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Loud and proud?

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Wingboy said:
If loud pipes save lives. Then quiet bikes should be killers. Show me the numbers. Why are Wings and quiet little dual sports not in a lot more collisions?
Visual conspicuity saves lives.
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And smart riding.

It's hard to isolate the effect of noise. Wing riders are typically mature riders that have lots of miles in the saddle. You'd need to try to study SS or cruiser with stock pipe vs reasonable aftermarket vs ahole pipe. The hard part is finding enough stock pipes in the wild to be a reasonable control. I actually suspect that crash rate will be much higher on ahole piped bikes as typically those riders have a lot of risk factors (wanting attention, revbombing instead of manoeuvring around a hazard, riding like idiots).
 
2000 Leagues was Great when it came out at the theatre. Also one of the best stories ever.
 
Wingboy said:
If loud pipes save lives. Then quiet bikes should be killers. Show me the numbers. Why are Wings and quiet little dual sports not in a lot more collisions?
Visual conspicuity saves lives.
Click to expand...
Because they are as big as some of the cars on the road ;) very hard not to notice.
 
Evoex said:
To be fair, he did state urban environment. Even with the sound rebounding off the buildings it does alert everyone to an approaching bike to the area. Outside of that i agree, most situations it's pointless.
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In an urban area all the sound is going to do it tell you there's a bike nearby -- it's going to be near impossible to tell where it's coming from unless you see it -- sound is bouncing in all directions. A more effective life saver would be a a big speaker playing something like this:


Everybody would slow down and look. That would be a 'saves lives' winning argument.
 
I like a fast sportbike (with an OEM exhaust) Unless you are on a 400 series highway, first off I don't tailgate, if there is somebody on my a** I just give the throttle a little tiny twist or pass something slowish, and tailgater suddenly becomes a distant memory, then I can resume legal safe cruising speed.

Don't crouch, don't make a constant wailing noise, and you won't collect as many traffic fines.

Motorcycles are now poorly suited to 400 series highways, because cagers drive stupid fast on 400 series highways, there is way too much transport truck traffic, and superslabs are fully lined on both sides with cheese grater guard rails designed to kill :|


Y'all know ... some cars are very quiet inside nowadays, they even have noise cancelling sound systems that remove everything other then the music track :| the loud pipes might be giving you a false sense of security.
 
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Wingboy said:
If loud pipes save lives. Then quiet bikes should be killers. Show me the numbers. Why are Wings and quiet little dual sports not in a lot more collisions?
Visual conspicuity saves lives.
Click to expand...
Further:

IF loud pipes saved lives, then Honda is negligent selling us bikes without this "safety" equipment.
Try suing Honda.
Get back to us with how it turns out.

Now do we want to discuss AGATT?
 
Lightcycle said:
Claims loud pipes is for his own protection.
Wears a pirate vest and beanie that barely covers the bald spot on the top of his head.

ok.
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I saw a squidly R1 with GP exhaust on Canada Day. Full face helmet but no other gear (standard outfit of t-shirt and shorts, no gloves, crap shoes, etc). I was near him for two blocks. During that distance he revved the crap out of it more than a dozen times while not in gear (didn't hit the limiter but a solid burp). Idjut. It did sound good, but for every person that was happy about the sound, there are probably 100 that were annoyed.
 
bitzz said:
Further:

IF loud pipes saved lives, then Honda is negligent selling us bikes without this "safety" equipment.
Try suing Honda.
Get back to us with how it turns out.

Now do we want to discuss AGATT?
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No, lets talks about what kind of oil 'saves engines'
 
Mad Mike said:
No, lets talks about what kind of oil 'saves engines'
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On that note, other than the disastrous hyo engines, who remembers an engine that died because of oil issues (assuming it was regularly changed with something designed for an engine)?
 
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Actually, studies show that Deaf drivers are no more likely to be involved in car accidents than hearing drivers.

If loud pipes saved lives, then deaf people would be killing everyone one the road. Neither is true.
 
