In fairness, a patch saying "Loud Pipes provide an aditional saftey factor in certain situations, particularly residential and built up areas where sound can bounce around, that can alert drivers and pedestrians that a motorcycle is nearby" would be more accurate, but take up a lot of real estate on a leather vest
@pirateadam3686 So, I had to put your patch idea to the test...what do you think? I think I nailed it... www.mcrider.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/LoudPipes-Patch.jpg
Myth number 8: Women love guys who ride motorcycles - nah they couldn't care less. They only figure if you have that kind of money to spend on a hobby you'll have lots to spend on them.
50 years of riding and have never dropped a bike, not even once? The odds of that may not exactly be 0%, but they are so close to 0 that I'm just going to call it 0.
@@beepbop6697 I’ve gone down on dirt bikes. I’ve never dropped or been down on a road bike. I know no one believes me, but it’s true. My bike did fall one time when the side stand sunk into the ground. But I wasn’t on it at the time.
As a retired MSF Coach I've found when someone says "I had to lay the bike down" that's just their way of saying they screwed up so they are saving face with their friends. Just glad they were in the class learning better techniques to avoid/handle these situations in first place. THANKS for the this video!
You can definitely see in crash videos that the bike and rider both speed up when they are sliding on the road. Sliding greatly increases your stopping distance.
I'm glad you mentioned "safety in numbers." In all seriousness... I've seen more accidents in numbers. Riders are distracted trying to cross talk, and hot dog it to one another... not paying attention to what's in front and not keeping their line. I'm very selective with whom I ride, and I keep my number low, below or at five.
If a driver approaching a pack of riders strays across the line, there's a very good chance that the cyclist closest to the center of the road way gets clocked, and others nearby go down because of it. Riding in packs isn't very safe regardless of who's at fault that metal enclosed driver is coming out the winner in the meat hitting the pavement game.
I add a loud horn and I enjoy my quiet ride and use the loud horn to get people’s attention. Plus not speeding, never needing to do stunts and keeping a safe riding distance at all times, is everyone’s best option to keeping safe.
In my opinion using loud pipes as a safety measure is a poor strategy. The rider is counting on everyone else to have vehicles with a sane amount of noise so they can be heard above the rest of the street noise. Why should motorcycles be allowed to massively contribute to noise pollution and no one else. If other vehicles get louder it leads to a never ending escalation of obnoxious noise. It is a shame that law enforcement ignores people using these illegal mods to their bike. It just rightly makes people hate motorcycles when they are subjected to ear splitting noise.
I'm not sure loud pipes don't save lives. I've been in my car at a stop just to see a crotch rocket zip by. Which made me think to myself, if I had not already come to a stop. I would have hit the rider. My point here is I didn't hear it. I had come to a stop, looked right, looked left when I returned to look right, the bike was in front of me. Maybe I'm just tuned to hear bikes, but I've always heard a harley coming and going. I'm not disputing you, just my thoughts on pipes. I find your videos to be very informative and accurate.
Most of the exhaust noise is transmitted out the rear of the bike. A car on a highway will not hear the "loud pipes" until the rider is next to or in front of the car. However, they are very noticeable in a quiet neighborhood and do well at pissing everyone off that enjoys silence.
Sudden noises get attention. A crotch rocket approaching from a distance is a increasingly louder noise. Not the same. By the time your brain figures it out it's already gone.
Loud pipes definitely work when la get splitting at slow speeds. I see it all the time, it's not fool proof but combined flashing lights pretty effective.
Emergency braking skills (and also swerving to miss an obstacle) should be practiced in a parking lot first, but also, then at 55+mph. The speed DOES make a big difference. Particularly in swerving, you have to shift your weight much more intentfully to swerve at 55 than at 35 if you think you are going to miss something.
I have quiet motorcycles and loud motorcycles.I was riding one of my loud motorcycles a1700 Roadstar on a two lane highway at the posted speed of 70mph.I was in a no passing zone.The car behind me passed on the shoulder.I just assume he didn’t like listening to my sweet sounding big V-Twin.🤷♂️
Loud Pipes...I yield to those who chose, but I prefer my 135decible air horns. Groups, I agree, to many don't know how to ride. Lots of mileage experience...worked with a guy who had tens of thousands of riding time, and allegedly an MSF instructor, who failed the police motor officer course, and broke an bone doing so. Not enough slow speed experience. Practice always
"Practice makes perfect", they say. No, it doesn't, really. But practicing your bad habits for 40 years will make you very good at exhibiting bad habits.
