Loud pipes save lives ?

[SofaBear]

So, i have been having this "discussion" with many people, mixture of bikers, drivers and non-drivers with weird answers. bikers say no, drivers say yes, non-drivers say what bike ...

I am a fond advocate of loud pipes save lives, insinuating that you are more likely to be heard than seen on a motorbike, especially in filtering manoeuvres or slow traffic.

Where do you stand on "loud exhausts"?
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Yamaha YBR125(gone) -> '12 Kawasaki ER6F in pearly white mmm

[deadwolf]

Do you drive a cage much? From my experience, cars are quite soundproof to the point that you'd need the exhaust equivalent of the Mother of All Subwoofers (coupled with the Hephaestian Midbass) to be heard, especially with the radio on. Kinda surprised about the drivers being the ones claiming that loud pipes save lives.

That being said, my current bike's exhaust is above-average in terms of loudness and has a nice throttle-blip bark. I've since found myself adopting RoyalJordanian's habit of blipping the throttle while filtering through slow or stationary traffic, on the offchance that it might increase drivers' and pedestrians' awareness of me and my bike.

Finally...light travels faster than sound too, might be some convoluted argument for hi-vis over loud pipes in there somewhere, barring the visibility issues of being on a bike...
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Motorsapien Art

[c_dug]

If it wasn't for neighbours and the popo I'd have stubbied my already open delkavics yonks ago. But, a decent chunk of my commute is filtering at slow speeds where it makes a bit of a difference, loud pipes can only do so much.

If you're going to come around a blind bend at 80, or cut across the front of a moving articulated lorry a loud pipe won't do a thing.

Judging by some twonks I see on my commute, plenty of bikers think a loud pipe provides some sort of sonic forcefield
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[bassmastergen...]

When a Loud Bike passes I sometimes imagine how annoying it must be having that fucking awful racket following you round everywhere you go, to the point where I probably wouldn't bother to ride at all.

Maybe they help, maybe they don't. I'll take my chances, thanks.

[G]

It took a few days post-mot riding my ZX9 to realise that it wasn't people just being dozier in the morning, but likely the baffle that was meaning people weren't noticing me quite as much.
(ZX9R with a full akrapovic race system, so not silly-loud, but still pretty fruity.)

Later, swapping with JD's race-fit GSXR and I'd say I did even better.

However, we're still talking pretty small percentages overall - definitely not something to rely on, but in my experience it does make a slight difference.

So maybe not 'save lives', but certainly give you a slightly better chance.

[Andy9934]

Even on a bike I struggle to hear bikes approaching me from behind. My eyes are far more useful at detecting bikers in traffic but embarrassingly when I am stuck in a motorway jam the first I know about a filtering bike is when it passes me.
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Surrey
Honda Varadero XL125

[SofaBear]

maybe ambitious concept, saving lives lol But i am meaning in the respect of coming from behind people, where they may not be looking or checking blindspots, maybe with windows open slightly or sat in traffic thinking hmm is that a space i could bolt in to?
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Yamaha YBR125(gone) -> '12 Kawasaki ER6F in pearly white mmm

[Rogerborg]

I've tried a stubbied can on my GS because gangsta. However, I suspect that it affects the rider's belief more than it does reality.

It might help footists or pedalists to not do anything rash, but drivers with the windows up, less likely. I'd suggest that you'd need to go to extremes like Royal Jordanian's Nuda to actually impinge, at which point you'd be as well using the noise-maker that comes fitted to all bikes for that purpose.

