What is it with Harley riders?

[turnkey4099]

More like say " look at me, look at me " .
I don't think I could hear a an old JD 2 banger that was on a road about a 1/2 mile from the house, but that is what I have to listen to all summer. Almost every one on the road, if modified, is over the legal decibel limit, but nothing is ever done.

Their excuse is "Loud pipes save lives". Nope, "Loud pipes say a Jerk is coming"

 

[Quebecguy]

If Harley riders were concerned about safe riding, they would all be wearing fluorescent orange or yellow jackets. I haven't seen one yet. "Loud pipes save lives" is a crock.

 

[gstrom99]

I always thought Harley's sounded just like the old "balloon in the spokes" we did to our bikes. Not impressed with any of them (nor the wanna-be ones, or their riders).

 

[GeneV]

If Harley riders were concerned about safe riding, they would all be wearing fluorescent orange or yellow jackets. I haven't seen one yet. "Loud pipes save lives" is a crock.

Right? I ain't being preachy on it, but more often than not a dude on a Harley around these parts ain't wearing a helmet, and is riding around with a t-shirt on. Not that I haven't done that before on my bikes when I had em, but then again I didn't proclaim loud pipes saving lives and stuff.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

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.

Some European countries have taxed vehicle owners based on how much engine displacement their car has. I know UK has done this for decades, possibly even before WW2. So you see much smaller displacement engines in Europe vs. what you see here. That makes a big difference in exhaust noise. Not to mention they usually have much tougher regs on vehicle inspections and what modifications are permitted on vehicles driven on public roads.

 

[KubotainNH]

If Harley riders were concerned about safe riding, they would all be wearing fluorescent orange or yellow jackets. I haven't seen one yet.

Exactly. They also would wear helmets, wouldn't put smaller lights on the bike or drive side by side with those huge bikes with one being on the yellow line. Some people may actually think loud pipes really help on their bikes but hopefully those are not the ones that open her up going through a neighborhood. I like some of the analogies here about Goldwings and F150's.

 

[tacticalturnip]

I was reminded of this thread today when a fellow on a Harley, someone who I may refer to as an improper term for female anatomy, had to let everyone at the intersection, gas station, and near bye homes know just how damn awesome he was.

I like motorcycles, I've wanted to own a Harley in the past, but I'll be damned if the biggest thing turning me away from motorcycles are motorcycle enthusiasts.

You know what I like? Marijuana. You know what I hate? Potheads.

 

[Tomtint]

If Harley riders were concerned about safe riding, they would all be wearing fluorescent orange or yellow jackets. I haven't seen one yet. "Loud pipes save lives" is a crock.

I have plenty of yellow and orange shirts that I wear on the bike..Also fairly loud pipes..Every little bit helps ..Far too many clueless people out there oblivious to their surroundings. Especially those French Canadians

 

[Tomtint]

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.

Start with cutting off the cat converter and solve 2 problems at once lol

 

[WinterDeere]

If Harley riders were concerned about safe riding, they would all be wearing fluorescent orange or yellow jackets. I haven't seen one yet. "Loud pipes save lives" is a crock.

Here in PA, they lobbied hard to get rid of helmet laws. So today, at least around here, the Harley crowd went from minimal skull caps to no helmet at all.

Riders of other brands still mostly wear helmets, despite the law saying it's no longer mandatory in PA.