Do loud pipes save lives?

[sax4blues]

My thought would be the loud pipes really only become noticeable above the regular traffic sound floor during hard acceleration. So if the rider is rapidly accelerating through regular traffic it could be a key to average drivers that one vehicle is going much faster than traffic flow.

But if the rider is accelerating and cruising within the average traffic flow the pipes will probably not be notably louder than all the other cars and heavy trucks.

So you would need loud pipes AND aggressive riding to save a life. Or possibly just ride safe n sane, which might also save your life.

[Boubou]

Originally Posted by BobbyZ

So do loud pipes save lives?

Nice try, but no

Sent from my iPad using TDPRI

[telleutelleme]

FACT - Loud pipes are not designed as a safety item or they would come stock. They don't because there is no science supporting them as such. I've ridden since I was 10 years old. Not once in hundreds of thousands of riding miles have loud pipes been as beneficial as being aware of my surroundings and wearing proper gear. I do ride a Harley and I do have after market pipes, but I'm not going to justify them by crying safety. I try to be aware of noise polution and ride where they are accepted. I also don't sit in my driveway cracking the throttle to see who I can wake up. For V-Twin technology; which is old technology, they help with horsepower and in a tunnel they sound good, that's their only purpose.

[chippertheripper]

The moral of the story: loud pipes by themselves do not save lives.
Staying out of that cell phone drivers blind spot, wearing the appropriate (and god forbid high viz) gear for the CRASH (helmets included), and rider skills training DOES.

[TheRumRunner]

Originally Posted by adifferentbreed

It must be overgeneralize/insult/argue/troll week here. I'm so glad people can discount others actual experiences from the safety of their computer chair....geez.

So tell us your first hand experience of how loud pipes saved your hide.

DW

[Paul in Colorado]

According to AAA, loud pipes DON'T save lives. If I can find the article or a link, I'll post it. It was a study printed in the Colorado AAA magazine a year or so ago.

But I agree, can we turn down EVERYTHING just a notch or two? (Don't get me started on boom cars...)

[Big Dawg]

Well, I have a set of loud pipes along with an air horn that will peel the paint off a car at 100'. If you cannot see an 800lb. motorcycle with 3 big lights and a windshield as big as a barn door coming at you, I doubt NO pipes would make much difference. I pay to use the road same as everyone else. My belief is all 'SUV's' should be banned. You cannot see around those things anytime. And it's mostly women with a load of screaming kids while she is on her cell phone that I stay away from. If I can't pass them, I find a place to relax and let them get on down the road.

[adifferentbreed]

Why? It'll be discounted like everyone else's. Everyone has an opinion it seems, and most of them it seems,have no real experience.

[Big Dawg]

I got my first Harley when I was 14. I am almost 62 now. I have ridden in every state in the lower 48 and some in Canada.

I think that qualifies as some experience.

[chippertheripper]

Originally Posted by adifferentbreed

Why? It'll be discounted like everyone else's. Everyone has an opinion it seems, and most of them it seems,have no real experience.

I want t hear what you have to say. I'll get to my credentials later.

[Freejack]

Got mine when i was 15. Ridden in all lower 48, all rideable Canadian provinces and territories, Alaska and Greece. Ridden standards, Harley's and sportbikes. I did have loud pies on my second Harley. I did get it for the increased sound though and not because it saves lives.

Carl

[adifferentbreed]

I said most, but take it how ya want to. I have worked in several HD dealerships, and until I retired had my Master of Technology, as well as working at 2 privately owned custom shops. I've done the lower 48 as well, over 1 million miles and had 3 accidents, none my fault. In the last one a woman u turned me in a corner on a stock 83 bagger, her excuse...she didn't see or HEAR me. So far the generalizations on here are ridiculous, some don't like them fine, are some people with loud bites jerks, absolutely, are some giving themselves a little extra safety...percieved or not, absolutely. There is no correct answer as it's subjective. This just seems to be another troll thread that is more and more prevelant on here these days.

[Skully]

Someone should put them on electric cars also. Those things are silent. I've almost been hit in parking garages at the mall. You look and then cross and those things seem to come out of nowhere behind you!!! AND YOU NEVER HEAR THEM

My wife has complained about the silent-but-deadly nature of the electric cars after a few close encounters.

[Nick JD]

The straight pipes on my neighbour's Harley at 5am might cost a life one day. His.

Antisocial prick.

[hannigan]

Lord I hate myself (a bit for this)

I am trying to not make TV references as a personal discipline .

