In close proximity, louder than stock pipes DO work as a horn. I used mine that way when a van tried to take my lane. And the real offenders are those that treat them like a 1/4 mile drag race, winding the motors to the hilt and letting off.

But in city traffic the danger area for you DOES know where you are when your exhaust is loud enough to be heard. And until the laws are made so accident causers are actually punished like the menaces they are, this HAS to be an acceptable practice. If the public wants quieter machines, make it a suspendable offense (w/jail for the serious offenders) to be jabbering while driving, a new driver ed course when a loser takes a lane improperly. Cars keep getting more safety items, the drivers are getting dumber and less attentive, and that is why the roads are constantly dangerous.

 

Pretty soon cars are gonna be so safe that a driver will not even care how they drive because they will not get hurt in an accident,,it will be like bumper cars out there....

 

There's no question that many cage drivers get pissed when they hear loud pipes. I ride a bike and I get pissed when I'm in my car, yard or on my bike. Especially on my bike because then I'm also embarrased to be associated with loud pipes.

There's no way of proving this but IMO the loud pipe, stuff it up your *** group of riders have far more problems with cagers than the rest of our group!!

 

I'm a firm believer that louder pipes do bring attention to you more. There are many times that I have been out on the road and I can tell by the way they are acting that a driver is not aware of me and is getting ready to come over. A quick or two blip on the throttle and 9 times out of 10 I see them looking in their mirror or back over their shoulder real quick. Now aware of me.

But I am also a firm believer in respect when it comes to louder pipes. Like what happened to me last night. We were out in the truck to pick up some things. I see a group of four bikes coming up from behind in the left lane. I also heard them several car lengths back. Well I guess everyone was going too slow for them so they come up beside me and gun their throttles to zoom up in front of me to get around the car in the left lane. Seems like alot of times when louder bikes do this they like to wait until they are right next to a car and get as close as they can and gun it. Shock factor or to scare people maybe. The first three were HD's but the last one was some kind of Jap cruiser with drags and it was to the point of obnoxiously loud. And it actually hurt my ear when it went by because I had the window down.

 

I don't think it matters. I used to have loud pipes and people still drift into your lane, or change lanes without looking - they're not paying attention (cell phones, stereos, etc.). I have never used my horn either - generally no time when trying to get out of the way - or brake - or speed up to avoid a collision, whatever. I try to hang back from passing in traffic until I have plenty of room to advance beyond that next car, in the next lane - and then do it with some quickness. I try to stay out of anyone's blind spot as well - Don't ride there for several blocks waiting on your side of traffic to creep up. All you can do is drive defensively, try to not put yourself into bad situations, keep vigilant and continue looking for "escape routes" when coming up besides someone else, etc. I have been driving through town in my truck before, windows rolled up, A/C on, stereo playing and been startled by a firetruck or ambulance that was all of a sudden "right behind" me with lights and sirens blaring. So, if you don't see or hear that all of the time, what do you think the chances are of seeing / hearing a loud Harley...........Just be careful. I think for the most part, our senses are sharper when we're on the bike's. I think the burden is on us for the most part to avoid putting ourselves in a bad situation. People in cars will still make eye contact with you and then turn left in front of you. That's the one thing that scares me the most. When they look at you, but look through you? I love to ride. Been down once. It's a crap shoot everytime we go out. I try to be as attentive as I can, and I believe our own riding skills are our best asset. Stay Safe everyone...........

 

I do not like seeing people on cell phones even while driving
in my truck. On the Bike, if I get close and see the cager
on the phone, I'll crack the throttle so they know I'm there.
Every once in awhile the LEO in the area will ticket for
load pipes. The word gets out quick and and we try to avoid
the area. But, I never hear about LEO's ticketing cell
phone users. It's against the law too. I think if the general
public wants us to baffle the pipes, then how about some
mutual respect on the road.

 

I have seen this argument many times. Maybe it's because I watch for people on motorcycles or am just aware of my surroundings but I notice the sound of a motorcycle when it is near me. If I can hear it, whether it is behind me or along side or in front of me, I start looking in my mirrors and turning my head to check the blind spots. If you take an area of 1 car length around the rear of the cage that you are in, you can hear the bike even with the radio playing at a reasonable level, you can hear that distinctive sound that only a motorcycle makes and I don't care if it's a Harley or a metric, you can hear it. I am 62 years old now, when I learned to drive they taught defensive driving, always be aware of your surroundings. The only time I came close, and it wasn't even close, to hitting a biker was when it was quiet and in my blind spot. Today, people in cages are only aware of one thing, themselves and that’s all they care about. They are all in a big fat hurry to get where they are going. That means if you ride a motorcycle you need to be more aware of your surroundings then the people around you.

I live in north Phoenix, Arizona, Last weekend we were coming home from Las Vegas driving east bound on the Carefree Highway. This is a 2 lane road, 1 in each direction. In the distance ,coming towards me in the west bound lane I see what appears to be a dark cross. As it gets closer I recognize it as a motorcycle. Dark bike, Dark clothes and headlight off. I wouldn’t question anyone who said they didn't see it, it was difficult to see depending on the background behind the bike. Had this person had his headlight on he would have been a lot easier to see.

Keep yourself safe, be aware of your surroundings, make yourself visible, wear bright or white clothing, (I know it's not cool but I’d rather be uncool than dead or hurt). Turn your headlight on. You must do every thing in your power to make sure you are seen.

Sorry to ramble on but I too had the job of scrapping bikers off the road and windshields of cars and the worst job of all, notifying the next of kin of the death of their loved one. It ain't fun and it never leaves you.

Be safe and enjoy.

 

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I tend to hear motorcycles approaching my truck before I see them in my mirrors, especially on the highway. I guess in that respect the loud pipes help. The stock horn on my bike is a piece of junk. However, with people on cell phones, stereos turned up, I don't know if they would notice until you were right up on them. Most car manufacturers these days are doing their best to insulate people from road noise. Combine that with the other distractions of cell phones, nav systems, stereos, etc. and you might as well have some one driving blindfolded.

I like loud pipes, have a thunderheader on my bike, but I don't think they are saving lives. It would be interesting if anyone had any statistics on this, say comparing accident rates between HD's and Goldwings (or anyother quiet non crotch rocket bike). Comparing cruisers to crotch rockets would be worthless. Anyone? Bueller?

 

I think the moral of the original post is that the government should be coming up with more laws (holy crap, did I just type that?!) against cell phones and less against bikes.

How do I feel personally? I don't think that obnoxiously loud pipes are the way to go. Screaming Eagles, Vance and Hines, Sampson, yeah, okay. Straight pipes or something close to straight are really unnecessary IMHO. Studies prove that bright lights do more for your safety than loud pipes but I've yet to see a shirt or bumper sticker that reads, 'Bright Lights Save Lives.'