They don't have to be loud?

[roughwaterjohn]

I was riding through downtown Davis one hot afternoon on my recent trip, enjoying the scenery, and the joy that comes from balancing on two wheels while moving forward. As I pulled up to a stop light in the number 1 lane, I heard a female voice to my right say....

 

 

Voice: "Excuse me...."

 

(Turning my head to the right, I see a lady driving a minivan with two kids in car seats in the back. Lifting my visor, I said..)

 

Me:"Hi there"

 

Voice: "Why is your motorcycle so quiet?"

 

Me: "It's a BMW ma'am."

 

Voice: (Surprised) "You mean they don't have to be loud?"

 

Me; "No ma'am, that's a personal choice of the motorcycle owner"

 

Voice: (turning around to look at the kids in the back seat) "Look boys, it's a 'quiet' motorcycle, it's a BMW, isn't that wonderful!"

 

I couldn't see their miniature faces, but I'm sure the boys were suitably impressed.The light turns green, and we both proceed forward, both content that all is right with the world.

 

Actually.... I get this type of comment fairly frequently, something that surprised me at first.

 

[Yeeha! Stephen]

Had an episode a while back with the same results...

 

Stopped at the station for a cold drink and while there, a family with 3 small boys pulled up next to me. All jumped out and gawked at my RT.

 

Talked to the Mom and Dad some and showed the boys some of the Robo-cop things the RT does. Whirly-gig brake noises and adjustable wind screen, talking GPS, etc...

 

I was leaving when the family was returning to their car. When I started the bike, all 3 boys slapped their hands over their ears in anticipation of loud pipes saving their lives!

 

Mom pulled on one of the boys and said it was ok... that's not your Uncle Bubba's bike!

 

Ha!

 

.

[Huzband]

Interesting. Day before yesterday I went to look at a lawn tractor I found on craigslist. I was on the RT, & as I pulled into the driveway of this golf community home, I see a fat golf cart in the garage, & a very pretty Dyna. After making a deal with the gentleman, he commented on how nice my (filthy from riding in the rain) RT was. He then said "come check this out". Of course he had to light off the straight piped H-D. And whack the throttle a few times. In the garage!

 

Just to get even, I gave him an example of RideSmart at the end of his short cul-de-sac.

[rgraham]

You should start riding an electric bike. Then you'll really be quite.

[Haynes]

It's a small comment that's maybe given the kids a huge lesson in social education.

[Francois_Dumas]

Danny, people like your customer won't 'get it' in their lifetime. They have been socially maimed. :-)

[beemerman2k]

I tell people who make such comments to me that I hate loud bikes, too!

[Paul Mihalka]

The most common misconception by non-Harley people is that the loud bikes are loud by nature. I get the conversation a lot at work, a Harley/BMW dealer. I have to explain that all motorcycles are quiet from the factory. My favorite personal statement is "there are no loud motorcycles, only loud riders" .

[Peter Parts]

BMWs are just as loud as Harleys - without mufflers. The Boy Racers with Staintunes are pretty loud and rarely have made the necessary concomitant changes to their engines to get any benefit in power.... they often lose power but the noise gives the illusion of power.

 

For sure, loud pipes are an embarrassment to all of us. But there is some truth to them having a potential benefit to performance, as you can hear at race tracks.

 

Mufflers are a complex trade-off of weight, complexity, maintenance effort, esthetics, size, shape, cost, etc. and performance and loudness.

 

It is possible with some mufflers to enhance performance by trading off maintenance effort and keeping loudness from getting out of bounds (for example, the awful mess of repacking each year with proper stuff). But few aftermarket muffler users accept that trade-off and few manufacturers make it easy to do so.

 

Ben

[Huzband]

Danny, people like your customer won't 'get it' in their lifetime. They have been socially maimed. :-)

 

I know.

 

He also asked if I went on any of "the big rides". I said no, but on the way home I thought of a great answer. "Well, I rode coast to coast in forty nine hours. Is that a big ride"?

 

He was referring to the twice a year escorted charity rides here in Jax. They're obscenely slow, & there is ALWAYS at least two bikes that go down.

 

Come to think of it, if loud pipes save lives, how come they run into each other?

[Pilgrim]

Actually.... I get this type of comment fairly frequently, something that surprised me at first.

 

Back when I had my R1100RT I got the occasional comment along this line, and not from Harley riders.

 

"Wow! Reminds me of my old Evinrude!"

or

"It sounds like a sewing machine."

 

Nobody except my wife (Harley devotee to the core) ever made a comment about how quiet it was. But I don't doubt that some people thought it was nice that way.