Two other myths are, "they came out of nowhere" and "they ____ for no reason". I frequently see the drivers that others say "they came out of nowhere." I also frequently anticipate people doing things that surprise others because I see the reason that they are about to do the unexpected actions. I, of course, have also failed to recognize hazards many times. But I try to recognize these as my failures not the failures of other drivers or riders. Having true empathy for other drivers and riders is a skill that can help with predicting their actions.
Don't trust anyone else to keep you safe while riding! You mentioned demo days at HD, I rode in a group like that and even had a motorcycle police officer providing assistance to stop traffic at a traffic light. I got hit boroadside by a car that didn't yield. No tickets were issued, but an officer that wasn't at the scene wrote the report and made it seem like I was at fault. Luckily I wasn't severely injured but no lawyers for bikers would take my case to pay for my chiropractic visits, they told me to try and work it out w the insurance company. What a mess, sued the insurance co. to get that paid. So, I guess my real point is, flagged riders front and back, police assitance at the intersection, and years of riding didn't stop that car from proceeding thru the traffic signal in the only open lane while everyone else was stopped! Love to ride, but anyone who says it isn't dangerous, would be wrong! Keep the rubber on the road and the shiney side up!!!!
Loud pipes: 1) Deaden your own hearing. 2) Create hostility in the other motorists on the road. 3) Trigger panic reactions in nervous drivers / make babies/dogs freak out. All of that reduces your safety.
When you are on the highway going 70 your loud pipes will never keep anyone from pulling out in front of you because your pipes face the opposite direction of the way you are going and almost all of the sound is projecting backwards. People in front of you who are in their cars with the windows rolled up are not going to hear anything until it's too late. Sometimes though if you are on a four or six lane highway and a person is driving next to you that person might hear you before they thoughtlessly change lanes without looking. Over all loud pipes probably don't do much good but occasionally they might. I don't have loud pipes anymore though because I just got tired of them.
I've never been on a group ride and have no intention of ever going on one. I've seen more reckless behavior from other riders than I have from people in cars.
Good job! Thanks. We can come up with justifications for just about anything we do. I’d feel better about the loud pipes folks if they’d just admit they like a noisy bikes rather than trying to justify it.
Anyone who has ever driven a fire apparatus will never buy into that "loud pipes is safety" nonsense. Christmas lights, siren, AIR HORN. People still don't hear you over their bazillion watt sound systems and /or their internal preoccupation with constant digital communication about absolutely nothing.
FYI, I've been riding long enough that when I started full face helmets on the street weren't even a thing yet. Back then the same know it alls would tell you that wearing any helmet would cause neck injuries. Technology changes but stupidity remains the same...
I'm a 34-year MSF & State rider coach and have been harping on all of these points for years. Nicely worded. Two of my comments relayed in every class "If loud pipes save lives, imagine what learning to ride the bike would do" and "Make every ride count...you can go out & get 10 years of riding experience or 1 year of riding experience 10 times".
Loud pipes DO save lives. I'm living proof of it. I have 500k miles of downtown Los Angeles traffic commuting and at time revving the engine so folks who are on their cell phones can hear me has saved my life. Why not use the horn, some people ask, I use that too at times but my hand is already on the throttle vs the split second it would take me to reach over to the horn switch.
A few observations from a few decades of riding.. Riding with a vintage sport bike or gold wing club is totally different than a weekend pick up group of knuckleheads. Almost every guy I knew over the years that decided to buy a street bike after years of dirt biking, got hurt. I was involved in several (potential life ending) accidents. In two, I was hit by drivers that didnt see me. Both had been drinking, (and so had I) I realized and accepted that i was culpable, (even though in both instances, the car driver was found at fault), and that I could have taken steps to avoid them. Think ahead, scan constantly, ride with your "spot" always further up the road, not directly in front of, or around you. Be smart. Check your ego. Ride defensively. Make parking lot practice a routine. Take accountability for yourself, and dont blame others. Accept that they dont see you, ride like no one sees you..
You will never hear any of these ridiculous myths from a trained, skilled, seasoned Motorcyclist. These come from "motor_bike_drivers". They buy a "motorbike" and drive it.
