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Loud Harley Pipes

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tony barnhill

tony barnhill

Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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Why do Harley riders think their loud pipes save lives? The only people who can hear them are those standing nearby as they zoom past or people in carsbehind them. Are they just telling cars behind them to back off?
 
I think most of it is personal justification. If one is sitting right next to you on the highway you're likely to notice it, but approaching from ahead or behind - nope. Heck, half the people don't even put their windows down anymore and drive with their radios cranked up. The police and fire/rescue folks even have trouble being noticed.
 
I think the term "Grasping at straws" applies here. Straight pipes on a Harley are like fingernails on a chalk board to me. The engine just sounds dead.
 
A good friend of mine and fellow rider didn't mind loud pipes -- never had them himself (though one of his BMWs had a performance pipe that was a little on the loud side.)

The he moved to a house on a nice twisty road that is frequented by motorcycles. Now he hates loud pipes. :smile:
 
Those things are really irritating when
you're driving down the highway,& they pass by you.
A lot of these people are smug,self-centered
people who love it when it irritates others.Whatever
happened to common sense,& decency?

- Doug
 
Personally, I`d rather hear the thump of a Harley lump with straight pipes any day rather than these idiots that have the 3,000 watt stereo blasting nothing but the base sounds of what ever JUNK music they are listening to in their cars either passing you or while stopped at a stop light.
Knowing from experience what price they will pay in the cost of hearing aids later on in their life is the only satisfaction I get from their lack of courtesy of others. Believe me, rather it be loud pipes or loud obnoxious base music blasting at well over 100 decibels they WILL pay the price in the end.


Note: maybe it irritates me because I have already lost my H.F. hearing capabilities and would like very much to keep my L.F. hearing in tact just a few more years.

Hearing aids are not cheap! Ask me how I know this! Not to mention the frustration of Missing verbal conversations and having to keep asking 'say that again'
 
There is one school of thought that says that loud pipes make you more noticeable to other traffic, therefore, more safe. I don't know if that is true or not.

My Harley has loud pipes.(had them when I bought it) I don't particularly like them and plan to change them when I can find something I like.

When I was younger I thought "the louder the better". Not so much anymore. I even changed the Monza exhaust on my TR6.

Pete
 
I've had a motorcycle license for 40 years and am an earned Life Member of the AMA.

Loud Harleys, in particular, give me a headache.
Our church in on the main city square in Morristown (NJ) and we can always hear these things driving by during a service.

Of all the good will I have personally tried to do regarding motorcycles, a loud Harley can undo it in a moments notice.
I cannot think of any non-motorcylist that likes the sound and I know plenty of long-time bikers (like me) who dislike it as well.

Overall the sound of these things has been one of the worst ambassadors for the motorcycle community (along with loud, illegal dirt bikes).

The original design of the Harely vee-twin allowed "packaging" the engine in a narrow space. But the single crank design required that exhaust scavanging would not be affective, thus power and efficiency would always be limited.
Without scavanging, the only way to increase power is to unmuffle. In fact they'd make even more power if the exhaust pipe were removed all together and the engine breathed directly from the exhaust ports.
There are far better, more efficient layouts available, but owners seem to prefer the "styling" of the vee twin. Thus the company builds engine based on style rather than mechanical efficiency.

The sound of a properly muffled Harley is not objectionable. Similar to a large lawn mower or other agricultural equipment.
 
Loud Harley pipes; loud car stereo music: what's the difference? Folks who drive around making that kind of noise are rude and intrusive, to say the least.

And, anyone who craves attention that badly has a problemo, IMHO.

Cops around here were handing out tickets downtown last summer, I thought it was GREAT! While dining at an outdoor restaurant downtown, I saw a bicycle cop give tickets to two Harley riders and also a pimped-up Toyota with a stereo so loud that the bass rattled my brains almost a half a city block away.

I also ride a motorcycle (with very quiet pipes, BTW), and I'm sure that it's not the "loud pipes" that save lives: it's courteous and careful riders that do.

Give 'em all traffic tickets!! :yesnod:
 
Last summer, I was in my B and came upon an intersection where I had to stop. I saw a Harley sitting in a driveway wanting to pull out. I waved the bike out and he repaid my courtesy by getting right up beside me and blasting those pipes right next to me. I had never wanted to run someone off the road prior to that, but Lord knows the temptation was there. Not that I could've heard the hit anyway. But then, that bike wouldn't have left a scratch or mark on my rubber bumpers either. Hehe...
 
JoshP said:
I waved the bike out and he repaid my courtesy by getting right up beside me and blasting those pipes right next to me.
Click to expand...

I think that's part of the requirement of owning a straight-pipe Harley.

One of my neighbors, who happens to be the VP of the HOA (no comment) owns one. He thinks it's cool to crank it up full bore and race up and down the street at 7-8 at night in the summer.

God forbid anyone paint their door the wrong shade of color of course :smile:
 
69tr said:
There is one school of thought that says that loud pipes make you more noticeable to other traffic, therefore, more safe. I don't know if that is true or not.
Click to expand...

They only make you noticeable if the bike is in front or directly next to you. An open piped Harley two car lengths behind you is virtually inaudible.

I have also read an attempted justification that loud pipes scare off deer and other large wildlife, keeping them off the roads and therefore not becoming a hazard for bikers. I've seen professional gymnasts who can't stretch that much.

-Wm.
 
Then again there is nothing sweeter than a flow-through exhaust on a 1275 A, either!!!! :devilgrin:
 
There's no reason, other than they like the attention, for the loud pipes. I like my Honda VTX 1800 like it is; very quiet.
Roy
 
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