London rules will be different though.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[chickenstrip]

As long as you don't assume they've heard you, as you wouldn't assume they've seen you. I do find a loud pipe useful when filtering slow moving traffic sometimes. Blipping the throttle a couple of times sometimes sees a car move over a bit for you. But what I have noticed, is since I've had a bright yellow bike, cars seem to move over a bit more readily. Could be all in my head, but at the moment, I'm fairly sure it's the case, as I've had this same model in four different colours now, but this one really stands out, and it does seem to happen more with the yellow one.
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THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[Musketeer]

Louder is safer.. Every time I watch this video I think so..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnt9MLVMOh0
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Current Bike: Yamaha XSR900 Previous bikes: Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja, Aprilia RS125 2-stroke

[kiwisaki]

From experience I can say that at lower speeds it definitely makes a difference having a louder pipe. It's a completely different world out there when I'm on the ZX10R compared to my other bikes.
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Previous: MY2011 Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R (Sold!), MY2012 Honda CBF125 (White, Sold!), MY2013 Kawasaki ER6F (White, Sold!)
Current: MY2013 Kawasaki Ninja ZX10R, MY2012 Honda CBF125 (Red)

[Rogerborg]

[Wonko The Sane]

[Musketeer]

[c_dug]

The golf behaved in exactly the way you would, actually make that should, expect any half sporty car to behave. His road positioning for a start shouted overtake.

I try my best not to put myself in a position where I am relying on somebody else seeing me. And if I am in that position I try not to be there for long. The mong on the Honda dawdled around in just about the worst possible place, he is riding a motorcycle, there is no excuse.

The process should be:

Select gear for optimum acceleration.
Hang back to give enough space for a decent view.
When it looks to be clear to overtake move well into the next lane, don't accelerate yet.
If it is not clear move back across to where you started.
If it is clear to do so, overtake swiftly, using the acceleration riding a motorcycle affords you.

The Honda basically moved diagonally into a dangerous position, dawdling along in the golf's blind spot with no way of getting back to a safe place when it all went tits up.

Given it was quite a new car at a reasonable speed, I very much doubt a noisy pipe at a reasonable level for road use would have actually made any difference.

Some people are just asking to be a statistic!
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[Rogerborg]

I thought he was doing OK by moving over to have a look first, but his commitment was as convincing as a politician's apology.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Taught2BCauti...]

I definitely noticed a difference when my commute to work took me down a High Street, where people had a tendency to step off the pavement without looking.

A slightly louder end can did make people notice me more, without attracting unwanted attention from plod, who were often around and about at the time.
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Honda Varadero XL125(V8)
www.TheFutureIsHere.eu

[Albigularis]

[MC]

Are we just talking about aftermarket pipes?

I have the standard exhaust on the MT-03, yet it's still quite loud and makes a difference.

For example I pass over a blind crest on my commute with a side turning shortly after it, I cover the horn in case someone's attempting to pull out, yet on the MT-03 they'd often here me coming.

Also when on the bike/in a car if I hear a loud exhaust coming up behind I'm looking for it in my mirrors, so they do make people more aware of your presence.

However if some mongs gonna pull out, they're gonna pull out, so whilst I wouldn't say they save lives they do make a difference.

P.S. I find people blipping the throttle or revving the $hit out of their bike really annoying
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Yamaha MT-03 '08 (crashed)
Honda XR-125L '04

[Rogerborg]

[1198]

[MC]

[G]

With my Z2 noise cancelling earphones in I hear less environmental noise* cycling or walking than in 4 wheels.
*Essential for any trip to the big Tescos on a weekend!

As I've said before, I'm pretty convinced that it wasn't psychosomatic for me because it was a few days of thinking people had got a little dozier before it clicked.

[Rogerborg]

[Northern Monkey]

I've never heard a bike while in my car until it is alongside my wing mirror. Far too late for it to make any difference to any manouvre I would make. I tend to have the radio fairly quietly, and my 14 year old beemer is hardly class leading for cabin noise.

I always think loud pipes are like sticking a body kit and a big spoiler on your 1.1 Corsa. The person driving thinks he is cool as, but everyone else just thinks he is a massive penis.
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Fisty: after polishing the tank with the glistenng beads of sweat from my full hot scrotum, I filled the headrace bearings with 10cc of my manmilk