Loud exhausts are STUPID

[Tony A]

to weigh in or not

oh why not, excessive loud pipes i agree are bad for our sport whether its a crusier or a sport bike. But I do like a little noise all my bikes have after market pipes, not so loud that your ears bleed but when they are opened up you hear it. At highway speed the exhaust is drowned out by the wind noise.
Am i concerned about the noise in early morning or late evening, yes in residental areas I will be short shifting.
As for harleys sorry so many of you are against them, have we sterotyped the bike, yes.
I have a harley touring bike that I love to ride, its comfy, my wifes comfy on the back. and we can run 200 miles between stops. And for an 800 lb bike it handles pretty darn good, is it fast, no but it wasnt intended to be.
I also own a duc st3 great sport tour bike, but two up comfort just is not the same. But a great bike for solo trips and riding with the sport boys.
My point I guess is we all have opinions, all have things we like or don't like but we should all police each other in our sport on noise control whether its a harley, euro or metric.

 

[vanelli56]

:notsure: Wait a minute.... people still buy harley's????? :wow:

Just kidding.... My best friend rides a sportster and we switch ever now and then. It is kind of fun to ride, almost like taking my lazy boy on the highway.

But no joke.... he has to check the oil and usually add some almost EVERY WEEKEND?!?!
No leaks, drips, or drops.... it just loves its oil. Dont get me wrong.... nothing wrong with checking your oil.... but that is a little rediculous.
He also has straight pipes on it..... and just casually riding around, they are not too loud...but if you get on it, it will make you deaf!!!! I think that is somewhat over board....

Now, are all harleys loud and obnoxious? NO....
most of them....YES.:idea:

and unfortunatly....this is where sterotypes come from....They are based on reality!

 

[Bubba Zanetti]

steve hale;42940 wrote: For lots of reasons. I have a 1969 original 427 big block vette with side pipes and it is very loud, and I love it. - The sound is both designed to be loud and create additional horsepower with reduced restriction of the exhaust. I enjoy all things high performance. On bikes (with the exception of harleys) the reasoning is the same. less restriction - more HP - so I like em... however, they are not approptiate to be wide open when they will disrupt others... IE in front of churches on sunday, at funerals, near professional buildings, ect. As dor the saftey factor, I do believe loud exhausts are helpful on the track and on the street. At the track, if I am right of the back end of a slower rider at a track day, chances are they hear me and will be concious of holding their line. On the street, If I am going thorough the gears down the street, you can hear me coming so, a driver that is observant, and safe will "look" for me too.. of course, If they dont and pull out on me while Im hitting 120 mph It is my fault anyway for traveling that fast.
So, I like em and they do create more odds of being noticed and therefore safer -- Same reasoning for wearing bright colored protective gear... You are trying to be visually noticed and in my case :heard"
Just my opionionopcorn:

My response below:

"The average man does not get pleasure out of an idea because he thinks it is true; he thinks it is true because he gets pleasure out of it".

-H.L. Mencken

 

[rk97]

Meat;43141 wrote:
And why is it that the larger the group of Harley's, the more under the speed limit they go, making passing totally impossible?!!??

I realize this is probably meant as a rhetorical question, but the scientific answer is that traffic shares characteristics with a compression wave.

the more riders, the more apparent the phenomenon. you can recreate the same effect at stop lights all by yourself. leave a 10-20 foot gap behind the car in front of you at a red light. When traffic backs up behind you, roll forward and watch everyone behind you slowly spread out, and then bunch back up again.

if group riders left a safer distance behind the guy in front of him/her, there would be both room to pass, AND less compressing and expanding. 'slow down to go fast' works OFF the track too :idea:

 

[Meat]

rk97;43259 wrote: I realize this is probably meant as a rhetorical question, but the scientific answer is that traffic shares characteristics with a compression wave.

the more riders, the more apparent the phenomenon. you can recreate the same effect at stop lights all by yourself. leave a 10-20 foot gap behind the car in front of you at a red light. When traffic backs up behind you, roll forward and watch everyone behind you slowly spread out, and then bunch back up again.

if group riders left a safer distance behind the guy in front of him/her, there would be both room to pass, AND less compressing and expanding. 'slow down to go fast' works OFF the track too :idea:

Yes, it was rhetorical....but you are also insinuating that they are incompetent as well because rubber banding of traffic is due to lack of attention and lack of anticipation.

I feel so badly for the Harley riders. Poor guys. Too slow, too loud, incompetent, slow reactions, no forethought, motorcycles breaking down....

 

[Tony A]

Meat;43271 wrote:
I feel so badly for the Harley riders. Poor guys. Too slow, too loud, incompetent, slow reactions, no forethought, motorcycles breaking down....

Well at least you are keeping the BMW stereotype alive:saythat:

 

[Meat]

Tony A;43291 wrote: Well at least you are keeping the BMW stereotype alive:saythat:

I can't help it.