Loud pipes are not heard by the people that pull out in front of you, turn left in front of you, or run red lights.  The only people that hear your loud pipes are the ones directly behind you, or the ones right beside you.  The people behind you aleady know you are there.....the only situation that I can conceed that loud pipes get attention is to the driver that might be going to change lanes and has not seen you beside them.  In that situation the bike only needs to have a DYNA......not a straight pipe to be heard.  There are very few bikes made that are so silent that they won't be heard next to you....mostly the big touring bikes like the Goldwing, BMW, etc.

My wife and I were down in North Carolina last month and did some hiking in the Blue Ridge mountians.  It was a big weekend for bikes and on our hikes we could be 2 miles from the road and hear the big Harleys with straight pipes bellowing through the valleys.....there is really no reason for anyone to be that rude.  I have no idea why anyone would want to make that much noise.....or why anyone would want to ride with them.

I agree that straight pipes are too loud, both for the surrounding public and the rider himself.  If you need earplugs to ride your own bike, it's too loud.  On occasion, I've needed earplugs to work on someone's bike.  How they could hear anything over that is beyond me.

But I disagree and will state you're being a little contradictory... can be heard 2 miles away, but not a couple a hundred feet in front.  Ignored or misinterpreted is more likely.  Difficulties in seeing a single point of light with the balance of the bike fading into the black makes them hard to see.  Just the same as overwhelming noise obliterating the direction from whence it comes.  We've all heard sirens and not been able to determine from what direction they came till they suddenly appeared on your bumper.

I have an unmodified dyna or sportster muf on my bike right now and I would say that it's no louder than a stock muf.

Quote:


It's not an opinion.  
-- Being loud has nothing but negative consequences,.. the manufacturers, the safety organizations, the government studies, etc., have ALL shown the cagers are more likely to cause loud bikes harm than quiet bikes.  Just plain fact.  
-- And,.. there is that bad PR factor.  Every time we go for a ride, we can either irritate people or we can behave nicely.  Loud pipes irritate people. It is a nasty thing to be a negative "ambassador."

I didn't want to restart another loud pipe war.  Those who just like loud pipes will continue to use them because they just like loud pipes.  I know that.  The loudpiper crowd just doesn't care enough about losses in performance, hearing loss, or making the public hate all motorcyclists to do anything about it.  They will always be with us.  Few will listen to the facts,.. maybe because their ears are so shot they can't hear anything.  

Hi. My daughter and I put together a Ryca CS-1 kit a couple of years ago, converting a Savage to a cafe racer. The kit supplied an EMGO 17" Shorty reverse cone megaphone muffler. It is a minimal muffler with a re-packable baffle. I have done a couple of re-packings and even did a crumb cup modification, but it never has not been anti-socially loud.

I found a simple solution for me, at least. I recently installed an EMGO 26" reverse cone megaphone muffler (part # 80-84034, $60). It retains the right look, but makes significantly less noise. It is socially acceptable now. A plus is that the baffle is a non-removable, mechanical design that does not require frequent re-packing.

I hope this post is useful to Ryca guys/gals looking to make their bike less edgy.

Here are photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/117060066392539786618/_RycaWith26ReverseConeMega...

Gyrobob wrote on 11/20/13 at 19:14:16:



Well I don't mean to start up another loud pipe war either but seriously? Being loud has NOTHING but negative consequences? What studies and scientific research do you have to back up your opinion? It sounds like a lot of biased opinions to me. Honestly ive seen a couple of those studies and they conclude that yes when you have a straight pipe and you say open the throttle next to someone in their car then yes its REALLY loud and our stress levels increase and makes for some hasty decision making which is no good. Again im still talking about the noise of an unrestricted dyna on our wonderful thumpers. Losses of power, making all of the general public hate us? I think not.

Most accidents happen because people don't notice a motorcycle.
Loud pipes make you more noticeable.
Therefore loud pipes can save your life or help you to avoid accidents.

lol ok prove your theory with your "facts" or we can just agree to disagree.

And by the way replacing a stock restrictive muffler with a freer flowing, well designed one will in most cases yield more power after the necessary tuning adjustments. Yes even on a Harley, like my friends street bob with before and after dyno sheets.