Man that was great. Not being a smart *** but you ever thought about running for congress?

 

I have been told i would make a good lawyer. Thanks. I tend to get wordy when I have emotions tied up in a cause.

 

Thanks twisted...........and I do agree with most of what u said and also respect your opinion; yet agree to disagree on one small point. I think people will listen to us regardless of whether we're bikers or not. You said it, "strength is in numbers." Many people have fought battles for us in the past and they only started out with just people in the neighborhood and ended up with entire churches, cities, and television exposure. The right for women to vote and work, Jim Crow Laws, etc. We read about most of those pioneers in our history books and most of them were not rich. I've watched homeowners in this city win battles against zoning and they quote some of the silliest reasons to be against it, but they united; went before the city council and presented their case. Even if they were to lose.......they prolonged things from occuring as quickly as the city wanted.

But ironically; I thought Bikers were bad until I bought my first Harley. That false belief almost kept me from getting a Harley......but I notice one thing. All Bikers are not bad. I think that if all Bikers showed up at a city council meeting, the courthouse or a congressional meeting wearing what we wear to earn money..........they would listen. Lawyers, Doctors, Soldiers, Business owners, politicians, policemen and troopers...................this board, HD dealerships, and most of our local hangouts are filled with smart, powerful people....

I haven't been in the Harley family long enough to know why Toys for Tots, etc doesn't make the news...and that is sad.
But let one single mom get on a podium holding her baby, crying how the big bad biker with the loud pipes disturbed little Johnny's nap. That's funny but very true
And this mom is completely healthy, sits at home watching soaps, has better furniture than we do, better clothes----------and we buy it for her[&:]

 

Don't ever believe it ain't gonna happen to you.
Harley just agreed with the EU in Europe, to stop selling screaming eagle exhausts.
Not only can you not get them fitted by dealers (most European new bikes were pre-fitted with SE pipes at the point of sale) but they will stop shipping them across the Atlantic altogether.
For reasons unknown, Harleys have been pretty exempt from the noise regulations over here. Other bikes get pulled for race cans, but the Harley fraternity has mostly been allowed to exist outside the law. That's changing rapidly.
There are many (millions?) of non-bikers who love Harleys and their sound. They come out in their droves to see and hear big ride outs. But for every hundred of them, there are 10 who just see noisy bikers, and who can and do complain. That is their right, because the law is being broken.
It doesn't help that there is always at least one complete jerk in every group, who thinks it's really smart to take his motor to the rev limiter, in the centre of town, and with straight through drag pipes. Or the moron who draws the attention of every law abiding citizen, by dragging from the lights in the centre of town, also to the limiter.
If we could all keep the noise to reasonable limits, and keep the rpm down in town, then we might have continued to survive un-noticed, but it's too late now.
It will happen on your side of the pond too. Only a matter of time.
Fact is, however much we love the noise of our bikes, and however much we say that loud pipes save lives (and they do) there is no justification in law for imposing our preferences on others. There is justification in defending the right to silence, and if you've ever sat on top of a hill, in the middle of nowhere, and heard nothing but the sound of nature, you will understand why.
You can campaign, if enough of you work together, but what's the basis of your case?
You want noisy pipes because you like making a noise?
It's not gonna fly.
100 years since the Silent Gray Fellow, but it looks like resurrection is just around the corner....
Over here, we live in the Nanny State, where freedom of the individual has been removed.
Emasculation.
Get used to it, because what most of us love, is about to be taken away...

 

Bancquo... They are stopping the selling of some the SE stuff here already as far as I know...

So... as for us not having a leg to stand on when petitioning to keep the pipes... I don't know about that. I have seen some pretty stupid stuff get approved for very stupid things...

I don't think we should have to petition to keep them legal or whatever... I think the burdon of proof should be on the people complaining about it. But you are right.. there are just enough @$$hats out there that make it bad for everyone. THis is just about as stupid as a town here that outlawed leaf blowers... LEAF BLOWERS!!!! You know what... Feel free to outlaw my lawnmower too... Then you can come over to my house with a pair of scissors and cut the acre of grass I have...

The pipes are not hurting anyone... we have too many crusaders sitting around at home trying to figure out ways to make themselves feel important. And because bikers do have a "bad image" we get singled out because we are the enemy... I'll tell ya what... I feel safer around a bunch of bikers than I do around a bunch of Catholic Priests (I am catholic so I can say that... please do not get your knickers in a twist).

