Loud pipes...

[B12Teuton]

are starting to piss me off!

Every time one of my kids takes a nap, one of my neighbors roars by on a Harley with loud pipes and scares the hell out of them.
It just happened again.  10:20am, my son's been naping for all of 20 minutes and now he's sitting in his crib screaming because some A-hole sat at the intersection blipping the throttle on his Hog and then went thundering off with all his 63hp.
 

WTF!?!?!?

[PaulVS]

Amazing that we even bother worrying about how loud our Holeshot or Yosh slip-ons are... when those M-F'ers are riding around on Hardley-Ablesons with straight pipes.

My house is only 20 miles from downtown Chicago, and backs up to a main street that leads to several miles of nice roads through forest preserves.  So I hear those pukes every day on their iron-butt rides.  (Which on a Hardley is about 20 minutes.)

And of course they have to blip the throttle frequently to remind us that they have 1 undersized personal body part.

The nice thing is that now the weather is down below 70 degrees... I see and hear NO Hardleys.  I was out yesterday for a couple hour ride and saw tons of jap/german bikes... but only one HD.   I guess the bandana crowd just can't handle a 65 degree day.

Of course they're a lot tougher hombres than us, right?  

[PeteSC]

Videotape the moron, and see if there's any local ordinances about noise.  If not, see if you can get one started.

   It's like people have no common sense or courtesy anymore.  Whether it's some idiot on a loud bike, or some moron standing in the street at 3 am, blowing the horn because he's too lazy to walk to the door to ring the bell to get his carpooler out of the house....or the Jerk who's gonna blast you with 200db of distortion at every redlight........or the dork screaming into a cellphone in the grocery checkout line, 1 foot away from you.
  "It's all about ME, screw you....."

[Vidrazor]

If it happens regularly, see if you can get your neighbors involved. Multiple eyes can help identify the suspect better (unless you already know who it is). I'm sure you're not the only one who's annoyed by this guy.

Not all Harley riders are arrested development, but of course it's easy to spot the obvious. I was on the side of the road once, adding some extra clothing under my jacket, when a guy on a Harley pulled over and asked if I was OK. I said yeah and thanked him and he pulled off. His Harley did not have loud pipes. This guy was "normal", even if he did ride a Harley.  

So I take Harley guys one at a time. It's not just Harley guys either. It's more of a cruiser crowd thing, there's other loud bikes and they're not Harleys. Hondas, Yamaha, Suzuki, etc. To me, the bad Harley/cruiser guys and the holier-than-thou sport bikers are the ones who give motorcycling a bad name. Sport bikes can get annoyingly loud too.

I was pulling out of a parking lot on my B4 (with a stock muffler), and a little girl sitting in a parked SUV put her fingers in her ears in anticipation of the worst. I felt embarassed, even though I knew my bike isn't loud. Obviously she's in an environment where one or more sport bikers are making a lot of noise.

Where there's smoke, there's fire, and it's harder to put out the fire. The loud bikers are the smoke, the companies who make the loud mufflers and straight pipes are the fire. You have an industry that perpetuates this moron mentality. Just look through any street sportbike catalog. How do you nip that in the bud?

[PeteSC]

I actually saw a couple on a Harley wearing helmets, today, yeah they were beanies.

  (Usually see no helmet period around here...)

   Shortly after getting the holeshot pipe on my '99 1200, I was riding down a main drag at around 40-45 mph.    A couple of youngish girls were walking down the sidewalk in the direction I was going.
  I was probably in 3 or 4th, trying to keep the bike quiet.  Not revving, nada stupid.  I was checking these gals out as I rolled passed them,
(turned out to be 12 or so... ) and just as I was abreast of them, they both screamed and jumped, as if the noise surprised them.
 (I had a full faced helmet on, and my face was covered, so no, it wasn't 'that'.)
  I'm still trying to figure out if they didn't hear the bike until it was almost on top of them, or what......
 At that speed, and rpm, it was probably a distinctive 'burble', but not loud.


  Sorry, there are a couple of things that 'set me off'.  One is somebody going 'vroom, vroom, vroom' for no reason.    The other is somebody going 'vroom, vroom, vroom' right after starting a cold engine.
 
  I remember one time I was at a gas station.  Some JERK on a harley pulled in next to me, under a canopy that seemed to trap the sound, sat there going 'Vroom, Vroom, vroom' for  minute, put a dollar of gas in,
(Probably a years supply) sent his girlfriend in to pay, and then went 'vroom, vroom, vroom' again for 30 seconds before leaving.
 It was PAINFULLY loud.   I pretended not to notice him, and was trying to remember if I had a gun in the pickup somewhere.
 I think the  fact I had a rice burner in the back of the pickup prompted a couple of 'vrooms'...so I guess it was my fault.

  The only good thing is, he'll probably never hear the SUV that runs him over.....


  The 'vroom' syndrome isn't confined to bikes.  A lot of 'big' truckers figure 'louder is better', also.    I was also behind an F150 the other day that rattled my teeth........

  There's just no excuse.   I'd love to see the local police get sound meters............

[B12Teuton]

Not all Harley riders are arrested development, but of course it's easy to spot the obvious.

I OWNED a Harley ten years ago.  And it was piped and jeted.  But it had a two into one Jardine system that made my Sporty look more like an XR.  It made more power than the straight pipes that were on the bike first, was a lot quieter and actually made it sound tuned!

There is no generalization to be made, but those who offend can be spotted from a mile away... not waving back as you ride past.

