Loud pipes are silly and dangerous.

Here's why:
-- They piss off the public a lot,.. we don't need any more unfavorable publicity.
-- They ruin the tuning of the bike, necessitating several hours of rejetting, etc.
-- They damage your hearing.  Most of the time you can't tell.  As your hearing gets worse, you get more dangerous.
-- If you don't rejet the bike it makes less power,... you get more dangerous because you can't accelerate as well now.
-- They piss off the cops/taxpayers enough they start making laws that restrict ALL of us, not just the dimbulbs with the obscenely loud pipes.
-- They block out traffic noises,.. you get more dangerous.
-- On a trip of more than an hour or so, they increase fatigue.  You enjoy the trip less, and you get more dangerous.
-- Loud pipes make degrading statements about your ego and self-esteem.
-- The racket caused by loud pipes is directed back behind the bike.  Most (something like 80%) of the motorcycle accidents occur from drivers not seeing you from the FRONT.

I like loud pipes about as much as I like hearing the kid across the street start up his Civic with the coffee-can muffler at 0130 in the morning,... or hearing the s**t-for-brains jerk with the 5,000 watt sound system in his trunk thumping out enough bass to rattle my fillings.

I'll admit I like an exhaust system to make a little more noise than stock motorcycles do these days.  If it weren't for the loud-pipe "enthusiasts" causing the authorities to overreact and make all kind of restrictive noise standards, however, maybe stock motorcycles would sound a little more enjoyable.  I remember the bikes I had, back before the loudpipers ruined everything, sounding pretty good,.. go hear what a stock, 60's vintage, Triumph Bonneville or Norton Atlas or Harley Sportster sounds like.  Pure music.

Thanks a LOT, loudpipers.   --

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 07/07/11 at 18:52:43:


Funny you mentioned that. I just read a study that showed wearing a helmet did not statistically change fatality rates in motorcycle accidents. It also showed that Full face helmets protect your head but are the leading cause of severe neck injuries and half helmets were good for neck and head but put your chin/jaw at greater risk.

Point? Everything is give and take, nothing is ever a guarantee when it comes to riding.

Routy wrote on 07/07/11 at 19:54:20:


I don't know how it works where you live but here until it's 11pm there isn't a sound ordinance. Also, in order to be "Excessive Noise" or "Disturbing the Peace" the pipe has to be louder than 92dba standing 20 feet behind the pipe.

I tend to get pissed off when people pass me in general, what's the big hurry? I always do the speed limit or 5 over.

But I'd have to disagree. They do have the right to run those pipes unless it's illegal in that state. This always boils down to a group of people telling another group of people what they can or cannot do.

People have the right to choose for themselves, and we have the right to complain about it. That's what makes this country great and I love it.

Someone might complain endlessly about that neighbor across the street revving his Civic with the ridiculous exhaust. But, that same guy gets tickled when a 68 Cougar rolls down the straight with glasspacks and lights them up. I think generation gaps are just as much a culprit in alot of these complaints. Sometimes it's not that it's loud, it's just a noise they don't like. Well that boils down to opinion, and in this country opinion only goes so far.

Kinda like the Harley guy, sippin' his beer and leaning on his bike grumbling about the line of sportbikes zipping by with their loud rice exhaust. Then he throws the can over his shoulder, fires up his bike with straight pipes and blows down the road.

Gyrobob wrote on 07/07/11 at 20:54:40:


lol thats a bitter grudge if I ever heard one.

Again, I'm not advocating loud pipes, I'm advocating the right for people to choose. Sure it may annoy you, but maybe your lawn mower annoys me when your cutting your grass at 8am and I'm hung over trying to sleep. Does that mean we stop cutting our grass? No, it's a fact of life. I turn my radio on and go back to sleep.

You say we all get restricted and punished because of a few. What else is new?

Again, the generation gap. My dad (RIP) absolutely hated those rice mufflers on those cars, and he also hated loud sportbike exhaust, and he even hated Harleys with loud pipes(actually he hated Harley altogether, always rode Triumph), but he sure loved the sound of those cherry bombs on his pickup. He hated my metal music, but he didn't mind turning up Jim Croce or Charlie Daniels.

I think it has more to do with what the sound is and not so much the volume.

Where I live there are many buildings, canyons, valleys, and the alike to give plenty echo. I'm sure it's louder behind the rider but that doesn't mean I don't hear him coming.

I can hear bikes crossing the bridge into town and it's 3 blocks away and I would agree, those pipes are just plain obnoxious. I shouldn't hear a bike 3 blocks away coming into town. But then I stop and think...if I go and try to tell that guy what he can and can't do, it's just a matter of time before someone comes telling me what I can and can't do.

I have no right to push my beliefs or opinions on anyone else, just because I think loud pipes are badass doesn't mean you should have to hear it but I shouldn't have to run a muffler thats quiet because it pleases you. Afterall, I didn't buy the bike to please you, I bought it to please me and if loud pipes is what I want, that's my right as long as I'm within the laws.

I'm the one who has to hear it all day, you hear it for 10seconds as I'm going by.

And again, I don't think people should have ridiculous exhaust either. Defintions of "loud" vary person to person and some people just want something to complain about.

I stand by my opinion, being audibly louder does make you more noticeable thus safer. Does this mean I think it's ok to run straight header? No. Am I going to run obnoxious exhaust? No. Do I think that choice is up to the individual? Yes.

