Do loud pipes save lives?

[BobbyZ]

Dam turned out to be an intreasting thread !

Comparing planes, lawnmowers and chainsaws to loud pipes that some dipstick paid bought to make something louder. I don't buy that. Those things are loud but thay came that way.
The old Dodge I use for work had glass packs on it when I got it. I live in town and go to work early. The first thing I did with it was take it to the muffler shop. The muffler shops main buisness is putting loud pipes on! I'm one of the few that took them off.

The whole thing is like a smoker that thinks he (or she) should be able to blow smoke anywhere. Smoke um if you got them but don't blow it my way. Heck I chew but I don't spit on the guy next to me.

[Arbiter]

Originally Posted by flathd

I have had performance cars, bikes, so I can tolerate loud pipes if they don't rattle my windows. This noise drives me nuts, but they say it sounds great eh? There has to be a future in the hearing aid business.

Holy crap.

I think I know where to put some of the ol' retirement fund. Hearing aids indeed.

[superchicken_VI]

Originally Posted by kelnet

Have you never been startled by the sound of a Harley ripping past you at full volume? I'm not talking about a motorcycle travelling at the same speed as other traffic. I'm talking about those guys who like to ride in pairs or packs and pass people on both sides of the car. If you can't hear that, get to a hearing specialist. If it has simply never happened to you, wow, that is one sleepy town.

I guess I have encountered that a few times, but I don't ever recall being startled by it. I'm normally paying attention to the cars around me and look through the windshields of cars in front of and behind me to see what's going on around. Usually when I'm startled it's more from a truck using the jake-brake when I didn't expect it, or like this afternoon when a guy in an old beater 944 squealed out of a gas station to go 40 feet and plug up traffic to turn left.

[otterhound]

My point is that only being considerate to your neighbors at home while being totally uncaring about the rest of the world is very self centered in my book . I only do wrong when I leave my own back yard and too bad for them .
Loud pipes are loud pipes regardless of make or model . Some of the baddest motorcycles that I have been around were very quiet . An example is the hushed violence of a TZ750 at full song .
My narcissism comment goes to the , I am entitled to be objectionable to the entire world as long as I sneak out of my neighborhood thing .
An exhaust system that will not pass a closed course road racing tech inspection has no place on the street in the real world .

[Freejack]

After I had my Softail for a bit, I took it in to have the Screaming Chicken slipons installed. When I got it back, the service guy said they put Screaming Chicken II slipons on instead because they didn't have any SC1's available and I'd be back to get the SCII's anyway. They were louder than I really wanted them to be but I didn't call him on it (hey, free upgrades).

When I replaced my stock pipes on my Hayabusa, I got the Power Commander III with it tuned in to the Yosh pipes. My mileage went down a few miles per gallon (52 to 46-48 highway) and my horsepower went up to 188. So fair trade-off I guess. I do like the sound and have had folks tell me it's pretty quiet.

I do want to point out that along with my helmet, I also wear ear plugs (the Wal*Mart foam 32db ones).

Carl

[flathd]

This guy deserves a really HUGE fine!!

[Mike Bruce]

Originally Posted by hannigan

Darn, I was hoping it was a bagpipe thread...

Me too!

[BiggerJohn]

I don't get it. If your car has loud exhaust, the cops will give you a ticket. OTOH, you can put straight pipes on a Hog and nothing ever happens. Why?

What is particularly irritating is at a gig when someone outside with straight pipes insists on revving the engine and drowning out the band just to be cute.

[Lostinthe50s]

Loud pipes definitely save lives. They calm me so I don't follow people home and beat them to death after they try to kill me.

[chippertheripper]

Originally Posted by otterhound

My point is that only being considerate to your neighbors at home while being totally uncaring about the rest of the world is very self centered in my book . I only do wrong when I leave my own back yard and too bad for them .
Loud pipes are loud pipes regardless of make or model . Some of the baddest motorcycles that I have been around were very quiet . An example is the hushed violence of a TZ750 at full song .
My narcissism comment goes to the , I am entitled to be objectionable to the entire world as long as I sneak out of my neighborhood thing .
An exhaust system that will not pass a closed course road racing tech inspection has no place on the street in the real world .

That bike is long gone anyways, so it's semantics at this point.
Now where can I find this tz? I need a real gp bike in my life. Even if it is old.

