What is it with Harley riders?

[WinterDeere]

What are truck nuts? You mean lug nuts?

Truck nuts - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[5030]

Not something I'd want or need for that matter.

 

[WinterDeere]

Not something I'd want or need for that matter.

Yep. That was my point!

 

[Death Row Dave]

Really makes these 2 down shift easier , they have square cut gears . Speed the gears up to same RPM , they will drop right into gear downshifting . If you ever rode one , they sound as the trans explodes anyway when shifting up or down. They are part of America , that’s now gone . I plan on keeping them running and riding as long as I can .

 

[Rockbadchild]

Really makes these 2 down shift easier , they have square cut gears . Speed the gears up to same RPM , they will drop right into gear downshifting . If you ever rode one , they sound as the trans explodes anyway when shifting up or down. They are part of America , that’s now gone . I plan on keeping them running and riding as long as I can .

that’s my only beef with harley’s it’s the grrrr shlack when shifting gears, other thant that great bikes … motor and balance is very good but nothing shift like a kawasaki or a Honda

 

[Comancheria]

It doesent bother me that they’re loud and they blip the throttle.
In many cases it alerts people at intersections to their presence so those that may be driving zombies might not jerk into the lane the bike is in.
Just today I had a guy on a Harley doing this exact thing and it was clear he was just blipping the throttle to let people know he was next to them.
Also today I had a guy on a super quiet sport bike come flying past me on the right jist as I was going to take that lane.
I’m glad he did because the dude was in my blind spot but the fact that he was speeding is the only reason I noticed him.
The bike was so quiet all I heard was the chain in the sprockets.

I’m all for loud pipes as the do save lives no matter how annoying bjt he’s sometimes they get carried away .

 

[TCowner]

The loud pipes saving lives arguement has been around for a long time but I for one just don't buy it. Its just my opionion of course. But if that were true the most expensive motorcyle to insure would be the Honda Gold Wing. Since it is extremely quiet, every rider must be a target of the cars and trucks whose drivers are paying little attention to motorcycles. Since the Gold Wing operator would be involved in more accidents with more injuries, death and damage to the motorcyle, the insurance carrier would have to charge more for the Honda. I don't know of any insurance companies charging more to insure the Honda over the obnoxious Harley. If there is evidence that a Gold Wing driver suffers a higher mortality rate that the one who drives a Harely I would like to see it.

I am sure that all of us in automobile and truck driving world could make the same arguement that if we make more noise we could better warn other drivers of our impending approach to another driver's blind spot. Imagine if all vehicles on the road made the same noise as the Harley with no hint of a muffler. Imagine the commute to and from work and the brutal racket we would have to put up with.

So I suppose that the arguement could be made that the Ford F150 with loud pipes is safer to operate than one with mufflers. If that is indeed true, well I'm getting out my Dewalt sawsall this afternoon to perform some "surgery" on the exhaust system.

 

[Egon]

You gotta make noise so people can admire the chrome!

 

[5030]

'Chrome don't get you home'

 

[WinterDeere]

Imagine the commute to and from work and the brutal racket we would have to put up with.

This.

I used to have to travel for work, and would find myself in different cities all over the world. One thing I invariably noticed while working in Europe, their cities at least as congested as ours (often more), is their traffic noise is so much lower than ours. I think they have differing laws with regard to tire construction and how much noise a vehicle can make.

Yeah, you still hear the very occasional hotrod or Harley, but overall... so much quieter. You really notice it when you come home, landing in Philly and walking out to the pickup lanes of the international terminal, how much louder all of our vehicles are here.

PS - Yes, I know many European cities have banned private cars from their city center altogether. But I am not talking about (just) those cities or districts, it's even noticeable in the fully-trafficked areas.