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HaveRopeWillBind -> RE: Loud Motorcycles (10/20/2007 11:21:44 AM)
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Loud pipes are a child yelling, "Look at me!"
I have been riding motorcycles since 1972. I have owned 84 of them and currently have 3. I've owned just about every type and brand. I have been a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Riding Instructor. There is no evidence in any safety study I have ever seen that loud pipes increase safety. The argument that they save lives is totally unsupported and anecdotal. In fact I believe they decrease safety by creating additional rider fatigue. (Yes, noise increases fatigue.) Additionally when a rider with loud pipes comes up fast and passes a car the noise of the bike will not actually be heard by the car's driver until the bike is quite close. (This is due to the way noise propagates around moving vehicles.) Then it will be perceived as very loud and very close. A natural reaction for a startled car driver is to turn and look toward the noise. In most cases a driver turning his/her head and upper body quickly will also tend to turn the wheel slightly in the same direction. So there is a very good chance the car will wind up swerving toward the bike. (By the way, this is the same reason you should not honk your car horn if you are approaching and passing a kid on a bicycle riding on the edge of the road. The kid is likely to be startled and swerve toward the noise as he looks for it.)
It's difficult to actually get statistical evidence on motorcycle safety since in general they are not separated from other types of vehicles in transportation safety studies. In the early 90's the University of North Carolina did a three year study that in fact did separate out motorcycle accidents. They found that there are 2 causes of accidents that account for 97% of all motorcycle accidents. They were about equal in numbers. The first was motorcycles operated by a rider who was under the influence of alcohol. In this type of accident it was generally a single vehicle accident, usually after dark, where the rider lost control of the motorcycle resulting in a wreck. The second type of accident was caused by a larger vehicle turning left across the path of the motorcycle. This could have been a left turn from an intersection or a left turn by opposite direction traffic and was normally in daylight in good weather. The best way for a rider to avoid this type of accident is to increase his/her visibility by running high beams (with the brightest headlight bulb that will fit the bike) in daytime riding. An argument could be made that loud pipes would help prevent this type of accident but no statistics support that. Additionally with modern cars being well sound insulated and with the volume levels of many car sound systems by the time loud pipes become a factor it will already be too late. Visibility is the key. This is proved out by the fact that this type accident almost never occurs at night when drivers naturally switch to looking for headlights instead of objects. A single headlight will still be quite visible in that situation and the left turn accident almost never happens after dark. So the best safety advice for any rider is, "Be seen, not heard."
A few other things about loud pipes. All motorcycles sold in over a decade in the US have come out of the dealership with quiet pipes that are mandated by the EPA. Any louder pipes are not street legal. All aftermarket pipes sold in the US that are louder than OEM pipes will be stamped with either, "For Racing Purposes Only" or, "Not Legal For Street Use" or something similar. Any pipe louder than OEM pipes is a violation of the law. The only thing keeping most "Loud Pipe" riders from getting strings of tickets and having their bikes impounded is simply that most law enforcement just can't be bothered to write tickets for noise.
Loud Pipes do have one certain affect though. They irritate local citizenry enough that bike bans are often enacted in many areas. Ask anyone at the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) headquarters, after fighting helmet laws they spend most of their legislative funds on fighting bike bans that are a direct result of riders with loud pipes. Every rider who thinks he is being cool riding around with loud pipes is actually making enemies for the riding community, including him/herself.
Unbaffled pipes are great for increasing top end horsepower which is fine if you are racing in excess of 100 mph all the time, but the lack of flow back pressure actually reduces low end torque which is a lot more useful for the average street rider. Unbaffled pipes also reduce fuel mileage, maybe not much of a factor for a bike, but with current fuel prices it is something to consider.
Finally my own anecdote - I had ridden my bike to a local department store. As I was leaving and began to mount and start my bike a little girl of about 3 years old was sitting in a shopping cart next to me while her mother unloaded the cart into their car. The girl saw me getting ready to start and put her fingers in her ears and squinted her face down. Why? Because experience around loud pipe bikes had already taught her that when my bike started it was going to hurt her ears. When I started up and my bike only made a soft purr she first looked surprised and then took her fingers out of her ears and gave me a big smile and a wave. Her mother had seen this go on and also smiled at me and then mouthed the words, "Thank You."
Quiet pipes can make friends for motorcycles.
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