THE DEBATE GOES ON. I’ve never struggled so much to write a motorcycle article as I have with this one. A reader challenged me to enter the discussion about loud pipes earlier this year. At the time, I thought it an easy endeavor because I had my own years of experience and opinion on the matter.
However, I made a mistake: I decided to research the matter. And in the process, my opinion has been somewhat modified.
The Search for Evidence: “Loud Pipes Save Lives”
As you, too, might be inclined to do when seeking more info on a subject, I did an Internet search for “Loud Pipes Save Lives” and read through numerous articles at the top of the search results and much lower in the results.
What I came away with was less certainty on the subject than when I started. And more so than any time before, I recognized that truth can be illusive.
Now I don’t know if my personal experience is typical, or atypical, but I did ride for years with high-performance (and loud), exhaust pipes – when I was much younger. To this day, I don’t know how my ears survived. (Well, the fact is, now that I’m considerably more mature, the question of how well they survived is just as murky as my research on the matter of whether loud pipes save lives, or not.)
Although it appears my hearing is not as good as it used to be, how much of that is due to loud pipes or lots and lots of very loud concerts and very loud music blasting through headphones is difficult to discern. I’m sure it’s safe to say that neither supported long-term optimal hearing. (I only started wearing ear plugs while riding several years ago).
Loud Pipes Are Impractical For Long-Distance Touring
My first coast-to-coast motorcycle trip was on a motorbike with a high-performance, non-stock exhaust system that did not endear the neighbors to my notion of a spirited form of transportation. Although I’ve ridden coast-to-coast across North America a number of times since, I recall that first trip as a highlight of my life. And although I could discourse about the virtues of that summer adventure, in the early 80’s, for hours on end, one thing that I realized without any advice, feedback or suggestions from anyone else, was that loud pipes made for uncomfortable long-distance riding (and also that I would be switching from chain-drive to shaft-drive motorbikes for touring).
Personally, I don’t like loud pipes. As much as I love each and every kind of motorcycle, the only ones that diminish my enthusiasm for the brotherhood are those that disrupt the neighborhood harmony by announcing their every breath coming and going.
So, here I am, a long-distance, mature rider, with hundreds of thousands of miles of motorbike experience, who “used” to ride with loud pipes, and who has not liked them for years, and who is philosophically opposed to them due to their inherent and ongoing damage to the motorsport in the way they impinge on the lives of those non-riders whom are adversely effected by the noise pollution of their very existence. Hence, wouldn’t you think I’d be a vociferous opponent of the same?
Which brings me to the point of the first paragraph. I was already aware of the lack of real evidence that supports the concept that “loud pipes save lives.”
But lo and behold, my research did find anecdotal reports that extol the virtues of loud pipes.
The Truth, or Not?
So, what is the truth?
Are those riders who state that loud pipes “have” saved their lives just plain wrong?
What my research did “not” do is change my perspective on whether I, personally, will integrate loud pipes back into my riding: I won’t. In fact, in the future, I will likely include an electric motorcycle (which are practically silent), within a stable of riding choices.
However, what has resulted from my research regarding loud pipes is a softening of my perspective. Even though scientifically unproven, if riders’ lives have been saved because of loud pipes, or if riders believe they are safer with loud pipes, those are some compelling factors – at least for those individuals.
Even so, such does not address the rights of others to “not” be subjected to the noise of loud motorcycle exhaust systems.
In conclusion, although I am not an advocate for loud pipes, and even though I disagree with the use of the most obnoxious ones, and even though there is no hard evidence in support of their use as a safety catalyst, and even though the loudest pipes do damage to the overall public perception of motorcycling, I respect that there have been “some” quantity of riders (however large or small), who are still riding, purportedly as a result of loud pipes. Which has caused me to re-evaluate their application.
Better yet, what do YOU consider is the truth? Do loud motorcycle pipes save lives?
