It’s a pretty common mod for what I had. I’m sure Yamaha expected it, since there were no O2 sensors.
Kind of. I don’t wear the bright orange safety vests or anything quite like that but my jacket has strips on it that are reflective. There are things I could and should do that would be a bit safer, but for what it’s worth, I’d say I’m already above average in that regard.
Agreed. It’s just that your post came across as suggesting that you shouldn’t be able to do anything on a bike that you can’t do in a car. That ideology is why many of us aren’t allowed to lane split at stop lights even though it prevents us from getting rear-ended. Apparently fairness is more important than lives.
Not at all. I know that lane-splitting is often the best way to go in tight traffic. I know that sometimes we have to make left turns at red lights when the light is controlled by those sensors than can detect the mass of a car, but not a bike. I could probably think of a few other examples, given time.
What I don’t like is the anti-social stuff. Straight pipes, or overly loud pipes. Look, I live in an urban area. Every day I’m subjected to bikes with little or no baffling going by and setting off car alarms. Mostly Harleys, but other makes too (although it seems like only the Harleys’ bass frequencies can set off car alarms). I especially hate this when it wakes my daughter up in the middle of the night.
Circumventing emissions regulations is in the same category. We all have to breathe this air.
Stuff that doesn’t affect others? I don’t care. For example, I don’t care if others ride without helmets, in shorts and t-shirts. I don’t – I think it’s stupid – but, hey, none of my business.
Loud pipes hurt my ears. So, not only are they breaking the law, they are also causing me physical pain. But I never get a chance to say this to the bikers; they ride past and then they are gone. On the rare occasion that a biker comes into my store, I avoid the subject because I don’t want to start an argument with a customer.
I was walking downtown a few months ago, looking for an address, when a biker started up his bike right next to me and it was really loud. I had to put my hands over my ears because it physically hurt. After he rode away, a pedestrian got up in my face and yelled at me “I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU THINK!”. I didn’t even talk to this guy, he just started yelling at me after he saw me put my hands over my ears.
My own snarky theory is that little boys whose mothers always told them to be quiet said “some day… when my mommy’s not around… I’m gonna make all the noise I want”, so then they grow up and get loud motorcycles just to spite their mother.
Ah, but it DOES affect you. When another biker rides without a helmet, and they have a near-fatal accident, and get taken to the county hospital, and it turns out they don’t have insurance, what happens? If the hospital turns them away, shrugging and saying “They got what they deserved for not wearing a helmet”, then yes you’d be right that it doesn’t affect you. But that’s not what happens. The county hospital is required to treat their injuries even if the biker can’t pay, and then the other patients have to pay more to make up the difference, or the taxpayers have to pay to bail out the county hospital when income doesn’t meet expenses.
On the other hand, recent studies show that people who wear helmets tend to behave more recklessly than people who don’t. So making bikers wear helmets might actually be encouraging them to make dangerous decisions, increasing the number of traffic accidents. So maybe helmet laws are counter-productive.
Either way, you can’t say it doesn’t affect you.
Everything affects everything.
It’s people with out insurance that costs us money. The helmet and the motorcycle are irrelevant.
I appreciate you taking the time to compile such a thoughtful response.
Most stock Harleys have the acceleration and top speed of an average midsize rental car. Add a tooth up front and maybe you’ll have the same top speed as a ninja 300 but you’ll accelerate like a school bus. Drop a tooth up front and you’ll accelerate like a ninja 300 but have the top speed of a school bus. Throw thousands of dollars in screaming eagle parts at your $15,000 Harley and maybe you’ll get the top speed AND acceleration of a $5,000 ninja 300 - until you get to a curve; you’ll still handle like a school bus.
And that’s fine. They’re cool bikes in their own way. The point I was making is that there is a certain kind of religious Harley owner who insists that their bike is The One True Bike and all else is dilapidated garbage. Rather than saying “I’ve always wanted one and I love riding it, I’m not really into performance but yours is cool too” they try to beat riders of other makes at their own game by invoking supernatural unicorn “power” which cannot been seen or measured but Harleys have more of it than other vehicle in existence.
This sums it up.
What a dick - inconsiderate, selfish and rude.
For these riders, sometimes I wish I had a super-loud sound system in my car that’s some 25X louder than their loud bikes, you know the ones with the heavy vibrating bass subwoofers, and I’d blast them when they’re on their bikes. They wouldn’t ‘get it’ of course, likely not anyway, and that would put me in the same category as them (rude and all that), but I still enjoy that thought now and then.
So, fuck 'em! 
Yep.
Why are Hawaiian Shirts so loud?
Perhaps you can’t hear them
Bawahahahaha, did not read my posts did ya?
Show where I said I ride loud. 
Show where I am an Harley diehard.
I said I had never had anyone come up to me and complain about anything bike related. 
Even being loud. I did not say I rode loud.
