[alanheng]

I can't blame them for proposing this, but I don't agree with banning them out right.



It may currently be our freedom to modify our bike however we choose (to a certain extent) but there are some of us out there that abuse this freedom to the extent that we infringe upon the space (sound space) of others without any due curtosy.



A possible compromise might be that you can not have pipes or stereos above 80 db past 10pm in residential neighborhoods, or something of the like.



This is an example of "if we don't regulate ourselves, others will impose regulations on us."



My friend has a Muzzy exhaust on his FZR, and it's so loud that none of his (our) peers will ride behind him. It's just excessive, and discourteous that he rides his bike with this loud pipe in populated areas.

 

[Shaft]

You don't seem to understand that if we give them an inch, they'll take a mile. We can't back off AT ALL or we may end up loosing a lot more than just our rights to have "loud pipes that save lives".

 

[static]

Be responsible to local and motorcyling community

I would agree with you except that when I am trying to sleep, watch a movie at home, read a book, etc., I really don't feel like hearing loud-ass harleys rumbling by several blocks away. If it is louder than a semi, then it is too loud. (I think the same of race exhaust on sportbikes)

The problem isn't the exhausts themselves, since most pipes will happily emit only a low roar if babied. The problem is the riders who think that it's okay to rev the motor to redline in neutral at a stop light.

I have kept my exhaust stock because for the particular bike i have, a jet kit and airbox mod have smoothed out flat spots, I like having driveability at the expense of top end horsepower. I also like my neighbors, and they like me. Since I am a member of my living community as well as a member of a community of motorcyclists, I don't find the myself at odds with the idea of my neighborhood (or anyone else's) wanting a little peace and quiet.

Perhaps banning the modification of the exhaust isn't the answer, but better measurement of the sound levels are.

There is also a difference between the "outlaw image" and the "annoying prick image." Understanding that may be the key to self-governing our community. When someone blats their pipes, tell them they are an ******* instead of saying, "Cool!" Why? Because they are assholes, not just to me in the political sense, but because they think that owning a motorcycle gives them the right to harass their larger community.

In all honesty, in five years of riding, I have yet to meet a nice guy that likes to show off loud pipes in communities. They are not the people I want associated with me. Unfortunately, every time that I mention that I am a rider to non-motorcyclists, the loud pipe issue seems to come up. (2nd after a helmet talk). Though I have no defense of those who don't where helmets, most people are satisfied that I wear one. The pipe issue won't go away, even though I ride a bandit 600 with stock exhaust.

I do agree that additional laws should not be put on the books, but dB levels probably should be enforced.

 

[alanheng]

Shaft, in a world without compromises no one is happy.



If your wife wants a new kitchen, and you want a new motorcycle, but neither of you are willing to budge, chances are one of you will be sleeping on the couch, and both of you will be unhappy.



In an ideal world, there would be no compromises; but in the real world, EVERYBODY makes compromises.



I'm willing to compromise. If I want to own a bike that's louder than 80 db, I won't rev past 5,000 rpm when riding past populated parks, schools, churches... and I won't ride in residential areas past 10 pm or before 8 am. If I don't like that, then I can just put my stock pipe back on and ride whenever I want.

 

[hola]

want to sleep, have a quiet evening...

BAN DOGS !!!!!

Yeah, the BAN the fooking dogs. If you happen to have the bad luck to live surrounded by azzholes. Not only barking during the day but at night as well, and they do not have to be too close either. Some can be heard several houses away. No wonder why there are serial killers. Good thing I moved before becoming one.

And while at that, BAN kids in the morning too. Yes, I have been woken up by noisy fooking brats in the morning too. I certainly have cared to be quiet with my race pipe for the early morning ride, but nooooo.... the fooking kids and their parents do not give a fook.

Or what about that neighbor (or the gardener) with the lawn mower, weed cutter etc. Now that is fooking noise pollution!!! What is done about that !!!! NADA !!!

