Loud pipes saves squirrels too,, honest, I blipped the throttle hard and the squirrel who had been dancing back and forth sprang across half the road and onto a guard rail, ricocheted off the guard rail top from forward momentum, and did about three somersaults!

 

This is a totally B S argument for some people to seem MACHO. Having spent 32 years in law enforcment, many on patrol, I can tell you that even a forward sounding siren/horn does not get attention until you are on top of somebody. The idea that rear facing exhaust gets attention is absolute BS unless you are counting the people hearing them off city high rises trying to determine where all the noise is coming from.
Get real and look for performance with sound within reason so that the rest of us do suffer the consequences.

 

From cruiser mag - 12 motorcycle myths

Myth 2: Loud Pipes Save Lives

"Yeah, there are a few situations—like where you are right next to a driver with his window down who is about the to change lanes—where full-time noise-makers might help a driver notice you, but all that noise directed rearward doesn't do much in the most common and much more dangerous conflict where a car turns in front of you. Maybe it's the fatigue caused by the noise, maybe it's the attitudes of riders who insist on making annoying noise, or perhaps loud bikes annoy enough drivers to make them aggressive. Whatever the reason, the research shows that bikes with modified exhaust systems crash more frequently than those with stock pipes. If you really want to save lives, turn to a loud jacket or a bright helmet color, which have been proven to do the job. Or install a louder horn. Otherwise, just shut up."

 

Hmmmm...wonder why all the cops give me a look when I get close???

 

Its been my experience, with stock exhaust on the many bikes I have owned, that I could easily come dangerously close to deer. With loud pipes I never see a deer anywhere. Maybe someone has killed them all.

 

From experience, I'd say yes. I crack the throttle when necessary and find that it gets people's attention in a hurry when they're not paying attention.

 

The value of pipes is that they alert a clueless idiot to your presence BEFORE they doo something that causes you to need an evasive maneuver.

Oh look, a car turning left into my lane, I will just pull in the clutch and blip the throttle, that will stop 'em!
****, they are still turning, didn't they hear my loud pipes???
WTF, gotta grab some brakes, and maybe steer around the car.
Oops, didnt plan so well, got nowhere to go...

We all know too well how this story ends.

Bottom line is defensive driving as no one is going to watch our azzes for us, we gotta do it for ourselves. Again I like the sound of a bike with a set of nice pipes, but loud for safety is a myth.

 

The pipes have saved my **** on several occasions... once in front of a semi (approx. 1 foot away) for some reason he didn't see me but he heard me. Not to mention the unknown number of animals they have scared off. Today a rice burner pulled up in my blindspot (passenger side in the cage) and stayed there... I never even knew he was there... I was driving straight so it didn't matter but I can see how some people get run off the road... If he had pipes I would have heard him.

 

Seems like there are some people here who never hear a motorcycle with loud pipes.

And yet, they complain about the noise.

I get it now. You have your mind made up. You're going to cite situations that aren't included in a general real world.

Yes, when I ride in a vacuum, sound doesn't travel since there are no air molecules to conduct the impulses. So loud pipes do me no good when I'm riding in a vacuum.

We're not trying to change your mind. We're just looking for ANY little advantage to make ourselves safer. Sure, left-turners aren't going to hear us. But if you can tell me that you can't hear a motorcycle with loud pipes riding alongside you, maybe you should quit driving so you can post more.

 

Riding home this evening saw a few deer. I think loud pipes scare away deer and other animals more so than quiet pipes. Maybe