Been a long time subscriber I respect what you do but However, on the loud pipes I have to respectfully disagree with you. I am a truck driver & I had my windows up I had my radio on And there has been several times where I have heard loud pipes before I saw the bike and it alerted me to. The fact that there was a motorcycle in the vicinity and they were very much behind me.
It's hard to say that a life was saved if it was never actually in any danger, unless of course you were about to do something that would have killed those riders.
Loud pipes save animals lives.I ride a six cylinder Valkyrie with straight pipes and I have had thousands of deer, elk and even Buffalo move out of my way. Many dogs and kittens have been saved. I live in the rural southern Appalachian Mts. I KNOW that my loud pipes have saved me in many a blind curve. The quiet cars hit deer continuously. Our roads are littered with animal carcasses. Each of those carcasses could represent a dead motorcyclist.
must be awesome to live where u do and be an alert rider(except for animal carcasses of course )i live in central nj and it takes 10 minutes to cross the street on foot or tires
I have biked to the 4 corners of North America and to 41 of the 50 states. The Southern Appalachians have the sweetest riding I have found. The roads just “flow”.
2:39 as a rider of 17 years I’ve never once laid a bike down to avoid anything lol. Every person who “used to ride” has said this for a reason. But it’s easier to maneuver on two wheels. “The more you know”
Training is magical. I took the MSF Advanced Rider Course and the Ride Like a Pro course after already having 25+ years of experience. Game changer! As the Motorman said, he thought he had 20 years of experience when what he actually had was 1 year of experience repeated 20 times.
In my opinion, no loud pipes do not save lives loud pipes annoy everybody around you and makes people want to make motorcycles illegal and wants them to make more restrictions on motorcycle exhaust. No thank you on that. Do you want people to hear you use the horn that is what the horn is for, it’s not that hard and what about all the time that there isn’t cars around you why would I wanna be on a super loud motorcycle spitting out lots of noise all the time when it’s not needed almost all of the time wow for those of you who really want loud pipes I guess you do youfor me no thank you
Riding a motorcycle, while wearing no helmet, and dressed only in a T-shirt, Bermuda shorts, and running shoes - on the streets - is the clearest indicator that the rider is an A**hole!
Loud pipes are additive, not prevention. Hand on heart ❤️ ✋️. I have been told, "I was about to change lanes, but I heard a bike. I tuned my head and saw you." My coworker would have merged into me if he didn't hear my exhaust. We were heading in the same direction (heading to work in the morning).
I don't doubt your story there is "some" small benefit...but not to the degree to have an entire bumper sticker, t-shirt, and vest patch industry built around. ;) A rider would be much better off using road strategy with road skills to back them up than relying on loud pipes. Also, there needs to be some balance. I am not opposed to the rider hearing their bike...I have 3 motorcycles and 2 of them have aftermarket pipes on them, but, they all still have the baffle in. Straight pipes and extreme exhaust modifications are the problem in my opinion.
Thanks as always, I agree with all you've said with one small caveat. While I have never been an advocate of loud pipes I did put some slightly fruity, mellifluous sounding pipes on my old TDM900 some years back and noticed within a few months that no one was trying to merge over into my lane in traffic any more! The standard pipes were very quiet and I had often experienced drivers start to change lane right next to me, when I had been riding alongside of them for some time, yet they hadn't noticed me! I just doesn't happen any more. Now of course I agree we have to ride defensively and be responsible for our own road position etc, but sometimes traffic determines that you are next to a driver in the next lane and it seems for all the reasons you've mentioned they are still oblivious. So my thinking is 'Fruity pipes help'...
TRX850 and the same scenario. I commuted daily in heavy but fast flowing traffic and I would have an incident per day when quiet but when I took the baffles out no one would come near me.
I always feel that you are well prepared for your show. This means you are saying what you meant to say, not just rabbit holing into unknown subjects and misinforming. Love the channel.