In 38 years I have YET to woken up by a motorcycle, any motorcycle (and that includes obnoxious HD badazz wannabees). I have hardly been disturbed by the occasional brat revving his pathetic 600 roadwreck with an open V&H. But i could not count the times i have been annoyed, disturbed, awakened and simply put up with other obnoxious and some truly loud noises.

 

[schipwreck]

I dunno. Take away the open pipes, and these pathetic, insecure losers will have to find some other way to call attention to their infantile selves. Belt buckles the size of trash-can lids (up from the current TV-dinner-tray size)? Playing a continuous loop of the word "poopy"? Riding naked wearing oversize prosthetic genitals? One shudders to think of the alternatives.

 

[Loudpipes]

Harlies and sportbikers

Personally, Harlies are worse than sportbikes, because they sound bad. I mean, they are just so much LOUDER than a sportbike, even a GSXR at

12 000 RPM. They are also more ANNOYING. They don't sound "musical" like sportbikes do, i dunno it's just annoying. But up here in Canada, there aren't too many bikers anyway, at least not for much of the year (2 cold). But the thing that wakes me up is the annoying Honda Preludes that have been lowered and have a hole in the exhaust deliberately, or just simply a slip-on larger tip. Those guys for some reason only come out at night at bug the hell out of me! There are more Honda Civics making noise out there than all the CBRs put together. Why doesn't the gov't go after them?

Seems to me that motorcyclists are an easy target.

PS: My name is just a name, that's all~

 

[10440]

OT a little: dogs and motorcycles

Amen. Ditto. You got that right. Yeehah.

I ride both motorcycles and bicycles (did triathlons for ten years), and

by FAR the worst I've ever been hurt on either has been the result of

tangling with dogs while I was on a pedalbike.

A well-trained, well-adjusted dog is a boon companion, a friend, and

a sure way to lower blood pressure.

An unrestrained dog (physically or sonically) will make you nutso enough

to eat nails and s**t chain-link fence.

One of my favorite m/c stories ever comes from my dad, who in the early 50s

rode a 61-inch knucklehead for year-round transport in the sleepy little southern

Illinois metropolis of...Metropolis ("Superman's Home Town!"). There was a

pack of strays that harassed him daily on his commute through the agricultural

countryside until he got proactive about it. He tied one end of a 10-ft. rope to the

back of the bike, to the other end, a big burlap sack. Then he trolled slowly by the roadside

ditch where the dogs lay in ambush. When they darted out, he tossed the sack

and sped up a little. After a couple of the mongrels snapped at the sack and hooked

their canine teeth in the loose weave of that tough fabric, he romped down and dragged

them for a few hundred yards before cutting the rope.

They didn't bother him any more.

If anybody from PETA is lurking, just kidding, I made this all up...

 

[ERUPTION]

The biggest thing that everyone has to worry about is Invasion Of Privacy.

The Supreme Court has upheld this rule time and time again.

In short: If you do something 'unreasonably' loud to disturb someone in their private residence, then you are invading their privacy (I don't want to argue the 'unreasonable' point here... it is very subjective).

Noise ordinances are usually rock hard cases against someone that rides through a neighborhood with straight pipes.

The track's neighbors will eventually try to pull this trick out of their hat and shut the raceway down.

However, the track has probably been there for a while, and the people probably bought their homes knowing of the facilty's proximity.

I have never heard of any old ladies shutting down a major airport either.

This case could end up being a big problem for other facilities around the US if the neighbors win their case. Suburban encroachment can put legitimate raceway owners out of business.

 

[jackbird]

A Loud Motorcycle is a Safer Motorcycle

There is a certain pleasure, very childish I'm sure, that I get from riding my Harley up hills in Frisco and because I have to open the throttle a bit to go uphill, the exhaust note becomes loud enough to set off car alarms as I drive past.

It sounds like the Keystone Kops after me. Forgive me for enjoying that, but I do.

My only possible plaint against my XX is that it is so very quiet, although it's nice hearing birdies sing as I ride.

