Pipes - Loud or loser?

[oldrider]

Got a poll running on the KR site on loud pipes:
Do loud pipes save lives?

http://kiwiridermagazine.blogspot.co...yes-or-no.html

Noise is for insecure bullshit artists!

First five years as a licensed bike rider I was served enough tickets to paper my bedroom walls, noisy as all get out.

While he was away in the territorial's (army training) a friend lent me his Norton 500cc featherbed framed twin, silent as the lambs themselves!

That was in 1959, I have never had a ticket (on a bike) since! (51 years of silent riding)

Have dabbled with a bit of magic noise here and there but the sound encourages the negative riding behaviour so I have reverted back to the safety of silence every time!

I have developed a habit of riding "anonymously" and as I disappear into the privacy of my telephone box, people look at at one another and ask, who was that muffled man!

I make no apology for the fact that some people (including myself) confuse me with Clark Kent and Superman!

[Shadows]

One thing I do know for sure is that loud pipes haven't killed me yet.

[davebullet]

When splitting, more traffic moves aside for me on the SV650 with 2bros exhaust (louder) than the Speed Triple with standard exhaust.

[Oscar]

When splitting, more traffic moves aside for me on the SV650 with 2bros exhaust (louder) than the Speed Triple with standard exhaust.

Please explain how this works (with particular attention to the fact that if your pipes are loud enough to alert cars in front of you, they must be fucking loud when you pass inches from their mirrors) and then give us your take on why "cagers" hate motorcyclists.

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

One thing I do know for sure is that loud pipes haven't killed me yet.

When splitting, more traffic moves aside for me on the SV650 with 2bros exhaust (louder) than the Speed Triple with standard exhaust.

I have had the same experience on a stealth bike... strange that, they must have seen me before they heard me...

Maybe a lot of cage drivers are not as bad as you thik they are... maybe.. just maybe

[shrub]

I reckon GN250s are a good idea - they're slow so we won't be able to go fast and they're guaranteed not to offend car drivers (mustn't do that!). We should all wear white helmets and high vis vests and be thoroughly PC.

People with big, noisy bikes are horrid and antisocial and give us nice, clean motorbicyclists a bad name

[Kickaha]

People with big, noisy bikes are horrid and antisocial and give us nice, clean motorbicyclists a bad name

I've got a big noisy bike and it makes no fucking difference in traffic at all

Have fun on your GN though, you really sound like someone ideally suited to one

[sinned]

Noise is for insecure bullshit artists!

I have developed a habit of riding "anonymously" and as I disappear into the privacy of my telephone box, people look at at one another and ask, who was that muffled man!

I make no apology for the fact that some people (including myself) confuse me with Clark Kent and Superman!

Brilliant - full marks to that man.

[shrub]

I've got a big noisy bike and it makes no fucking difference in traffic at all

That's because car drivers know you're not worth worrying about.

[Oscar]

That's because car drivers know you're not worth worrying about.

It's probably because the poor bastids are all deaf from lane splitting motorcyclists with loud feckin' pipes...

[slofox]

After riding my SVS with a Two Bros can on it and then switching to the current vixen with stock exhaust, I have realised that a quiet ride is quite nice - I can hear myself think for a change. AND hear the radar detector headset as well...which is quite advantageous at times...

I did like that Two Bros growl though...

[Ocean1]

Jaysus can you lot not learn to check spec's yerselves?

Here, if your pipes don't sound like this then they ain't right:


1. All pipe is to be made of a long hole, surrounded by metal or plastic centered around the hole.
2. All pipe is to be hollow throughout the entire length - do not use holes of different length than the pipe.
3. The I.D. (inside diameter) of all pipe must not exceed the O.D. (outside diameter) - otherwise the hole will be on the outside.
4. All pipe is to be supplied with nothing in the hole so that water, steam or other stuff can be put inside at a later date.
5. All pipe should be supplied without rust - this can be more readily applied at the job site. Note to purchasing agents: Some Vendors are now able to supply pre-rusted pipe. If available in your area, this product is recommended as it will save a lot of time on the job site.
6. All pipe over 500ft (153m) in length should have the words "long pipe" clearly painted on each end, so the Contractor will know it is a long pipe.
7. Pipe over 2 miles (3.2km) in length must have the words "long pipe" painted in the middle, so the Contractor will not have to walk the entire length of the pipe to determine whether or not it is a long pipe.
8. All pipe over 6" (152mm) in diameter must have the words "large pipe" painted on it, so the Contractor will not mistake it for small pipe.
9. Flanges must be supplied on all pipe. Flanges must have holes for bolts quite separate from the big hole in the middle.
10. All elbows 90 degrees, 45 degrees or 30 degrees will be clearly marked right hand or left hand to insure installers will not end up going the wrong way.
11. All pipe will be supplied in three versions: level, uphill or downhill pipe . Note to purchasing agents. Take care to specify when ordering. If downhill pipe is use for going uphill or uphill pipe for going downhill, the water will flow the wrong way.
12. All couplings should have either right hand or left hand thread, but do not mix the threads - otherwise, as the coupling is being screwed on one pipe, it is unscrewed from the other.
13. All pipe has to have identifying labels stating the name of the manufacturer, type, model, dimension and regulatory approval seal painted or embossed on the outside in a size that is easily read without magnification or instrumentation, for the entire length of the pipe. No labels shall be applied to the inside (hole side) of the pipe.

[Blackshear]

MY BIKE IS LOUD
Because.. Uh.
I'M IMPORTANT AND NEED ATTENTION!

Om nom nom micron.

[marty]

There is no good reason to have loud pipes.

Exactly why one should have loud pipes.

Yoshi Rs3's on a TL1000 or RSVR are my pick. Who gives a fuck who can hear them or not - they just sound fucking COOL.

Someone on SH1B at Cambridge this morning was winding their big V-twin out (heading north I think) - their loud pipes at 10000rpm were certainly making my morning !

[DEATH_INC.]

My 4wd is louder than my bike
There's 2 things I've learnt about pipes on bikes, 1; a ZX12 with the stock muffler is an accident waiting to happen, every f*cker pulls out on you, and 2; louder pipes mean the F*ckers have more time to line you up better.

Seriously though, I had way more cages pull out on me with the stock pipe than when I put the Kerker on it. Say what you want, from my personal experience it works. Same bike/gear roads etc, just a louder pipe.