Loud Pipes..yes Or No

I got nicked for speeding back in 1984.........the copper said .....I heard you coming from miles away , stealthy pipes for me now

 

Not into big noise any more. I like to hear a bike though, which l suppose is a bit hypocritical. Customer this morning had a VFR Vtec with Delkevic cans. I bet he thinks he's Joey Dunlop when he goes home ​

 

I’m not that keen on loud pipes. On long runs they give me a headache.

 

Well it would seem that the whole "loud pipes save lives " argument is actually b*llox. Taken from this month's MAG magazine.

 

Unsurprising really. It's a bit like check trousers-they may get you noticed but not necessarily for the right reasons anyway.

 

I've had loud cans/pipes on bikes in the distant past, primarily because they were usually part of a package of performance upgrades but I also liked the sound. The scream of a racing 2 stroke has always tickled my fancy. As far as the safety aspect goes I'm in the "complete b*llocks" camp. As others have said it's your riding style and observation that will save your neck/ass, not more db's.

 

Loud pipes on motorcycles is a very divisive topic, there is the "in and out camp, both have valid points, personally I love the sound of a quality end can on a motorcycle (I'm not talking about highly offensive ones). I have a Yoshimura on my STRS, my son runs a full Akrapovic system on his 1299s Panigale, the system cost 4.5K fitted by the dealer and mapped to suit, my other son has a Speed Triple 1050 with standard pipes, although he loves a quality made end can. If you hear most Harley's they sound loud as standard, let alone the aftermarket exhausts a lot put on, classic bikes, many have straight through pipes (and sound very loud) as my 1956 T100 did, amongst others. I am not attempting to justify my own preference, as I am definitely all for freedom of choice, when I passed my test back in 1967 everything was fairly loud, things move on especially with Euro 5 emissions. There are a lot more issues that should concern motorcyclists, just one recent example saw the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuinness urging the Policing Minister to consider fitting trackers to all motorbikes in an effort to curb anti-social and illegal riding. However following public pressure, she has backtracked. There are lots more restrictions being considered for motorcyclists, loud exhausts are however not that much of a concern against other more draconian measures.

 

Loud pipes on motorcycles is a very divisive topic, there is the "in and out camp, both have valid points, personally I love the sound of a quality end can on a motorcycle (I'm not talking about highly offensive ones). I have a Yoshimura on my STRS, my son runs a full Akrapovic system on his 1299s Panigale, the system cost 4.5K fitted by the dealer and mapped to suit, my other son has a Speed Triple 1050 with standard pipes, although he loves a quality made end can. If you hear most Harley's they sound loud as standard, let alone the aftermarket exhausts a lot put on, classic bikes, many have straight through pipes (and sound very loud) as my 1956 T100 did, amongst others. I am not attempting to justify my own preference, as I am definitely all for freedom of choice, when I passed my test back in 1967 everything was fairly loud, things move on especially with Euro 5 emissions. There are a lot more issues that should concern motorcyclists, just one recent example saw the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuinness urging the Policing Minister to consider fitting trackers to all motorbikes in an effort to curb anti-social and illegal riding. However following public pressure, she has backtracked. There are lots more restrictions being considered for motorcyclists, loud exhausts are however not that much of a concern against other more draconian measures.

 

That's the problem right there. When it comes to loud pipes what exactly is "an offensive one"? What will sound nice to one will offend another, a bit like jokes. You mention the restrictions being considered to curb anti social riding, well, to a large portion of the general public, anti social riding includes loud pipes. We, as bikers may think it's a lot of fuss about nothing but unfortunately we're in a minority.

 

Whether it is loud pipes or riding like a dickhead the general public and authorities will always be looking at motorcyclist in a negative manner. A number of our fellow riders do not help. There was a biker killed on the A41 at the weekend. He and a mate were weaving in and out of the traffic overtaking on double white lines, he hit a car head on. Three cars involved closing the road for hours. Life changing injuries for at least one car driver. It is this type of behaviour that needs to be addressed before attitudes to motorcycling will change. Sadly the many responsible riders will always be dragged down by the minority.

 

That's an interesting point; as the argument made for loud pipes is often that they enhance safety, how many of the proponents dress in bright, fluorescent and retroreflective clothing?

 

I fitted a set of race cans on my old SV650. Drivers awareness of me was immediately obvious, I could see them looking in the morros to see where I was and adjusting their road position to accommodate me. If you're revving your engine and 7am on a Sunday morning your neighbours are not going to thank you for it, but are they safer? I think they probably are a bit.

 

I like to think I am a responsible and level headed person, however I am definitely in the John McGuiness camp here with regards to so called "loud pipes", the fluffy bunny brigade (not forum members I might add) would ban all manner of things if they could. I don't subscribe to the theory that if you give up one thing it will stave off others, flipping heck Bagpipes will be banned next, how many car drivers play loud music whilst driving, now that is a "criminal offence" but how many are prosecuted. Even electric motorcycles and cars can emit sounds to replicate the combustion engine, what sense is there in that cranking the volume up to say 120db.

 

No to loud pipes, bloody annoying...l put some slip-on onto my speedie mainly to get rid of some weight, kept the baffles in though....too loud without them.

 

The problem with that new thread DougieD is that some people will see it, and some won't.

 

Would that be a no to Bagpipes or motorcycle end cans (or both) then

 

No silencers at all would be preferable to bagpipes!

 

Loud pipes, flourescent clothing, using high beam headlights all the time....there are many ways to be seen and heard. Or at least that's what some think and argue---and hope. Me included. I wish that this debate could be settled with data instead of or at least in addition to speculation, personal experience, and logic. I'm not sure there's a reliable and valid way to that research, though. Also, we will never know how many people might have hit us but didn't but for our loud pipes or colored gear or bright headlight or whatever caught their attention (besides their phone).

@Dougie D brought up being seen by wearing flourescent gear and that's a prime example. How often have you heard about a driver who hit someone (whether car, motorcycle, bicycle, pedestrian) exclaim "but I didn't see them!" I had this very thing happen to me several years ago. I had come to a complete stop at a four-way stop intersection just one block from our house. It's an intersection that used to see people blow through it regularly so I always made sure to look extra carefully. I had made my stop at the stop sign when another car came to a very "odd" stop to my right by stopping about 10 yards behind the crosswalk. Something didn't seem right so I waited and watched as the other car crept up to the white line and only then came to a complete stop, I, having the right of way and now confident that the person was now stopped and waiting for me, proceeded to enter the intersection. The next thing I knew, I saw that car in my peripheral vision so I hit the accelerator in the hopes I'd make it through before being broadsided. No dice. I was hit hard enough to case $12,000 worth of damage just behind the passenger door damaging the whole back quarter of my car. At least the person who hit me pulled over and stopped. But her first words were "I didn't see you". And my first words were "I was right in front of you!" The only thing I could figure was that she was on her phone and not paying attention because I literally was right in front of her and smack dab in the middle of the intersection as she headed towards me. Well, I was driving a dark gray car so perhaps my car blended in with the asphalt.