 

[30217]

Noise regulations

If you're one of the riders relying on the sound of your exhaust to "save your life" then you need a little more training. I ride not only recreationally but for a living (red lights, siren, etc) and have never heard first or second hand stories of a driver saying "I'm glad I heard your exhaust or I would have hit you." I consider motorcyclists with obnoxiously loud pipes just as much of a hazard as a driver with headphones on...neither of them will hear what they need to hear to be safe, such as horns, screeching tires, or sirens. So modify your bikes all you want but we're bringing this all on ourselves.

 

[FalcoSC]

I actually live about 3 miles from the racetrack, and it's only been there about 18 months. I can hear the race traffic at about the same level as truck and harley traffic on the highway 1/2 mile from me.

 

[schipwreck]

Re: A Loud Motorcycle is a Safer Motorcycle

>There is a certain pleasure, very

>childish I'm sure,

Yes, very.

>Forgive me for enjoying that, but

>I do.

Forgive you for deriving pleasure from doing something that irritates an entire neighborhood? Ummmm, no.

Forgive me for saying that you are a selfish .

 

[StregaVFR]

Anyone who has ever heard a piped VFR knows the mechanical music of the 180degree V4. There should be a law against stock pipes on these bikes



What I find really annoying are the monster subbed car stereos, now there's something to be banned!



99 VFR800R (loud but not obnoxiously so)

 

[elizilla]

Re: Be responsible to local and motorcyling community

Maybe if they start enforcing some of the existing noise laws, then some decent pipes might become available to those of us who want to enhance performance without making an enemy of everyone within a half mile of our ride route?

As it is, all the available pipes are designed mainly to make the bikes louder, and the "performance" label is slapped on as an afterthought, a wink and a nod to the law.

Some of us are more interested in performance and less interested in making everyone look at us. It would be nice if we could get some attention from the manufacturers, pull their focus away from those noisy jerks who are out there making enemies for us all.

 

[hamatsu]

Ignorance is bliss.

I bet you're the same type of guy that pisses in a wetsuit (to warm it up) while you're still standing on the deck so that everyone has to walk in it too. As opposed to jumping in the water and then doing it so that you only annoy the fish. Is that you ?

 

[NickdaBrick]

It is up to every one of us motorcyclists to seriously ask ourselves the following question:



"Am I stupid?"



If you're stupid, you will do stupid things like annoy your neighbors, wreck your bike, hurt yourself or other people, and make everyone on two wheels look bad, causing lawmakers -- many of whom are stupid -- to feel obliged to pass laws to rein you in with speed limits, helmet laws, noise regulations, etcetera. Too many stupid bikers doing too many stupid things can and will result in losing in an all-out bike ban, one that extends from open-piped Harleys and Gixxers to whisper-quiet Gold Wings. This is still more or less a democracy, meaning that if enough people get angry, they can take our motorcycles away, principles of justice notwithstanding.



So for your own sake, and for all of our sakes, PLEASE don't be stupid. No open pipes on the street, and throttle back when riding through the suburbs, especially at night.



Of course, the people who sell exhaust systems could cooperate a little by not selling open pipes in the first place.

 

[RidinDawgDoc]

Re: A Loud Motorcycle is a Safer Motorcycle

Loud Motorcycles are safer. That is in a longterm sense. After all the immature, overgrown adolescent riders with loud bikes cost the rest of us progressively more rights to ride, there will be fewer riders thus fewer accidents. Thanks guys for saving us all!

 

[deanmass]

This stuff really burns me up, because in my 'hood', nearly every damn day I get to listen to the goddam weedwackers, leaf blowers, lawn mowers, chipper f-ing shredders, etc. which HAVE to be damn near or louder than a moto-cross bike. If they ban loud bikes I want them to ban all these stupid lawn things....AHHHHHH!

 

[alanheng]

deanmass, I agree with you; but the opposition would quip that weedwackers, leaf blowers, and lawn mowers serve a productive and useful role.



They would counter that race pipes or drag pipes on motorcycles serve no useful role outside of a race track. Few people run weedwackers for their pleasure, but most riders run race pipes only for pleasure.



The main fault of many Americans today is that we're just plain inconsiderate. We commit actions without really thinking about how others would be affected. I would jest that if everyone thought and cared about the other guys before they did something, we would all be less angry in general.