Whatever... my V&H Bigshot Staggered get installed next Tuesday. I plan on being curteous to my fellow man when possible. But you know what... Someone will still complain about something...

I am into Archery... I shoot in my yard... I have 1.5 acres.... I shoot into a target in my garden and there are NO HOUSES behind my garden... A new neighbor called the cops about it... WTF? One I was not using my guns... Two it is a bow and arrow and I am shooting DOWN HILL... And her house is over 100 yards away from where I am (I know this because I now make a point of using her mailbox when I boresight a new rifle).

The Sherriff got tired of her calling about me and my neighbor all the time... He finally told her to knock it off or he was going to fine her...

Why in God's name would you move to the middle of nowhere and then complain about people rednecking it up!?!?!?! It's the same thing with the pipes issues... Its not really "hurting" anyone... it is just hurting someone's delicate sensibilities... They want to be able to go to the PTA and say, "I am the one that got rid of those nasty bikers!"

Ugh...

 

On that last line. Nothing burns my *** more than someone on welfare or disability who can do more than me physically and finacially. I go to work everyday, I am in pain everyday. For example, I saw a guy, probably 30 or so, RUNNING around the park with his kids. We started chatting, and I asked him what he did for work. He said "Oh, I'm on disability because I have a bad back" It took every ounce of energy not to strangle that lazy worthless piece of.. Well, you get my point. He was playing around like I have not done in ten years. I do have back issues. I have had 2 discs removed in my neck and have a Titanium Plate holding 3 Vertebrae together. I try not to judge, but if you can run around the park, jump up and down, and run full speed with no limp or worries, go get a fricken job. Sorry, went on another tangent. And this is not meant to detract from those on disability who need it. Or welfare for that matter. Only the abusers

 

Not to beat a dead horse or anything...but if any of you are also readers of AutoWeek magazine, there's an interesting and pertinent column on page 10 of the March 20, 2006 isssue. It's written by Steve Thompson and is titled "Straight Pipes and Street Civility". It addresses not just vehicular noise, but Harley noise in particular. I have e-mailed him to point out that Harleys aren't the only problem, and to request permission to reprint the column here. We'll see what he has to say...

 

I agree with 1ANALGUY. I run stock pipes. If we do not police ourselves the law will.
I work afternoon shift and I sometimes sleep until noon. I moved out in the country for peace and quiet but guess what!! The motorcycles like to drive on the back roads because of less traffic. Straight pipes at 5:00 am at full throttle off a stop sign is no fun. I had to sell my last house becaue it was too noisy.

 

Steve Thompson is the former editor of Cycle World and Cycle Guide magazines and has been riding for 43 years. He sent me a prompt and detailed e-mail in reply to the above-mentioned request. It seems that, under his current employment agreement, he is no longer in a position to grant or refuse permission to use his Autoweek columns. So, no soap on a reprint here. If you can't find that AutoWeek issue, there's another good article written by Stephanie Feld in the May '06 issue of American Iron magazine on page 28. It's titled "What's All The Noise About?".

Many of you are making good and valid points about the "Fast & Furious" crowd with their buzz-bomb exhausts and atomic stereos, but just as a reminder, the original question in this thread was "Are We Too Loud?" We, meaning Harleys in general. We can't really address the "F & F" crowd's transgressions here because this is a Harley forum. We're not responsible for them, we're responsible for US. Just think, if we were, generally, just a little less "free" with that beautiful "Harley sound" that we all love so much, then the public out-cry and political heat would be directed more at the F & F and less at us. I say, let the s**tstorm rain on them for a while!

A little earlier in the thread I mentioned the "95%+" of the non-riding general public. I'd like to apologize for that number...I was "shooting from the hip" while trying to make a point. The actual, accurate number is 97%. Yes...that's right, only 3% of the US population rides motorcycles. That's all bikes/brands combined. Of that 3%, I don't know how many are Harleys. Maybe somebody else here knows. At any rate, you can see that we are a tiny minority and yet, we expect the huge majority to accomodate our lust for loudness. Apparently, most of you feel that this is fair and just. I just don't feel all that good about your chances...

 

There is a line between too loud and too quiet. Mine has good rumble when needed(for the lane changer), but still sounds good when cruising and not too loud. My area is cracking down on loud exhaust, I was even PC'd by the cops to inconvience me and cost me for the hook and drop. Why are we targeted when car stereos are thumping and crotch rockets are roaring? Anyway I like it LOUD at times and softer at others, but for my safety people will hear me around them. Just my opinion.