The Shame Among Us
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But Fred, M-80s are illegal. 
Seriously though, I have to agree with you. Maybe its the whole age/wisdom equation, I don't know.
10 years ago I owned an IronHead Sportster with 2" straights and I made sure everyone knew it every chance I got.
This past weekend, I'm crankin up the road on my V92C w/stage I turnouts (factory) and I start to think to myself "man, these things are loud as hell". Yesterday, I was shopping the internet for a new set of muffs.
I think alot of it has to do with the gargantuan size of these modern V-Twins. Used to be Harley was king of the hill with the 1340 and such. Nowadays, if it ain't over 1500, it never gets off the drawing board.
You put a set of 2.5" shorties on a 120" S&S V-Twin and you are gonna rattle windows for blocks, no doubt about it.
I think a little common sense could go along way to fixing this issue. If not, these towns in Florida are going to be at the top of a growing list. For a collection of people that are already scrutinized for everything we do, we can't afford that kind of attention.
The problem is, getting these folks to hear what you're saying
Seriously though, I have to agree with you. Maybe its the whole age/wisdom equation, I don't know.
10 years ago I owned an IronHead Sportster with 2" straights and I made sure everyone knew it every chance I got.
This past weekend, I'm crankin up the road on my V92C w/stage I turnouts (factory) and I start to think to myself "man, these things are loud as hell". Yesterday, I was shopping the internet for a new set of muffs.
I think alot of it has to do with the gargantuan size of these modern V-Twins. Used to be Harley was king of the hill with the 1340 and such. Nowadays, if it ain't over 1500, it never gets off the drawing board.
You put a set of 2.5" shorties on a 120" S&S V-Twin and you are gonna rattle windows for blocks, no doubt about it.
I think a little common sense could go along way to fixing this issue. If not, these towns in Florida are going to be at the top of a growing list. For a collection of people that are already scrutinized for everything we do, we can't afford that kind of attention.
The problem is, getting these folks to hear what you're saying
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194 Posts
I believe he was just using a figure of speach.
I must agree. No one like being woken up at 3am by some harley with straight pipe. The jerk down my street can not ride home without making the last block to his drive at W.O.T. - a harley like that doesn't go that fast in just a block. If you are that jerk - take a hint before I put a potato in those pipes.
When racing the 999 on Tourist Trophy I find myself using the "look back" button often just so I can hear that thing booming in my living room.
For those of you without a PS2, pick one up just for Tourist Trophy. Addicting and surprisingly helped my riding.
Saturday was 490 miles of tire shreading bliss. Did one of the best loops in the world, CA 120, 395, 108.
For those of you without a PS2, pick one up just for Tourist Trophy. Addicting and surprisingly helped my riding.
Saturday was 490 miles of tire shreading bliss. Did one of the best loops in the world, CA 120, 395, 108.
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2,331 Posts
2 weeks ago, at 2am, I was sleeping peacefully. I awoke to the absolutely loudest motorcycle exhaust I have ever heard. This guy was blasting down the road at full throttle... waking myself and countless other children, elderly, and young married couples. It was then that I realized that all motorcyclists are NOT in this thing together. Selfishness!!!
I can understand why the author would be angry at the bikers in his story. They were just jerks.
However, I am somewhat hesitant to say "we should not allow loud pipes". The thing is, what one person considers "loud" another person considers "not so loud". Regulations should mandate a specific decibel level at a specific distance. It should not be a subjective standard.
Incidentally, some of these pipes are just stupid to have on your bike. Yeah you want it to be louder than a car, but "volume" and "coolness" are not synonyms. I could take the muffler off of my 2000 Ford Taurus, and it would be damn loud. But that would make me a jackass, not a badass.
However, I am somewhat hesitant to say "we should not allow loud pipes". The thing is, what one person considers "loud" another person considers "not so loud". Regulations should mandate a specific decibel level at a specific distance. It should not be a subjective standard.
Incidentally, some of these pipes are just stupid to have on your bike. Yeah you want it to be louder than a car, but "volume" and "coolness" are not synonyms. I could take the muffler off of my 2000 Ford Taurus, and it would be damn loud. But that would make me a jackass, not a badass.
Where are the cops and why aren't they enforcing the existing noise abatement laws on a per case basis? Like so many other quality of life issues today the existing traffic anti-noise codes are not being enforced, which may eventually lead, as well, to wholesale punishment of those who are not in violation at all, thru outright bans or whatever. Even the military abandoned group punishment back in the '60s (known then as Company punishment), recognizing that it was fundamentally unConstitutional and counter-productive to good order. We've got hundreds of thousands of cops across the country. Again, where are they? What are they doing? Isn't their primary venue still essentially traffic control? Guess they're otherwise occupied or unable to see or hear the offenders. Bizarre! Never had this problem when I was on the job.