I was backing out of a parking space in a gas station one night, when I heard an exhaust. I stepped on the brake. As I did, the motorcycle passed just off to my right. He probably had just pulled in from the very nearby road. I didn't see him until he passed me. I doubt it would have killed him, but I would have hit him if I hadn't heard his exhaust noise. It was not overly loud. As far as the sound going backwards, is this to imply that if you are standing in front of a running motorcycle that you can't hear it? Of course you can. As the sound leaves the exhaust pipe, it propagates in all directions, yes, louder to the rear, but 360 degrees. The speed of sound is about 660mph. How fast is the motorcycle going? The argument that you can't hear it until it's in front of you is ludicrous. You are not going to hit someone while changing lanes when the motorcycle is 30 feet behind you, but what about the one about to pass on the left, that has just entered your blind spot? If you can't hear the motorcycle, you may not know it's there. Remember motorcycles are invisible, or so I'm told. But if you hear one, you wilI look twice before changing lanes. I don't think there is any data about how many motorcyclists were not hit because the other driver heard them. BTW, my bike has the stock pipes, they are loud enough for me.
Have to disagree with you straight off. Drove in California on vacation last year where lane splitting is allowed, and the loud bikes coming up from behind me alerted me far before they were even with me, and totally got my attention startling me and just because I have loud pipes doesn't mean I don't use the rest of the tricks in the bag to keep myself safe.
Knowing what to do is most important. I bought a 680 lb 1,352 cc Kawasaki after 47 years from my first motorcycle, a 500 cc Yamaha. On the ride home from the purchase, I was going 80+ mph, and a beat-up landscape truck pulling a trailer does an illegal u-turn in front of me as if I was invisible. Swerving was not an option, and I had to do a panic stop, basically squeezing the front brake to 100% to a front tire wheelie stopping within 6 feet. I had not "practiced" this but knew what to do, having watched many a video. I have practiced hard braking since but never as radical as that miracle "stoppee." My understanding is that you can squeeze to 95+% if you start at 2% first, to 5%, to 10%, to 50%, and so on treating the bike as a unicycle if you are balanced straight up and down. Whether or not this is the right way to think about it, it worked for me.
I was driving a car and rear ended by a motorcycle. He laid it down. He laid it down because he was looking to his right at Lake Pepin instead of where he was driving. I told my wife " hang on, we're going to get rear ended". I couldn't pull ahead because there was a car in front of me. He had an exposed compound fracture of his right femur. It was his third time.
Loud Pipes Save Lives the Same Way Loud Stereos Save Lives, and How Yelling Everything at ALL TIMES is good for SAFETY purposes, so no one should ever complain about any of these things, because they are for SAFETY (is wha the LPSL crew wants us all to believe) - utter nonsense. The Horn is the noise making device that should be used to alert other vehicles and pedestrians to your presence. My .02 - All for rider safety, and never once have I advocated increasing exhaust volume. Thank you for your channel and for your videos!
~Top Ten No Fear Rider Myths~ 10. Phissst….Cops will never catch me on my dirt bike. 9. Keep it WFO through dust, you will pop out quicker. 8. Relying on Deity insures longer X~ jump air times. 7. Hang on and just pin it dude, you can make it up. 6. Man up!! 450's are light flickable tight trail bikes. 5. Kick start smokers kill pesky pit stop Mosquitos. 4. Push button starters cause tight trail arm pump. 3. Yes everyone will step back..don't let up dude. 2. What could go wrong! its the 35th time dudes. 1.The faster you go the safer it is……..trust me. ~Gasser Classic~
Some may revise an opinion, but these exposures also help new riders avoid forming the same mistaken beliefs. I'm a RE-newbie and have habits to unlearn I didn't even know I had.
Loud pipes let me know a rider was in my blind spot after losing track of where he was while driving my truck & kept me from pulling in front of him. Was a sport bike not a Harley btw. My loud pipes kept acar from backing out of a parking spot in front of me.
Don't know about other places but, riding in Texas feels more dangerours than say ten years ago. A lot of shitty attitude from drivers that I've experienced only in California. Now, considering how many refugees from CA moving in .... Some things just can't be practiced.
Been riding street AND dirt for ~55yrs now - this guy knows his stuff ! My strategy for street survival ? Ride as if you are *invisible* ! Just assume that NO ONE can see you ! And NO - "Loud Pipes" absolutely do NOT save lives.. they just annoy the "cage drivers" ..
The ‘I raced dirt bikes’ myth is only partially true. If the rider in question has decades of serious enduro, Turkey run, or Hare Scrambles experience, their skills at braking, quick downshifting, swerving to avoid danger, and envisioning their way through a hazard are instinctive. That’s the rider who has already developed the muscle memory for clutch work, shifting without the clutch, front braking down steep hills, behavior on gravel and dirt, and quick instinctive direction changes using body movements. Running a motocross bike around the same boring closed track with mom and dad sitting on the sidelines isn’t going to be anywhere near enough experience.