 

Pilgrim

[upflying]

My '03 HD FLHP came with loud pipes. I had the dealer re-install the stock mufflers. I can actually hear the radio/voices/other vehicles. I also don't want to be a hypocrite when I write loud pipe awards.

 

[eddd]

Interesting. Day before yesterday I went to look at a lawn tractor I found on craigslist. I was on the RT, & as I pulled into the driveway of this golf community home, I see a fat golf cart in the garage, & a very pretty Dyna. After making a deal with the gentleman, he commented on how nice my (filthy from riding in the rain) RT was. He then said "come check this out". Of course he had to light off the straight piped H-D. And whack the throttle a few times. In the garage!

Just to get even, I gave him an example of RideSmart at the end of his short cul-de-sac.

 

 

I had the same experience when I bought my TW, only difference was I had to listen to his bike AND his wife's bike. Both had straight pipes.

[Dave39]

I'm always tempted to tell the loud pipe guys to get the thing into the John Deere dealer and get it tuned....and I will if one ever tells me my RT sounds like a sewing machine.

[MIST]

I saw this posted somewhere a long time ago....

 

"If loud pipes save lives, then why do people get hit by trains?"

 

Mike

[SuperG]

.... they often lose power but the noise gives the illusion of power.

Ben

 

So true, I am putting this in my favorite quotes file...(if you don't mind).

 

[outpost22]

I hear (pun intended) about how quiet my bikes are all of the time from friends and other drivers, particularly at gas stations.

 

Nothing is funnier than sitting at a stop light and revving an RT. No one can tell!

[HighAngleHell]

I couldn't agree more. I went on a ride with several riders one of which had a Fat Boy with straight pipes. We stopped for lunch and when getting ready to go the Fat Boy rider noticed I was putting ear plugs in. He said he was considering doing the same since he felt he was losing his hearing. He asked why I used them since my bike was so quiet. I told him I used them mostly so I didn't have to listen to bikes like his. Go figure?

[BailyD]

My Electra Glide is pretty quiet. I made certain to keep the stock pipes on. All the other Harley riders all tell me I will change them out. I know I NEVER will.

 

Don't forget to mention all the sport bikes who change out their exhausts too!

 

I too hear the comments about my work BMW at the red lights. "It's so quiet?.....Better for me to pull alongside and catch drivers texting!"

[Lone_RT_rider]

My favorite personal statement is "there are no loud motorcycles, only loud riders" .

 

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh Matt?

[Matts_12GS]

My favorite personal statement is "there are no loud motorcycles, only loud riders" .

 

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh Matt?

 

Takes one to know one baby!

[Lone_RT_rider]

My favorite personal statement is "there are no loud motorcycles, only loud riders" .

 

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh Matt?

 

Takes one to know one baby!

 

Sure does...

 

 

 

 

 

[Huzband]

Does this Roadcrafter make my RT look small?

 

 

 

 

 

[Lone_RT_rider]

I compliment your riding ability and this is the thanks I get? No Tinky Winky comment on Matt's suit?

 

 

[Huzband]

I compliment your riding ability and this is the thanks I get? No Tinky Winky comment on Matt's suit?

 

 

Hey! I gave you proper credit. 'Sides, I've long ago worn out the garbage man cracks with Matt's little uniform.

 

(P.S., don't tell anyone, but I'm hoping to make a Calvin-like appearance at BRR. We'll see. Shhh.)

[OoPEZoO]

(P.S., don't tell anyone, but I'm hoping to make a Calvin-like appearance at BRR. We'll see. Shhh.)

 

I'll keep the jumper cables handy so you can make it back to your hotel

[Huzband]

(P.S., don't tell anyone, but I'm hoping to make a Calvin-like appearance at BRR. We'll see. Shhh.)

 

I'll keep the jumper cables handy so you can make it back to your hotel

 

I'd call you an a--hole, but it's strictly verboten here. Meet me over on Adv, & I'll tell ya what I really think.

[OoPEZoO]

(P.S., don't tell anyone, but I'm hoping to make a Calvin-like appearance at BRR. We'll see. Shhh.)

 

I'll keep the jumper cables handy so you can make it back to your hotel

 

I'd call you an a--hole, but it's strictly verboten here. Meet me over on Adv, & I'll tell ya what I really think.

 

How about you meet me in Maggie Valley, and I'll buy ya some sort of pretty drink with a pink umbrella in it

[Huzband]

 

I'd call you an a--hole, but it's strictly verboten here. Meet me over on Adv, & I'll tell ya what I really think.

 

How about you meet me in Maggie Valley, and I'll buy ya some sort of pretty drink with a pink umbrella in it

 

Har-dee-har.

[russell_bynum]

The thing is...a boxer sounds like baby farts. A loud one just sounds like loud baby farts.

