03-09-2014, 12:58 AM
(03-09-2014, 12:44 AM)ride4now_imp Wrote: The problem with the loud pipes is even though 'we' as riders may be 'ok' with it... the general non-riding public can get very annoyed. And that hurts the sport because they equate all motorcycles and motorcyclists as being a noisy nuisance.
My Harley has stock pipes... and it is not loud at all. Yet, down the street a bit another guy has a Road King with a modified exhaust and every time he fires it up, I get annoyed. And when he rides down the hill out of the neighborhood you hear his engine braking... way too loud. So when people look at that, they think all bikes are annoying, especially Harley's. It's not the bike... It's the owner who modified it.
I'm with Greg on the one...
The town I live in is full of yayhoos like your neighbor. I think if you were to pyschoanalyze most of these people, I think you'd find that they crave attention, and in their juvenile mindset, they think that being loud will get the attention they crave, which no doubt it does, but they pay no attention to whether the attention is good or bad. You cannot be a faux badass if your bike isn't obnoxiously loud. It doesn't annoy only the non-riding public, it annoys the hell out of me. I'm talking about the straight pipes that are so loud they hurt the ears. I have nothing against a baffled, or even non-baffled aftermarket exhaust that stays below the level of obnoxious, why I even own a few of those myself.
Anyone else care to join in the pychoanalysis of riders with obnoxiously loud exhaust?
(03-09-2014, 12:54 AM)Guth_imp Wrote: So what do you say to the person that is annoyed by your stock Harley and feels that it is too loud?
Guth, that's an easy one. "The exhaust on my Harley is EPA/DOT approved, meets all state and federal regulations, and is 100 percent legal. If you feel otherwise, please feel free to inquire with the proper authorities on your own time."