I will digress for a second to point out that there is a South Park episode that addresses this issue,

I must be stronger from now on.

[superchicken_VI]

Originally Posted by adifferentbreed

Why? It'll be discounted like everyone else's. Everyone has an opinion it seems, and most of them it seems,have no real experience.

Now who is discounting everyone else's experiences? We all have real experience with "loud pipes" and for the most part seem to think they're either just plain annoying or significantly less beneficial than an actual helmet rather than a brain bucket.

I'd like to cut down on all of the extraneous noise in the world, too. Loud pipes that do nothing but scream "hey look at me I'm a cool biker" seem like a better place to start than jake-brakes that keep truckers and drivers safer. In the same vein, go ahead and get rid of exhaust systems that are larger than the displacement of the engine to which they are connected (see Honda Civic with 12" tailpipe). I'd have no problem with a muffler on my lawn mower--oh yeah, it has one!

[Norton72]

Originally Posted by 64Strat

So, if we are going to pick on loud bike pipes... then I want every loud airplane (piston or jet), every obnoxious truck, no more loud concerts, all gas or diesel lawnmowers, no more loud car stereos, no more rocket launches, NOTHING! I want ALL the noise addressed. To the point that if you phart too loud, I want a ticket written to you with a big fine attached. I want the pain to be spread as far and as wide as possible. Then we'll see how everyone feels about it.

Have fun! be safe... shiny side up.

Yep.

My pipes are loudER, but not necessarily loud. They are aftermarket pipes, with baffles. I've been riding over 30 years, continuously. Many of those years my bike was my only transportation, just as it is now. I ride a lot of miles, in all kinds of weather. Countless times I have seen someone react to the sound of my pipes. They didn't turn in front of me, or they didn't pull into my lane. I have employed the throttle blipping method countless times. It's a reflexive reaction, honking the horn is not. I had an airhorn on the bike for a while, and it was quite loud, but the compressor gave out suddenly. As long as my motor is running, I'm pretty sure the throttle blip will work.

I don't think it is so much the db level that gets people's attention so much as it is the low frequency sound, which penetrates better than the high frequency of a horn. No, I'm not one of those guys that revs the motor at a redlight. Actually, I don't rev the motor at all unless the bike is in gear and I'm accelerating. I think guys that do that are annoying posers. I'm very aware of the level of sound my bike produces and I take care when riding in residential areas, through parking lots, passing horse trailers -- whatever. If you keep the RPM's down it's not really so loud.

But I don't say this to appease the haters. Whether or not loud pipes really bother you, I can see by most of the negative comments that the hate is more than pipe deep. So from one beer-gutted Hardly Davidson rider, do loud pipes save lives? I don't believe so, not at all.

BTW:

Originally Posted by superchicken_VI

I've never in my life heard a set of loud pipes while in my car driving down the road.

So you can't hear the traffic around you.

Originally Posted by superchicken_VI

In fact I think that they make the motorcyclist less likely to be able to hear traffic around them because of all of the noise they're generating. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if they cause more crashes because of that.

Reconcile this please.

[Colo Springs E]

No, but they're quite irritating, and those with them should be ticketed.

[chippertheripper]

Originally Posted by adifferentbreed

I said most, but take it how ya want to. I have worked in several HD dealerships, and until I retired had my Master of Technology, as well as working at 2 privately owned custom shops. I've done the lower 48 as well, over 1 million miles and had 3 accidents, none my fault. In the last one a woman u turned me in a corner on a stock 83 bagger, her excuse...she didn't see or HEAR me. So far the generalizations on here are ridiculous, some don't like them fine, are some people with loud bites jerks, absolutely, are some giving themselves a little extra safety...percieved or not, absolutely. There is no correct answer as it's subjective. This just seems to be another troll thread that is more and more prevelant on here these days.

Thanks for sharing.

[scantron81]

NO. Matter of fact, I think the dude around the corner with his flaming green chopper might lose his life if he keeps riding by our bedroom window blasting his straight pipes at 6am one more time. It's hard enough to get our baby to sleep and then deal with this jerk off riding down our residential side street blasting his pipes. I'm thinking about taping a JC Whitney catalog to his seat with the baffle inserts highlighted.
I've never had loud pipes on any of my bikes. What's saved me time and again was being aware of my surroundings and actively and offensively driving rather than trying to be cool, bleating my pipes and handing one arm off my bike. Someone mentioned modifying the horn. It makes much more sense than pulling all the baffling out of your pipes.