I am still new at the street bike game but I have been observant of cyclists for a long time. Both engine powered and leg powered with me being one of the later and a dirt bike rider.

I have often read the loud pipe debate with interest, trying to put together the "scientific" facts on the issue (that comes from being a science teacher). You all know the issues. If you like loud pipes because you like loud pipes, I guess that is fine and you don't need any justification. I don't care for them because they are...well...loud. But I don't like seafood either...so what?

I have come to some personal conclusions. You are welcome to yours.

Louder pipes might help save lives. (How's that for riding the fence?)

My observation from a couple of nights ago.

I was driving home after dark down a well travelled six lane street. Traffic was relatively light. I was trying to watch the truck in front of me since it was my son's and we had just put enough coolant in it to limp home. That means I really wasn't watching my rearview mirrors very well (mind you I would have paid attention if I had to change lanes. I one of those hopeless defensive drivers.). As we drove along I heard a motorcycle off to my right rear. A distinctive low grumble. I looked over my shoulder and saw the Harley coming on by.

I filed this away in the, "Hey, I did hear him back there," file and kept on driving and watching the coolant stream out of my son's truck.

In just a few moments I "heard" a metric off of my right rear. You know, the kind of higher pitch whine. It wasn't very decernable but I picked it up, even with the radio on.

I filed this away in the, "Hey, I heard it but it would have been so easy to miss under different conditions," file.


So my conclusion is...Louder pipes may help drivers hear you as you pass. No guarantees but it might help. Would even louder pipes be better? I don't know. I figure there is a trade off in every situation. If the metric would have been one of those stealth bikes that you swear isn't even running as it goes by, I would have never heard it. If I was the typical driver I could have very easily pulled over into his lane. Even being as defensive as I am, I could have had a lapse, as we all do, and pulled over. By hearing both bikes, I was aware someone was there.

I'll stick with my relatively tame pipes, they are loud enough for me, loud enough for folks to hear me, and they won't get the neighbors ticked off at me.

Too each his own. Just an observation.

Trog

 

Loud Pipes' Cost: Harley-Davidson Tries to Quiet Motorcycle Noise
In a message posted on the Harley-Davidson website, CEO Jim McCaslin asks riders to recognize and consider the consequences of loud exhaust pipes. With this step, Harley returns to the forefront in addressing the issue of motorcycle noise. By Art Friedman.

n a message entitled "Something We Never Want to Lose" on his company's website, Harley-Davidson Motor Company President and CEO Jim McCaslin tackles the issue of motorcycle noise and the increasing backlash motorcycling is experiencing as the result of loud pipes. Citing a four-fold increase in negative media coverage during the last decade, bans on motorcycles in some communities, attempts to curtail major motorcycle events, anti-tamper legislation, and other limitations of freedom for motorcyclists as the result of complaints about loud pipes, McCaslin says, "We all, every Hog lovin' one of us, must do everything we can to protect our sport and keep it as strong as it is today."

In other words, it's time to pipe down.

This is the second stage of Harley-Davidson's campaign against loud exhaust pipes. Its initial effort last year was directed at and through dealers, with posters and literature that attempted to educate dealers and riders about the negative consequences of loud pipes. Harley-Davidson spokesman Paul James also told Motorcycle Cruiser that during the next few months Harley will cease shipments to dealers of racing exhaust systems that can be fitted to street models. We could no longer find any racing exhaust systems listed on the company's accessory website. However, Harley-Davidson still offers dozens of accessory exhaust systems that are street-legal (and therefore acceptably quiet), including for use in California.

Industry concern over the problem of loud exhaust pipes is nothing new. The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) has long warned riders that attitudes shaped by complaints about loud pipes frequently compromise the AMA's efforts to battle anti-motorcycling legislation and regulation. That same concern was echoed by the Motorcycle Riders Foundation a few years ago when it adopted the AMA's stance against loud pipes. The Motorcycle Industry Council has conducted anti-noise campaigns for over 30 years.