 

So...it makes sense for a boxer to be quiet for the same reason you don't hand a microphone to someone who's tone-deaf and ask them to sing the Star Spangled Banner.

[Quinn]

The thing is...a boxer sounds like baby farts. A loud one just sounds like loud baby farts.

 

So...it makes sense for a boxer to be quiet for the same reason you don't hand a microphone to someone who's tone-deaf and ask them to sing the Star Spangled Banner.

 

Is there any reason that a boxer would sound any different than say a Triumph Bonneville? Or any other 360 degree crank?

 

---

 

 

[RPG]

 

Come to think of it, if loud pipes save lives, how come they run into each other?

 

I've asked a similar question, "If Loud Pipes are the answer to safety, why don't they point forward?"

 

RPG

 

[James Clark]

I've asked a similar question, "If Loud Pipes are the answer to safety, why don't they point forward?"

 

RPG

 

No need. When I ran my Thunderheader, I was told I could be heard coming for miles.

 

I can say that I was never rear-ended until I removed the TH, as were two friends on stock '09/'10 baggers - one never making it home after taking delivery.

[Peter Parts]

The thing is...a boxer sounds like baby farts. A loud one just sounds like loud baby farts.

 

So...it makes sense for a boxer to be quiet for the same reason you don't hand a microphone to someone who's tone-deaf and ask them to sing the Star Spangled Banner.

 

Is there any reason that a boxer would sound any different than say a Triumph Bonneville? Or any other 360 degree crank?

 

---

 

 

I had a friend who once rode his boxer in a deserted area with the headers off. Louder than any Harley with aftermarket pipes.

 

Believe me, I am as civilized and socially conscious as any effete eastern intellectual, which I proudly am one of. But being noticed when alongside sleepy car drivers with their A/C running full blast on the highway is a serious safety benefit.

 

Some bit of loudness traded for some bit of safety seems a good trade-off. I don't believe that BMW's very quiet mufflers (till this year) are the proper trade-off.

 

Ben

 

The real problem is that you can't buy a middle loudness aftermarket muffler and few bikers (ahem, ahem) know enough about acoustics and exhaustics to do the mod themself. I started down the path of exhaust mods with Lieberman BMW race-bred mufflers from Amol Precision in Dumont, New Jersey, in 1968.

[Robus]

I see there's a serious bias against loud Harleys on this forum...why I ask myself?

 

Being a recently-reformed Harley rider, I don't mind loud pipes. But riding this beemer has reminded that I had forgotten what it is like to ride a quiet bike.

 

Funny how Harley riders take a fairly quiet stock bike and immediately work on making it louder. It turns into an arms race: "you think that's loud...well listen to this!!!"

 

Then sit one of those Harley riders on a BMW and his first thought will be, "hey, this bike is quiet...I like it." Or that was my experience.

[Paul Mihalka]

"I see there's a serious bias against loud Harleys on this forum...why I ask myself?"

 

I think we have a serious bias against any loud bike, but Harleys make up such a big percentage of loud bikes that it becomes the main subject.

[BlueTools]

Be careful what you wish for and rail against. Someday, someone will find something you do or have to be offensive and will seek to take it away from you. Loud motorcycles and SUVs do not bother me. Let them be - you don't have to be an owner or operator of one if you don't like them.

[Boffin]

Be careful what you wish for and rail against. Someday, someone will find something you do or have to be offensive and will seek to take it away from you. Loud motorcycles and SUVs do not bother me. Let them be - you don't have to be an owner or operator of one if you don't like them.

 

How many places are all motorcycles banned from because of the loud ones? Loud motorcycles bother me a lot, not only from the inescapable nuisance they cause, burt because they threaten my liberties in where I can take my motorcycle.

 

Andy

[BlueTools]

How many places are all motorcycles banned from because of the loud ones?

 

I don't know - how many do you say? Maybe some laws are stupider in the UK than in the US. If so, I understand your dismay.

[Boffin]

How many places are all motorcycles banned from because of the loud ones?

 

I don't know - how many do you say? Maybe some laws are stupider in the UK than in the US. If so, I understand your dismay.

 

The places I know of are in the US - some parkways, at least one small town - forget the details - I will look them up shortly. The list can only grow. There have been moves to ban motorcycles from national parks in the UK based on noise nuisance. If you live near a popular motorcycle route the noise is constant and inescapable - I know, I live 1/4 mile from a popular bike route - where the howl of race-can equipped sports bikes is a virtually continous background, changing our back garden from a place of peaceful retreat into an un-usable asset.

 

Andy

[BlueTools]

But being noticed when alongside sleepy car drivers with their A/C running full blast on the highway is a serious safety benefit.