Loud pipes do save lives. The myth is that it doesn't, and it's a myth that needs to die but it was good to see that you weren't able to provide any evidence to back up the stupid myth that they don't. Sound travels backwards. LOL. What a ridiculous statement. Stand by the side of the road and you'll hear motorcycles with loud exhausts APPROACHING particularly in areas where visibility is constrained like forested areas and city traffic areas. The fact that you can hear it approach yourself means that the sound travels in all directions including forwards. A pedestrian looking to step out to cross a road is going to hear the bike and think twice and take a good look before stepping out and so will an animal in a forested area and so too will a car driver in heavy traffic. It's not just our safety, The safety of others is important too. EV's which were initially silent now have to make noise in some legislative areas of the world because they were taking out pedestrians left, right and centre. That's a fact. Many bikes now are so quiet that they're effectively silent. Yes you will have pedestrians with noise cancelling headphones in that will walk in front of locomotives and trucks, etc. but they're just suicidal. A young kid on the other hand... They're going to hear it. Frequency? Low frequency penetrates and travels further no matter how sound insulated the vehicle. Once a driver hears you they will look for where the sound is coming from. That's a fact anyone can prove for themselves just by putting some earplugs in. The high frequency will be filtered out (such as wind noise) but you will hear all the low frequency sounds. Even if the driver doesn't know where you are they know that you're around somewhere so they will check their blindspot when they normally wouldn't out of laziness
I run the stickiest tires I an get, equates to safety, you have to get the proper temp rating, no slicks.. DOT approved, I am sure that's what he is referring to, many use DOT race tires on street, and yes, sticky tires cost money and only last 3000-4000 miles depending on your riding habits.. I'm confident you're referring to slicks, and 100% correct, only the most experienced can get them hot enough to work properly . . big difference between slicks and DOT street/track . you ALWAYS want the stickiest tires available for the street, DOT street and track . . .again need to use the proper temp, if you live in a cold region an SC"0" is the proper temp, supersoft.. if you live in phoenix an SC"3" HARD is the proper temp, each manufacturer has their own temp rating systems, some use a colored dot on the side wall.. just ask, but GO STICKY! it means more control and better braking, nomatter what bike you are riding, and yes safety cost money... your call how safe you elect to be
0:20 And they don't have to make one go deaf to sound good either. The "layed er down" thing haha I jumped off my trail bike once, and it has layed me down a few times ROFL I imagine that on a road bike it's the same? That the last thing I am thinking about is laying my bike down when the SH** hits the fan. Also I used to think all kinds of dumb things about helmets. Until I got whacked in the head and face enough times by bugs and brush etc riding the woods. I wear a full face MX helmet now every time I am on the bike, in fact when it gets chilly i love having my hole face and head covered. Been only riding since last July and Im 50, so hooked on riding offroad.
Skills and strategy yes but you don't have to take them OVER loud pipes, take them WITH loud pipes as a complete package. Also the fact that pipes face to the rear has no bearing on the sound travelling forwards. I'll take my own skill with loud pipes rather than without them every day.
I don't know how you formed that opinion, but my experience has been much to the contrary on directionality of sound. Including inside the exhaust system. Ever use an open-cone megaphone like cheerleaders used to? Why do you suppose they work?
So,I need even LOUDER PIPES! Direction? That's why our heads are on swivels so we can turn to look in different directions to see where the motorcycle/s is/are. Having loud pipes does not supplant safe driving skills/procedures.
I think the biggest problem is that people aren't trained to look for the smaller silhouette of a bike & rider. Sound is relative to what's around you atm. Sight usually is the more common and immediate response.
Road Myth # 1: You know what you're doing. Sad truth: Most drivers are absolutely oblivious to reality. They think they know what they are doing, but they are wrong. North America is light years behind the rest of the world in terms of transportation. Why? We invested in "what's good for GM is good for America". This had led to a Dunning-Kruger effect on drivers. Germany has better driver training than North America has, and they still are super solid on public transit. North America is arrogant, and drivers are ignorant. That simple.
Well done. Ive been riding on and off road for over 50 yrs now. While i could make a slight argument for some of these, this is well thought and and obviously comes from year of practical experience. Thanks!
