| Author | Message | ||
     Iamike |
On the 'I love snow' thread I mentioned that it is disingenuous to complain about the noise of a snowblower ( I agree about leaf blowers though) but not be against a bike with loud pipes. The AMA has been fighting legislation around the country where communities and cities, Denver, CO, have banned aftermarket pipes. The AMA feels that it is discriminatory to ban loud motorcycle pipes and not cars and trucks also. I like the sound of a bike rumbling down the road. A nice v-twin much more than a screaming IL-4. But so many bikes are obnoxiously loud and it pisses off much of the non-riding public. When we were visiting Eureka Springs, AR, a local pub asked bikers to tone it down due to neighbor complaints of the bikers reving their engines in the parking lot. The neighbors wanted to shut the pub down. So is it worth compromising the rights of motorcyclists by expressing our right to have as loud of a bike as we can make it? I bring this up because I am also an off-road rider and the noise is one of the things that the anti-offroad crowd uses to get us banned. At what point do we say "enough is enough" and try to control our own? | ||
| Spiderman |
I have soooo been enjoying my S2 with the quiet pipe on it! I enjoy the hell out of my KT on my S1. It is mellow at idle has a decent ruble puttin around town and on the freeway at 70 or below but above 80 or flat out on the dragstrip it is loud. If a snow blower had a nice low idle like a IL4 or a V-twin I would be fine with it but they, specially 2 strokes, are always pinned! They sound like a bunch of 250s at the track! And the Bikes that have drags that sound, at idle, like my S1 flat out, around town, HAVE TO GO!! | ||
| Ulynut |
I hate all the extra noise. Whether it comes from a motorcycle, car stereo, whatever, it's unnecesary. What? Your R1 isn't fast enough for city riding and you need to upgrade the exhaust? Hell, my Uly is too fast for city riding. Cut the nonsense. Enough allready with the freeking pipes. If you get a ticket for an obnoxiously loud bike, suck it up. Then fix the freeking thing. Don't cry about it. Because all you're doing is making freeking noise in the first place. Most of these blockheads can't ride their bike in stock form, let alone a hot-rodded version of it. Then you get the weekend badasses on their butt jewelry Harleys who rev the motor for no apparent reason other than to get the attention of someone...ANYONE! Look at me! Look at me! I'm an a$$wipe! Now the jackhole just woke up someones baby and they're gonna call in a complaint...which they should...and the cops are gonna be looking out for any motorcycles they can give a ticket to. Do the asshats really need to wake me up on a worknight? Do loud pipes really save lives? The answer is no. God help these cro-mags if I ever become a cop. Sorry about the rant. I feel better now. | ||
| Spiderman |
Looks like that rant has been waiting to come out  | ||
| Ulynut |
It has. I have a house down the street that's rented out by 3 guys. All with liter bikes. All with obnoxious pipes. They have friends who ride, all with extremely loud pipes. And up the street the other direction, there's the typical bar-hopping, drag pipe, 1% wannabe punks- 3 of them, who seem to be in a big butthole contest with each other who can wake me up the most times in one night. I'm damn near homicidal at this point. | ||
| Bads1 |
Bars that are surrounded or near homes have issues regardless of loud pipes. I have the situation at The Boiler Room. I have a sign out back That reads.... DON'T CRACK YOUR PIPES.... RESPECT OUR NEIGHBORS. Thing is they do for the most part. Its the late crowd however that doesn't. Young gun punks that leave the place that have yell and make noise. Breaking a bottle or two in the lot. Then get in there cars/trucks and show how cool they are doing a burnout. Now this can be weekly for us. Mix immaturity and liquid stupid and thats what you get. | ||
| Dfishman |
The bad thing about the law that does not allow aftermarket pipes is how do you replace the rusted out exhaust on an older bike.Aftermarket does not mean loud in all cases.It would suck to HAVE to use stock pipes on all bikes.Even with drag pipes a little throttle control keeps the noise at a decent level. | ||
| Spiderman |