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911 Posts
You nailed it right on the head Fred!
All these insecure, immature jerks are going to ruin it for the rest of us, and it has nothing to do with youth, most of the loud pipe $hitheads are over 40 re-entry riders, and they are the ones who crash and burn on the weekends too.
All these insecure, immature jerks are going to ruin it for the rest of us, and it has nothing to do with youth, most of the loud pipe $hitheads are over 40 re-entry riders, and they are the ones who crash and burn on the weekends too.
Loud Pipes Externalize Costs - Tax 'em!
I won't argue that cruiser riders get some enjoyment from their loud pipes-- it must be a powerful feeling making all that noise.
The problem is their enjoyment comes at a cost to the rest of us, motorcyclist and non-motorcyclist alike.
When other motorcyclists subject me to their deafening racket so they can enjoy themselves, they're externalizing the cost of their enjoyment on me-- and they're not compensating me for it.
A great way to get those folks to internalize the costs is to institute a dB tax-- let's say $100/dB/year. That means that every time you double the volume of your pipes over to stock, you're going to pony up $300.
That way you can enjoy those lifesaving loud pipes if you pay for them.
I'm a lifelong motorcyclist, and I've lost sleep and been forced to sleep with earplugs in because of loud pipes. Unfortunately, loud pipes are favored by folks that probably won't be sticking around in the sport long enough to see the effects of their handiwork.
Since I'll probably be riding for the rest of my life, these loud pipe enthusiasts are going to be sticking me with the bill.
Hey, MO, how about a review of the DL650?!? What, not enough SV650 fans around here for you guys?
I won't argue that cruiser riders get some enjoyment from their loud pipes-- it must be a powerful feeling making all that noise.
The problem is their enjoyment comes at a cost to the rest of us, motorcyclist and non-motorcyclist alike.
When other motorcyclists subject me to their deafening racket so they can enjoy themselves, they're externalizing the cost of their enjoyment on me-- and they're not compensating me for it.
A great way to get those folks to internalize the costs is to institute a dB tax-- let's say $100/dB/year. That means that every time you double the volume of your pipes over to stock, you're going to pony up $300.
That way you can enjoy those lifesaving loud pipes if you pay for them.
I'm a lifelong motorcyclist, and I've lost sleep and been forced to sleep with earplugs in because of loud pipes. Unfortunately, loud pipes are favored by folks that probably won't be sticking around in the sport long enough to see the effects of their handiwork.
Since I'll probably be riding for the rest of my life, these loud pipe enthusiasts are going to be sticking me with the bill.
Hey, MO, how about a review of the DL650?!? What, not enough SV650 fans around here for you guys?
Re: The Blame Among Us
So you have the cops direct bikers off the highway and over to a sound meter on a tripod. If they make noise over the legal limit the cops give them a ticket. The second time they are caught with a loud bike they walk home. Problem solved. State deficit solved. Sparrows return to Capistrano.
Write the govna if the sound bothers you.
So you have the cops direct bikers off the highway and over to a sound meter on a tripod. If they make noise over the legal limit the cops give them a ticket. The second time they are caught with a loud bike they walk home. Problem solved. State deficit solved. Sparrows return to Capistrano.
Write the govna if the sound bothers you.
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9 Posts
Can't help it, gotta chime in here: So is Fred too good for us now that he's eating in a nice restaurant? Are these bikers not allowed to enjoy the same beautiful day? That's the feel I'm getting from his down-the-nose slanted article - "Oh, the injustice of it all!" - Get used to it! There are plenty of injustices to pick from, there are plenty of unenforced laws to pick from, but what does Fred whine about? Less than one minute of distraction.
For the record, I agree that loud pipes are stupid and don't save anything, and the worst offenders of noise restrictions will eventually hurt all of us - but hey, we knew that before Fred dialed 1-800-922-2224.
For the record, I agree that loud pipes are stupid and don't save anything, and the worst offenders of noise restrictions will eventually hurt all of us - but hey, we knew that before Fred dialed 1-800-922-2224.
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11,481 Posts
Y'know - spuds are only like $5 for a 10-lb bag. Use several, stacked one-atop another, atop another, atop another..........
He'll probably get the hint then, you think?
He'll probably get the hint then, you think?
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