"seat time"....airline pilot hopefuls are required to amass 1500 hours of flight time before they can fly Airline Transport....most of that time, with a few exceptions, is accrued as "seat time"....scary, isn't it.
“Groups are safer”. Nonsense. Saw a pack of H-Ds leaving the local dealership, turning onto the road I was on. The first couple of bikes blindly followed the leader of the pack. Stupid. I had to brake to avoid hitting them. Then the rest of the pack stopped, thankfully, but I have to wonder how many of them had close calls with the bikes right in front of theirs quickly stopping? Riding a motorcycle is undeniably more risky than driving a car; riding with a group of riskier vehicles is riskier still.
If I pull in the clutch on my Softail and rev up my 100 ci engine with Python III straight pipes before I get to an intersection, no one moves. That is a fact. They're cranking their heads off looking for me. I trust NO ONE at intersections. They know I'm coming 1/4 mile away even if they are deaf :)
Hey. Just have to say thanks for the video. But you'll never convince me that a loud thing is not more conspicuous than a quiet thing. Be honest. How many times have you heard a bike well before you've seen it? Emergency vehicles have lights AND sounds for a reason. Why is it cars and bikes have horns? Why do reversing trucks make a warning sound? Why are electric cars fitted with noises to make pedestrians aware... think about it for 10 seconds and the perspective does not really bear scrutiny. I know it's not very popular to say that obnoxious loud pipes make a motorcycle more obvious, so it's safer... but be real, we all know its true. I'm not saying I'm into loud pipes, personally, i dont like to bother people, but they definitely draw attention to the bike. no one is saying that because I have a loud pipe, I'm now safe so absolved of other safety responsibilities. It's part of a whole armoury. Peace
"Loud pipes save lives" is merely an excuse for owners of a certain brand of motorcycle to be as obnoxious as possible for attention (see South Park episode# 1312). And they don't call attention to the guy turning in front of you, because the sound is behind you. I rode my neighbor's Harley which has completely illegal straight pipes and once I was rolling, the sound for me sitting on the bike was almost totally normal.
Interesting blog and although i don`t agree with all your points, I have just subscribed. Four things to add for safer riding are :- Learn to be able to read the nature of the road you`re on; Especially when you don`t know it. Trust your instincts - they can avoid you unnecesary situations. If you never ride to your limits - you`ll never know where your limits are. Know your limits. Never trust another road user that you don`t know. Cheers.
As a former professional rider and racer (m/c magazine staffer and AMA licensed pro), I think your dirt bike racing comment is only partially correct. In my 50+ years in the business the best off road riders were always the best street riders. Case in point VR46. Rossi trained off road (moto) to sharpen his Moto GP skills. Think of it like this… A beginner dirt bike rider is a beginner street rider, but an expert off road rider is an expert at controlling the motorcycle. Corner speed, braking points and technique, lean angles, balance, throttle control, bike setup and maintenance, and more all factor into and cross over based on skills learned controlling the bike in unusual and/or difficult attitudes and situations.
Ride with your highbeam on in the day to help keep the ambulance away. I don't care what msf says or if it's illegal in some jurisdictions. I have been riding since 1986 and never once got pulled over for it. You can't expect people to see you...if they can't see you.
40 years ago, riding home from work, as I was tooling down a side street, I was t-boned by an inattentive driver who ran a stop sign. I had on my work clothes: loafers, slacks, and a long sleeve button down shirt. And a full face helmet. After the accident, and surgery to reconnect my lower left leg, I got a bag with my clothes. All intact. Outside of some tears at the point of impact, the clothes were perfect. The helmet, however, was severely scuffed and marred, especially on the top. The motorcycle was totaled. But my street clothes were undamaged. Go figure that one out. I never ride without a full faced helmet. Never.
I've been riding since I was 16, now in my sixties. Had a deer run in front of me going to work early in the morning several yearsago. Didn't even have ime to touch the break. Went down, had leathers on, but still had burns on my arms and legs from sliding on the pavement, very painful. I found your videos several months ago and found out that I didn't have the skills I really need to ride safely. I thank you for sharing your experience with all of us.
