MY RSV isn't exactly quiet, but I don't start it up early in the morning or late in the evening and I trundle through residential areas on the tiniest amount of throttle I can. There is a two wheeled agricultural scrapheap (AKA Harley) that lives nearby and his open pipes have woken our daughter up on numerous occasions, there really is no need for it. The scrawny little knuckle draggers on mopeds with no baffles are possibly even more annoying as they restrict most of their activities to housing estates.
Noisy, noisy, noisy exhausts!
- Thread starter Edrof
- Start date
You sir, are a credit to your two-wheeled chums. I wish everyone was as considerate as you.
As for the loud mopeds, that tinny cacophany - is that because they've altered their exhausts, too, or are they naturally that way?
Standard 2-stroke engined mopeds can be a bit buzzy, but normally quite muted. The first thing a 16 year old will typically do is remove the baffles or fit a "performance" tuned pipe to de-restrict it, and the racket they then make is particularly obnoxious, especially when they are doing laps of a housing estate for what seems like hours.
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- 12 Dec 2006
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my bike has really noisey leo vince exhaust, the other day i was even pulled over by the police on the motorway as he thought my exhaust was too loud. Although after testing,with his meter was found to be within limits and it also has EU markings on. (shock seems as though i had the baffles out lol 
)
so i would say to be over the limit the noise would have to be window shattering.
)so i would say to be over the limit the noise would have to be window shattering.
Soldato
Personally I think these are the worst offenders, 3 or 4 passed me the other day (all with those stupid 'performance' pipes) and the noise was horrific, so high pitched and loud that it actually hurt my ears. My CBR600f has a scorpion can and isn't exactly quiet but I don't ride like a **** through residential areas and I never use it early in the morning/late at night.
Soldato
I hate loud car exhausts a hell of a lot more than bike exhausts. At least bikes zip through the revs whereas cars (especially cahvs in 1.1 Saxos) take an age to get to the redline with a dull, tedious drone coming from heir exhaust.
Soldato
Associate
loud pipes save lives
Associate
I think they have there place on sports bikes but not 50cc bikes.
A very clichéd expression, and I doubt it's validity. I'm willing to bet defensive riding skills can save an awful lot more lives than noisy exhausts.
Are they mutually exclusive though? If not then there is still an argument that a loud exhaust can help, it's not a replacement for good riding or anything else but frankly when riding on the road every little helps,
I know it's hardly a scientific experiment but when I've gone from bikes with aftermarket cans to stock bikes I do feel you get more incidents, especially in bad weather, of cars not noticing you, mostly during lane changes.
But then they still do that on a bike with loud exhausts, just it 'seems' less, and like the first bit I'll take everything I can.
Plus the popping/banging on overrun is fun
Man of Honour
you not a biker then ?
tbh, everything to get you noticed (even a loud pipe) is a extra layer of defence.. and we need all the help we can
i rode a stock 2010 blade the other day, sounded like a sewing machine and no-one in traffic heard me coming. great if I was on a stealth mission over libya... but not so good in rush hour
you don't need to be crazy loud (not harley straight through drain pipe loud), but having a quite pipe is imo lethal... and thats taken from 25 years biking every day.
op need to man up a little and enjoy the sound of our mechanical marvels
, if you don't like it, well tough if you don't like it, well tough
Sorry but it's this kind of attitude that ensures a lot of people continue to hate bikes and bikers. I get mightily pee'd off with stupidly loud bikes at unsociable hours, there is a time and place for this.
Loud exhausts may help other road users to notice you, but in the same way that headlamps and dayglow vests don't stop car drivers doing stupid things you certainly can't rely on a loud exhaust to keep you safe. Riding skill and experience is far and away the most important factor in staying alive.
Thanks, I'll tell that to my 20 month-old daughter when she's crying
Also, are car drivers unable to discern where a biker is because they over-take a lot and don't stay centrally in their lane much? Cars are quiet but it's easy to know where they are because they almost always 'behave' within expected parameters. Don't know if I've explained that clearly
That, and car drivers nothing to use mirrors. I swear you could remove cars wing mirrors, and half of them wouldn't even notice. This is a prime example of when a loud can does save lives, because they can hear when you're next to them, or coming up from behind.
I think you'd have a hard job finding a motorcyclist who 'relies' on their exhaust to keep them safe. I think what the proponents would argue is that it helps. Ie - if you were to ban them, motorcycling would get a little bit more dangerous. Similarly, given the choice between being liked or being safer, I'd choose safer every time.
Thanks, I'll tell that to my 20 month-old daughter when she's crying
Also, are car drivers unable to discern where a biker is because they over-take a lot and don't stay centrally in their lane much? Cars are quiet but it's easy to know where they are because they almost always 'behave' within expected parameters. Don't know if I've explained that clearly
If car drivers aren't able to discern where a biker is by using their eyes and ears, there's something very wrong somewhere.
Associate
There is no doubting the fact that a loud can is safer than a quiet one.
We've all blipped the throttle when the driver of the car in front doesn't appear to have seen us, haven't we? I know for a fact its saved my skin on several occasions.
We've all blipped the throttle when the driver of the car in front doesn't appear to have seen us, haven't we? I know for a fact its saved my skin on several occasions.
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Soldato
in certain circumstances I can see that a loud can may alert a driver to a motorcycles presence. However due to the fact that the exhaust(s) and therefore the majority of noise is focused to the side of but mostly to the rear of the bike, I can't see that "because it makes car drivers aware of my presence" being a justifiable excuse to annoy / upset pedestrians and home owners that live on busy biker roads. Perhaps the increasing number of bikes with excessively loud exhausts upsetting people has something to do with the increasing number of car drivers that seem less inclined to let me filter past them to the point of actively pulling over to the right to block my progress.
I'd also like to throw into the mix that riding with an illegal exhaust potentally voids your insurance as your vehicle is not road legal.
I've ridden with illegal exhausts before but since I started to see how this effects kids and therefore their parents view of bikers I have stopped. The last time I was knocked off my bike (3 years ago) I had a race can on my Speed Triple, so from my experience loud exhausts dont prevent accidents.
I'd also like to throw into the mix that riding with an illegal exhaust potentally voids your insurance as your vehicle is not road legal.
I've ridden with illegal exhausts before but since I started to see how this effects kids and therefore their parents view of bikers I have stopped. The last time I was knocked off my bike (3 years ago) I had a race can on my Speed Triple, so from my experience loud exhausts dont prevent accidents.