What Am I Missing?

[Ah Pook]

Loud pipes-saves lives
Helmet-hermetically sealed from all drafts and sounds
Stereo-cranking the worst of the '80s muzak-???

Help me out here. I am not a biker but do like bikes. Is this just a way of being MORE annoying? [Rant1]

[mcantar18c]

Loud pipes DO save lives.
The point of a helmet is to protect your head from things you don't want touching it. This includes asphalt, car windshields, bugs, and wind.
Radios on bikes are dumb.

[Mazin]

Live to ride
ride to live

Whip it, whip it good.

The thing about most harley riders today is that most dont grasp the true purpose to riding. Most get a bike and gear just to try to act like they can relate to the last sons of anarchy episode. They put maybe a hundred miles in that bike that they spend more time cleaning then riding and think they are super jo biker when the tow the bikes up to sturgis. I love to ride, the feeling of the bike and road few truly understand, the thought of not being able to get back on a bike hurts like hell, for few its a passion. I will attest though you are the lowest member of the food chain when your on the road, people just dont look for motorcyclist. Im all about safty but the fact is the loud pipes just are annoying i think that if you want to improve your safety on the road you need to be defensive at all times. Save your money on those loud ass pipesthat say "hey look at me im a tool", and invest in some training like the total control school or some abate classes. This is not only for harley riders but it goes for sportbike as well even more so. You can do all the performance and cosmetic upgrades you want but if you dont know how to ride safe your just another squid waiting to be windshield smudges.

[TFOGGER]

Loud pipes annoy people, but at least they notice you while being annoying. That being said, my bikes all have quiet exhaust.

If I choose to enjoy music on the bike, I have speakers in my helmet that don't interfere with my ability to hear outside sounds. Thus, I don't annoy those around me with my questionable choice in music.

[Byte Stryke]

Loud pipes DO save lives.


I had an incident a few months ago...

Loud Pipes save lives, Right up until you get some dumbfuck revving his shit outside of your window at 0230.
Then you get arrested and your Harley impounded because you wanted to be cool

That tow driver was a complete dick with his bike too.
The guy Locked his Bike when he got arrested and took his keys.
So the Tow driver laid it on its side and winched it up onto the truck... dragging it the whole way.


edit: Be careful with your "loud Pipes" as many municipalities have enacted noise ordinances and will impound your bike and cite you if you cannot "repair the condition" on the spot.

[Ronin13]

Loud pipes may save lives, but I'm tempted to plug the INSANELY Loud pipes with extra large potatoes sometimes. I can understand it's "cool" but if it's so loud that car alarms go off from 200 ft away then you're just being obnoxious.

[Mazin]

Also for godsake get that helmit off of your back seat and put it on your freaking head. Gear is the best way to help save your ass if the worse should happen. Riders in shorts, sandles and a wife beater scream "squid" to me, you dont look cool when your covered in road rash from not wearing any gear.

[Zundfolge]

What has always annoyed me is that the noise laws don't seem to apply to Harleys.

Back in my high school days I remember getting a lecture by some cop because I had headers and straight pipes on my '69 Mustang. He actually had to stop his lecture as some loud hog rode by.

I called him on his hypocrisy ... he reminded me that he was the law and I should just shut up (I was 17 so I shut up).

[Byte Stryke]

Also for godsake get that helmit off of your back seat and put it on your freaking head. Gear is the best way to help save your ass if the worse should happen. Riders in shorts, sandles and a wife beater scream "squid" to me, you dont look cool when your covered in road rash from not wearing any gear.



but it's their RIGHT to be free man...

and its your right to pay higher insurance rates for it.
If you dont believe me, go get two quotes from the same company, one in a helmet state and one in an optional state.


CO and NE are good examples.

[Mazin]

But thats the fault of stupid drivers driving up rates, when i had my last bike (yamaha r1) i paid $250.00 for the year for full coverage but a $1000 deductable. I dont want to say helmits should be manditory, my comment was simply to reflect that the proper gear will save you from very nasty injuries or death.

[Ah Pook]

Loud pipes DO save lives.
The point of a helmet is to protect your head from things you don't want touching it. This includes asphalt, car windshields, bugs, and wind.
Radios on bikes are dumb.
The humor is lost on you. [Poke]:D

Funny how this turned into a pipe thread and not a loud crappy music thread.

