quote:

ORIGINAL: DesertRat

Loud pipes are supposed to indicate manliness, I guess. Ditto for not giving a fuck about other people. When you hear the noise you're supposed to think the engine is very powerful and only a very special person would dare to ride such a machine. Ironically, on most bikes, louder, less restrictive exhaust systems actually "overscavenge" at the engine speeds most commonly used. So the engine actually makes less torque and, therefore, less power except when it's running close to redline.

quote:

ORIGINAL: DesertRat
 


My '90 FZR1000 was very quiet at idle and around town, had good low-end torque, and  also got good mileage at sane speeds, all because of a valve in the collector that responded to engine speed and intake vacuum. But when I racked the throttle open on the open road, the valve would open fully and the machine would fly. That bike had a 'no bullshit' top speed of about 170, could do the 1/4 mile in the very low 10s, and didn't scare the shit out of lil old ladies...or piss off the neighbors.

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ORIGINAL: stef

quote:

ORIGINAL: Termyn8or

He decided to drop the bike.

I'm very sorry for the loss of your cousin, but I have to call bullshit on this too.

When riders say something like "yeah, I had to lay it down," it's a crock.  What they meant to say was "I panicked, grabbed a fistful of front brake, lost the front end and crashed" but that's not nearly as cool and calls their riding skills into question.  Decades ago, when the only brakes most motorcycles had were shitty drum brakes, there may have been some truth to the logic that you can stop quicker sliding on your chrome than staying upright, but today that's just not the case.  Except for very specific instances, you can stop a bike much faster on it's wheels than when it's on it's side.

~stef

quote:

ORIGINAL: RapierFugue
It’s got *much* worse since mobile phones got so popular … people blithely wander across the road, chatting away, regardless.
 
It might be easier in US cities … you guys don’t allow peds to throw themselves off the pavement at will, right?  Something called “jay walking”?

quote:


Noise is an important health issue that affects more than hearing. The scientific research
demonstrates that health effects occur at noise levels below those that impair hearing. Some of
these health effects include increased risk for cardiovascular disease, negative effects on sleep,
communication, performance and behaviour, reading and memory acquisition, and mental health.

quote:

ORIGINAL: RapierFugue

quote:

ORIGINAL: stef

quote:

ORIGINAL: Termyn8or

He decided to drop the bike.

I'm very sorry for the loss of your cousin, but I have to call bullshit on this too.

When riders say something like "yeah, I had to lay it down," it's a crock.  What they meant to say was "I panicked, grabbed a fistful of front brake, lost the front end and crashed" but that's not nearly as cool and calls their riding skills into question.  Decades ago, when the only brakes most motorcycles had were shitty drum brakes, there may have been some truth to the logic that you can stop quicker sliding on your chrome than staying upright, but today that's just not the case.  Except for very specific instances, you can stop a bike much faster on it's wheels than when it's on it's side.

~stef

… is the correct answer.
 
BTW you’re wrong about “calling bullshit” on the loud pipes save lives thing; if you rode in a city, as I do, in London, you’d see how loud pipes save an average of 2-3 peds per day.
 
It’s got *much* worse since mobile phones got so popular … people blithely wander across the road, chatting away, regardless.
 
It might be easier in US cities … you guys don’t allow peds to throw themselves off the pavement at will, right?  Something called “jay walking”?
 

quote:

ORIGINAL: MyCaptainsPet

"To be honest, I keep hoping to hear one of them crash into a pole so I can have some silence; do they not care that people are trying to sleep? "  (quote from OP)

Do you not care that they have families, friends, jobs, and lives? You hope a person DIES because it wakes you for a moment and you have to roll over?  I PRAY you don't have an unmentionable that actually has the nerve to cry at night.

quote:

ORIGINAL: RapierFugue
Incorrect.  A bike engine that’s jetted and set-up correctly will generally show an increase across the range.  As an example, dyno charts for my old 9R showed a healthy 5 bhp increase from 2,000 rpm up, peaking at 11 bhp at the redline.
 