These days, the loud motorcycle you hear roaring past is likely to be a modified Harley-Davidson. This is somewhat ironic because Harley was among the first motorcycle makers to tackle exhaust noise a century ago. In the early days of internal-combustion vehicles, many vehicles were annoyingly loud as delivered, but the threat of anti-motor-vehicle legislation soon had automakers fitting mufflers to their vehicles. As McCaslin's message points out, quieting motorcycle exhaust pipes posed greater difficulties because there is no room for a bulky muffler on a bike. However, Harley engineered an effective silencer, and the resulting bike became known as The Silent Gray fellow. Its relative quiet contributed to its reputation as an elegant, advanced machine and helped distinguish Harley-Davidson Motor Company from dozens of rival American motorcycle makers.

Changing to an aftermarket exhaust system has become almost a knee-jerk reaction for many cruiser buyers. However, unless labeled as meeting federal and state standards, all of these exhaust systems are illegal and virtually all are illegally loud. There are exceptions, such as systems offered by Harley that meet requirements for all 50 states or all states except California. Exhaust pipes are changed for a variety of reasons. One is the search for performance improvements, although, as McCaslin and the AMA point out, not all deliver—and some increase power in a portion of the power band while reducing it in others. Some motorcycle owners change exhaust pipes to personalize the appearance. And many who modify their bikes' exhaust systems simply want the noise, often for vanity's sake. Some mot

 

but i very much agree with "troglodyte"

that many times being "heard" has made a positive difference.

often times when I am approaching a cars blind spot (which I try to quickly to get out of)
I will often either give it more gas or left off the gas so iI get a change in pitch of the motorcycle pipes
and I often notice the driver looking in their mirror or passengers noticing me.

Lod pipes do save lives.

Spoken by a guy driving a sporty with nice sounding hooker pipes!

ALSO REMEMBER
"Loud pipes save lives...............Jesus saves souls!"

.

 

Good anecdote. A lot of talk goes around about loud pipes saving lives, along with the opposite opinion that you can only hear the ones in front of you, so this was interesting.

With all evidence one way or another aside, probably the most valid point I've heard anyone make on this subject is that the noise irritates non-riders and these are the people that vote for the guvmint to step in.

My Harley is fairly quiet, although not stock, and my Indian is louder than I'd like it, but I don't particularly want either of them taken away by do-gooders who see them as nothing more than disturbers of the peace.

I don't know the answer to the problem, but I can guess as to the eventual outcome. Most people don't ride. Fact of life. Most people don't care about things they don't do, unless those things irritate them, and then they get all self-righteous and complain. This complaining, whether valid or not, gets politicians to take notice. When only 10% of the voters actually ride and have any idea what the issue really is, the other 90% are quick to jump on board the banning bandwagon.

I like the sound of a well-noised Harley, so I'm not taking a position one way or another, other than to say it's not us that will ultimately make the call. A little self-policing would help our cause a lot, but it ain't gonna happen, so I'd guess that one day soon there'll be some strict enforcement and outright bans that will do the job for us...

 

I think as a rider loud pipes is to each person ideas, I know Calif has laws about your pipes, but a lot of people complain the loudest about the bikes, How about these kids with the boom box cars why they go by my truck moves, or I can hear them in my house, I guess it to everyone ideas of what the consider ok, I have a loud pipe, SEII, other friend bike make mind sound quiet my 2 cents

 

Good write-up Loud pipe and helmets saves lives.

 

Not to be overlooked but as a ebay addict I see numerous people advertise their bikes as "Louder than a harley"

These are the people who, in love for the throaty sound, modify their Honda's, Kawasaki's and Yamaha's to be
much louder than mine.

,

 

I have always thought that loud pipes saved lives also. Now that is a pretty general statement but IMHO, if having louder pipes keeps someone from turning in front of me, then they have done their job.

I had V&H's longshots and no baffles on my 99 FXSTB and I chuckled to myself every time I saw someone look at me with disgust as I scooted by.

The operative words are... THEY LOOKED AT ME...

The true answer may never be known...[sm=icon_blah.gif]

 

I think a distinction needs to be made between a reasonable aftermarket pipe, like the SEII, V&H or Reinharts being operated responsibly, and someone cranking on a bike running straight drag pipes with no baffles in a populated area. Now personally, I like the sound of a good motorcycle exhaust. Not everyone shares that feeling. Since most of us live in a community, with other people, a degree of reason needs to be used to prevent problems. Like Gramma said, moderation is the key.

 

I can't imagine riding all these years in NYC and the Metro area without loud pipes.
Light's help, a helmet helps, a loud horn helps, but nothing has worked to grab the attention of the cagers as well as a set reasonably LOUD pipes.