Cycle World Promotes Loud Pipes.....They Save Lives!

Just popped into the library and was reading the latest edition of Cycle World when an article on conspicuity caught my eye....I'm always up for some safety advice.

This was among their measly 6 recommendations:



Not a sterling recommendation, but still.....really dude?

Only six recommendations and this was one of them? Glad I read that rag for free at the library.

Cleverly pandering to both camps.
One side will remember the "is probably true to some extent".
The other side will remember the rest in that blurb.

Seems innocuous enough to me.

I agree, and it tells you how entrenched this myth is in motorcycle culture.

It also tells you that the editorial staff like to pander to the readership.

It also tells us the CW staff are overwhelmed with Village People mindset, the shear volume (sorry, AMOUNT) of that rubbish.

When I'm commuting in my truck, I often hear Harleys or Ducatis I can't easily see. Obviously, I make way.

They must have Vance and Hines (or similar) as advertisers...

--Bill

Isn't this the rag with that Ari Henning guy that puts the loudest pipes he can on everything he tests?:eek1

Purdie much ^THIS^
Ain't read a glossy bike rag in decades, (Or MCN ) theyz all so lame.

"is probably true true some extent"

Is probably true to some extent.

Good man

On a personal note, I have both a 996 SPS with a full 54mm Arrow system and a REAL loud clutch and a 748 with a stock OEM exhaust. The SPS is a svage beast and my wife says she can hear the rumble in the house when Im still 5 minutes out

Now, I rarely, if ever get cut off on the SPS....seriously. I recently got my 748 Biposto on the road. It had the stock OEM 45mm pipes with baffles. Nice enough sounding when the taps are opened up, but at idle, I could hear a mouse fart.

No word of a lie riding the 748 after the rebuild, I was getting cut off at least once or twice a day on the way to work. I have since installed a nice 50mm Termi half system, which although not as in-yer-face savage like the SPS, it definitely has a deep low end that gets heard by the cagers. I have yet to be cut off after installing the 50's......knock on wood.

IMHO, loud pipes DO save lives. F&^* the haters....don't see them comlaining about the Civic's rolling around with Cherry Bomb mufflers

Those "fart cans" as I call them are every bit as obnoxious as loud pipes on a bike. The difference is, they don't make the general public hate every small sedan they ever come across.

A little girl, hid behind her mother's legs, absolutely terrified and clutching her ears when she saw me getting ready to start up my (quiet) BMW. I realized then that I never want to be "part of the problem." There are better ways of avoiding being cut off.

Loud is so subjective.

This!

Jim

I rarely, if ever get cut off on my motorcycle.

But, I have to admit, I'm LOUD as hell:
My white helmet, alien vomit yellow/green jacket and $20 fork lights really scream loud enough to get me noticed.
Paying attention to traffic's and individual car's movements probably also helps.

And hey, I don't piss of the general public by being heard in a radius of 5 minutes from where I am.

Yep! I was parking my xt550 on the street at a coffee shop on Saturday. Looking toward the sidewalk I notice a five year old boy eyeing me with a pitiful expression and covering his ears. It took him half a minute to remove his hands from his ears after I stopped the bike. I felt awful. Sorry little guy! I didn't mean to be loud.

I heard a "Busa" yesterday long before I saw him.

No, those fart cans are worse, they are loud as can be.. and more often than not the cars are driven by idiots that thing a 96 Honda civic DX is somehow magically transformed into a race car, and neighborhood streets are a race track.

My god...what kind pipes do you guys use over there?? I dunno about kids else where but kids here Love my Ducati's. I get waves all the time. Mind, they are both about 80db quieter than your average Harley bad boy. Pipes can be loud and not obnoxious at the same time. That is an important thing to remember when talking about the safety factor of exhuast noise.

Now... the clutch on the SPS with an open cover at a stop light....thats another story

Actually, I think Im about ready to put the closed cover back on the SPS as its starting to get on my nerves