I have a question for motorcycle riders about noise

[Silent3]

How much of the loud noises from motorcycles are a completely normal, unavoidable part of how motorcycles work, and how much of it is the rider deliberately making noise for the sake of making noise?

I find it hard to escape the feeling that a lot of the gunning and revving of engines I hear is deliberate excess, overgrown kids who love going "VRROOOM!!! VRROOOM!!!", but not knowing much about what it's like to actually operate a motorcycle it's definitely possible I'm misinterpreting.

[dem4decades]

1. I had a BMW years ago, purred like a kitten, the only noise was a clunk when I shifted.

[Itchinjim]

2. It's the "Look at me!" factor.

The same reason that so many bikers won't wear helmets. And American's general lack of consideration for others.

[CurtEastPoint]

3. You forgot to mention the ones who are BLASTING SHIT MUSIC at 1000 decibels. GDMFSOBs

I have one who rides down my street, must be a neighbor somewhere and the bike is SO LOUD and so is his music.

[sop]

4. Harley riders (and a few other makes as well) have a saying: "Loud pipes save lives."

They justify extra-loud, aftermarket straight pipes or racing exhausts on their bikes by claiming it makes car drivers aware of their presence, and helps avoid accidents. That's what they'll tell you, and some of them probably believe it. Most of them modify their exhausts for the additional performance, looks and to make as much noise as possible.

[taxi]

6. Some of those saying loud pipes save lives are not content to idle at stop lights

They put on more miles sitting in traffic and barking their pipes than they do going down on the road.

[MichMan]

7. Some of the same idiots saying Loud Pipes Save Lives

are riding around helmetless wearing tank tops.and sandals.

Yeah dude, I can see you make safety a priority

[Doc Sportello]

5. Being an asshole equates to "toughness" in their infantile minds

The assholes on their motorcycles blasting out noise are just one element in my town. The idiots driving souped up cars with no mufflers or noise "devices" added are a constant in my town and it appears there is nothing the town leaders will do and have given up on the problem. So the assholes get to scare the shit out of children, elderly, and others they roar by and feed their self-delusion that they are somehow manly by being jerks. The thing is, in the conservative small town of my youth this would not have been allowed. Ahhhh, America in the 21st Century. What a country!

[Silent3]

8. From the posts I've seen so far, no one thinks I've been overly judgmental

I've known, of course, that some people definitely go out of their way to modify their bikes to make them louder.

But modifications aside, I don't see anyone standing up for their being good reasons for all the extra revving and roaring I hear when someone, say, takes off from a stop light, or sits their idling at a stop light.

[UTUSN]

9. You are *way* too tolerant. The danged racket is ABOMINABLE. What about the NO-helmets & entitlement

Last edited Fri Jun 3, 2022, 12:53 PM - Edit history (1)

Entitlement taking the form of signage to the effect of: "Watch for motorcycles". Like, they have priority.

Not only the biker abominable noise, but why are some cars/trucks silent and others ROARING? It is NOISE POLLUTION and a nuisance and Disturbing the Peace.

As for helmets, some of the bravado bikers refuse to wear them. I've seen a couple of dudes in hospitals in COMA: 30 year olds in perfect physical condition IN A COMA because they didn't wear helmets.

A couple of times when a biker made the mistake of sitting next to me at the Happy Hour bar/counter, I said something about helmets, and the biker roared CONTEMPT at me and fairly told me to STFU.

[zanana1]

10. It's the only thing I hate about spring.

I love sitting on the patio drinking my coffee and listening to the birds sing. Then a great big turd of noise blows the peace away.

[Marthe48]

11. The street I live on starts rising up a hill

just past my house. 3 of the neighbors who live up the hill have loud mufflers on their vehicles, and definitely have the look at me attitude. They have morotcycles, too. I know when they go to work and I know when they get home. They must goose the engine to get up the hill, you know. The hill also attracts idiots on 4 wheelers, dirt bikes, and even a freaking riding mower.

You have my sympathy. I bought noise canceling earphones just to sit in my living room.

[sop]

12. At least the bikers aren't rolling coal.

Best thing about diesel prices being so high is PU truck owners can't afford to waste fuel by rolling coal.

[Hotler]

13. People that need attention, Harley riders and sixteen year old girls.

I can't help it.

[cksmithy]

14. My husband had a 1967 Harley Sportster in 1971 when

we were first married . When you start the bike up, you had to rev it so it wouldn't stall. And at a stop light if started to stall (load up), again, you had to rev it up to keep engine running, rpm's up, so you could then give it the gas and move. Which I think is better then letting the bike die and block traffic and then have to kick start the bike alive so you can move. I could only hear the bike from less than 2 little neighbor hood blocks away, I always new he was home. The noisy part was in the garage before leaving. He went from a Kawasaki (mosquito whine) to a Sporster (loud rumble) to a Ducati (no noise at all). He no longer rides. Anyway that's why riders rev it up at stops. Sorry for the loud noise 50 years ago.

[sop]

15. Harleys have had fuel injection and electronic ignition systems for decades, as have all bikes.

I had a '72 XLCH that would backfire through the carburetor and scorch my knee if I didn't rev the engine at stop lights. Harleys have come a long way since then.

Today's riders don't need to blip the throttle at lights to keep the engine from stalling. They do it because they love the loud v-twin rumble, and uncorked engine exhausts produce more horsepower. Making noise is a rite of passage for children, and Harley Davidson riders.

[cksmithy]

16. A Harley, I have never seen lives on the street behind us a few doors down, the only time we hear its

rumble, roar, is when it is getting ready to go for a ride. We never hear it when it returns. I was just sharing a story from 50 years ago. We always wore full white helmets and my husband drove offensively. We only went on country drives, never in a group. It was better to be heard with a loud rumble when stuck in highway traffic, in the blind spot of a station wagon full of kids or grandpa in his desoto, than to be run off the road. I'm talking about 1970 California highway speeds of 65-70, before 55 speed limit, when you could get caught in a position you couldn't exit safely. Today in my neighborhood there is no continuous motorcycle noise, we live in the 2 blocks between a high school and a community college. We hear only the sirens of police, fire departments, and the police helicopter telling us to get in our houses or come out with our hands up. It is really a nice neighborhood, retired teachers, judges other professionals, with a liberal bias. As a retired teacher making noise is indeed a rite of passage. Lane sharers, usually on crotch rockets, scare me more, because you don't hear them until they have passed you and made your car shake and wobble.