[Boubou]

Oh! Loud pipes
Sorry, I read lead pipes

Sent from my iPad using TDPRI

[otterhound]

Originally Posted by chippertheripper

That bike is long gone anyways, so it's semantics at this point.
Now where can I find this tz? I need a real gp bike in my life. Even if it is old.

There were many back in their day .
I never implied that this was current events .
You may see one or two running in AHRMA .
If you ever do find and obtain one , keep in mind that you need to keep the cases assembled even when the bike is down for service or the cases will warp .
Even the YZR580 that Robert's used at Daytona was eerily quiet .

[Phat-o-Caster]

Here's the Southpark episode mentioned before if you haven't seen it- I love it!

http://www.southparkstudios.com/full...e12-the-f-word

[Norton72]

Seen that before, somewhere on here I think. Funny that they say "rub rub rub rub" all the time. RUBs are anathema to bikers. Those portrayed in South Park were indeed RUBs, and I'm sure the writers intended that to be so. I bet that point is lost on most.

[AutoReverse]

RUB= rich urban biker


Like the guys in the movie Wild Hawgs. They're the guys who tend to have the loudest pipes.

[boris bubbanov]

Originally Posted by BobbyZ

So do loud pipes save lives? Or is that just what the stupid people who like them say ?

I always gave the riders the benefit of the doubt, all my life. But last year in Asheville going through a tunnel, a couple of riders really laid on it hard and just absolutely terrorized my front seat passenger in my convertible (Daisy, my pup). She wasn't herself for days and I was concerned she might jump out of the car (something she's not going to do any other way). These riders are on their own, from now on.

If a rider wants some security that comes from respect, shouldn't he be willing to show some when he can? Yeah, that's what I think, too.

[Norton72]

Originally Posted by AutoReverse

RUB= rich urban biker


Like the guys in the movie Wild Hawgs. They're the guys who tend to have the loudest pipes.

You're right of course, but there's more to it than that. Like most words of that nature, it encompasses more than that. A RUB doesn't have to be rich or urban. Nahh, I'm not going to go into it. (Just deleted some stuff.) No point in opening a new can of worms. Suffice to say, not all wealthy guys that happen to live in the city and ride are RUB's. It's just a saying, kinda like "Loud Pipes Saves Lives". It doesn't really mean what it says.

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by Phat-o-Caster

Here's the Southpark episode mentioned before if you haven't seen it- I love it!

http://www.southparkstudios.com/full...e12-the-f-word

This is what I get when I click that link!

[BobbyZ]

Nick I had the same problem with some you tube the other day. Couldn't play it in the states.
I almost drove north a few miles !

[Mekhem]

Oh Boy.... I love this topic... Fought over by motorcyclists of all types and it always includes cruiser riders teeing off on sportbike riders and vice versa. Accusations of ignorance and faulty skill levels (on both sides) and usually a reference to how motorcycle helmets restrict peripheral vision.....

Unfortunately this conversation seems to always lack statistical and scientific evidence. I do not have the gumption right now to google all the important reports here, but I suspect any amount of time on a decent Motorcycle safety forum will get all the reports you need, but these will get you started.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_safety

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Cats/li...howBy=Category

IMHO of course, but as far as I have absorbed the statistics and science of the Hurt (and later) reports:

The majority of motorcycle accidents are single vehicle accidents involving the bike/rider not being able to make the turn successfully. Causes attributed primarily to "approaching too fast or inability to turn".

The Majority of Motorcycle/Car accidents are attributed to the car moving into the motorcycle's right of way (Turning left in front of...Moving into the lane of...etc) because they did not "See" the motorcycle.

Statistically this is stated that a significant amount (+70%) of the danger to a motorcyclist is in the 10 to 2 arc in FRONT of the motorcycle and much of that can be mitigated by teaching people to: Wear highly visible colors (or ride a bright green kawi or road lights...) and teach riders how to counter-steer (turn) with the appropriate technique

(Please note: No sound issues yet, but here we go....)

The doppler effect.... Yeah it gets complicated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppler_effect

Since the exhaust pipes are aimed away from the direction of travel the physics of the sound waves come into play and renders the effect of any 'exhaust note' to be statistically negligible in 'danger arc' of the motorcyclist.

Unless those pipes are aimed forward. Then it will help. Probably. Unless they still don't see you....

Anyway. My opinion is obviously: no - they don't.

However - Loud pipes DO piss people off.

Now as long as we are chasing rainbows here, next topics should be:

600cc supersport is a good starter bike
I get too hot wearing gear
Using he front brake makes you crash