P.S. FOR ALL YOU WHINERS AND CRY BABIES,REMEMBER THIS ABSOLUTE FACT!… “LOUD PIPES NEVER KILLED ANYONE” Period!!
I have ridden motorcycles for over 30 years.I now ride a DYNA sport with S.E. slip-ons.I can say without a doubt that people many car lengths in front of me hear me.I know this because my survival skill of looking at drivers in front of me.I now see them swivelling their heads around to see where the sound is coming from.It makes ‘em look! I still feel the most important life-saver is to be aware at ALL TIMES!! They still cut me off,but I’m not surprised and I’m able to avoid these idiots.
I almost got kill for having a loud pipe … an old guy was waiting for me with his singleshot shotgun as i pass by his house at 3 am. He missed with the first shot. before he reloaded i was gone. Do loud pipes save life, well it almost cost me mine.
I used to ride a honda and in town would occasionally have to cover the brake and honk for pedestrians stepping in front of my quiet, “didn’t see me” motorcycle. Ten years ago got a Harley and aftermarket pipes for performance that were average loud and immediately noticed every pedestrian looking right at me from half a block away. I remember construction workers looking right at me a full block in front of me and alot fewer cars turning into my lane. Have since gotten a dresser as even average loud is uncomfortable for long distance. Loud pipes CAN save lives!
If loud pipes save lives, just think what learning to ride would do.
Complete and utter bullshit. They do piss people off. If you like riding around pissing people off then go for it. You will get zero respect from me.
They don’t make you safe. They don’t make you cool. They don’t make you a Billy Badass Biker. The do make you an ass.
That said, I personally think a V-twin sounds good with loud pipes but most don’t and it is going to bring on the legislation against all riders. That pisses me off.
“It sounded like a thunderstorm popped up out of nowhere and lasted for at least a minute.”
“I shouldn’t have to suffer”
To be honest, I don’t really like overly loud pipes myself, though the ones on my cruiser are too loud. But is a thunderstorm making you suffer. one that as you say only lasts a minute? I think alot of people really overstate how much loud bikes are bothering them. Because truly they just need something to complain about. Instead of accepting road noise if you live next to a street, that you probably can hardly hear from inside, they need to appear to be offended. it truly is all about them.
In my opinion, they do little except to deafen those within proximity and enrage folks that are naturally averse to motorcycles at any rate. I’d rather use my own senses, mirrors, and agility to stay out of trouble and go on my way. As for something “loud”, a good horn will do fine. I submit that the accident rate is lower for those that ride scoots that are relatively compliant with the law. Frankly, there is little of worth to me from a vicarious standpoint that recommends some sort of high db sound. I’d rather have a well tuned, fine performing machine that is shod with good rubber, has adequate brakes, bright and working lights, and last but not least, a competent rider.
I agree loud pipes are annoying and not for me. Anyone who tours much wouldn’t want loud pipes either. Do they save lives? Who knows… but for a fact helmets do. I try to wear all the gear all the time, but don’t always, but it’s a little harder to have loud pipes most the time and put in some baffles when good sense takes over.
Mike W..
I think we can agree that load pipes get noticed
If that is good why not ban mufflers from all cars and trucks too
Fire trucks and other emergency beguiled have difficulty getting notice using well designed horns and lights. I doubt an unmuffled motorcycle is in the same league
T
Most of the time I hear those damned loud pipes, the rider is not wearing a helmet. So cram your “safety” argument up your butt. Your bike is nothing but a hobby. I can honestly understand the reason to ride. It really looks like fun. But there is no practical reason for riding a bike. You ride to feel the wind in your hair, to be “free”, for adventure, thrill.
And so what? If your hobby requires ear-splitting noise to be safe, find something else to do. Your “freedom” wakes people up in the middle of the night, scares kids, interrupts conversations, and generally intrudes on my freedom. It’s a real case of “all about me”. You people are insensitive, uncaring, inconsiderate, butt-holes. You don’t give a crap about what you do to others, as long as you get to feel the wind.
