Loud pipes DO NOT save lives

Xclimation

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Ft. Worth, Texas
Just speaking for myself...I'm usually faster than the traffic and in the left lane. If someone wants to go faster....you can bet your bottom dollar I will move. I don't want to sound like I'm Mr. motogp wannabe carving in and out of traffic. I believe moving slightly (and I mean slightly) faster in the left lane with my high visibility jacket and other gear will get me more visibility. In Texas, If someone wants to go faster in the left lane. By law you are supposed to move over. In reality, many don't follow this and I've never heard of a Police Officer pulling anyone over for clogging the left lane. No way in Hades would I pass anyone in the same lane. Same thing as lane splitting and here in Texas...you try that....a cage will see this as an opportunity to knock you off the road! Drivers here are spiteful!
But as one pointing out, yes one who has loud pipes on their car, with stereo inflated bass, talking on the phone might not hear you.....But if just ONE person in a mininvan/suv can hear me and be more alert: then I believe that can be the difference! And not to get reductio ad absurdum: yes emergency vehicles have sirens to be heard.
But just applying logic....If there is a sound....as human beings...we will react (in-other-words) become more alert if there is a sound. I'll admit myself that there have been many times there is a motorcycle close to me, and I couldn't see it. I remember specifically a guy on a sport bike was passing just 2 mph faster than me and he disappeared from my vision due to the pillar that was between my windshield and driver's side window on my Dodge Ram I used to drive. I knew he was there because I saw him down the road behind me and when he was beside me, but I was astonished how he just disappeared!
I also acknowledge that yes, loud pipes can be nuisance and annoying. Willing to bet they annoy mostly people talking on the phone. But it is not forever. And I'll keep up like a broken record....if it gets just one person to pay attention and be aware that is the difference. And far as the sound being in front of , or behind.....it is still a sound that can be heard. And if the exhaust is dumped backwards the sound waves still bounce off objects and can be heard from all directions....that same sound wave that can make that one minivan/suv texting cell phone driver as we come up on a construction zone lane merge or the multiple daily idiots who don't over in time and decide to last second cut across 2 lanes to make whatever highway they merge on. (Anyone in DFW knows what I mean at 183/820/121 by NE Mall, which I drive on daily) or 35W/820 North of Fort Worth which is under virtual construction) (or I30/35W by downtown Ft. Worth) or the mixmaster in Dallas....you get my point! I am under HIGH ALERT at these places and many riders I know will NOT ride at these places....but loud pipes at these places DEFINITELY can save lives.
I totally understand the annoyance...I'm driving along enjoying a song on the radio than a loud bike comes by snaps me out of it..ruins my momentary bliss. Or even by my neighborhood. I usually take a deep breath and remind myself, it's only for a minute or two...
I believe that part of peoples' frustrations with loud pipes is the attitude with what many Harley riders have. I'm talking the dressed like a pirate with a vest full on patches, no helmet or other safety gear with that lackadaisical even smug expression. Or Motogp wannabe guy whose bike can sound like a 2 stroke weed eater carving in and out of traffic like they are rushing their pregnant wife to the hospital. It is these types of display that gets in peoples' head and colors their perceptions.
 

RCinNC

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If that's a state where it's illegal to pass in the same lane, then yeah, the vehicle code trumps biker etiquette. Even if you live somewhere that it's legal, nothing about biker etiquette conveys the right to a rider to ride any way he wants because someone was slowing him down while he was "enjoying the twisties". And as far as the cruisers putting the ZX10R rider in unnecessary and dangerous positions, as far as I can tell from the video, there's only one hand on that ZX10R's throttle, and it's not any of the cruiser riders' hands. That idiot was going triple digits down that road, passing in no passing zones, passing on short line of sight and blind curves, disregarding the safety of all those people who were either coming down the other side of the road, or pulling out onto the road from the numerous side roads and driveways that are visible in the video. And those were choices that the ZX10R rider made, and if things had gone south on him and he'd hit someone pulling out of one of those driveways, that would be on him, not those guys on cruisers. Does biker etiquette also extend to cars? I mean, if a line of cars is driving down the road and they're going too slow (in the biker's opinion), does he get to pass all of them in no passing zones, etc, because they're also ruining his enjoyment of the twisties?

Every story has a douchebag. For the ZX10R rider, it was all those lazy fat no skills cruiser riders who were harshing his riding buzz. For all those cruiser riders, it was the D-bag squid who was riding like a maniac and was passing all of them at triple digits on a curvy road, cutting really close to some of them and endangering their lives.
 

Xclimation

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Ft. Worth, Texas
If you are on the side of we need loud motorcycles for safety, why not do this to all vehicles? Make everyone loud!!
Cars are visible and large. Motorcycles disappear in blind spots. But...here in Texas....we have MANY guys in lifted or lowered pickups with LOUD pipes....and many small 4 cylinder cars that loudly sound like a 2 stroke weed eater and have a stereo with the bass turned up to 20 that can be heard a mile away!
 

Dirt_Dad

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That is a great episode. Had it saved on my DVR for years.

For me, the Stebel horn was a crutch that encouraged me to have overconfidence about my "train horn." That overconfidence came within inches of a high speed collision.