The loud pipes save lives thing is real. Other drivers look up from their cell phones nearly 100% of the time when I rev my bike. That goes for drivers attempting to cross into my path in slow speed city traffic: just this afternoon coming into work; I saw a car rolling into my path with the drivers view obscured by a line of cars and as soon as my first rev roared up, their brakes slammed on and their bumper bounced down to indicate the had heard me coming. So... loud pipes DO save lives...
You lost me at number one. Loud pipes absolutely make cages aware. Sound travels at 700 mph. I don’t know what you’re riding, but my bike isn’t that fast.
How come people who don't ride think that big heavy Harley is somehow safer than my z900 with all my computer monitored saftey gear. I get my bike is faster... but faster doesn't mean more dangerous.
Loud pipes? I prefer not to ride next to anyone and when I pass I pass quickly. If you ride next to a vehicle for a length of time eventually they will forget you're there. So maybe loud pipes help when you're doing something you shouldn't. Like ridinng next to someone. Give them a chance to see you approaching then pass with intent. Don't dawdle.
As usual, great video. Thank you so much, I am an avid follower. Been riding about 30 years and still learning. I wanted, however, to dispute the statement that loud pipes don't save lives. This is not my experience at all. I have ridden a Harley for the last 8 years, which replaced a Honda CBR600RR which I crashed when someone pulled out in front of me from a side road. The number of times I've been saved simply by the noise of my HD is well over 20. Those noisy pipes have literally saved my life over 20 times in 8 years. I SEE distracted and daydreaming drivers get violently pulled back to reality (often jumping in their seats as I approach in an adjacent lane) by the noise of my bike, and then they look around them to see where the noise is coming from. That NEVER happened on my (much quieter) CBR. Were it not for the noise, they would not have been remotely aware that I was near them on the road and therefore would have manoeuvred as if I wasn't there. Traffic light-controlled intersections are a particular bug bear of mine (lots of bad experiences), but the noise of my HD announces my presence/arrival and I can see that drivers are either looking for me or have already made visual contact with me - again, a stark difference to my experience riding quieter sports bikes. I won't ever go back to riding a "quiet" motorcycle because of my experience with the loud HD.
If you never crashed, you don't know ANYTHING about your mental or physical limits. You don't know your bike either. Same goes if you never had an incident where you thought you were going to crash, but you saved it. Every time I felt a slide while braking hard on the front brakes into a corner on my road bike, every time i felt a nice drift on the onramp with my big bore dirtbikes, everytime I powerslided in the rain with all of my roadbikes at one time or another, are cherished memories, I will linger on when I'm too old to ride. It's of course best to practice it in a safe environment, but honestly most of us are boys with balls, racing like hooligans when we can get away with it, to feel the adrenaline rush that modern humans seldom get to experience. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I feel truly sorry for you.
I never understood riding in groups. Much less with people you don't know. I go fast when I can. Don't want to look over my shoulder for other dangers than myself. I ride from time to time with a good friend that is far better than me, he stays behind because he can easily keep up with me. When I catch up on another group, I carefully pass them with a large margin, or make sure to take different route. 90% are more oblivious than geriatric people.
I currently ride a f6b goldwing, I have owned multiple brands of motorcycles all different levels of exhaust sound,the goldwing is as quite as a mouse,do I think it matters ,no it's on me to avoid dangerous situations
So as someone who used to ride dirt bikes, nver raced just trail riding, some of those skills translated over to my motorcycle, but not many. Learning to balance, brake and throttle control are definitely some things that transferred over but when you trail ride in certain locations especially in and some of the places I have ridden you have to be careful and watch for other off-road vehicles. Going too fast up a trail or not paying attention could lead you coming face-to-face with a Jeep or off the side of the mountain. I've had it happen to me several times from people driving a truck or Jeep down a trail that's made for quads and dirt bikes. I used to go to Windrock OHV Park and the last time I went the trails that were meant for quads and dirt bikes have been taken over by Jeeps and trucks making them almost almost impossible and dangerous to ride on for a quad or dirt bike rider.
Loud pipes do draw extra attention to stunters, speeders, and other high risk drivers (especially from law enforcement). So in a way, they probably do save many lives.
I was recently on the highway in my F150 and could hear a Harley. I looked all around, checked my mirrors, could't see any motorcycle around. Seconds later the Harley passed me, he had been perfectly in my blind spot no matter how much i looked for him i couldn't see him. But i heard him . If I hadnt heard him and decided to do a lane change he would have been toast.