If being scruffy, riding a motorcycle & wearing a leather jacket makes you try real hard to get as far away from me as possible, that is the best deal going. Give me that much more room to get away from your I’phone, texting deliberate attempts to run me off the road or kill me anyway you can.
More bikers are killed in my age group, who ride cruisers, by inattentive drivers, mostly making illegal turns than any other way. 
Under 30 & sport bikes, 60-40 stupid & inattentive drivers. IMO :eek:
I still say most complainers are cowards? The bike left??? Bawahahaha, you know where the bike dealers are. Go down there and give them a piece of your mind. Tell them how the ‘cow ate the cabbage.’ snerk
I must admit I think it is funny when a passing car runs off the road into a ditch just because I looked at them. That’s all, just looked.
Now for intimidation, my old 1980 Dodge Power Wagon, yellow, mostly, big black brush guard, dents & rust and looking like a do, heck, even the police pull over and duck down hoping I don’t see them. I called it “The Warwagon.” Damn sure did not get no hero’s in my face when toodling around in her.
Heck, I even get police escorts…
Couple of pictures:
Which is of course hilarious when you consider that there is no possible way to reconcile what he said with the fact he said something.
Wow GusNSpot, that’s an impressive mega rage out response to a five-word post (that was just meant to be a joke, not snark).
I almost wish I were a troll and that was a deliberate play.
“Performance” is like “power” - one of those words that automatically evoke the phrase “what do you mean by that?” To me performance is the entry level Iron Butt - 1000 miles on the road in 24 hours or less. I’m looking for a combination of speed, reliability and comfort over long distances. I’m going FX or FL or maybe a Goldwing or big Yamaha/Star. Most people who talk “performance” are more the “light to light” definition.
Now lets call the project “Make a Harley like a Ninja”. That one is not too tough; basically a port and polish of the stock motor, change in carb/injector, and pulling the “governor harness” off the ignition so I can rev over 5.5 grand. I’m not really upping the power much as I am getting rid of the things the MotherCompany likes that choke that power. Basically do the mods to turn a showroom 883 into a flat-tracker 883. The curves have a couple different solutions - a more Buell-like frame or “old school” controlled slides. Yes – you are totally correct; Kawasaki does it cheaper and maybe “better” but that is a function of assembly-line savings and intent as much as anything else. Could Harley build the same bike? Maybe now that we’re rid of Willie some day we may find out.
Heck, I’ll take my Harley 250RR (assuming the museum that owns it now would lend it back) and put it on the Glen against most of the modern commercial bullet-bike 650s and their riders. And if I can forget the fact that I don’t heal as fast as I once did, we’re going to have us one Hell of a race. Total coin-toss who wins. My experience against another’s “power”. But at least there we are talking apples and apples - two road racing bikes against each other and not a racer against a cruiser.
Don’t get me wrong - I’m not one of those “I’d rather push my Harley than ride a ricegrinder” types. I’ve owned more than a dozen brands and I’ve been looking at this Honda trike I know is going to be for sale soon. But I will have to admit to always having had some sort of Harley in the garage somewhere. There is something about them ------------ even I can’t put in writing. And they are fun little toys.
I have a good mental image for us to use when reading a post by GusNSpot that includes the above internet slang.
BTW, I commute to work on a 600cc motorcycle nearly everyday. It has the OEM exhaust. At idle it is no louder than your average car, and “normal” RPMS. it’s maybe a tad louder. It’s only above 6K RPMs that it gets a little more aggressive sounding. I rarely hit those RPMs in daily commuting.
Motorcycles aren’t loud by nature, some people** make** them loud by choice. The riders with the “fuck’em” attitudes give the rest of us a bad image.
They don’t have the budget for nation-wide enforcement against violations by individual end users. As far as “mobile sources” are concerned, the EPA’s focus is on making sure vehicles comply with noise/pollution emission regulations when they leave the showroom.
Oh man, what a great avatar that will make… Thanks… Bawahaha
The difference between nasty & funny is as simple as a smilie. They are pretty easy to find & use. 
Not all areas require DEQ testing of vehicles. Oregon only requires a vehicle to pass DEQ inspection in the greater Portland and Medford areas, none required in the rest of the state.
And motorcycles are exempt throughout the state, even in areas that require testing. So, no, the loud pipes on motorcycles do not violate emissions regulations.
or is it the other way around?
I remember a female co-worker who had a birthday card from another (female) co-worker.
The front was a picture of the torso of a Chippendales stripper, with the caption:
“I was going to get you one of these for your birthday…”
inside…
“But I couldn’t find one in your size.”
I wore earplugs under my helmet for long-distance motorcycling. I found it made a huge difference in terms of fatigue after hours on the bike. I could not hear the engine at that speed, it was all wind noise. I drove a Honda CX500 and it had plenty of power, I could do 80 or sometimes 90mph on the interstate (those were the days!). It could also be incredibly quiet when driving at 30mph through residential neighbourhoods. Noise for motorcycles is deliberate and is mainly for show.