My hobby is woodworking. You won’t ever see me running a table saw outside your bedroom. Don’t run your hobby outside of mine. Enjoy your ride, ride safely, and shut the heck up!
The debate over load pipes will never be won. My experience over 40+ years of riding is that they do “help”.
I have a loud Harley and a quiet Goldwing. Riding the GW behind two Harleys down a two-lane mountain road a while back, we overtook a minivan that was rapidly approaching a slow truck. The minivan let the two Harleys go by, and then started to move into my lane, almost driving me into the mountain. A loud horn blast and evasive action prevented an accident, but my wife tells me the driver of the minivan flipped us off as we went by. Why did this happen… the driver of the minivan heard the Harleys and let them pass, but failed to notice me on a big Goldwing with modulating headlights. I’ve had several lane incursion near misses on the GW… not one on the Harley. There’s a reason why in almost every motorcycle accident the driver of the automobile states that he “didn’t see” the motorcycle.
A rider should develop and maintain his riding skills, including riding for visibility. He should also wear visibility cloathing whenever possible. And, if he chooses, have his bike make some noise as an insurance policy. It works!
well some want to complain about loud bikes, and i will agree some are too loud, their is legislation about making hybrid cars make some type of noise for safety reasons, and i know of many factory bikes that are too quiet, i would rather be seen and heard, than rely on sight alone
yes they do, i ride so i make myself aware of bikes on the road. one day i was backing my service truck out on a blind curve, i heard a bike with loud pipes coming before i could ever see it, if it wasn’t for the pipes i could have easily backed out on the rider. those pipes made me aware he / she was coming on a bike.
no loud pipes for me! Yes they will scare deer away, or sometimes directly into you. I drive a gl1200 limited, and it is very quiet, but it does startle deer, they has amazing hearing. I have heard only one reason I agree with for having loud pipes; other drivers on cell phones. That needs to be illegal in every state with the charge of wreckless endangerment at the very minimum. other than cell phone drivers, if loud pipes save lives, then why are so many people hit by trains?
Yes loud pipes increase noticability and for sure save lives.
I was just subjected to the thunder of a convoy of bikes with loud pipes passing my house. I’m over 1/8 mile from the road and there was no danger that I would hit them with my house. It sounded like a thunderstorm popped up out of nowhere and lasted for at least a minute.
To all the proponents of loud pipes, you surely must know there are other, safer transportation options available. I shouldn’t have to suffer because your hobby isn’t as safe as you want it to be. I guess I also have to suffer for all the bad drivers on the road. You know what? I know you are there long before I can hear you, because I pay attention to my surroundings and take driving to be the serious business it is.
Who really cares? Loud pipes are cool. End of discussion.
Loud pipes save lives for sure. I have been riding for 18 years now in California. Huge difference between quiet exhaust and loud. cars around notice you and you just increased your odds of not getting hit. With my stock exhaust on I have been hit three times. Very lucky to be alive. The ama is full of garbage about thier study. All my new bikes I purchase now get an exhaust change. But I do not lay on the throttle to blast people’s ear drums out in traffic splitting lanes or cruizing through pch. It is common sense but some knuckle heads just want to try to annoy others. This is my only transportation and I hope will always be. Take care of each other.
OK. I can believe that ‘loud pipes save lives.’ BUT AT WHAT COST???? If every baby stroller had a built in boombox that constantly played a ‘Look Out! Baby!’ on repeat at 100 decibels any time it was occupied, I am sure that would save lives. But who cares? It’s F’in annoying!
What really saves lives, are the AMA courses, taken over & over.
I just had my first quick stop/response in the middle of a major intersection, where a Sheriff’s SUV was plowing thru, with siren on, the red light!!
I thanked the Lord, AMA, and my quick response………..loud pipes might have muffled the siren!!
