CB HI

It is official, they are cagers. Even pedestrians are cagers now.

DX-MAN

Love it.

Just curious, though -- do the various HD owners remember the connection to OUR bikes that they have -- namely the Davidson brothers and their bike shop in 1903? Bill Harley (the default namesake for the company) was a machinist, built their first engine, a single-cyl. air-cooled unit that performed noticeably better than any other at the time.

And how many "LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES" advocates recall the 1911 "Silent Grey Fellow" HD produced? Just asking.......

DaveInLa

Loud pipes DO save lives. So do helmets. Just stating the obvious

CritEastwood

loud pipes do not save lives

riding alertly saves lives

i've been riding motorcycles without loud pipes since 1982

twobadfish

Affirming a disjunct.

Skivvy9r

That you ride without loud pipes and are not dead, does not disprove the statement that loud pipes save lives. But this isn't the right forum for this conversation.

DX-MAN

I'll agree on the 'not the right forum'; my whole reason for posting what I did was about the irony of it all.

Real talk -- you wanna discuss/debate loud pipes, I'm sure there's a plethora of motorcycle forums out there.

DaveInLa

This is one harsh place when you get out of the Clyde forum lol.

Flying Merkel

To all of those who believe that loud pipes save lives:

Tape down your horn button so's the horn is on constantly. Better yet, get yourself an ice cream truck style sound system. Your safety is now guaranteed.

Been riding since 1971. No accident or close call I've had would have been prevented by loud pipes. And Harley ads are the most patronizing & ridiculous of any motorcycle company out there.

CB HI

One of those HD haters, eh.

dougmc

Wouldn't loud pipes cause hearing damage (or a need for earplugs -- same difference) which could easily cost lives (likely yours) due to your decreased ability to hear? Or perhaps your loud pipes could drown out other nearby noises, so nearby bicyclists (see? on-topic!) couldn't hear what was around them -- all they'd hear is your loud pipes, and not that car bearing down on them.

Your claim is not "obvious" at all.

FunkyStickman

Can't stand loud Harleys, or the guys who feel the need to ride them and blip the throttle right as they pass me. Funny commercial, though.

Somebody needs to do a remake of this with bicycles.

mikeybikes

And without pedestrians in cages.

I-Like-To-Bike

Worse yet, when HD loud pipes are sounding off I can't decipher the audiobook playback on my mp3 player until the obnoxious beasts are at least 200-300 yards up the road.

larry_llama

If it's about safety, then I'll 100% approve of the next loud pipe motorcycle as long as the rider is wearing a reflective vest and there is a tall orange flag on the bike.

Until I see those other over the top safety aids then the loud pipe argument holds no water with me.

nelson249

I agree. My uncles (one of whom owned a Yamaha and Harley dealership and another is a qualified motorcycle instructor as well as being a kickbutt MTBer ) have collectively over 150 years on motorbikes and ridden 100,000s of miles and never had loud pipes on any of their machines and they are still riding well into retirement with no incident.

DX-MAN

Dave, it's not harsh -- just stay on topic a little better. That wasn't an invite to exhaust-noise (or helmet) advocacy.

jakub.ner

I think this South Park episode is just great : https://www.southparkstudios.com/guid...e12-the-f-word

Digital_Cowboy

That was good. I live across the street from a bar that usually on the weekends has concerts. Usually they're good about keeping their bloody doors closed, occasionally they forget. The that really get's not only on my but other tenants nerves are the moron's who ride up on their bikes and sit there and rev their engines before turning them off and again sitting there and revving their engines before taking off.

Artkansas 

I've always felt that loud pipes on a V-twin motorcycle have all the appeal of an extreme case of flatulence.

Flying Merkel

I've always been told that Harleys have a great sound, great look, and unbeatable resale value. What that means is you listen to it, look at it, and then sell it.

Shimagnolo

That reminds me of a long time ago in an article in "Cycle" magazine,
they were reviewing the latest Sportster;
Among the positive items, they mentioned the satisfaction of blipping
the throttle while waiting at an intersection.
Direct quote:

"In fact in a recent poll of fun-things-you-can-do-by-your-self,
throttle-blipping a Harley came in second, right behind you-know-what!"