[mike]

When my brother bought his Roadstar, he put straight pipes on it.  
I asked if he put a jet kit in too...  
He said, nope who needs it?.  
ME "your motor thats who".  
HIM "who cares about the motor, it sounds cool is all I know, and it sets off car alarms".  

[PeteSC]

Whatcha bet he whines if he ever gets a ticket for disturbing the peace, and then starts mumbling about 'freedom' and stuff?
   It's the loud bikes, and the squidly riders, who bring laws down on all of us.   I can live with sound level enforcement, as long as they actually nail the arseholes who are making all the racket, not a stray sportbike that happens by.

[Desolation Angel]

Occasionally, on my way to work, I am passed by some dude with a jap bike that is so loud it's unbelievable.  We can be separated by literally 10 to 15 cars and he's still so loud that I can not hear wind noise in my helmet, nor my own engine.  We're going 70 and he's helmetless, of course.  Man, it blows my mind.

I can't imagine what his neighbors think of him that early in the morning (between 5:30 AM and 6:00 AM) when he fires that up!  I'd have to kill him.    

I hope everybody remembers, when you're buying new pipes, to get a set that gives you a sweet, quiet rumble, and doesn't get loud unless you really tromp on it.

[fritobandito]

For sure it's not just Harley riders. My last bike was a Honda Shadow. I frequented the hondashadow.net website and it seemed like 90% of those guys either knocked the baffles out of their mufflers, or put straight pipes on. I guess maybe it's a V-twin thing. I went of once on a guy who was ranting and raving about the magical wonders of loud pipes. I told him that if he rode past my house while we were sleeping with those loud pipes I'd have to break out the shot gun. I couldn't believe how I got railed by so many people for "complaining". I should be more "tolerant" about freedom of expression and stuff like that. Yeah, tell that to my son, who was about 2 then who you just woke up from his nap. You try getting your kid down for a good nap so you can get some rest yourself, and then have him get waken up by some complete idiot with an atitude. Then, talk to me about freedom of expression. So no, it's not just Harley riders. And, the last time I checked, Honda Shadows are jap bikes too.

[Swamp Rat]

Find out where they live and ring there door bell at 2:00 a.m. When they answer the door ask him how the Harley is running and then leave.

[ttewejnodnarb]

I've got a full exhaust system on my bike and wonder if I'm too loud sometimes...How can these guys ride with straight pipes (the kind you can hear 20 blocks away in NYC) and not be completely embarrased?  Or deaf!

[PeteSC]

Loud pipes don't save lives.  All they do is scream 'look at me, look at me, look at me!'
  Most of the idiots are so ignorant, they don't realize that when somebody in traffic is glaring at them, they probably aren't thinking 'Gee, I wish that was me on that bike...'
   It's the same  mentality as the morons with the ultra loud car stereos.
  They don't haven any common sense, or consideration of others.
   I just wish both would get pulled over, and ticketed.
  Some of them are stupid enough they'll run from the cops, crash, and kill themselves.
   You can keep most loud systems quiet enough in town, if you try.

  The residents of Myrtle Beach are sick of the loud bikes.  They wrote noise tickets during the fall bikeweeks.    The big test, will be in the bigger rallys in the spring.
  Myrtle Beach residents are so sick of the bikes, they want to ban the bikeweeks, even though it's a big source of income for the businesses in the area, and accounts for an ungodly percentage of yearly liqour sales.

[banditII]

I once pulled into the parking lot of a Quicky Mart.  I was on a BMW at the time.  I overheard some parked Harley guys muttering to each other, "yep, here come the ear plugs".  They were poking fun at the fact I wore ear-plugs.  I guess they figured only uppitty BMW guys wear ear plugs.  Actually, I've met a lot of nice Harley guys, but the extremely loud pipes are annoying.  I remember when my daughter was a baby and she was back there in her car seat, then some inconsiderate idiot would blow by rattling her ear drums and scaring her.  I tell you, if I didn't fear the law I might have assisted some of these folks in seeing things a little different.

[B6mick]

Loud pipes don't save lives.  All they do is scream 'look at me, look at me, look at me!'

Sorry Guys, gotta disagree , just by Pete's opening lines, you have just contradicted yourself , because if the loud pipes are screaming look at me, look at me, look at me, then there must be a higher chance, of Mr Moron car driver His Missers, and every other dick brain out there, actually looking and seeing you . If so then its gotta be said that loud pipes have in fact done the job, of bringing attention to you the rider. Now I dont know about you guys state side but the favorite excuse down under is "sorry mate didnt see you".
Now I aint gonna hang shyte on no one for wearing dayglow vests etc, but the whole point to wearing bright reflective dayglow gear is?.
Right to bring attention to one self for safety reasons. As a ex proffesional rider, ( city courier ) who has tried the dayglow vests, ( which in my view failed the acid test, badly, because you can dress to be seen, but you can not make the bastards look ) however the loud pipe did work.
So guys for crying out loud, build a bridge, get over it.
Its a fact, loud pipes do save lives , more so than, bright orange and yellow refective dayglow riding suits, more so than lights on at all times, yes it may in time send me deaf, but hey deafness may not as yet be curable, but I bet ya its far more curable than deadness.
Ok some of you guys like to have a beef about the local HD rider who Shytes you off, He more than likely has a low opinion of you. So bloody what, build another effen bridge, and get over that too. Does the local truckie shyte you off every morning whern he warms his rig up for 20 minutes before leaving, do the garbo's wake you at 4 am emptying ya trash cans , for gods sake, this is starting to sound like womens shyte.