 

Some bit of loudness traded for some bit of safety seems a good trade-off. I don't believe that BMW's very quiet mufflers (till this year) are the proper trade-off.

 

Thanks for this, Peter. I hope that others here will pause from their stupor of bias to consider your point. Yes, I do not appreciate loud pipes when I am walking around. But, whenever I am operating any kind of vehicle I am actually comforted to get Dopplered by a loud vehicle coming up behind me and going around me. It forces me to refocus and to watch out for my best interests and his or hers also.

[marcopolo]

Loud motorcycles and SUVs do not bother me. Let them be - you don't have to be an owner or operator of one if you don't like them.

 

That last statement would be great, if I and all who find loud pipes beyond annoying, could escape them. Unfortunately we can't. From the comments I hear from my non-riding friends and acquaintances, loud pipes (I'm talking the obnoxiously loud ones which we're all too familiar with) do more to harm the general acceptance of motorcycles than anything else I can think of.

[Ken H.]

you don't have to be an owner or operator of one if you don't like them.

No but you still have to listen to them.

 

Or more to the point – others do. And it’s the 'others', in particular non-riders, who will and are railing against them. My sig line says it all, "If you want to ride tomorrow, ride quietly today."

 

[Robus]

Rather floored to learn that a town in the UK has banned motorcycles entirely...? I don't think a municipality in the US could do that, legally. Hope I'm not wrong about that.

[dirtrider]

Hi Robus

 

Over the last few years I have seen more and more signs posted saying “no motorcycles allowed”, anything from local parks, to motel parking lots, to parking structures, to underground parking lots.

 

Is it legal for them to enforce those signs. Who knows, even if they can’t enforce the sign rule they can sure ticket the motorcycle rider for any number of other small rule infractions. Just about anything they want to write a rider for.

Sure you can hire a lawyer and go fight the ticket in their town in front of their judge. Maybe even win your case with a day off work and the lawyers fee.

 

If a town can find a way to keep loud bikes from disturbing their townsfolk then more power to them. If I have a neighbor that has a loud barking dog that bothers me they lose their dog owners rights, either through the law or to the problem being handled privately. In either case the problem disappears.

 

[Paul Mihalka]

The ocean drive in Carmel CA was closed to bikes, I don't know if it still is. Home owners associations can forbid motocycle access. My daughter lived in a apartment complex in Florida that forbade motorcycle access even to the outside parking lot. The Greenbriar Lodge in White Sulfur Springs does not permit motorcycles on it's grounds. To get in you have to use a shuttle bus. This is just a few that come to my mind.

[eddd]

Be careful what you wish for and rail against. Someday, someone will find something you do or have to be offensive and will seek to take it away from you. Loud motorcycles and SUVs do not bother me. Let them be - you don't have to be an owner or operator of one if you don't like them.

 

Just an observation.

 

Where I live there are two motorcycle events that take place on South Padre Island. These events attract thousands of motorcyclist. By far the greatest number of bikes are Harleys, some are ridden and some are trailered.

 

Many of the bikes have very loud pipes.

 

Of the many owners trailering their bikes, none are ever driving a car, truck, or RV that has a loud exhaust.

[Jazzy]

Yeah. That 17 mile drive around Carmel is banned. Lake Nacimento, CA is also banned where you have to park by guard shack and walk in if you show up on a bike.

 

Some homeowner's associations also ban them. Almost happened here as one Harley straight-piper who leaves for work at 4:30AM had this affinity for revving it up. I was set to get evicted as well, but luckily the straight-pipe guy moved out of the neighborhood and the board chilled out and moved on to other issues like speed bumps.

 

Now CA has SB-435 on the burner that will put a smash on the aftermarket pipe guys in 2011 if it goes into law. Began as a smog check and now toned down to loud pipes only. Seems the pipes will have to have some approved metal engraving on them to be lawful in CA if it passes. I noticed the BMW cat. already does.

 

jazzy-

[Fubar]

Yesterday I was heading to the RT when the little kid getting out of the minivan next to it instinctively covered his ears when I put the key in the ignition. After I started it, his dad, trying not to laugh, pulled the kid's hands down and said "It's OK, it's not a Harley. It's quiet."

(I would have thought the lack of chrome might have clued him in a little. Plus I had a helmet on. But he was only about 4 years old.)

[Fubar]

My daughter lived in a apartment complex in Florida that forbade motorcycle access even to the outside parking lot.

Years ago, here in SRQ, FL I was looking at an apartment and was told I would have to push, PUSH my 550# bike 3 blocks from the apartment to and from the entrance each and every time I wanted to leave or come home. Surprisingly, I went elsewhere. After I stopped laughing.