kevin -loud pipes ruin lives  January 24, 2011 07:31 PM
Loud Pipes Ruin Lives

The street motorcycle riders with loud need to know that loud pipes ruin lives. They believe they are protecting themselves from the careless automobiles. The majority of accidents would not benefit from additional noise by installing illegal exhaust systems.

Safety for most bike riders is a big concern I am sympathetic; those that cite the myth “loud pipes save lives” are mistaken and often disingenuous. These same riders are the ones that wear asphalt colored clothing and helmets designed by Kaiser Wilhelm. Perhaps some yellow or orange clothing or a helmet designed to protect your head and eyes would vastly improve motorcycle safety. The advantages of motorcycles safety are agility and an unobstructed visibility position. You will notice the LPSL crowd ride motorcycles that have low slug seats, long front forks and high handle bars. You just lost any agility or visibility gains from riding a motorcycle. But alas straight pipes are the safety claim for the white liners concerned about driving 6 inches from your mirrors. White lining is not legal in any of the 50 states; yes California it is not legal to lane share/white line.

Accidents with bikers are caused by a lack of visibility from crossing traffic. If your straight pipes were facing forward like a siren on emergency vehicles, here is an opportunity to improve safety. Next time you hear an emergency vehicle’s siren listen for the low-pitched rumble coming from their exhaust system to warn you of their coming. Rather high-pitched wail aimed forward might get you a modicum of safety benefit. When you hear the next emergency vehicle’s siren wailing see how long it takes before you can tell from which direction the siren is approaching your vehicle. You will likely see the lights before you determine the audible source of the noise. Driving is a vision activity hence the eye tests at DMV and not hearing.

For those that think the loud pipes improve the performance of your motorcycles is being sold an expensive bill of goods. Losing 15 pounds would improve the performance of your bikes far greater than the extra $750 for the Thundering Fart Pipe Package. Harley Davidson motorcycles believe it or not many decades ago were fondly know as the Gray Silent One. Oh how I long for those days to return. Just admit your sole purpose of annoying the general public is to garner attention to your customized road bike. Let me speak for the masses; WE DON’T LIKE YOUR PIPES. Get your lard ass off the bike and buy a loud pickup truck; you will be much safer. Be sure to buy some straight pipes and the boom audio gear and some really loud mud tires so you don’t lose any of the attention you so dearly need.

I love the look of a finely crafty road bike but interesting chrome pipes need not lack a muffler or baffles to reduce the din. As I was writing this piece, I was thinking that the male dominated egomaniac was the center of this trouble. Soon after this thought, I was watching a couple cruise by the office window with the woman rider with straight pipes just farting her way down the road and her riding partner with mufflers. I was concerned one weekend making a very loud racket with a finish sander. With my ear plugs inserted and the sander running full tilt I could still hear your pipes, are you getting the message yet!

I have come to the conclusion that the loud pipes stimulate the “fight or flight” reflex at these really high decibel levels in addition to permanent hearing damage. Many of the riders seem to goose their loud machines like a junky needing an additional fix. Many riders with loud pipes wear earplugs, thank you for sharing the need to wear earplugs inside my home… Driving any car or motorcycle is a privilege and not a right. Riding a loud bike is not a right. It will be my privilege to destroy your sport and punish the violators of 80db.

What can we do as bikers and non-bikers to reverse this trend of ever-louder bikes, boom cars and excessive loud trucks and cars? Call your local sheriff and police department and ask them why they do not enforce the exhaust and noise laws of the city. The EPA mandates stamped pipes that match the brand and model motorcycle. Most aftermarket pipes are stamped right on the pipes “For off-road use only”. I have asked several officers why they do not site offenders of the law and a few have told me they do not have decibel meters in their cruisers. This is a bit of a red herring as code 27-150 is an EPA violation that does not require the bike to be running. I would like to encourage the public to treat the loud bikers the same way they are treating you…give them the finger. Flipping the bird at loud pipes will let these folks know it is not OK and that your attention is not admiration but disgust.

If the neighborhood biker likes to wake the neighborhood at 6:00 AM every day, I think you may wish to send him an anonymous note that his rude behavior will not be accepted. Follow that action up with a request to you local Police Department to come to your neighborhood for a cup of coffee a 6:00 AM to site the noise polluter with a fine and fix-it ticket. Call your local assemblyperson, senator, mayor and police chief and stress the quality of life issues that are diminished as a result of this juvenile un-neighborly behavior. Let your fellow riders know they are not welcome to ride along with their loud bike. Inform the ignorant that loud pipes will create a very serious backlash from folks like me that are fed up with your selfish and inconsiderate behavior.

I am taking up the quest to help reduce the noise pollution caused by the large number of bikes that are modified against the laws of our country.

Nick -Noise!  July 17, 2010 02:10 PM
CANT STAND the noise from the motorcycles or the car alarms they set off!

TG -The Republic of Californistan  July 1, 2010 10:36 AM
California - please stop passing these laws. You are forcing your D-Bags to move elsewhere. We prefer you keep them. Signed, Concerned PacNW Resident.

Tasmanian Weevil -Time to print out some EPA labels  June 30, 2010 01:43 PM
I think it should be mighty easy to print out, or weld on some EPA labels that look convincing once we know the final design. The only way that'll work is if they're numbered in some trackable way...otherwise print away.

Ducman -Parade of fools  June 30, 2010 11:08 AM
You may like toys, but your attitude and presumably, behavior, is selfish and obnoxious. I have called the Highway Patrol, to complain about straight pipes, but have not seen any reduction in the number of cruisers insisting in making an ungodly amount of noise. It would be great if your neighbors would cut off the mufflers from their cars, and serenade you with their "music". I bet you wouldn't hesitate to call the cops yourself. Your attitude illustrates the f__you, in-your-face attitude that alienates the cruiser crowd from a lot of long time motorcyclists.

Ducman -It's about time  June 30, 2010 10:18 AM
Thanks a lot cruiser crowd, you are ruining the sport for the rest of us. Instead of behaving responsibly, and using reasonably muffled aftermarket pipes, many cruiser types exhibit obnoxious, unreasonable noise-making. What is unreasonable? Try this: 1. Setting-off car alarms as they drive by. 2. Causing little kids to cry. 3. Making so much noise they can be clearly heard over a mile away (I live about 1.2 miles from the freeway, and I hear them all the time. 4. Pissing off the general public so much that when introduced as a motorcyclist, I always say "I'm not one of those Harley types with the straight pipes - they really piss me off too." I have aftermarket pipes on my bikes, but they are well muffled, and I ride respectfully. However, I would clearly give them up, and the right to use them if that is the only way to get those OBNOXIOUS STRAIGHT PIPES off the cruisers.