I’m surprised nobody mentioned the actual, measurable, PHYSICAL reason why they are UNSAFE. Both the AMA and the NHTSA have acknowledged past studies that show that when a person is startled by the sound of a loud passing motorcycle, the person will (if driving properly, both hands on the steering wheel) UNINTENTIONALLY steer slightly into the direction of the startling sound. It’s a measurable response and has predictive value. Speaking just for myself, when I’m on my bike and passing someone on their left, the LAST thing I want is for them to be sudenly veering to the left. No brainer for me, man …
my wife and I have two homes, new orleans and in the country of MS.
while riding on the back country roads, where I see very few cars I really don’t need them.
but ride in New Oleans in the city and I can tell many times MY LOUD PIPES saved my life and most of the time my wife is with me, so yes it saved her life too.
before we put loud pipes on there were many close calls, now before I hit their blind spot I see them looking for me, because YES they here me coming.
if you don’t believe in loud pips, you may live and ride in the counrty.
try riding for the most part in a big city with people talking on a CELL PHONE . those that don’t like loud pipes may have a change of heart.
do I like loud pipes, not really, but will I ride without them, not a chance. If I didn’t have them there is a good chance I WOULD NOT be here to type this.
New Orleans is one crazy place to ride a bike, I want to heard and seen !
FXLR & V/H B/R
I couldn’t say it one way or another. Sometimes loud pipes could grab necessary attention, while at other times they piss people off. I don’t think this would be so much of an issue if there weren’t so many dangerous idiots on the road; people who only pay attention to the lines left and right of themselves. Trying to cut off a semi? Here’s your sign…
Loud exhaust need to be stopped. It is unsafe to the rider with a helmet on, (some states don;t require the helmet ) who can not hear an emergency vehicle approaching from behind. It is also distracting and startling to motorist in front and around the loud exhaust echoing from different directions. I hope to see the day come when the law will enforce and fine those who deliberately and intentionally bring attention to themselves with this excessive loud exhaust noise. With this being done we all will enjoy the peace and quiet in our neighborhoods ,backyard cookouts and roads. And yes I did have a street bike,with quiet exhaust. Loved to ride the open roads. Safe riding too all.
For I’m John Hund and I am OUT OF HERE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My experience with riding first with drag pipes & now with low restriction mufflers on my touring bike has shown that you definitely get noticed when your in a driver’s blind spot. Last year I took several demo rides on new motorcycles at the Open House in York, PA. The new demo bikes all have stock mufflers & are therefore quite. A driver in front of me pulled to the shoulder & as I attempted
to pass him he started to makei a U-Turn in front of me. I locked the brakes & skidded & he must have heard me because he stopped before we collided. I was able to recover from the near drop down & just kept driving. This near miss would, IMAO, not have occurred if I was driving my own bike with the loud pipes. Loud pipes won’t save you in every situation but they definitely help & that’s a fact. I do agree that some guys go to the extreme with purposely making too much noise with their bikes, just to be cool, & that is unnecessary & avoidable.
Loud pipes save lives believed or not ,but I respect if somebody don’t liked.This is still the free country,we hope.My pipes help me a lot and I ride a lot. I still ride without helmet sometime.If you never take a risk you don’t enjoy the freedom to live.Live is a risk all the time, only the Lord Jesus is in control.But even this is you own decision and I still respect that.
First off: From what direction is your bike most clearly heard? From behind the motorcycle. Physics is to thank for that.
Second: When a moving vehicle passes you, have you ever noticed something called the doppler effect? Not only does it affect frequency but also intensity.
Third: If your street bike is louder than my F1 race bike, YOU ARE AN IDIOT AND I WANT TO PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE FOR DEAFENING ME WHEN YOU GO BY! Your bike isn’t “LOUD” untill after you pass, so NO, loud pipes do not save lives, they piss people off. There is decible limit for racebikes for a reason people. It would do well for street riders to follow the laws in regards to these decible limits. Oh, and one other thing you you people: If you want you engine to last and perform better, toss the straight pipes and get somoething with baffles in it, unless you enjoy rebuilding the top-end of your engine that is…..
Any motorcycle rider with loud pipes/mufflers “heard” of bad karma? What you put out comes back to surround you?
