We listened, now kindly naff off...

[Drunken Monkey]

You expect to be taken seriously with that attitude? Show a little good form and add something constructive without the baseless insults. Otherwise, take it to another thread, there's a few other dickheads around here who just want to play wind-up, go waste their time instead.

[Oscar]

You expect to be taken seriously with that attitude? Show a little good form and add something constructive without the baseless insults. Otherwise, take it to another thread, there's a few other dickheads around here who just want to play wind-up, go waste their time instead.

Actually my insults are entirely well founded. Motorcyclists who adhere to the "Loud Pipes saves Lives" credo are dickheads, pure and simple. They are hurting all of us, alienating Joe Average and making it easier for anti-motorcycle legislation to go through. Guys like you, who crap on about the "musical tone of their pipes" and "letting cages hear us" are your own worst enemies.

[vifferman]

Yeah,I was real pissed off at some local wanker who blatted up and down at night on his bloody two stroke every night for a couple of weeks - then we found the dead frog in the empty corrogated iron water tank.

Good one, Motu!

Sorry guys, but apart from the comments about objective testing and standards, this thread seems to smack of the same sort of selfishness and hypocrisy that the ones on speeding do: i.e., I'm OK, fook you Jack. I'd like my bike to be louder than standard, but do I really have a right to annoy other road users just so I can enjoy my sounds? Do I have a right to speed just because I think I'm a better driver/rider than all the other morons and because it's fun?

I hate the PC anti-fun bureaucratic nazis too, but like What? said, it'd be OK imposing rules as long as they were universal. How come it's OK for trucks to make heaps of noise, and smoke like buggery, but not OK for my bike to be slightly louder than standard (an asthmatic wino shouting down a drainpipe) yet still quieter than a truck at full revs?

I would be sad to see (hear?) the end of things like my neighbours 996 with Termignonis, or a piped Triumph triple, but then again, I'd really welcome the absence of HDs with drag pipes, and while I enjoy the sound of a sportscar with extractors, I can't stand the sound of a droning big-bore exhaust, whose sole purpose is to make noise and impress other wankers with similar vehicles. The trouble is, to get objective and FAIR regulations, there will be little differentiation between these different sound sources.

When I first got the FahrtSturm, I took it to a VINZ station, left it running, and asked the guys there if it would pass a WOF test (it had had a 'bafflectomy'). The guy stood there looking at it for a while, gave it a rev, stood there for a while longer, bent down and rubbed the crud off the noise regulation crapola ("Less than 90dB blah blah") stamped on the muffler, looked at the end of the mufflers, and said, "Nup. Someone's cut the endcaps out - you're not allowed to do that." I wasn't surprised. I found the "mufflers" offensively loud, and everywhere I went people turned to see WTF was coming down the road. I can do without that sort of attention (and being pulled up by the police because they could hear me coming from a km or two away...)

A young guy at work was bleating last week because his boy-racer POS Mazda 323 failed its WOF because the big-bore, droney zorst was too loud. He was REALLY pissed off, so took it to another place, then to Woolf Mufflers to find out just how loud it was (100db at 3.5k rpm at 1m from the zorst end). Then he went somewhere else, and the guy just looked at it, and said, "Sounds OK to me" and gave him his WOF. I was most disappointed, as I'd hoped he'd have to get a new muffler....
But the whole point was that there was a LOT of aggro over the thing, because it was SO subjective. Another guy was pulled up by the police because the cop said, "I know you weren't exceeding 50km/h, but you sounded like you were going faster. Keep it down a bit."

[NordieBoy]

So please, don't gimme this "Loud pipes saves lives" shit. It's bullshit and you know it.

I've ridden my Nordie with the original and home-made pipes.
The original would only cause a disturbance at a sewing machine convention.

As soon as I started using the home-made pipe I started getting cut up less on the road, go back to the quiet one and start getting cut up again.

I've seen people I know coming towards me and been waving to them and they havn't seen me at all.
It's not like I'm invisable or anything.... Oh whoops, yes I am.

Theres loud pipes and theres stupidly loud pipes.

[vifferman]

Actually my insults are entirely well founded. Motorcyclists who adhere to the "Loud Pipes saves Lives" credo are dickheads, pure and simple. They are hurting all of us, alienating Joe Average and making it easier for anti-motorcycle legislation to go through.

I agree, and your comment:
"In the meantime, the poor bastids behind you in traffic, and those living nearby, have to put up with the noise. Result? Motorcycles become more marginalised as people get fed up."
is quite right, and the likelihood of reinforcing the "bloody motorcyclists" anti-biker sentiment is very real.
You calling the "loud pipes save lives" bleaters 'dorks' may be a little strong, but I agree in principle. More than once I've had a hell of a fright when a bike with very loud pipes has come screaming past me. In almost all cases, I didn't hear it until it was right behind me, and it momentarily unsettled me. And if we take the argument to its logical conclusion, then all vehicles should be loud so we can hear them before we see them? Then there would be so much noise pollution we wouldn't be able to distinguish individual vehicles.

[Oscar]

I've ridden my Nordie with the original and home-made pipes.
The original would only cause a disturbance at a sewing machine convention.

As soon as I started using the home-made pipe I started getting cut up less on the road, go back to the quiet one and start getting cut up again.

I've seen people I know coming towards me and been waving to them and they havn't seen me at all.
It's not like I'm invisable or anything.... Oh whoops, yes I am.

Theres loud pipes and theres stupidly loud pipes.

It's amazing how often it's the guys with the stupidly loud pipes who come up with the life saving excuse.

I still say that get anyone's attention from behind as they're sitting in their family car, with the stereo going or the kids arguing, would require pipes with the volume of a jet engine...

