Do loud pipes save lives?

The pipes on both of my KTM are louder than I want them to be at the moment as they both need to be repacked, but while that is the case I certainly have not noticed any occasion where any drivers seemed to see me as a result.

I too have developed a strong hatred for the cruiser crowd who felt it necessary to blip their throttles constantly and wake me up at night regularly when I lived downtown St. John's. Definitely just asshole behaviour

The only thing that happens to me when I get about a half a mile behind one of these sonic warriors is I start to check my bike for things starting to fall off. It's really just annoying.

And everyone here knows that even a loud aftermarket can on a euro or nippon machine sounds like a sewing machine compared to straight pipes on a 1200+ CC V-Twin. So even though they too are obnoxious, let's not try to obfuscate the sonic pollution dispersed by these pigs.

They don't put loud pipes on their bikes for safety...its for self centered attention. The safety argument is just trying to justify the loud pipes. 90% of the danger to a rider is in front 90% of the sound is going to the rear....so your only alerting the drivers behind you that your there...

Maybe maybe not. I entered on to the interstate a while back. Needed to move one more lane over and pick up speed. Some cat on a v-twin of some sort with loud pipes was beside me. I could hear him but not see him as he was in my blind spot. I turned my turn signal on and he sped up and moved ahead and I started easing over while glancing back just in time to see somebody on a Kawa nomad with quite pipes had moved in to my blind spot. The kawa wasnt as enthusiastic in his moving forward until I crowded him.

So had the kawa had loud pipes I would have known he was there, but on the other hand if the other bike had not been deafeningly loud I wouldnt have fixated on getting him by me before moving over.

Me I run stock pipes, been stuck with a group of bikes with loud pipes and on a 2 or 3 day trip it sucks. The loud pipes thing isnt strictly a cruiser thing, I've heard sport riders laughing how they can roll thru a parking lot and chop the throttle and set off car alarms on their 600's.

I was looking through a Areostich catalog on the crapper, and saw they had 1/2 a page of air horns. I didn't know they marketed to the Harley crowd.

But now your talking about behavior not loud…<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

Dont ride traffic much I guess.

One of my beliefs is the Baby Boomers fucked up America. They spread the Asian flu, bought up everything Chinese they could. Men know ask their wives permission. The American male is neutered. I'd become Muslin, but I don't want to give up pork and porn.

It used to be you could hear a hotrod, men liked the sound, now they are afraid their wives will hear it.

I find if I want to ride to more then just a bar, I have to.

As far a life saving motorcycle stuff for me it probably would be 1-Helmet 2-Modern disc breaks 3- decent riding position

So when a look at me attention whore on an old style curser with no helmet, wearing dark colors, feet kicked up on hwy pegs, talks about "loud pipes save lives" ? yeah whatever..

On the hwy and in traffic in side a moving car I really never even hear load pipes mixed in with the other noise of hundreds of cars and trucks, it just blends into the rest of the noise and makes it louder.
The only time I really hear them is blipping the throttle at stoplights, as I take a nice summer walk down the sidewalk, as I eat on the restaurant patio.

Seems to me the "loud pipes save lives" is more of a political slogan against noise ordinances.

Yes there are studies that state the obvious that exhaust faces backward but you know damn well when a big V-Twin is near you. You feel it as much as hear it.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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The same studies mention that no matter how loud and bright the EV is, the inattentive driver doesn't notice them so why bother huh?<o></o>
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Additionally, too quiet can be harmful. On my work site, golf carts have run over people who don't notice them and step into the path of one sneaking up behind them. You see the same thing getting noticed in the electric car industry as shown by a previous poster. Some noise is a good thing depending on the ambient environment. <o></o>
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It all boils down to obnoxiously loud and we all seem to have a different threshold for what that is which is why legislation is necessary. I am dumbfounded why the AMA proposal on how "quiet" should be enforced isn't embraced. Using a tool to indisputably measure volume seems pretty damn easy if you hear something loud go flying by and it doesn't single out any particular group.<o></o>
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But like I said... if the AMA or any other sanctioning body really wanted to lead by example we would hear nothing but hum when we went to the races they sanction. But they are as interested in making money by entertaining the crowd with displays of skill and "power" just as much as any other business. Paradigms are hard to break.<o></o>
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It's easy to enforce with current laws, it just isn't done and we keep getting numb nuts in the legislature that try to come up with really indirect ways to enforce "quiet" but it&#8217;s only aimed at motorcycles&#8230;. <o></o>
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So I call bullshit on most of it.

