This. It’s possible to make quiet motorcycles - the Honda Goldwing is proof of this. Many motorcycle buyers want to hear their engine though, so manufacturers will make the bikes as loud as the law will allow - and many aftermarket exhaust manufacturers will provide exhaust systems that are as loud as you want, to the point of being illegal for on-road use. They label them “FOR OFF-ROAD USE ONLY” to get around the law; the violation then belong to whomever operates the bike on the road, and the risk is minimal since the average cop on patrol doesn’t have the equipment in his patrol vehicle for measuring exhaust noise.
It may surprise you to realize that the law allows for fairly noisy exhaust systems. Many cars are much quieter than the law requires because that’s what buyers want. And some cars aren’t: the Corvette, for example is quite a bit louder than my friend’s big V8 pickup truck (both with stock exhaust).
Re: a biker’s own hearing…at highway speeds, a rider’s worst enemy is wind noise, unless he’s running straight pipes (no muffler). Without earplugs, long-term hearing loss is inevitable, unless you’re astride a Goldwing, whose barn-door windscreen results in an incredible cone of silence that most car drivers would envy.
Yes, it is possible to make quiet motorcycles. The problem is, somewhere between the 1970’s and the Honda 360, and the 2000’s with Ninja bikes and loud Harleys, motorcycles stopped being transportation for the poorer young man and instead became toys for the rich older men. Toys of course, have to have the flash and noise, which modern cycles do. (The Goldwing and its ilk are the exception because they actually are transportation; 90% of the rich old guys crossing the continent last time I looked, appeared to be on Goldwings, and pulling a trailer.)
In the early-to-mid-90’s when our company went hog-wild (sorry) into the “Japanese Management Method”, one of the videos we saw was process improvement at the Harley factory. The president of the company said they figured out they had to fix things when they went visiting dealerships and found brand new cycles with cardboard under them to catch the leaking oil.
(The video also went through a litany of other failures- like constant failure of tail lights, because the wiring ran exposed along the inside of the back fender. This simply reinforced my belief - the American worker was often blamed for shoddy workmanship that made US cars and cycles crap, when in fact 90% of the problem was simply very bad engineering design and a lack of determination to correct that.)
Of course an air-cooled engine is louder. Those fins aren’t “baffling” the sound - each one is like a loudspeaker, agitating the air at whatever RPM the engine is turning. As I said earlier, motorcycle engines turn at a higher RPM typically.
I often wonder when someone will invent a photoradar noise detector; as a vehicle passes by and triggers a loudness alarm, the machine will photograph the license plate and the owner will get a ticket in the mail - either a noise ticket, or more likely an order to have their machine inspected by a licensed mechanic. That way it’s an equal opportunity detector -car, truck, or cycle, you get caught.
That was probably when a bunch of people bought the company out from AMF, who nearly ran it into the ground. AMF was an example of indifferent management.
Am I going to get another warning if I point out that video is from…San Francisc:rolleyes:?
I am the police here and very few bikers get tagged by us for just riding down the street during the day just minding their own business. There are the hella dickheads that go overboard that need to have a chat. But it’s still far less annoying than some thug blaring the bass of vulgar rap music out of an 87 Olds.
The question in the OP is about why motorcycles are louder than cars. The discussion about whether they are annoying or not, and what to do about it, belongs in IMHO. If you wish to discuss this, start another thread in another forum. Drop the hijack here. This goes for everyone.
So yeah, sometimes it’s because of exhaust modifications, sometimes it’s because the engine is air cooled (others are cooled with water or oil), and sometimes it’s the rider blipping their throttle because they like the loud sound. Or a combination.
I do not like automation or much of anything that removes all choices but one.
If you like that way, buy it that was and enjoy.
What right do you have that I can’t have a choice? Because someone else makes you mad. Lets make all vehicles so that they can not speed, or cross double lines or be started without a breathalyzer test.
Just who do you trust to make all these things so?
When any engine or motor is out in the open will make more noise. Like a lawn mower, table saw, chainsaw so on.
Only way to make it not make so much noise is to mask the sound. Where you build box or shielding around it. In car it is tucked away.
Where lawn mower, table saw, chainsaw and motorcycles it is out in open, You can’t build box or shielding around to mask the sound.
And the more powerful the engine or motor the more noise it will make. No technology is going to change this.
Nothing really can be done that just way engines and motors are. The motorcycles does not have space so you cannot put in box or have shielding around it to mask the sound.
I guess you have the choice. So, why do you have loud pipes? They offer no safety advantage. They offer minute, if any, performance improvement. They damage the hearing of both rider and nearby pedestrians or motorist. And they damage the reputation and image of motorcyclists in general.
So why?
To paraphrase the old chestnut. Your right to loud pipes stops at my eardrums. Or it should, if police actually enforced the laws on the books.
Cars have a lot more tire noise, which may explain at least some of the discrepancy.
Back in the day, people tended to set up bike carburetors to provide a little more fuel than necessary at idle. This was done to avoid a loss of power when the throttle was opened suddenly, but it also meant that soot would build up on the spark plugs if the bike idled for too long. Riders would blip the throttle when they heard the engine loading up or just before applying throttle to clean the plugs. I’m pretty sure that the factory jetting on modern bikes is on the lean side to control emissions, and blipping the throttle is mostly done for fun.
I suppose the only real answer to why bikes are loud is that their buyers want them that way. A company exists to please their customers, not their customer’s neighbors.
As has been discussed repeatedly on this thread, the reason that motorcycles are so loud is not because the engine is out in the open. The reason they are loud is because many motorcycle riders like loud bikes. To please their customers, many manufacturers (such as Harley Davidson) build their motorcycles to be as loud as legally possible with the factor-installed muffler in place. The dealers and/or customers then often replace or even entirely remove the factory-installed muffler, making the motorcycle even louder.
To say that “Nothing really can be done that just way engines and motors are” is disingenuous at best. Virtually all motorcycles are relatively quiet with their factory-installed mufflers installed. Granted, some are quieter than others–compare a Harley to a Honda Gold Wing, but nobody would be complaining if motorcycle riders would just leave the factory-installed muffler in place.
Yes it does. Now the old fashioned cut out is against the law because that really was NOISE…
I have a “thunder header” on my chopper. I can be quiet or I can be loud. I have a choice. I can make a stock Goldwing be your worst nightmare if I am so inclined sitting beside you at waiting for a light. The idea that a stock exhaust will stop an ass hat from being an ass hat is kind of silly.
It is a people problem.
As I have said before, I have never had anyone give me grief about being too loud. Or how I look. If those things cause you to not like me and want to get me arrested or fined, wish away. It is not happening. I am not making bikers look bad.
If I bother you so much that you stay away from me, I call that a win.
The police in my city ride Hondas. They are very quiet. From this I deduce that you don’t have to make a motorcycle loud to make it fast, just as a police model Crown Vic or Charger isn’t louder than the civilian model.
Perhaps people who like loud motorcycles could band together and move to a sparsely populated state with lots of empty highways for riding? A state like Kyrgystan? Wouldn’t this take care of the controversy?
