stopped and they are behind me? I am stopped. If they are fully beside me, again, I can’t hurt the bike. It’s only when they are in my “blind spot”, we are both moving, and I cut over into his lane, not having seen the Bike (since a car is bigger) when they could help. And, in that case, they don’t, since I can’t hear them.
Here’s a point you are overlooking: the motorcyclist (and I are one) voluntarily chooses to ride a vehicle that is much less visible and much less safe than a car or a truck. He chooses to. That doesn’t give him the right, in the name of his own safety, to annoy pedestrians, people with houses near the road, and anybody else he happens to ride past.
Motorcycles are basically recreational vehicles. Yes, one can ride them to work; but they are inherently less practical than enclosed vehicles, especially in parts of the country that experience real winter. They are, IOW, toys. If you can’t play quietly with your toy, the rest of the community may well feel that you shouldn’t have it at all. That is what loud pipes accomplish.
HD is the steroptypical loud pipes bike, but many bikes people might think are Harleys are actually Hondas, Yamahas, or Suzukis. All of them make cruiser-style bikes that look like Harleys. Mine is a 750cc Honda and loud pipes are definitely available for them. My bike’s stock pipes are only loud if you rev it up.
Motorcycle ownership in the US is, IIRC, about 1 in 65, it’s one of the lowest rates in the world with Europe higher & Asia much, much higher.
Motorcycles cause less congestion in city areas, especially when you consider that most cars in America have one driver in them. 'Cycles are even exempt from the daily “congestion” surcharge that London places on vehicles inside the city.
As America continues to get more crowded and as gas prices continue to rise, 'cycles will be less and less a “toy” and more and more a “vehicle”.
If motorcycles become more of a vehicle and less of a toy, I would expect to see a lower proportion of loud-pipe bikes. Most cars don’t have loud mufflers or sound systems because most people consider their car just a vehicle, not a means of self-expression through annoying others. When Joe Average has a bike just to get to work, rather than to have fun and/or be cool, you’ll see lots of bikes that are the equivalent of a Toyota sedan on the road.
Your link is refering to sound power. Which is an energy rate per unit of time, unaffected by environment or location. The Denver law refers to sound pressure level. This is the link you want.
Sound pressure is measured at a discrete location. Defined by 15m in the denver law. I would expect a motorcycle that meets the 83 db(A) @ 15 m sound pressure level requirement, would actually have a much greater sound power level rating.
Most motorcycle organization are “pro modification” and “pro choice” but generally acknowledge that “loud pipes saves lives” is weak and that there is a thing a too much noise.
Most states, though, don’t have inspections for motorcycles.
