Loud Pipes..yes Or No

I don't think (taking one point they raised in the video) that when a car driver is waiting to pull out at a junction whilst listening to loud music on their car stereo that her/she will necessarily hear a bike approaching, no matter how loud an exhaust it has fitted. I'm from a generation when motorbikes didn't have headlights on all the time and to be honest I was a bit pissed off when I got my first bike that didn't give me the option of turning them off, but now I find on my old VFR Honda, which does give me that option, I tend to turn them on anyway. What I'm trying to say is that I think daytime head lamps are a better safety measure than hoping an errant car driver will hear you coming because you have a loud exhaust.

"The throttle goes both ways" as they say. All my bikes have aftermarket pipes on them, read louder than standard, I agree that some standard exhausts stifle too much of an engines character, if that's the right term, but of course if you are a shift worker and leave for work at silly o'clock and use your bike to commute, you may piss your sleeping neighbours off, even though the conscientious would feather the throttle until well clear of slumberville. That same shift worker however might equally get pissed off him/herself by chummy mowing his lawn with his petrol mower with a cracked exhaust, whilst trying to get some kip after an arduous night turn. Noise pollution can be very irritating, but going back to bikes with noisy pipes, I think if you are aware of your actions with the aforementioned throttle you will be ok. Much of the issue (with quiet OE exhausts) now is they have to comply with Euro 5 regulations with regard to emissions, hence these large, heavy and ugly cans we see on many bikes which the owner promptly junks and fits an aftermarket replacement.

I'm not sure however that the 'loud pipes are safer because people hear you coming' angle holds much water. IMO. I recall a year or so back a kid wearing headphones was hit by a train cos he didn't hear it coming. It was a big 3000 HP diesel loco, by no means a quiet thing but the noise it was making didn't help. and the kid lost his life, yes, he shouldn't have been walking on the rail tracks in the first place, but that's not really the issue here.

In future years as we transition to electric vehicles, the noise (or lack of it from said vehicles) will no doubt be an issue, they are already talking about fitting bleepers or some kind of noise emission devices to them to help blind or partially sighted people out and about, but loud exhausts on bikes? A safety benefit? For me no..

 

I'm afraid for me it's paying attention and riding defensively that saves lives, not making a racket.

All loud pipes do are annoy the majority of the public, make bikes stand out for the wrong reasons and if anything drives legislation to reduce motorcycle noise levels further and in some cases limit motorcycle access to areas.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy riding a bike making a bit of noise (especially a 2-stroke!) but I find that the presence of a loud after market system causes me to ride in a way that makes more noise simply because I enjoy the noise. A loud can causes me to ride faster and less defensively and increases risk rather than reduces it.

 

Everyone has their own definition of loud. I like a bit louder than stock but too much just becomes unpleasant noise (maybe its my hearing aids). I've come to appreciate a nice note with a bit of character, induction noise beats any exhaust note IMO. I really dislike stupidly loud pipes, they dont sound nearly as good and it will end up ruining it for everyone, actually we're well on our way with that one with manufacturers making it harder to remove baffles and noise cameras. I can't imagine how shite it would be to live on a busy biking route with loud bikes passing all day. Not only that, but if you like to crack on and have fun (which I do) loud pipes advertise to a large area that your being a dick
Edit, 90٪ of my riding I do alone. But if riding with others I feel the need for a loud pipe just to hear my own engine. You probably don't realise how loud your pipe is until you have to sit behind it.

 

There is an individual who leaves his bike at a house in our street, he doesn't live there, it all appears to be a bit of a free for all, as I see it.
When he decides it's time to take his bike for a ride, the whole street knows about it.
Exhaust noise, and lots and lots, and lots of it, is his thing.
It's not pleasant and alienates motor cyclists from the vast majority of the silent public.
my opinion, absolutely not, horrible, anti social accessories.

