Motorcycle Exhaust Noise

[Nitro_X]

When I got my bike license when my brother got his new bike. I learned so much and opened my eyes to so much about how bike riders survive on the roads.

Sometimes, that loud bike saves your life and I really dont care who it pisses off.

Can you be more specific?
What type of traffic circumstances or situations are you referring too?

 

[Rajesh Koothrappali]

When I got my bike license when my brother got his new bike. I learned so much and opened my eyes to so much about how bike riders survive on the roads.

Sometimes, that loud bike saves your life and I really dont care who it pisses off.

I couldn't agree more! Riding a motorbike is an eye opening experience. Makes you a better driver too. My loud exhaust saved me one time next to a bus who just started changing lanes to where I was. A nice blat of the throttle woke him up!

 

[Nitro_X]

I couldn't agree more! Riding a motorbike is an eye opening experience. Makes you a better driver too. My loud exhaust saved me one time next to a bus who just started changing lanes to where I was. A nice blat of the throttle woke him up!

Define "loud exhaust"
What speeds were you travelling?
Where were you positioned in relation to the bus driver?
What were the traffic conditions?

Were you riding a Harley with a short open exhaust with no baffles that probably reached or exceeded 100db loudness?

How do you know it was your 'blat on the throttle" and not just coincidence and that in reality it was that the bus driver saw you at the last minute?

 

[ChewieSV6]

When I got my bike license when my brother got his new bike. I learned so much and opened my eyes to so much about how bike riders survive on the roads.

Sometimes, that loud bike saves your life and I really dont care who it pisses off.

I have been riding bikes (legally) for 44 years. Almost every bike I have had I have changed the pipes. I like a good note. Most bikes I have had including the two I have now would not pass any test.....

But...."Loud pipes save lives" is a total crock. No matter how loud your pipes are, Joe Citizen sitting in his car with the radio on and his mind in neutral won't hear you coming from behind, he wont hear you (or see you for that matter) when you approach an intersection in the road he is about to enter, the only time he will hear you is when you blast past his open window, scaring the **** out of him.

The only reasons for having aftermarket exhausts on a bike are mostly the same as for a car....they sound good and can boost performance (with proper tuning). The weight reduction can also improve handling on a bike. Aftermarket exhausts are mostly much lighter than stock. A lot of riders will sacrifice performance to have loud pipes, purely because they like how it sounds. But don't tell me it's for safety reasons.

 

[Noeleter]

I have been riding bikes (legally) for 44 years. Almost every bike I have had I have changed the pipes. I like a good note. Most bikes I have had including the two I have now would not pass any test.....

But...."Loud pipes save lives" is a total crock. No matter how loud your pipes are, Joe Citizen sitting in his car with the radio on and his mind in neutral won't hear you coming from behind, he wont hear you (or see you for that matter) when you approach an intersection in the road he is about to enter, the only time he will hear you is when you blast past his open window, scaring the **** out of him.

The only reasons for having aftermarket exhausts on a bike are mostly the same as for a car....they sound good and can boost performance (with proper tuning). The weight reduction can also improve handling on a bike. Aftermarket exhausts are mostly much lighter than stock. A lot of riders will sacrifice performance to have loud pipes, purely because they like how it sounds. But don't tell me it's for safety reasons.

Tend to agree that it is an excuse for loud pipes. Although if a sludge pump (Harley) comes up behind/ beside you with its poorly balanced engine thump and loud exhaust you will know its there.

 

[Grennan]

Can you be more specific?
What type of traffic circumstances or situations are you referring too?

Almost every single ride is a battle for survival. People simply dont look. People who want to change lanes because someone is turning up ahead, they dont see the bike, the bike cant defend the lane. In a similar vein, people complaining about lane splitting. A lot of people simply dont understand that having that bike split the lane to get in front at the lights is a million times safer. If the bike is in front of you, you can see them.

I found very quickly that on a bike, you need to make yourself as audibly and visually present as possible otherwise you will be killed. Its very telling of todays driver education and level of training that when you do your motorbike license you are told how to crash and how to defend from other morons.

As I said, I couldnt give a **** if their exhaust is in excess of 100db. If an idiot in a Camry wants to merge into me and I can just rev the bike, its already proven to be a benefit.

To the above posters. Not everyone will hear. As I said, if it saves someone once in 100 instances. Thats a win. Being audibly and visually more present as a bike rider is huge.

 

[Noeleter]

Almost every single ride is a battle for survival. People simply dont look. People who want to change lanes because someone is turning up ahead, they dont see the bike, the bike cant defend the lane. In a similar vein, people complaining about lane splitting. A lot of people simply dont understand that having that bike split the lane to get in front at the lights is a million times safer. If the bike is in front of you, you can see them.

I found very quickly that on a bike, you need to make yourself as audibly and visually present as possible otherwise you will be killed. Its very telling of todays driver education and level of training that when you do your motorbike license you are told how to crash and how to defend from other morons.

As I said, I couldnt give a **** if their exhaust is in excess of 100db. If an idiot in a Camry wants to merge into me and I can just rev the bike, its already proven to be a benefit.

To the above posters. Not everyone will hear. As I said, if it saves someone once in 100 instances. Thats a win. Being audibly and visually more present as a bike rider is huge.

Agree with most of what you say Greenan but have been riding for 40 years and am still not convinced that lane filtering is a safer alternative. Car drivers still don't realise you are there and you are in closer proximity to them. A very small percentage of bikers also do lane filtering legally. Many squeezing between heavy vehicles and doing over 30kmph. Hell every morning I see bikes squeezing between cars doing 100kmph on the highway. Car drivers need a lot more education but some bike riders have a death wish. May be just a coincidence but motorcycle fatality rates have risen sharply since about the time lane filtering was introduced.

 

[Rajesh Koothrappali]

May be just a coincidence but motorcycle fatality rates have risen sharply since about the time lane filtering was introduced.

Seriously? This is laughable. Filtering happens when cars are at or below 30km/hr or stopped. And it's FAR SAFER for a motorbike to be in front of all the cars at the lights than in amongst them!

 

[Noeleter]

Seriously? This is laughable. Filtering happens when cars are at or below 30km/hr or stopped. And it's FAR SAFER for a motorbike to be in front of all the cars at the lights than in amongst them!

How so "The Laughing (laughable) Raj!

 

[Noeleter]

By July 23, there had been 32 motorcycle-related fatalities in Queensland this year, a 60 per cent increase on the same period last year, according to a discussion paper issued by the Department of Transport and Main Roads