What doesn’t work is just shoving a race exhaust on a bike without changing the fuelling; jetting on carbs, injection and ignition map in FI bikes.

quote:

Speedos lie like cheap watches … in fact, in the US and Europe, they HAVE to lie,  by law.

quote:

ORIGINAL: HaveRopeWillBind

Loud pipes are a child yelling, "Look at me!"

I have been riding motorcycles since 1972. I have owned 84 of them and currently have 3. I've owned just about every type and brand. I have been a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Riding Instructor. There is no evidence in any safety study I have ever seen that loud pipes increase safety. The argument that they save lives is totally unsupported and anecdotal. In fact I believe they decrease safety by creating additional rider fatigue. (Yes, noise increases fatigue.) Additionally when a rider with loud pipes comes up fast and passes a car the noise of the bike will not actually be heard by the car's driver until the bike is quite close. (This is due to the way noise propagates around moving vehicles.) Then it will be perceived as very loud and very close. A natural reaction for a startled car driver is to turn and look toward the noise. In most cases a driver turning his/her head and upper body quickly will also tend to turn the wheel slightly in the same direction. So there is a very good chance the car will wind up swerving toward the bike. (By the way, this is the same reason you should not honk your car horn if you are approaching and passing a kid on a bicycle riding on the edge of the road. The kid is likely to be startled and swerve toward the noise as he looks for it.)

It's difficult to actually get statistical evidence on motorcycle safety since in general they are not separated from other types of vehicles in transportation safety studies. In the early 90's the University of North Carolina did a three year study that in fact did separate out motorcycle accidents. They found that there are 2 causes of accidents that account for 97% of all motorcycle accidents. They were about equal in numbers. The first was motorcycles operated by a rider who was under the influence of alcohol. In this type of accident it was generally a single vehicle accident, usually after dark, where the rider lost control of the motorcycle resulting in a wreck. The second type of accident was caused by a larger vehicle turning left across the path of the motorcycle. This could have been a left turn from an intersection or a left turn by opposite direction traffic and was normally in daylight in good weather. The best way for a rider to avoid this type of accident is to increase his/her visibility by running high beams (with the brightest headlight bulb that will fit the bike) in daytime riding. An argument could be made that loud pipes would help prevent this type of accident but no statistics support that. Additionally with modern cars being well sound insulated and with the volume levels of many car sound systems by the time loud pipes become a factor it will already be too late. Visibility is the key. This is proved out by the fact that this type accident almost never occurs at night when drivers naturally switch to looking for headlights instead of objects. A single headlight will still be quite visible in that situation and the left turn accident almost never happens after dark. So the best safety advice for any rider is, "Be seen, not heard."

A few other things about loud pipes. All motorcycles sold in over a decade in the US have come out of the dealership with quiet pipes that are mandated by the EPA. Any louder pipes are not street legal. All aftermarket pipes sold in the US that are louder than OEM pipes will be stamped with either, "For Racing Purposes Only" or, "Not Legal For Street Use" or something similar. Any pipe louder than OEM pipes is a violation of the law. The only thing keeping most "Loud Pipe" riders from getting strings of tickets and having their bikes impounded is simply that most law enforcement just can't be bothered to write tickets for noise.

Loud Pipes do have one certain affect though. They irritate local citizenry enough that bike bans are often enacted in many areas. Ask anyone at the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) headquarters, after fighting helmet laws they spend most of their legislative funds on fighting bike bans that are a direct result of riders with loud pipes. Every rider who thinks he is being cool riding around with loud pipes is actually making enemies for the riding community, including him/herself.

Unbaffled pipes are great for increasing top end horsepower which is fine if you are racing in excess of 100 mph all the time, but the lack of flow back pressure actually reduces low end torque which is a lot more useful for the average street rider. Unbaffled pipes also reduce fuel mileage, maybe not much of a factor for a bike, but with current fuel prices it is something to consider.