[Oscar]

I agree, and your comment:
"In the meantime, the poor bastids behind you in traffic, and those living nearby, have to put up with the noise. Result? Motorcycles become more marginalised as people get fed up."
is quite right, and the likelihood of reinforcing the "bloody motorcyclists" anti-biker sentiment is very real.
You calling the "loud pipes save lives" bleaters 'dorks' may be a little strong, but I agree in principle. More than once I've had a hell of a fright when a bike with very loud pipes has come screaming past me. In almost all cases, I didn't hear it until it was right behind me, and it momentarily unsettled me. And if we take the argument to its logical conclusion, then all vehicles should be loud so we can hear them before we see them? Then there would be so much noise pollution we wouldn't be able to distinguish individual vehicles.

Wellput. Give that man a ceegar.

[svs]

got that too, first I wondered what I was doing getting mail from the LTSA and wondered what I did wrong (there's a guilty conscience for ya).

So, when people say 'we live in a democracy - do something about it' - as a number of us have and got involved in the consultation process. What to you do when they respond like this? They even noted that the exhaust noise section drew significant feedback, so it is something that a lot of people care about.

So what next? Just lie down and take it?

I don't mind if the legislation is across the board, but when they say things like 'no louder than original manufacturer' we get bloody noisy HD's and whisper quiet honda's.

rant over - I'll go back to work now

[White trash]

I like loud pipes.

My nabours don't have a problem as they're normally only loud when ridden loudly.

I leave for work at 6:45 and the neighbours couldn't give a toss if I'm on the Harley, GSXR, CG125, SRX. Not like I'm doing burnouts or anything.

I think there should be a noise cap for WOFs and I think it should be uniform.

[Drunken Monkey]

I still say that get anyone's attention from behind as they're sitting in their family car, with the stereo going or the kids arguing, would require pipes with the volume of a jet engine...

I don't think anyone disagrees with that. However, in some circumstances, it can give you that extra chance of being noticed - as some people have posted from personal experiences. If I drive my car through a busy (with pedestrians) carpark, I have to toot the horn to get people to move out of the way - they really have no idea you're driving up behind them. On the converse side, when I ride my bike down urban streets, kids will hear it and stop and look (rather than just running out) = surely that can't be a bad thing?
I also don't think anyone disagreed that a standard, objective test is a good thing (as per first post). The question is what standard. If an across the board standard is set by a brand new factory family car, like a Mazda 3 or similar, you may find legislators will later push the local motorcycle industry to fit aftermarket exhausts which make the bikes quieter than current factory models - yes, that isn't the LTSA's current intent, but it is a possible next step.

[Drunken Monkey]

So, when people say 'we live in a democracy - do something about it' - as a number of us have and got involved in the consultation process. What to you do when they respond like this? They even noted that the exhaust noise section drew significant feedback, so it is something that a lot of people care about.

So what next? Just lie down and take it?

That was my biggest problem with the whole thing. (the rest are mere details...)
My does missus f'n mavis from Winton get to write 1 letter into the broadcasting standards authority to get something pulled of T.V. (where simply turning the TV off would have sufficed), when a sizeable number of people get together and submit a thought-out submission get told thanks, but no thanks?

[Slim]

got that too, first I wondered what I was doing getting mail from the LTSA and wondered what I did wrong (there's a guilty conscience for ya).

So, when people say 'we live in a democracy - do something about it' - as a number of us have and got involved in the consultation process. What to you do when they respond like this? They even noted that the exhaust noise section drew significant feedback, so it is something that a lot of people care about.

So what next? Just lie down and take it?

I don't mind if the legislation is across the board, but when they say things like 'no louder than original manufacturer' we get bloody noisy HD's and whisper quiet honda's.

I couldn't figure out why Wickliffe Press would send me mail. And I couldn't work out if they were changing it or not.

ARE they changing it?

And if they are, what next?

My main objection was to the the subjective testing and the fact that no one person can possibly know what every model of every vehicle sounds like standard in the first place!

[F5 Dave]

I've ridden my Nordie with the original and home-made pipes.
The original would only cause a disturbance at a sewing machine convention.
. . .

Well my other half is an avid sewer & the girls all get together & presumably rev the crap out of their powerhouse machines & create all hell. She tells me they spend most of the time gossiping & talking about sex, but how likely is that?

Anyhoo she has just got a new machine (Janome or something) & it is quieter than the old one (Bernina - Now there was a MAN's sewing machine!) so I was thinking I’d soup it up for her, drill some holes in the bodywork, fit a mega, flycut al the internals down for quicker response & alter the turns ratio on the motor to let that puppy rev to the stratosphere!! :spudbooge

I wonder if I should tell her before I start work?

[Motu]

When I got my XT it had the huge heavy original exhaust,it was so quiet I couldn't hear it on the road with ear plugs in,with no tacho I was making a real mess of my riding - so...I get me a Supertrapp,that's the go eh? Bloody hell,running just the header pipe when I slipped the Suppertrapp on it made more noise! I'm down to 4 discs now without effecting performance,but it's still as loud as ever....I'm kinda disappointed.Like others,I want a bit more noise,but don't want to piss people off.

[spudchucka]

My main objection was to the the subjective testing and the fact that no one person can possibly know what every model of every vehicle sounds like standard in the first place!

Perhaps testing stations will have to keep a "control" model of each vehicle for comparison.

Its simple really, all motorcycles should be allowed performance exhausts - within reasonable sound levels, V8's and other nice sounding muscle cars can have performance exhausts too. Blaat, Blaat, Blaat Rotary's should be blown up on sight and rice rocket jockeys with big bore droney exhausts and blow off valves should be beaten senseless for sport.

Well thats my take on the subject anyway.