Multiply all the crotch rocket noise and the V twin rumble by about eleventysevenbillion, it's not nearly as much fun to listen to. But that is a different thread.

My favs are the head to toe Harley gear riders that come through on stock Hondas. [LOL]

[rondog]

Riding Harleys used to be a lot more fun back in the days when it wasn't "socially acceptable" like it is now. If you wanted a chopper, you built one, wasn't any such thing as "checkbook choppers". And no self-respecting doctor, dentist, lawyer or executive would be caught dead on one. And Harley-Davidson clothing? Unheard of! Sure different nowadays.

I will say that radios on bikes are nice to have when you're parked somewhere at camp, or taking a break, etc. But I have no use for them when riding, or folks that blast them while they're riding.

[Ronin13]

I apologize to any harley riders right here and now... however when it comes to Harley's
1) 80% of them are a**holes. I ride by, give the courtesy wave and I'm usually ignored because most think they're better than me because I ride a "rice rocket"
2) 75% of them are mid-life crisis sufferers who are about as badass as an overweight 7 year old on his big wheel, you're not SoS or HA, take off the cut and go back to driving a econovan...
3) Hate to tell you, but past college age biker "babes" are fugly, they're all strung out on meth and look like they did adult film in the 1970's (when in fact most weren't even born yet, but meth is a helluva drug).
4) The small amount that aren't posers, but still not in a gang, and aren't d-bags that think they're so damn cool I like, especially if they're the patriot guard riders. But in my riding experience I've seen way more Harley riders that should be processed out of this country along with the people who lay with animals, pedophiles, and whoever is making sure that Justin Beiber kid still makes music.
End of rant.[Rant1]

[Big Wall]

Sorry, but loud pipes do not save lives. When drivers hit a bike the say "I didn't see him", not "I didn't hear him." Check out the HURT report that comes out yearly detailing motorcycle accidents and causes.

[rondog]

I've been riding m/c's since I was 14 in 1970, got my first HD in '75 and have had at least one ever since. Sometimes as many as three at once. Yeah, I've had loud pipes, but I usually baffle 'em down some because they're damn loud ON the bike too.

After I snapped my ACL in '05, my bike has just sat idle. Not only do I worry about my knee failing while trying to hold that 800lb. pig upright, but I also worry about the ever-increasing insanity they call traffic here, and a lot of what Ronin13 said kinda factors in too.

When I used to ride a lot here, I rode for ME, to enjoy the scenery and weather. I couldn't care less about being "seen" by the other riders, and having my bike and outfit evaluated by the snobs. I'd much rather talk to and have a beer with a scruffy looking old hairbag riding a ratty old Panhead or Shovelhead than any damn yuppie with a shiny new whatever-gee-whiz-it-is and head-to-toe shiny new Willie G. leathers.

Bah. I won't even wear the damn HD t-shirts anymore.

[mx'r]

Loud pipes rock, if your an attorney buy a fucking honda.

Leather is your best of friend, it can be your second skin.

For most bikers, riding is a life style. This includes dress garb, skanky women, and lots and lots of boose. Dont knock it, unless you've lived it.

80's buttrock music sucks donkey balls. All bikes should be bobbed or chopped. A push putton starter and stereo are gay. 90% of the bikers up here are just that, Bikers. Great group of guys, just dont fuck with them. I know this, I was one of them. Keep your gay ass peddle bikes off the road, that is what's sickening..

This is the dirrerence between bikers and riders...

I've got nothing against anything other than HD or brit bikes, but the cool just isnt there for me. I once let a youngster ride my 48' pan chop in trade for a ride on his Duc Monster.. Nice ride btw.
There's my 2 pennies.

[Seamonkey]

I hate loud pipes. Really really HATE loud pipes. In case I'm not clear, I HATE LOUD PIPES!!!!

This past week was at the black canyon and four riders park next to my car, all with loud pipes. I ended up putting on my electronic ears right in front of them, crossed my arms, leaned back and waited for them to leave so that I could continue a conversation.
There is no f^cking reason for me to be at a camp ground and hear your loud bikes 5 miles coming and 5 miles going. And don't get me started on the so-called-bad-@$$ riding a "check book chopper" who stops for a break then stands in the road.

