[Keef Sparrow]

What I do notice is Dangerous behavior- flying past me in my lane at 127MPH with the added screaming pipe, or the same individual lane splltting at loud dangerous speed, or maybe with an almost naked young lady with flip flops on back as an added example of Dope.

That truly bothers me

Those sort of guys tend to remove themselves from the gene pool fairly quickly. That doesn't bother me. It does bother me when they take others with them. I used to see some guy who used to fly up and down my residential road at great speed (and noise) every day overtaking everything he could in a 30 MPH limit for no reason. Suddenly he's not around any more. Same with the guys on L plated scooters who used to pass me every day on my way to work and fly past everybody else - often appearing from nowhere and overtaking on the inside. Suddenly not around any more. I hope they are enjoying their hospital food and learning their lesson.

[zimmemr]

Everybody rides their own bike for their own reasons. Judging somebody solely by what they ride strikes me as being foolish, but then again so does a lot of what goes on these days.

[gizzo]

I saw a good one today. A smoky old shitbox going down the road, followed by a couple of Harley guys with the usual earsplitting pipes. They were dodging and weaving the smoke and the way they were gesticulating to each other at a traffic light, it seemed clear they didn't enjoy the pollution from the old car. Irony, much?

[SandSquid]

I saw a good one today. A smoky old shitbox going down the road, followed by a couple of Harley guys with the usual earsplitting pipes. They were dodging and weaving the smoke and the way they were gesticulating to each other at a traffic light, it seemed clear they didn't enjoy the pollution from the old car. Irony, much?

One's man's exhaust smoke is another man's 007-smoke screen.

That said, I'll take noise pollution any day over vehicles spewing plumes of burnt oil and fuel as they shimmy and shake down the highway.

Diesel guys up here love to "roll coal" as some sort of gesture against hybrid or electric cars. My son drives a Ford Super Duty, and I'll throttle the kid if I ever catch him doing that.

[anglojaxon]

I had an UltraClassic a while ago and replaced it with moderate V&H slip-ons and the constant noise was just too much. I never subscribed to the "Loud Pipes save lives" bullshit. I doubt there's ever been an accident report that said "Accident occurred because pipes weren't loud enough." Building a case around loud pipes saving lives is anecdotal and subjective. Obsoletely no evidence backing it up. There is more evidence it's BS. The people I rode with were generally older than me or retired and just didn't care for long pipes because they actually toured often. Of course they weren't "bikers" either. I rather liked my circle of Harley owners over BMW riders who seem to be the most condescending snobs I've ever met. I've owned a few BMW's and don't particularly like the majority of BMW owners I've met. That's just my experience. They spend an inordinate time complaining about Harley's and their riders than owning BMW's. Then there is the "if it isn't a boxer it isn't a beemer." People can have that elitist mindset in every group.

I think this whole loud pipe thing came to be after aftermarket manufacturers gained in sales after a motorcycle sales resurgence. Prior to that, the tech just wasn't there and the bravado of owning a loud bike was simply just that, bravado.

There's ample evidence the whole biker 1% image was a media creation from the get go and further soiled the reputation of your average biker by a string of B movies in the late 60's and 70's that really created the biker image. Easyrider was more a movie about an experience that idolized the outsider. My Uncle was a biker in the 70's and in a rather notorious club. He rode a chopped Triumph. There were no rules about American motorcycles or loud pipes.

People just can't say they like loud pipes because it make them feel like a badass, they created this "reason" to justify being asses. It's just as disrespectful as blasting a car stereo. It's not surprising anti-social behavior expresses itself as loud and obnoxious. It's not just a Harley thing. Sport bike riders have loud pipes. I personally don't understand the excessively loud pipes some riders have other than a lack of personal confidence and bravado. I think it's really just a lack of maturity. It'll absolutely wreck your hearing and they probably aren't aware just how expensive hearing aids can be in their old age.

I'd rather hear sounds around me than being deafened by the pipes under me. Yes. I do have S&S pipes and they can really rip under throttle but I try to be cognizant of where I am and use the baffles to sweeten the sound. It just has a classic twin sound that maybe a mother of a small child likes (however kids wave at me and seem enthralled, even little girls.) I usually listen to music on the GS while riding and just listen to the Intercepter while riding it. I just like the distinctive sound of a classic air cooled twin. I grew up around motorcycles, my father rode and raced and he was a huge fan of the H1 500 Mach III triple. That bike was a snarling beast in it's day. He was a huge fan of British cars, but preferred Japanese bikes, likely due to Japan really hammering the British motorcycle industry.

Sound is highly subjective. A classic air/oil cooled twin just has a sweet spot most bikes don't have without modification.

[anglojaxon]

The nice thing about Harley's is that when you go on one of their forums it doesn't have a constant stream of posts whining about other bikes. The insecurity about ones bike of choice isn't limited to RE owners, I've noticed it on triumph forums too.

Completely true, they just don't care. Go to a BMW group on Facebook and they spent an inordinate amount of time talking trash about Harley's, more so than any other group. Then they dog pile the BMW owners that still own Harley's when they say "Hey, wait a minute."

 I've owned many a BMW but some people in that group are just whiners, complainers and snobs. It's unreal.