As for loud pipes, I truly hate the sound of them. Riding on two wheels is something that is not understood or appreciated by most people. Seems counterproductive to annoy the overwhelming majority of people who would have no problem voting for a politician that promises to make that annoyance go away.
 

SJC

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Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
That is a great episode. Had it saved on my DVR for years.

For me, the Stebel horn was a crutch that encouraged me to have overconfidence about my "train horn." That overconfidence came within inches of a high speed collision.

As for loud pipes, I truly hate the sound of them. Riding on two wheels is something that is not understood or appreciated by most people. Seems counterproductive to annoy the overwhelming majority of people who would have no problem voting for a politician that promises to make that annoyance go away.
Excellent point
 

madman4049

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Sep 10, 2018
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Northwest Louisiana
I don't like loud pipes that are loud just to be loud, I do like a throatier sounding exhaust than comes factory, as far as the loud pipes save lives I don't believe it. My bike is decently loud, has a brake light modulator, my Givi V47 top case has the light kit which gives me two more strips of brake lights. I wear a jacket w/ bright yellow hi viz and a mix of gray and black, my helmet is a Schuberth E1 with the high viz yellow and gray, and like many others here my bike is bright blue often with luggage. The Tenere is not a tiny crotch rocket or hyper naked it's a fuc$(#@ dreadnought and I'm reminded of this every time I park next to my buddies on CBR's GSXR's and R1/6's and even most harleys, we have a profile not much smaller than some cars, kinda hard to miss if you're even half looking.

I stick out like a sore thumb on purpose and still have issues with idiots. Most non-riders don't give two shits about us, they're not impressed by us, not looking for us, and most have zero regard for our safety/presence. They'll cut you off, merge into you, and run right up on your rear tire in traffic without a 2nd thought all while watching the latest episode of whatever on netflix/Prime on their phone, looking for memes on FB, putting make up on in their mirror, or dude who hasn't showered in a week chowing down on his taco bell burrito like a tornado consumes a trailer park. Not to mention the drunk drivers, pill poppers, and drug users, garbage drivers are garbage drivers and no amount of loud pipes, blinky lights, or hi viz gear is gonna save you from them. I stay safe by riding aggressively and treating every car like the pilot is a fuc%*&^ idiot, typically if I see someone being dumb I usually punch it and get gone so they can do them away from me.

My two most recent experiences,
On my most recent trip I was riding down the interstate saw a red car fly by in the left lane, veered onto the left shoulder, over corrected flew across 2 lanes of traffic, jumped the right shoulder and flew off into the grass almost taking a few trees with him. Why did this happen? He was on his cellphone, and I'll bet you $20 he was so involved in his candy crush or facebook he never even saw me as he raced past.

Sitting in my car at a red light, this lady who we discovered after the fact was high as a kite plowed through four cars one of them mine across two lanes like we were a pinball machine and she was going for points. Her statement to the responding officer was she didn't even see us, we had all been stopped at the light for close to a minute and she could barely formulate a complete sentence yet there she was driving and shit.
 
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Mak10

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Aug 20, 2018
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SE Idaho
I just added a Delkevik muffler. I am pleased with the sound with the baffle in. I am also pleased with the weight loss.

I just got back from a large adv rally and on one of the rides, the ride leader was on a DR650 with a loud pipe. I could hear his exhaust over my own and he was up ahead of me. And not just when he was on the gas. It droned something terrible going 65 down the highway. I felt sorry for his poor passenger.

Also while riding in Death Valley I encountered many Harley/cruiser style bikes. Not one had quiet exhausts on them. I guess you lose your Man card with a quiet Harley.
 

klimber

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Mar 22, 2018
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Location
Oakland, CA
loud pipes do not save lives
on the contrary they're quite annoying
when I was younger I may have thought it was 'cool'
but no longer
 

S10wannabe

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Apr 8, 2019
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3
Up here in Canada the guys who say "Loud Pipes Save Lives" are the same clowns who lobby government to allow them to ride without helmets!
I rather like to look at riding without a helmet as Nature's way of cleansing the gene pool. I'm all for it!
 

Heresjeff

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Mar 13, 2017
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Springfield, GA
I like loud pipes. Well I like mine, and only mine. Mine are cool, everyone else’s are annoying.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Rode in front of a good fella yesterday for a couple hours, he said my pipes weren’t too loud.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

thughes317

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May 27, 2018
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The Bluegrass, KY
So, I've always scoffed at the "loud pipes saves lives" shtick but recently experienced a situation that has caused me to reconsider, albeit under a very specific set of circumstances:

As a born and raised NY'r who has never experienced the freedom that is lane splitting/filtering, I recently found myself in California.....in a rental car.....in heavy traffic.....on the freeway......doing my best to get to my destination without incident. Had it not been for the loud exhaust note of the lane-splitting bikes approaching from somewhere behind, I would have undoubtedly cut more than a few of them off as I made several last minute lane changes trying to keep up with my GPS. After the first couple times being surprised by "quiet" bikes filtering, I learned to watch for them in the mirror and give them a wide berth but those "loud pipes" (which I did hear while they were still several car lengths behind me) probably saved me from putting a few of my fellow riders in jeopardy due to my lack of exposure to lane splitting.

Still not a fan of loud bikes but I have a new appreciation for the argument.
 
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