@$$hats aren't limited to brands, almost picked up a Ducatti hood ornament last week. His wheels were on his side of the road but his head sure wasn't.

I love to ride and eventually I'll get another bike but dang, I HATE LOUD PIPES!

[kwando]

I don't mind loud pipes on bikes or cars... but i hate bikers (sport and harley riders) that rev their bikes at the stop light!!! STFU already!!!

[sbouslog]

I have had both crotch rockets and cruisers. No one ever tried to merge into me when I was on my cruiser because it was so loud. On my rocket I used to get cut off constantly. It would only happen when I wasn't going over the speed limit. It forced me to either speed all of the time or stay in 1st or 2nd and rev my engine every now and again to make my presence known.

On the topic of helmets, those half helmets are worthless. Whenever I see people with those I just laugh. Why even wear one? If we had a helmet law I would understand but if someone thinks that those are going to protect them in a crash they are DEAD wrong. I am not telling people to wear helmets or not, I don't really care either way. But If you are going to wear one make it a Shoei full face.

[sbouslog]

Also I think that loud pipes are an aquired taste. I no longer have one and roll my window down when ever I drive next to one so I can hear it.

[cebeu]

I spent too many years paying taxes in Milwaukee...I can't hear a fucking word you typed.

[mitch]

It's not about the "loudness" of the pipes when riding. Its that chest-thump at 45 degree intervals when going along the road...and god help you if you are next to me when we go under an extended overpass, or through a tunnel [Beer]

[Irving]

Loud pipes saved my life once....but I was in a 1979 Super Beetle.

[Scanker19]

So loud pipes allow you to do whatever you want on the road? Don't ride in my blind spot. I'll share the road with you but you need to share it in return as well. I don't drive in the blind spots of Semi trucks, know why......cause they can't see me.

I accept bikers (except crouch rockets) but "sharing the road" is a two way street.

[Mazin]

Whats wrong with sportbikes? Most of the guys i use to ride with always wear proper gear and followed the rules of the road, granted some sportbike riders are asshats.

[TheBelly]

If loud pipes save lives, imagine if all those guys knew how to actually ride their bikes.

btw, I ride a harley. I'm not going to be a MotoGP driver by any sense of the word. I DO know that if I act like a turd on the road, I expect to get into an accident.

I just need to ride predictably.

[brianakell]

Audible pipes are one thing, loud pipes are another.

Just like diesel smoke is one thing, puking out a thick black cloud at will is another.

Both are ridiculous. But when my ears hurt when someone is 100 yards ahead of me, I'm glad I drive a diesel with an on-the-fly chip. 2 can play the obnoxious game.

[Scanker19]

Whats wrong with sportbikes? Most of the guys i use to ride with always wear proper gear and followed the rules of the road, granted some sportbike riders are asshats.

Should have been more specific. Dudes that do 120mph on the interstate. At that speeds the people in the car aren't walking away either. I have no sympathy for people that get hurt on bikes cause of their recklessness.

i.e. http://cbrforum.com/forum/sights-n-sounds-7/motorcycle-hits-semi-truck-graphic-44930/

[Byte Stryke]

Should have been more specific. Dudes that do 120mph on the interstate. At that speeds the people in the car aren't walking away either. I have no sympathy for people that get hurt on bikes cause of their recklessness.

i.e. http://cbrforum.com/forum/sights-n-sounds-7/motorcycle-hits-semi-truck-graphic-44930/



Officers said there was no indication that drugs or alcohol played a factor in the accident, it was pure stupid.fixed!

yeah when an object moving at 120 MPH collides with an object moving in the same direction at 40 MPH the result is the same as hitting a wall at 80 MPH

simple really.