I wrote this and posted it online when a real obnoxious ass comes along:

https://medium.com/@ibjaxon/how-to-be-a-beemer-elitist-8871bd4372fc

[zimmemr]

Completely true, they just don't care. Go to a BMW group on Facebook and they spent an inordinate amount of time talking trash about Harley's, more so than any other group. Then they dog pile the BMW owners that still own Harley's when they say "Hey, wait a minute."

 I've owned many a BMW but some people in that group are just whiners, complainers and snobs. It's unreal.

I wrote this and posted it online when a real obnoxious ass comes along:

https://medium.com/@ibjaxon/how-to-be-a-beemer-elitist-8871bd4372fc

Excellent, it jibes nicely with my experience as a former member of an ADV bike club.

[gizzo]

I never subscribed to the "Loud Pipes save lives" bullshit.

Except I was saying to a friend a while ago that found an exception to that rule :  we can hear the kid from down the street on his Husky dirt bike coming from a couple of blocks away thanks to his loud pipe. That gives us time to get inside, hide behind a tree or something before he gets here, travelling at warp speed on the back wheel. He does an OK wheelie buts it's all power, no balance point. It's only a matter of time before he takes himself out. It's best to be somewhere else when he does 😂

[Semanticks]

Except I was saying to a friend a while ago that found an exception to that rule :  we can hear the kid from down the street on his Husky dirt bike coming from a couple of blocks away thanks to his loud pipe. That gives us time to get inside, hide behind a tree or something before he gets here, travelling at warp speed on the back wheel. He does an OK wheelie buts it's all power, no balance point. It's only a matter of time before he takes himself out. It's best to be somewhere else when he does 😂

Witness statements cut into riding time. Can't say I blame you for dodging that bullet.

[NVDucati]

Except I was saying to a friend a while ago that found an exception to that rule :  we can hear the kid from down the street on his Husky dirt bike coming from a couple of blocks away thanks to his loud pipe. That gives us time to get inside, hide behind a tree or something before he gets here, travelling at warp speed on the back wheel. He does an OK wheelie buts it's all power, no balance point. It's only a matter of time before he takes himself out. It's best to be somewhere else when he does 😂

Good one Gizzo.
There is another exception. A real world one. Bicyclists.
   I'm pretty sure it is the same everywhere. Bicycle riders seek out the same isolated, twisty, blind curved roads as we do. They tend to ride in pairs or groups. Often side by side. With the closing rate of a motorcycle over a bicycle, they can benefit from hearing us a corner away to give them time to form a single line.
   The worst is on downhill stretches. They are blazing away at 23mph and using the same entry, apex and exit lines as we do. I got nothing against the bicycle crowd and I'm not advocating for super loud pipes. But from years of riding a whisper quiet CBR among the rotation of my other "audible" bikes ... if they don't hear you coming they are using the whole road. Its kinda like a Larson cartoon of the cows or deer. So audible pipes can save lives.

[ceekay]

as a bicyclist I find bicyclists can be annoying and dangerous. Coming cross a major bicycling event on my favorite  canyon road and/or stretched out for miles on a narrow highway with no shoulder. I want everyone to get home safe at the end of the day but in the meantime my temperature/pressure can rise a few degrees.

working on a survey crew for the state on our highway system convinced me it was not a place I would want to be on a bicycle. lucky for me we have some dirt trails where I ride regularly.

[Semanticks]

as a bicyclist I find bicyclists can be annoying and dangerous. Coming cross a major bicycling event on my favorite  canyon road and/or stretched out for miles on a narrow highway with no shoulder. I want everyone to get home safe at the end of the day but in the meantime my temperature/pressure can rise a few degrees.

working on a survey crew for the state on our highway system convinced me it was not a place I would want to be on a bicycle. lucky for me we have some dirt trails where I ride regularly.

Where I live triathlons are a big deal. For one weekend out of the year, every major road is crippled. That I can deal with. The practice is more of an issue. Individuals are fine, but when they get their own peloton going, with support vehicles riding two or three deep I take issue. Road users must share the space, but that doesn't only apply to motor vehicles. Support vehicles impede traffic and create unsafe conditions for other road users.

I say this as someone who cycle commuted in an urban environment for a decade, a lifelong cyclist. Narrow winding mountain roads are not safe for cyclists

[Warwick]

My lightning with the 535 high com piston etc. and a megaphone pipe with the baffle blown out is a most obnoxiously loud bike. It sounds like bang bang bang (not in smooth uniform way) and is as earsplitting as many a harley.
Cheers and beers
Warwick

[zimmemr]

My lightning with the 535 high com piston etc. and a megaphone pipe with the baffle blown out is a most obnoxiously loud bike. It sounds like bang bang bang (not in smooth uniform way) and is as earsplitting as many a harley.
Cheers and beers
Warwick

Are you bragging or complaining? 

[agagliardi]

A little extra sound on just about any bike sounds nice to me. Not straight pipes of course, but a Harley with that "Flowmasters" or Steve McQueen "Bullit" sound is beautiful. Sorry, but "sewing machine" bikes just don't cut it for me.

And, I may be anecdotal(hate the word") but a little extra sound can alert a sleepy driver on a highway that you are next to him(oops non woke. I mean individual- shoot me)