Do I think they save lives, dont know dont care, are they anoying sometimes, but i like the way they sound and look on my Duece. its not a look at me thing either. I dont blip my throttle at the light (its not a old two stroke with a constant need to clean the plugs off) however have I propbably blipped at a light maybe but probably did it with everybike that i have owntd, Jesus: these people who worry about this are the same dudes who DVR'd the Royal Wedding, are against smoking in bars, and are for gun control and love seat belt laws and helmet laws, For these people dont listen to music over 20 dbi, dont go to concerts, boo hoo.

This debate is like all others.

Some folks want to do what they want, when they want, how they want, and think they are above the law and the conventions of decent behavior.

Some folks think any act of individuality, any behavior that isn't conventional or anything less than religious observation of every rule and law is an act of a selfish pig.

I fabricated an exhaust for my bike, it is louder than stock, but it isn't "loud". I was out for a ride with my lab Taffy, we stopped at a state park for some play time. A large group of cyclists we had passed also stopped while we were there, several cyclists came over to pet Taffy, something about a dog in a sidecar attracts people. after the usual questions and "how cute' comments I asked if anybody thought my bike was too loud. Several answered no and one person said it is louder than average, "but it isn't obnoxious like those Harleys".

Around here I'll guess Cruisers account for 60% of loud bikes and the rest sport bikes, but the prejudice against "Harleys" is legitimate and there for a reason.
There may be just as many stupid loud sport bikes but they are making their noise out on some twisty back road pretending to be some racing hero.
The cruiser crowd is making their noise in big groups, in town where there is lots of other people, looking for validation and attention.

Sometimes it isn't what you do, but how and where you do it. The other thing is judgment, there is a big difference between louder than stock, and stupid obnoxious loud.

hated the loud exhaust on my triumph, loved the weight/heat reduction, just way to loud. Never saw an increase in safety. We should change the saying to "loud pipes are annoying, but could save a small number of lives".

The main question is do they save lives, possibly.

Side debate, the question is where is the line between you do not have the right to bother me, versus you have to put up with some annoyances living in a society.

I live out of town, cause I don't like people. I do still live on a busy road. So I put ear plugs in when I nap or the OL snores.


For the record my bikes are medium. Fatcat and V&H, both with baffles, but not quite. I also had glasspacks on my camaro and 78 F-150.

We are becoming sterile.

Airhorns do a good job of getting someones attention. I dont have room for airhorns but I'd fucking find a place on my KLR if I could.

I agree about air horns, though they do require action on your part. You need to know that guy is thinking about coming in your lane.

While I do agree the noise is behind them, I did notice when I walked out to my mailbox today, I could hear on coming traffic.:eek1

Nah... Haven't you been reading? Sound only goes in the direction it's pointed.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Here's what I think:

Loud exhaust pipes can alert drivers that there is a motorcycle in the vicinity. So in that sense, yes, they can save your life. However, there are several problems with loud pipes:

1. Relying on loud pipes to save your life builds complacency ("ah, they can hear me coming, I'll be fine").
2. They potentially have a greater ability to induce road rage in other drivers, especially if the rider is being an idiot and riding in a rude and unsafe way.

So, can loud pipes be a safety benefit? Maybe yes, but you should never rely on them. I had a loud exhaust system on my last bike, but only because that's they way it was when I bought it (the bike was used). If I had bought it new, I would have kept the stock exhaust pipes because I rode just as cautiously in traffic with the loud pipes as I do on my new bike, which is stock (at least I think I do), so there's no point in creating extra noise. There are much better and surer ways of staying safe than having loud pipes. Scanning the road ahead, anticipating possible trouble, learning to control the motorcycle skillfully, wearing protective gear, etc.

Some people will categorically deny any safety benefit, others will say that loud pipes are very important. As usual, it's not all black/white. Loud pipes have some safety benefits, but with major caveats.
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I don't think any one is saying to rely on them, just as they don't say that about bright colored costumes.