Loud pipes annoy, irritate, disturb, and distrupt. Trade out for each time the deer moves or a driver notices to………..loud mufflers/pipes to this: wakes a sleeping baby, scarces nature, more deer jump across the road to follow the frightened deer, fries the nerves of a little old lady, small towns love your money and glad you leave and do not return in the winter, people flip you off for disturbing them in their yard at a wedding, campgrounds do not want loud bikes a reflection on loud riders, the strutting about of the owner in all his/her leathers….
Oh well the world has all kinds…stay on the freeways and out of the back country, if you need to be loud.
Loud pipes are a selfish display of personal charactor. Stay in your garage or on your property and enjoy them. We, the general public (not everyone just most people) and nature have not invited you into our world.
Pratice safe riding with quiet mufflers. Fast stopping with both brakes. Quick steering moves left and right. Slow down in deer country. Ride in a lower gear in traffic. Save your ears for enjoying those precious sounds, as rain on the roof, a babies first laugh, a deer rubbing his velvet on a sapling.
Good karma never annoyes anyone.
As a long distance rider, I have heard more complaints regarding loud motorcycles, then comments of quiet bikes and good riders. We are not as welcome as we once were.
I have a Roadstar with long straight pipes on it when i bought it. I ride with my son who has a sportbike. When passing, as i am coming up on the left rear of the vehicle, i can see the driver looking to see what is coming up on them. It clearly gets their attention. When i ride with my son whose sportbike is much quieter (albeit much faster also) as he rides lead you don’t see that reaction from drivers as he comes up on the left rear. I am sure the noise it’s aggravating to some people, I have considered a number of times purchasing a quieter, nicer looking pipes with mufflers but each time i pick a set out and get ready to click on buy i think about the driver turning their head looking for me as i come up to pass. Think I will stick with my loud pipes for awhile longer.
While riding with a buddy in Eastern Ontario Canada, him with stock pipes and mine with “louder” pipes, we came across a few deer. He had a deer whistle and upon approaching the deer there was no reaction from them at all. As I approached and down shifted with the pipes “blasting” the deer vanished. Was he glad that I had the pipes – Yes! Sometimes they do work in grabbing someone or somethings attention.
Only anecdotal evidence here:
On more than one occasion, as I was driving my “cage” through the I-94 Lowry tunnel in Minneapolis, I’ve heard loud pipes, and seen the reaction of folks in cages on their cell phones. They do, in fact, notice the loud pipes, at least when the echos reverberate in the tunnel.
In fact, I actually saw a driver avoid intruding on a biker’s lane as the biker revved his loud pipes.
I think the evidence is equivocal. My own pipes are not loud (completely stock Road Star), more for my own peace of mind than anything else.
It’s a gamble being on the freeway in a metro area; it’s just a matter of odds, and you hope the odds come out in your favor every time, loud pipes or no.
Arguing about “loud pipes” is like arguing about Religion…. People believe what they believe and it’s near impossible to get them to change.
It’s my OPINION, that “loud pipes save lives” was probably true, when I started riding…. but……in my youth, bikes were summer-time transportation, and cars drove around with windows open to let in fresh air
modern cars are so sound proofed, , they have A/c, and stereos…. folks wrap themselves in a steel cocoon, crank up the tunes, chat (or text) away on the cell phone, and even have the kids screaming in the back seat… or watching the DVD
I ride in Montana, and Montana is deer country. I did not want loud pipes but the bike came that way. Glad to have had them on a number of occassions where the deer heard me coming and spooked back away from the road. It has also saved me a few times in traffic. I’m thinking after an 8000 mile ride of having baffles put in, and mounting a shotgun on the handle bars. Nothing like a gun shot to get the deer to pay attention. Actually thinking of having another shotgun mounted on the foot peg bar angled out to the right with a remote trigger to pop a few gophers along the road. Check out “My Motorcycle Summer in Montana” at blogger.com.