 

I don't think there's really a safety aspect to them but I do prefer some decent noise from the bike just not excessively so.
None of our bikes have std exhausts, but none are very loud either.
Loudest is probably the wife's Bonnie but most of the noise is the spitting and banging on the overrun

 

Ask @littleade if @crispey's Predators save lives!

 

Last year I called into a local garage to book my car in for a service...I was riding my R9T with Flapper valve removed....before I’d dismounted the one man band garage owner opened the big doors, he said: Oh, I’m waiting for a farmer bringing a quad in for exhaust repairs and I heard that and thought it was him!
He was right too, it did sound like a single cylinder quad with a dud exhaust.
Ken.

 

I don't believe that a car driver at a junction can hear an approaching motorbike's exhaust at all - all the noise is behind the bike, not in front of it. Too much noise just pisses the public off and causes prejudice against us. (Harleys with open pipes ridden by dickhead show-offs are the worst offender.) A little bit of extra noise is quite pleasing if the original silencers are too strangled, but I have always found a noisy exhaust to be too wearing on a long ride.

 

Not much controversy in this thread but I think the opinions are about right. I favour a louder pipe but it's not so much the absolute volume as the sound itself. Personally, I like the noise a V-twin (or V8 in a car) makes. It's pleasing when my Ducati fires up; noisy enough to be saying "IT'S A MOTORBIKE" but not so much that the neighbours will be round to complain that I'm frightening their pets. I'm not looking forward to the ubiquity or electric bikes as we'll lose the character of the exhaust noise but I also don't want to have my eardrums blasted as I walk down the road..

As far as I'm aware there's no evidence that loud pipes save lives. Then again, I've seen people walk in front of moving trams in Sheffield so quietness has it's hazards, too. There's a balance to be struck, as with most things.

 

My 97 Speed triple has the standard exhaust system on it and has a nice smooth note. You know it is a bike but it isn't offensive. I dont get why some bikes and also boy racer car types like the loud bangs and rough running some of the aftermarket pipes make, or is it just round where I live in Birmingham? I hate Harleys too, fukkin tractors, and quads, why are they always so noisy and antisocial. Grrrr
Or is it me that's antisocial, lol, after all I am a grumpy old git.

 

Its probably only cos they think a chapter of outlaws are chasing them. Lol

 

As you have said Dougie "pedestrians are more aware." I commuted through the city for 20+ years and a non standard exhaust certainly helped for ped- zombies, daft kids and no rules cyclists.

Oh and when I had to drop my full akra 4-1 for the OE system on the GSX1400... I sped everywhere (till the rectifying notice got stamped and swapped the exhaust out again)

Loud(er) Pipes Save Lives ...Think of the children!

 

Agree about the quiet exhausts.
Worst bike I had for speeding was a Hayabusa with std pipes.
With the effortless power of the Busa and very little engine noise, I was riding everywhere a lot quicker than my previous bike. Slowed down a bit once I had a decent set of pipes fitted and could hear the thing.

 

I think keeping your finger on the horn down a 2 mile traffic jam would be a bit more annoying than loud pipes, but more dangerous to as you won’t have full control of the bike. When in the car, stationary on the m6 I notice the louder bikes more than the quieter ones. If anything is used considerately and sensibly it shouldn’t be a problem!
As they say in the states “ it’s not the pipes that kill people it’s the people using them!”
Or was that something else?

 

25 years ago I would have said yes loud pipes are a good thing but in these days of motorists listening to loud music ...or just not paying attention add to this everyone on foot, bicycle, horses etc either have earphones or all their attention on the phone it's not really that useful any more sure a good sounding exhaust note is preferable but if too loud it just gets on your nerves.

Agree defensive riding is and always has been the order of the day I even wired up daytime running lights on the Trident chop, so I just might be seen as well.... in addition to the car horn i have fitted.

 

Daytime running lights on a chopper? Blimey Peter Fonda And Dennis Hopper must be turning in their graves. Lol

 

A well worded and thought provoking email there sir.
Basically, thanks!