I'm damn near homicidal at this point. Two things, Karen Carpenter and a Loud PA system | ||
| Niceguyeddy |
Where is your bar bads? WS right? I make a lot of abc WS runs, would be fun to stop in. | ||
| Bads1 |
Racine.... I'd a imagine some will make a run there during Homecoming. | ||
| Ulynut |
Thanks Spidy. I think I'll kill myself now.  | ||
| Niceguyeddy |
Ahh, I needed a destination for my usual June road trip. Thanks...been meaning to stop at Hal's to say hi to Bud anyway. I may have to ask the question again in 3-4 months. | ||
| Doughnut |
Bads? The fish happy again? | ||
| Bads1 |
Yep!! | ||
| Spiderman |
Thanks Spidy. I think I'll kill myself now. Problem solved | ||
| Doz |
I just ordered some "quiet baffles" for my vance & hines pipes, decided long ago to do this..before the whole "fag" south park thing. I totally agree that loud pipes for the sake of being loud is totally gay. A nice rumble is good and wot is fine. But constant Dbl's is tiring. Hell I already have hearing loss (and constant ringing) from job related exposure. Must be getting old, just about everything annoys me these days. | ||
| Swampy |
A chick playing drums? Something is just not right about that...I don't care if she IS Karen Carpenter | ||
| Mountainstorm |
I'm guilty as charged. All my bikes have loud pipes. X-1 has the gutted Buell race header and can, 1125r has the HMF, Blast has the Buell Pro exhaust. Sometimes I wish I could flip a valve lever and have a quiet exhaust...but only sometimes. Then again I live in the country with no immediate neighbors and usually ride country backroads, not urban side streets. I guess I am still childish about it but part of making any vehicle "mine" is altering the sonic signature. Even my truck has a cold air intake which makes a helluva sound WOT. I want my vehicle to sound a certain way. It's part of the pleasure of riding/driving/owning one. Then again I don't want to aggravate all my neighbors...just the ones I don't like...it's a hard choice  | ||
| Froggy |
The main reason I haven't put a pipe on my 1125's yet is because I haven't found one that is quieter than the somehow legal stock pipe. I currently have a Micron on my XB, and occasionally feel its too loud. As a curiosity to my neighbors I end up shutting it off down the the road and pushing it. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I just don't see the point in needing earplugs to ride. Maybe it's too many years doing concert audio for a living...but I'm on the verge of pulling the Drummer off my Uly and going back to stock. It's just too much, especially on longer rides. Granted, I do have the Buell Race cans on both my tubers...but they're not nearly as drone-y, and none of them are as bad as a drag pipe. I reallyreallyREALLY like my nice, peaceful, bone-stock CR. I agree - we should have the right to make our bikes "ours", and that includes the sound...but I don't think a dB limit would be a bad thing at all. Growl is nice; bleeding eardrums is just pointless. | ||
| Mountainstorm |
I am starting to get to that POV. When I still had the stock exhaust on the 1125r I'd find myself a lot more relaxed and more into the ride than when I was blatting around on the X-1 on the same roads. But I also have an incurable urge to tinker with stuff. Hence the HMF, de-Noid etc... So to that end I am repainting the OEM muffler with POR-15 Black Velvet and I may very well swap it back in. I just think it needs turn outs to keep the wheel cleaner. I'll still have the X-1 when I want to be a butthole biker. And just remembered this...the very night I installed the HMF I got a speeding ticket. Coincidence? Same road I travelled at even higher speed with the stock can...could be loud pipes are LEO magnets. Who'd a thunk it?  (Message edited by Mountainstorm on February 08, 2010) | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Rat, The earplug thing isn't just for exhaust, it's for wind noise too. My hearing is completely going to hell from wind noise. Both from riding motorcycles and from an open window in the car. The sound pressure levels that can be generated is impressive. It's all low freq stuff that can do real damage without you even knowing it. I wear earplugs all the time now. Riding, snowblowing (lots of that these days), lawnmowing, etc. I ust them in the garage when using air tools, routers, saws, etc. I wish I had started using them 20 years ago. Might not have the tinitus I have now. I gotta go answer the door, I hear it ringing......  Brad | ||