[quote author=416D6B656F67426562666D0C0 link=1310006201/30#33 date=1310109279]Trippah wrote on 07/07/11 at 19:30:20:


This is a sad sad situation.  Your hearing is NOT fine.  You are doing permanent, incremental damage to your hearing and you have conned yourself into thinking otherwise.

"Doing it for ten years straight and not noticing any damage" doesn't prove anything.  All that means is the damage is gradual enough you don't notice it.  If you would have been tested every year since your teens, you would be seeing a gradual drop in the decibel levels, especially at higher frequencies.

"Recurrent ringing" is tinnitus.  This is a symptom and, while the gun accident certainly didn't help any, is proof of damage to your hearing and a symptom of associated hearing loss.  This tinnitus will become more and more prevalent over the next decade.  It will drive you crazy because you can not shut it off.  Some folks can't sleep with advanced tinnitus unless they do something to mask the sound, like having a loud fan, or radio tuned to no station, or white-noise generators made just for tinnitus masking, right near the pillow.

This gradual drop happens anyway, due to aging, but if you wouldn't have been abusing your inner ears like this, the larger amounts of hearing loss wouldn't be showing up until your 70's or 80's.  If you keep this up, you will be experiencing some drastic hearing loss soon,.. sometime over the next decade or so.  To add to the sadness, by the time you are fortyish-fiftyish, you will be missing a lot of the consonants in normal conversation,.. saying "what?" or "huh?" or as they say down here, "do what now?"  


Maybe by then they will have invented really good hearing aids that inject sounds directly into your aural nerves,... the other parts of your heaing "system" will be beyond repair.

I have two recommendations.  Always wear good earplugs (the foam kind that expands after you insert it) inserted all the way in, so you can just barely see it.  These will reduce the sound about 30db.  Have your ears tested every six months.  It's cheap, or even free in some areas.

P.s. -- I just noticed stratman's comment.  It's valid.  "Hearing loss sneaks up on you and the only way to prevent it is to avoid loud noise.  If i'm in a loud restaurant or bar, I can't hear any conversation.  People get tired of repeating themselves.  The ringing in my ears is constant now.  Don't let it happen to you, you can't get it back"

Sad but true.

[quote author=0B353E232E232E4C0 link=1310006201/30#38 date=1310127593]MagickNinja wrote on 07/08/11 at 00:14:39:


I know what your saying but I absolutely love music, I play everything from Beethoven to Norwegian Black Metal. Do you play? Do you have any idea how hard it is to practice in a 5 piece band wearing ear plugs? Everything is muffled, the guitars sound like bass, the bass sounds like a constant hum and the drums well, all you hear is the snare.

My singer's name is Alex Vota, he's from Denver, CO and use to sing in a band around there called Angelic Rage. He's 41 years old, been a singer in metal bands longer than I've been playing and is still at it since we picked him up. He doesn't wear ear plugs, he's 12 years older than me, been in loud bands longer than I have and he doesn't have any hearing issues either.

I honestly think it has more to do with the "sound" than the volume. Did you know that dissonant sounds at medium volumes can do more damage than pleasing tones at higher volumes?

For example, if I'm playing a mid octave G and the other guitarist plays a mid octave B, you will have a harmony. 2 notes working together that make a beautiful sound. If we did the same thing with 2 notes that aren't harmonius, it sounds bad, not only is it unpleasing to the ear, it can also do damage.

So say jamming in a loud band who isn't very good and has a lot of mistakes and sour notes will damage your ears more than a band who is louder but tight and precise.

I want to get an in-ear monitor so I can be loud but not damage my hearing but these things cost about the same as a decent 4x12 cab. And also someday if I tour I'll have to wear ear plugs because that's just too much.

I know what you guys mean, I should because it will do some damage in the end. But I write all our songs, I'm the driving force in the band, I have to hear everything to make sure nobody is playing the wrong notes, staying in time and I can't do that with ear plugs.

Your talking about a profession that requires focus, attention to audible detail, and listening to pitch, none of which works very well when you put a giant 30db muffler on your ears. Imagine a sound engineer trying to mix and master in his studio, all the tiny attention to detail and pitch correction....now put ear plugs in his head...that album won't be selling too many copies.

I love music, its a risk I'm willing to take. Same with riding, it may kill me someday but I love it so it's a risk I'm willing to take.

I'm not stupid and I appreciate you guys being concerned, I really do. But unless someone is going to buy me a $600 in ear monitor, there isn't much I can do.

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 07/08/11 at 05:50:28:


Yep, me too.  Dr said it was high frequency hearing loss, asked if I ever been around any loud noises.  I asked, "If lawn mowers, outboard motors, weedeaters, chain saws, rifles, shotguns, pistols and so forth counted?" He said all that counted.  But I knew i couldn't hear as well before the test.  I also have that constand ringing.  Not much fun.  I tell everyone to wear their protection, some listen and some don't.

+1 Tinnitus sufferer.  Wear those earplugs and make sure they fit, folks.

I knew I needed to be extra careful being a motorcyclist and gun owner, and having had a couple of bad ear infections from water skiing, and stints as a musician and construction worker.  It didn't matter, one day at the pistol range, right earplug slipped just as some yay-hoo set off a whole magazine of magnum something-or-other, and I've been ringing ever since. Five years now. I've had all kinds of scans, treatments, hypnosis, ear injections, tests, drugs,    what amounts to about $12,000 worth of "live with it."  

Protect your ears, you only get one pair and there's no fixing them.