Lightcycle said:
Claims loud pipes is for his own protection.
Wears a pirate vest and beanie that barely covers the bald spot on the top of his head.

ok.
Click to expand...
and ear plugs.
 
Too much emotion in some of the responses. I don't personally share the energy, but I can see your perspective.

Everyone should do what they want. If you test the law, see what happens I guess.. There are ways to have a decent sounding exhaust without hurting other peoples feelings (and ears). My Tuono was perfect stock.

But lets not deny the science behind how our ears evolved. Individually there may be difficulty determining the exact location of the object based on a individuals personal abilities (age, etc..), but on the whole, humans evolved with this sense to locate a loud incoming sound.

If you have a dead silent bike, and another making some noise, its instinctive to pay attention to the louder noise approaching you.

My only piece of anecdotal evidence will come from my own personal experiences. I have seen drivers react to my presence by looking in their mirrors at me, or slightly moving their car to the other side of their lane. To say it doesn't happen seems unreasonable.

BTW- I wear ATGATT, even if its sunny and 38.. lol
 
You know what the average car drivers brain sees when it sees a motorcycle?
Nothing threatening and they have no clue or care where that silly thing goes.

"I have seen drivers react to my presence by looking in their mirrors at me, or slightly moving their car to the other side of their lane." <- people who have ridden motorcycles and actually watch their mirrors, happens to me all the time too (y)
 
Trials said:
You know what the average car drivers brain sees when it sees a motorcycle?
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Nice try, average car driver doesn't see the motorcycle in the first place.
 
I like it when people make eye contact with you and then drive their car right at you.

Well actually I don't like it, but be ready for it to happen occasionally.
 
Everytime this topic comes up I state that in 25+ years of driving commercial tractor trailers I have personally not run over and likely killed several motorcyclists I couldn't see (because they were dumbasses and riding in my blind spots) because I could hear them.

And then people are all "Nah, it has nothing to do with it".

And here we are again.

Like I always say, loud obnoxious pipes need not be the solution and I personally hate then.

But pipes that are loud enough for another vehicle to hear you certainly don't hurt.

Greyghost touches on the very real reason a lot of "silent" bikes (Wings, etc) don't statistically play to this theory however...because the guys behind the handlebars are typically not dumbasses who ride in the blind spots of other vehicles...they're experienced high milers who know better. If every rider on the road was a highly experienced person who knows how to avoid putting themselves in high risk situations we wouldn't need noise based crutches, but the average rider rides 1000km/year and often unknowingly put themselves in extremely high risk situations frequently. If something simple can save their life despite their transgression...why not?
 
PrivatePilot said:
If something simple can save their life despite their transgression...why not?
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If it was just the annoying drone on the highway I would reasonably agree with you. The problem is their incessant need to needlessly rev bomb everybody through town. The installation of a prick exhaust and the need to rev bomb are closely correlated. That crap needs to stop, it does nothing for safety and pisses everybody off.
 
GreyGhost said:
If it was just the annoying drone on the highway I would reasonably agree with you. The problem is their incessant need to needlessly rev bomb everybody through town.
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I don't disagree, at all.

But don't lump everyone into the same basket. My Vulcan has "tasteful" pipes that quiet to a gentle purr at cruise but do have a little bark (but far from anything obnoxious straight pipe ********) when you roll into the power.

Loud enough to be heard as I pass a car and may be in a blind spot for a split second? Probably...although I'm not that dumbass who puts myself unknowingly in dangerous situations, either, but I trust you see my point.

Loud enough that they annoy me on long rides or annoy my neighbours (or entire neighbourhood) when I come and go from the house? Absolutely not.

But all these arguments aside, when it comes to me not turning a dumbass rider into a meat crayon and needing to potentially live the rest of my life knowing that I killed someone (through no fault of my own), well, that can change your perspective on vehicles that can be *heard* despite their small size.

I hate obnoxious pipes, but I hate the though of killing someone more.
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