| 12x9sl |
My wife and I just both got new bikes and I think we are probably going to leave both stock. Her '03 Lightning has the race kit on it and so does my '06 Uly, but I put a Drummer SS on it last year, so I have the choice of two pipes. This spring when I sell the Uly, I think I'm going to give the buyer a choice of the two and sell the other one. I'm deaf enough and would rather not irritate my neighbors more than I have to. Having said that, the Drummer and race can (especially on the wife's 9) both sound wicked cool. I guess I'm getting old  . | ||
| 12x9sl |
+1 on the tinitus and earplugs. My wife laughs at me when I'm helping her clean the house and I'm wearing earplugs when I vacuum. | ||
| Koz5150 |
I modified my Wiley Co. exhaust on my 2002 M2 so that it only utilizes 1/3rd of the packing by welding a straight pipe inside. It sounds pretty normal around town unless I lay into it. After a rejet, it picked up a few ponies also. | ||
| 86129squids |
I've got an old 77 Shovel, with straight pipes. Found that the level of noise can be almost completely controlled by my throttle hand. Almost. Growing up I had a VW Superbeetle with a stinger on it. Figured out how to get into the neighborhood late nite from the highway, gas it down a short hill, then kill the ignition and coast home silently. (Kept the peace with the neighbors that way, maintained my stealthy punk status too.) +1, earplugs. They have many more uses than most peeps realize. As a bartender I found that I can hear BETTER with earplugs in than not. Also back in my clubbing days, could talk to/listen to friends/hot chicks better with earplugs. I have come to appreciate the "Loud Pipes Save Lives" sentiment, what with the increase of idiots talking/texting/tweeting/jacking off on their cel phones while driving. Most fags with loud pipes are just that. IL4 or Hd, you name it, you should be aware and respectful for what it takes to keep the peace. Otherwise, I'd just as soon kick your ass for being loud. | ||
| Spiderman |
idiots talking/texting/tweeting/jacking off on their cel phones while driving. I find this the only great thing about the pipe on the S1 On the freeway I will get on the side, drop a gear and pace them. Now I know the cell could be being used for an emergency or a quick call and that is understandable! But the teenager with their knee on the wheel and laughing etc, need a wake up... | ||
| Mountainstorm |
Maybe a pipe that comes up like a Semi-Truck Stack with a turnout at ear level to the motorists windows would be the cure | ||
| Ratbuell |
"Loud pipes save lives"? It's called situational awareness. You have to pay enough attention for yourself, and the moron yakking on the phone in the SUV, and the idiot behind him in the out-of-state Honda f'king with the GPS. It's tiring...but it's worth a whole lot more than just a loud exhaust. Because...it helps you ALL the time, not just when other cars are around. We're smaller, more powerful, and more maneuverable than just about any cage we'll ever see on these roads. Use THOSE for safety, not noise. What if the idiot with the GPS is deaf? And how good is the sound deadening in a new Mercedes, really? For that matter, how good is it in a freakin' Dodge? Or a Chevy? Carmakers are ISOLATING drivers on purpose, so they can "enjoy the driving experience" more. And, I guess, wreck more cars because they don't know what's going on around them, so they keep buying new ones. Yes, I like the sound of my aftermarket pipes (for the most part; see above about my Uly). But...I put them on for performance reasons, and because I like the sound. Not for "safety". "Loud pipes save lives" is a cop-out by people too lazy to pay attention, who just want to make noise and get attention. Change it for performance; fess up to just "liking the sound". But don't hide behind the safety excuse. | ||
| Whatever |
The open road. The wind on my face. I’ll go from city to city. Vroom Vroom Vrooom. Everyone looking at me. They’d be like, who’s that guy? He must be tough! Vroom Vroom. I’ll have my girl on my back seat holding onto my fat belly. Sure she may be missing some teeth, but she thinks I’m cool. That’s why when I grow up, I’m gonna be a Harley rider. -Butters  |