Finally my own anecdote - I had ridden my bike to a local department store. As I was leaving and began to mount and start my bike a little girl of about 3 years old was sitting in a shopping cart next to me while her mother unloaded the cart into their car. The girl saw me getting ready to start and put her fingers in her ears and squinted her face down. Why? Because experience around loud pipe bikes had already taught her that when my bike started it was going to hurt her ears. When I started up and my bike only made a soft purr she first looked surprised and then took her fingers out of her ears and gave me a big smile and a wave. Her mother had seen this go on and also smiled at me and then mouthed the words, "Thank You."

Quiet pipes can make friends for motorcycles.

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ORIGINAL: Raechard

It’s so funny bikers preaching to the rest of us about the highway code when the majority of them don’t even follow the speed limit and will happily zip past you on a blind bend.

(edit: spelling, probably still wrong)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SimplyMichael
Jacked up pickup truck -small dick
Loud motorcycle - small dick
Overly big guns - small dick

quote:

ORIGINAL: Zensee

If you are having  two or three close encounters with pedestrians every day it's your driving skills that are at fault. The proper (and legal) presumption of a licensed driver is that anyone not in a vehicle has NO road awareness at all and the drivers should adjust their driving accordingly.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Zensee

Pedestrians are responsible for their own behaviour but that does not excuse drivers from taking all and any precautions necessary to prevent collisions. Paying attention is a good start.

quote:

Finally my own anecdote - I had ridden my bike to a local department store. As I was leaving and began to mount and start my bike a little girl of about 3 years old was sitting in a shopping cart next to me while her mother unloaded the cart into their car. The girl saw me getting ready to start and put her fingers in her ears and squinted her face down. Why? Because experience around loud pipe bikes had already taught her that when my bike started it was going to hurt her ears. When I started up and my bike only made a soft purr she first looked surprised and then took her fingers out of her ears and gave me a big smile and a wave. Her mother had seen this go on and also smiled at me and then mouthed the words, "Thank You."

quote:


I find bikers have the best road sense of the lot.  For the simple reason that, through natural selection, those who don’t tend to get squished.

quote:

ORIGINAL: DesertRat

quote:

ORIGINAL: RapierFugue
Incorrect.  A bike engine that’s jetted and set-up correctly will generally show an increase across the range.  As an example, dyno charts for my old 9R showed a healthy 5 bhp increase from 2,000 rpm up, peaking at 11 bhp at the redline.
 
What doesn’t work is just shoving a race exhaust on a bike without changing the fuelling; jetting on carbs, injection and ignition map in FI bikes.

 
I stand corrected. Thing is, here in the States, that's what most riders do...slap on an exhaust system without rejetting or remapping. 

quote:

ORIGINAL: DesertRat

Incorrect. The highest top speed, measured by radar, for a '90 FZR1000 (an EXUP to you Brits) that I ever read was dead-on 170 mph. The lowest was 166, with some 168s in there, as well. 

quote:

Speedos lie like cheap watches … in fact, in the US and Europe, they HAVE to lie,  by law.

quote:

ORIGINAL: RapierFugue
No biker worth a light will overtake on a blind bend … however, what you may have failed to realise is that, when on a bike, and opening out the line, you can see a great deal more than the car driver to your left, so what you can't see (hence calling it a "blind" bend), we can.

quote:

ORIGINAL: RapierFugue
I drive cars, I ride bikes, I walk.  Generally speaking, I find bikers have the best road sense of the lot.  For the simple reason that, through natural selection, those who don’t tend to get squished.

quote:

ORIGINAL: RapierFugue
Also, I can't see anyone "preaching" the Highway Code to anyone in this thread, nor do most bikers fail to obey 30 and 40 limits ... nationals are a different matter, however, and so they should be.

quote:

ORIGINAL: RapierFugue
It’s got *much* worse since mobile phones got so popular … people blithely wander across the road, chatting away, regardless.
It might be easier in US cities … you guys don’t allow peds to throw themselves off the pavement at will, right?  Something called “jay walking”?