“Loud Pipes Save Lives”
Bikers have loud exhaust so other vehicles can hear them coming and lessen the chance of a vehicle hitting them.
the loud music is probably so they can hear over the exhaust. plus, the loud music is another noise that might help alert other vehicles who might not be paying attention.
remember a bike is a lot smaller than a vehicle and is less likely to be seen.
and it is sad, but most drivers today do not pay as much attention to the road as they should.
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Noise problems seem to be very hard to enforce. Folks in this area complain about leaf blowers a lot. But I can still hear leaf blowers most every day … lol …
Very doubtful. Or were you joking? Something bikers say as an excuse, seems to me.
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I was not talking about driving on a highway. I meant a road that has traffic lights.
If you stop at a light and there is a bike a few cars back you can hear the rumble of the exhaust. maybe it’s just me, but when I hear it I look around to see where it’s coming from.
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It’s a contest to see who can irritate the most. I’m not sure who is winning. When I took my moped out on the country gravel roads, I would take the baffle out of the muffler. No one around except some cows. I liked the way it sounded and got an extra mile or two out of it. And I could pretend it was a real motor cycle.
And because you heard him while you were both sitting at a stop light,
It saved his life?
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No but now I know he/she is there. most driver are paying more attention to their phones and radios then what is around them. so, if they hear the bike there is a chance they might be more careful around them.
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I’m sort of dubious motorcycle riders use loud noises for safety purposes. Maybe that is their justification, but if safety was a primary concern they wouldn’t be riding motorcycles. I expect these folks just think motorcycles should naturally make loud noises. Part of the “fun”.
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. I expect these folks just think motorcycles should naturally make loud noises.
I would like to hear a loud harley over the FART CAN muffler on the japinese cars or the GHETTO CRUISERS with ther loud BOOMBOXES. 
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It could if a driver looks in the mirror and doesn’t see the Bike and decides to make a lane change, where if the driver can hear the Bike next to him then the driver knows not to move over…
Same as pulling out in front of a Bike, you can miss seeing one and pull out and cause a wreck, or you can hear the Bike and know to look a little harder cause you see it coming… Sometimes the bright sunshine can make it harder to see down the road, but it will never effect you hearing said Bike…
We had a noise ordinance once, but courts ruled LEOs hearing subjective, departments would not invest in decibel meters. So we are subjected to excessively loud audio and exhaust systems.
At a local watering hole we were on the patio, spaces for bike parking was next to the patio. Guy comes out, cranks up the bike, open pipes of course, cranks up the audio, then spends 15 minutes adjusting his leathers and helmet.
One of the regulars has a muffled bike with a side car for his small dog, can’t remember his name but the dog’s name is Dieter named after Dieter Dengler.
As someone whose been riding motorcycles since the early '60s and licensed since 1966, I have never heard anyone say after a motorcycle/car accident, "It was not my fault, I did not “hear them…;” they say, "It was not my fault, I did not “See Them…”
I’ve written this before and I’m sure I’ll have to write it again, and again… There is a definite Blind Spot on most cars and trucks from the back of the front door to about 20-30-feet back that probably causes the most side-impact accidents. I never ride in another car’s Blind Spot, not with my car and especially not on my bike.
I have driven several friend’s bike that have stereos and I do not understand why they listen to the stereo, there is only bass pounding and nonsensical screaming, there is no fidelity. I’ve tried it with “smooth jazz” and it was horrible. If they need to share their “music” I do not ride with them…
Yeah, I know, there’s no accounting for taste, and some folks like this… Not me, so when I pull alongside of you, you will only hear the “sweet rumble” of a big twin, and you can watch the shaking of my front end, the engine is solid mounted to the frame…
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As a long time rider, I know it’s an excuse… Admittedly, some may actually believe it, but they probably believe that accidents only happen to “other folk” too…
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I am not a biker but that is music to my ears.
Thank you for the reference, I googled the name and as a 30-years Air Force Vet, I read and re-read with interest his story. I remembered his story, but had not thought of him for decades.
Only time I had to lay down my bike, a lady turned left right in front of me. Headlight on, loud pipes would have made no difference.
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BULL. You can hear a bike without those obnoxiously loud pipes. We’re one of the only nations that allow this. Each state has their own regulations. Bikes sold in Europe are significantly quieter then most states. There are MANY bikes on the road in the US that DON’T have obnoxiously loud pipes. What are they going to do with E-Bikes? - You going to have to carry around a 5’ speaker on the back of bike to simulate the loud exhaust?
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I wish bikers and car drivers would be considerate of other people and be as quiet as possible. I’ve been riding motorcycles for over half a century and have always opted for quiet mufflers and no music.
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How fast to you ride? Most bikers in Central Maryland go way over the speed limit. My guess is that they don’t trust car and truck drivers to see them and want to get ahead of the ones that are “visually impaired”.
I don’t often ride in city traffic but when I do I just match the speed of other nearby vehicles. Out in the country I may do 5 or 10 mph at most over the posted limit. The only speeding ticket I’ve gotten in the last 50 years was for going 80 mph in a 55 zone crossing the SF Bay Bridge in the middle of the night on a Vespa 200!