Originally Posted by
ThermionicScott
That's the claim, anyway. In truth, modern car interiors are pretty well insulated against outside noise, and even if your average driver can hear the motorcycle coming nearer, they're not going to locate it soon enough by sound to avoid anything.
Bikers mainly just want to be loud.
Originally Posted by
Shimagnolo
If that were true, they would point the exhaust pipes forward, so you could hear them coming.
It makes no sense to have the pipes pointed to the rear, so you hear them leaving.
These quotes make me wonder if you guys actually drive near motorcycles very often. I can hear them when they are in my blind spot, which is exactly where they need to be heard. But as with everything there is always the "hey, look at me" crowd. I'm not a biker so I don't have a dog in this fight. Just passing along the common idea behind loud MC pipes.
I have 2 bikes with DT350 hubs, my road bike has a 36t ratchet and my gravel bike has a 54t ratchet. The 54t is obvously louder than the 36t. They can be made quieter simply by applying a little more grease to the star ratchet when servicing the hub. Pretty simple and effective. I prefer the louder hub noise when riding near hikers as they are more aware of me coming up from behind. The road bike can get annoying when on a century ride but not as much as on shorter time rides. I try to keep the road bike as quiet as I can.