[boulderite]

Ok I don't freakin get it riders not wearing a helmet, but DO WEAR leathers. HMMMM is this to protect there tats but they could careless about there head ?
I can not understand the logic please help me understand, since it makes zero since to me.
When I ride my protective gear is for head,elbows,knees,chest,feet,and hips. I also prefer low db pipes for my own and others hearing protection. KTM 300xcw

[Ronin13]

Ok I don't freakin get it riders not wearing a helmet, but DO WEAR leathers. HMMMM is this to protect there tats but they could careless about there head ?
I can not understand the logic please help me understand, since it makes zero since to me.
When I ride my protective gear is for head,elbows,knees,chest,feet,and hips. I also prefer low db pipes for my own and others hearing protection. KTM 300xcw

Oh I agree, and no matter what you ride, be it a HD, Triumph Daytona, GSX-R1000, Honda Goldwing (which if you ride this you're clearly not right), etc. there will be d-bags that think they're cool or own the road whatever. I've known a couple SoS guys and sure they hate the fact that I ride a CBR600RR, but they respect the fact that I know the rules of the road and I don't ride like some clown (one wheel, stunts and being a tool cutting through traffic like a maniac). Too often I see guys doing that and they're always wearing jeans, riding jacket (latest Joe Rocket trend) and no helmet. Well if you want to be transformed into the flying spaghetti monster then go ahead, but I do feel bad for the firefighter that has to shovel what used to be your head off the highway. Helmets save lives, and there's nothing cooler than being alive as opposed to dead, regardless of what your helmet looks like.

[Cman]

I HATE loud pipes! They dont save lives. The only time I SEE them is when they are passing me or beside me at a stop light. I drive with my windows up and a/c on. I built a chopper when I was a teen and made sure it had quiet pipes because I had to sit on top of that noise. I have never understood that desire for loud obnoxious noise. I work as an auto tech and even with hearing protection I've lost 20% of my hearing. I don't need some stupid bike rider trying to destroy the remining 80%.[Rant1]

[Ronin13]

I HATE loud pipes! They dont save lives. The only time I SEE them is when they are passing me or beside me at a stop light. I drive with my windows up and a/c on. I built a chopper when I was a teen and made sure it had quiet pipes because I had to sit on top of that noise. I have never understood that desire for loud obnoxious noise. I work as an auto tech and even with hearing protection I've lost 20% of my hearing. I don't need some stupid bike rider trying to destroy the remining 80%.[Rant1]

+1...
Having served in Afghanistan and lost some of my hearing (living next to an Artillery unit) I don't like having to roll my windows up and turn my music up to drown out the sound of some guy and his Hardley.

[Inspector Fowler]

I can understand loud, if loud accompanies FAST. When I'm sitting at a light, and the bike next to me is idling so loud that it causes some ear pain with my windows rolled up....something's wrong with that bike. It's like somehow modifying a .22 so it sounds as loud as a .223 - why would you do it?

On the other hand, if you're accelerating up to 55 or 75 and your bike is pretty quick and gets pretty loud near redline, that's fine because you're not going to make surrounding traffic put up with that constant noise for 10 miles.

It does remind me of that South Park where Cartman explains that the only people who need to dress up and make a ton of noise so people will pay attention to them are Harley riders and 16 year old girls. Not true in every case, obviously, but true enough to be pretty funny.

[mx'r]

Ok I don't freakin get it riders not wearing a helmet, but DO WEAR leathers. HMMMM is this to protect there tats but they could careless about there head ?
I can not understand the logic please help me understand, since it makes zero since to me.
When I ride my protective gear is for head,elbows,knees,chest,feet,and hips. I also prefer low db pipes for my own and others hearing protection. KTM 300xcw


Ever had a buddy in a wheelchair that drools on himself? Thats why. I would rather die than have a helmet HALF save my life. Umm, and btw, have you been to the track with your KTM? Most MX bikes are louder than any Harley I've heard... Althoug the x models are the slow quiet trail bikes i guess.

[Irving]

You're very angry in this thread Josh.

[Mazin]

Ever had a buddy in a wheelchair that drools on himself? Thats why. I would rather die than have a helmet HALF save my life. Umm, and btw, have you been to the track with your KTM? Most MX bikes are louder than any Harley I've heard... Althoug the x models are the slow quiet trail bikes i guess.

Unfortunatly this has merit (the pipe comment). Also its why they place db limits on mx bikes and hopefully will lower it so we can stop losing land to ride trails on. There is a difference though, my ktm was loud but it was mostly because it was due to performance, most of the time i think the cruiser guys just get some pipes to advertise they are a mr joe cool.