The above statement is exactly what I have found to be true.

I was leaving a busy event recently and the people walking in front of me didn't even know I was behind them. They knew when I was in front of them though!

I bought V&H Pipes because I liked the style of the pipe and the performance they brought to my engine.
I didn't buy them for safety reasons.

Just my .02

 

I am glad you didn't get hurt.


In my opinion.

Loud pipes saves lives is a bunch of crap.

Loud pipes puts the rider in a compromised position by not letting them hear what is going on around them. Most people that rip out the baffels, or punch holes wind up with a loud motorcycle that sounds horrible.

Carbs can be tuned but I dare anyone to find a EFI file that is set up for SE-AC and stock mufflers with a rod driven through them.

The only place anyone is going to hear you is when your beside them. People in front of you can't hear them. Those are the ones that turn in front of you. I want rocket launchers for them.

So what if some one behind you hears your rumble.

And as for the people beside you. The vehicles that are being made today are so quiet that the manufacturers are considering putting in a system to monitor for emergency vehicles and notify the driver.

Couple a super quiet car with an idiot that can't walk and chew gum at the same time and you could set off a bomb next to them and they will pull over into the hole.

I don't ride in a cars blind spot. I will pull up so I am ahead of them or drop back past their bumper. I look in my mirrors to see whats around me. I turn my head to look whats in my blind spot on a regular basis.

Do I still have close calls. Yea! Anybody that says they don't is lying.

I tried SEII's and didn't like how they masked what I could hear. I went with Slip Ons that give me the glass pack sound I want and still allow me to be aware of whats around me.

You can believe that loud pipes give you an edge. I wouldn't bet my life on it.

 

This brings up the interesting opinion I've had about people noticing a motorcycle because the hear the sound of their exhaust nearby. It seems like most people driving on the road these days are oblivious. Whether they are listening to loud music, talking on a cel phone, talking to the person sitting next to them, or just zoned in on what is ahead of them, they have a tendency to not notice what is around them. I don't doubt that, in some cases, you run across a driver that is aware enough to notice the sound of the pipes, and it prevents them from doing something silly that they might have done otherwise. However, I tend to think that those cases are in the minority.

On the other hand, loud vehicles are getting out of hand these days. While there may be a "method to the madness" when it comes to motorcycles, the real problem is that you also have kids putting loud mufflers on their Honda <insert model here>, or the guys driving a pickup with some tricked out exhaust that is extremely loud. When you have so many different sources of loud exhaust, I think that people also tend to start tuning it out in the best case, or getting pissed at it in the worst case. Yeah, everyone in this forum can tell the difference between a motorcycle and a ricer, but for the average person out there it's just another loud vehicle coming up on them. To than end, I think the ricers and big engine pickup guys have made this issue worse for those of us with slightly more legitimate reasons for a louder vehicle.

Whatever the case, I switched out my stock mufflers with V&H slip-ons and rode with the stock baffles in them for a couple weeks, decided it was just a little loud for my taste, and slid in the "quiet baffles" last weekend. The new pipes make the bike perform better, and sounds much better than stock so I'm glad I switched out for something other than stock. I'll admit that a part of me liked the quality of the sound better with the stock baffles, but I did feel that the volume of them was preventing me from possibly being aware of some sound around me. Just personal taste, though I think I got some dirty looks from one guy on a quieter motorcycle when I was out riding one day.

 

Maybe people drive differently here in the Pacific NW, but when finding oneself in a situation where one needs to use their horn, the drivers on the road around here just ignore the sound of a horn - everyone thinks it is meant for someone else. Doesn't matter if it is my car horn or my motorcycle horn. Hasn't proven to be effective for anything.

My 06 Softail Heritage Classic has VH Longshots on her. These were put on mostly because there were far too many times when those gosh darn minivans being driven by someone who is yapping on a cell phone while drinking their latte did not see me (sit far lower) nor hear me. Now at least, they can hear me and are usually trying to get away from me since they cannot hear themselves talking on the cell phone. My pipes are one more way I am being pro active. They, in themselves, will not save lives. But it is just one more way to be more 'visible'.


But above all, because I live in the United States of America where there is still freedom of choice, I have the ability to choose whether or not to use them. In this world, someone will take offense just about anything and everything...but that is what makes this country so great - we can choose.

Do loud pipes **** some people off - of course they do but there is a whole list of things that can be added to that: loud cars **** people off; people driving cars that are playing deep bass music way too loud **** people off; jets flying overhead; construction noise; landscapers utilizing their equipment; the list could go on and on. If someone is trying to ban loud pipes, then they should also outlaw all the other things that could be considered loud and offensive.

But, then again, that is just my opinion that I am sharing here. Not trying to convince anyone, nor trying to change anyones point of view. Just saying what I believe.

 

I have to give credit where credit is due...there is some truth to the above statement with regards to some riders. I won't respond to the rest of the post.

 

Hell no... sound travels in the direction of flow. I don't buy for a second that a car changing lanes to get in front of you could even hear your bike.
Coming from behind is different, you can definitely hear a bike ahead but the old excuse "loud pipes saves lives" is bs.


Mark

PS. I have semi loud pipes on my bike, I love the sound but do I think they save lives.... nope.

 

"LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES IS BULL$HIT!!!" Why don't you guys tell us how you really feel about it.

There's another group of people that like to voice their opinion and then tell me everyone else is wrong....they come to my door every now and a again and try handing me pamphlets....apparently those pamphlets have directions to the afterlife.

After reading all the replies here, the only conclusion I can come up with is that we're no closer to solving this debate now than we were before the discussion started.
As someone who really was undecided about this, the only thing I can say is, it's based on each individual situation. In my situation the other day, louder pipes would've absolutley been beneficial...no question about it. On the other hand, I'll definitely agree with those who are against them when they say that some people just like to hear their bikes and show off. I was in New Hope, PA yesterday, and I can't tell you how many douchbags were in stop and go traffic revving their motors...loud. Like if they didn't their bikes would stall...I mean...cmon...is that really necessary.

So I guess I'm no closer to making up my mind on this now than I was before. The only thing I know for sure is that most of us aren't as sexy as Dave...so we don't have that going for us!


Todd

 

If those who have loud, or Very loud pipes would admit that they have the pipes because they like the way it sounds, we wouldn't be having to defend the loud pipes save lives slogan.

There is a fall out of loud pipes, in the exact right conditions it could get someones attention. But those cars that are cutting bikers off and all, they could have been running no pipes at all and it wouldn't have changed a thing. Take all the accidents that are listed and find out if they had other than stock pipes on them (can't prove this but I'll bet they did) and you could prove that their loud pipes didn't make a difference.

Oh by the way, I have my pipes cause it makes my bike sound like a Harley, least what I think a Harley should sound close to.

The fight to keep other than stock pipes on the bikes is going to have to go the route of getting the db level raised on the regulations, cause the loud pipe montra isn't going to work in court. JMHO

 

You mean to tell me you've never heard a Harley coming 'at' you??? I have to call bullsh!t on that argument.

 

Load pipes....lose rights. It is inconsiderate of others to run extremely load pipes. They should be illegal in my humble opinion.