Umm... because the GoldWingers are the same size (or bigger) as some Toyotas...

And for the people that thing that only people behind you hear you... I have to call Shenanigans on that one... what about the jack@ss right next to you that does not see you because he has his cellphone in his ear and his arm propped up against the window holding the phone there? He does not see you because he is not looking AND because he is blocking his view with his own arm.

I do not worry as much about the guy that is up in front of me... They are dangerous but I try to stay out of their blind spots... What worries me is the @$$hat that is next to me on the road jabbering away on his cell or whatever and starts coming right for me... I have had that happen a TON of times... Now... if I have my "loud" pipes he will KNOW that I am there without having to look. When the jerk is right next to you very often you have nowhere to go... if he is in front of you, you MAY have time to avoid. And if you are riding in a city setting people all around can hear you coming and not just the guy behind you.

I think we have reached the point where we can all agree to disagree.

My BigShot Staggered get installed on Monday... I am hoping I personally do not go deaf from having them on the bike... May even wind up getting the quiet baffles... For me it is not about breaking windows or setting off car alarms... I want my bike to be LOUDER than what it currently is... But I do not want to make people's ears bleed (including mine).

I wear a helmet...
I wear a leather jacket regardless of temperature...
I am putting "loud" pipes on my bike...

Yes... I am an evil biker. [sm=badbadbad.gif]

 

Actually I have seen stats before that show metrics in general and sport bikes in particular are far more likely to be involved in an accident than a cruiser/Harley. I actually this it was nearly 3 times more likely. Now there were no stats on what kind of pipes were involved but considering the percentage of cruisers with louder exhaust systems I think it might more than counter balance the fact that sport bikes are driven by the age group most likely to be envolved in motorvehicle accidents.

So yes there are real stats, and plenty of personal experience, that Loud Pipes Save Lives.

Although I do agree there is a point of excess. If the decibels could cause hearing damage or wake/annoy people inside a building perhaps you are a bit over the top. I know a guy who regularly sets off car alarms with his pipes. That is too much.

 

I should think the death rate for sportbikes is far more than 3 times that of cruisers. You give a 19 year old the keys to a machine that will go 180 mph and he's going to test it because he knows he is invincible. Has nothing to do with noise, just youth and inexperience.

But I also think that those who ride GW's, BMW's and the like are very experienced , and tend to rack up a lot of accident free miles without the benefit of any audio warning system. (loud pipes).

Insurance companies don't seem to put much stock in the loud=safe argument, My Harley insurance is almost twice that of the BMW--yet both bikes are about equal in value. You think that if I put drag pipes on it , they will give me a discount??

 

I think the key word in your argument is that you "think". It's just an opinion like eveyone else's in this thread. Some people like the preceived saftey from loud pipes, some people like the sound, some people find it annoying, and some don't. I don't think any of the arguments are going to change any person's mind one way or another. More so called "concerned" people might try to get stricter restrictions on them and more people might be willing to risk the added fines and penalties to run them. There's so many worse things on this planet to get your panties in a bunch over.....

 

There is no right answer to this question. What I think may or may not be loud may be very different than someone else. I would bet that the folks that use their pipes to be inconsiderate to fellow citizens is very low compared to those with straight pipes that do not. Again, what I consider loud or noisy may not be to someone else.

Those of you who think that the "loud pipes save lives" deal is BS, consider this.

Back in the summer I was riding into an area on a divided 4 lane road that was very congested, I'm riding along and hear this bike come up behind me with some of the loudest pipes that I have ever heard. I have V&H Big Shots Staggered and they are plenty loud. As he weaved his way through traffic (he was in a hurry) he came up next to me and because of the traffic he had to ride along side of me. It was loud and I was thinking to myself "how can he ride with it that loud"? We get to a red light and we do the cursory nod etc. It actually sounded really good at idle. The light changes and because we were close to the light the folks in front of us took off, so did this guy. He gets about 30 ft ahead of me, during this time this lady in her Excursion is next to me and starts to drift over into my lane. I couldn't slow up because I would have gotten plastered from behind and I couldn't speed up because she was coming over fast. I was laying on the horn and had gone as far to the left as I could, when I hear this loud whale on the guys pipes in front of me. He had seen what was going on in his mirror braked hard and as she got closer to him he rapped on his pipes which instantly woke her up. She finally realizes what is going on and jerkes back into her lane. Of course she was on her phone and didn't have a clue as to what was going on around her. That guy with his LOUD pipes probably saved my life that day. If you think the loud pipes saves lives is BS, your wrong. So if you ask me, I think its more than fine if someone has their pipes a little to loud.

 

Isn't that the truth, I wish they made an electronic device that would allow me to inject a high pitched squeel into their damned audio systems and destroy them on the spot, especially when they pull up next to me at stop lights. I'll take loud pipes anyday.

 

Ronco's Mr. Microphone?

 

I have got a device that most of the time it works to turn down the booming jungle noise. ( I don't consider it music ) It is called a horn, ( in my truck ) when I am at a light and the boom box is going next to me I look at them and lay on the horn. I just let the horn blow until the light turns green or they turn down the noise. It works most of the time. I would rather listen to the noise the horn makes than the jungle noise. Peace

 

So on a side note... what makes it jungle noise? I have never heard birds, monkeys, roars, etc blasting out of a car.

 

The noisy big bad biker said pen!s. Oh my! The commercial must have been made in Sweden.
[sm=icon_rofl.gif] [sm=icon_rofl.gif]


[sm=nono.gif] Better watch out for the thread *****. That is definitely not PC.