Even stock motorcycles are loud. To get decent power out of small engines, you have to go all out. The compression ratios, cam profiles, rev limits, etc. are all similar to something like an Indycar. Ever been next to one of those? They’re loud! A few years ago, a 2 liter car engine made around 100 hp. My last .6L bike made the same power. Of course, I deleted the cat and drilled out the muffler, but it was still pretty quiet compared to a big CC twin.
So rules and regulations designed to protect the environment and people’s hearing and peace are for other people, not for you, right?
And you wouldn’t mind if I drove past your house in my siren-equipped car, with the cat deleted and the muffler baffles drilled out, maybe at 3:00 AM, right?
You should look into how many small engined vehicles actually come equipped with cats. I think you’d be surprised.
Most people said they could only tell when I revved it really high, other than that it sounded stock. Besides, we’re talking about a race motorcycle, who says I wasn’t modifying it for a race track?
Drive by if you wish. Even stop in, I’m a car guy and I’ll check it out.
What makes both terms accurate is that most HDs are slow, when compared with “lesser” bikes. As Macbeth put it, “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
You can make a Corvette perform better than a Ferrari for a lot cheaper, but if you want a Ferrari, a technically superior Corvette won’t make you happy.
No, it’s a dick substitute.
Another Shadow rider here (750). With my helmet on I literally can’t hear my bike unless I blip the throttle at a light (which I really don’t do).
I spend about half the time thinking “this is a nice peaceful ride, I like this” and half the time thinking “I kinda wish I could hear a little rumble with this ride”. No dick waving involved, but it is a motorcycle and I wouldn’t mind hearing it once in a while. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking for the car behind me to roll up their windows or someone pumping gas 150 feet away from me to have their eyes watering from the sound, but a little extra noise, just for me, would be nice once in a while.
To the outraged posters in this thread.
It is interesting to me, a rider for over 30 years who has had quiet & loud bikes and who can make a loud bike be quiet by how it is ridden and make a quiet bike very loud by how it is ridden, with all this, I have never had anyone ever come up to me IRL, including LEO’s and complain about noise, attire, bike looks, NADA.
Where are all the aggrieved people?
To divert everyone’s attention away from the rider’s small penis.
Bikes are generally loud but I can only think of a handful of times were excessively loud. Most of the time it’s actually the sports bikes with riders who really like to gun the engine hard that I hear. There’s a guy in my neighborhood and when he leaves I can hear him after he stops at the intersection half a mile away. But he doesn’t do it at night so it doesn’t bother me.
I get annoyed at the Labor Day celebrations in Mountain View, Arkansas. The entire town square is taken up by various musical groups playing acoustic instruments and singing without electronic assistance of any kind. A single motorcycle driving by can drown out any nearby group playing. I have yet to go without having the music interrupted by two or more bikes slowly cruising through the area. It’s annoying but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it’s their first time there?
You expect us to walk up to a biker and say “Hey! Your bike is too damned loud you idiot!”
In the immortal words of Shrek: “Yeah. Like that’s gonnae happen!”
Loud pipes suck. Loud bikes suck.
I’ve been riding 30 years. My pipes have always been stock. My last 3 bikes, going back 20 years, have been quiet BMWs.
Be careful. Lane splitting is not legal in California. Accurately put, lane splitting is not illegal in California. A subtle but important difference. There is no law that allows us to lane split (sometimes called lane sharing). While lane splitting, you could get a citation for several reasons: the basic speed law, failure to keep your vehicle centered in the lane, weaving, illegal lane changes, maybe others.
IANALEO, but I am a certified MSF instructor. Or was until my cert recently expired.
Also, loud pipes really do not help when lane splitting, if done correctly. Loud pipes while lane splitting tend to irritate drivers more than they help riders lane split.
But this isn’t a thread about lane splitting.
I’ll end this like I started it: loud pipes suck. Loud bikes suck.
Exactly.
How are they supposed to demonstrate that they are aggrieved? Should they try to stop you? Maybe lecture you in a parking lot?
The loud noise from bikes pisses almost everybody off except for the guy making the noise. But there’s no remedy for it except more enforcement of noise ordinances, and even then it’s a guy on a bike who’s not exactly going to wait around after noise-blasting a neighborhood at midnight.
So let’s not pretend that there’s some sort of silent majority that is OK with it. There isn’t.
Mufflers restrict power output, it’s a sorry-assed excuse … but there it is.
I always find it hilarious that those inconsiderate morons that claim loud pipes saves lives are the same ones who refuse to wear helmets. That, in my opinion, invalidates their claim and makes the true reason for both actions clear. They think that loud obnoxious pipes and no helmet makes them cool.
The fact that they choose not to wear a helmet demonstrates that safety isn’t their primary concern.
Don’t pretend this is what most people are whining about. They’re getting all pissy because “Oh noes”, for a whole 4 seconds, they had to hear a loud noise at 2 in the afternoon while they’re sitting on their couch reading the paper.
Riding around the neighborhood at 3 in the morning is an asshole move. Riding around on a Sunday afternoon is not.
I live near a busy (controlled) intersection and two gas stations. I get a lot more than “a whole 4 seconds” of noise if someone has loud pipes. Plus, if you have a rocket, I can hear it for about 100 yards on either side of my house.
Or, since they’re not wearing a helmet, they really don’t want to get hit.
There’s a loud one at the end of my street. Belongs to a middle aged family guy who takes it out during the day. Sounds like metal in a blender being jack hammered. He was apparently out of town and his high school age son drove it back and forth all night. Neighboors complained and now there’s no riding this bike in our sub division. At all.
A guy I work with has a loud one. He knows it’s loud but his attitude is “fuck 'em”.