I’ve wrote about this topic in the past.

I’ve had many a rider on a loud bike pass me on the highway, and it’s frequently the case that they’re not noticeable until they are actually passing me. And then, the sudden loud noise startles me, making it possible (as another commentator has already pointed out) for me to increase the risk to the biker, not reduce it.

Splitting lanes? That’s a senseless thing to do. You shouldn’t be doing that, legal or not. Guess what? Wearing chainmail increases the chances of surviving a bear attack. Does that mean you should go in the woods and chase baby bears?

You have no right to operate a vehicle that is a nuisance to other people. This is not open for debate. You have no right to hurt other people’s ears, to interrupt their conversations, to wake them and their family up, to make them tired all the time because you interrupt their sleep, to startle them, or to even make them notice you when you ride in the vicinity of their property and you’re the last thing they’re interested in. Wanting to operate a vehicle that is highly vulnerable does not magically confer these rights upon you.

Even if loud pipes actually did increase your safety, you still wouldn’t have the right to use them. There are many examples of things you could do to increase your safety, at the expense of other people. But you don’t automatically have a right to do whatever happens to benefit you. Why is this idea so difficult for bikers to accept?

I’m so tired of hearing the “loud pipes save lives” lie. If you really cared about your safety, you wouldn’t be on a bike in the first place. But if you did care about safety and still chose to be on a bike, you’d wear bright colors, which have been proven to make bikers more noticeable and to actually save lives. You’d also wear a proper helmet. Funny how I see literally NO loud pipe bikers wearing a helmet when I am in the states that don’t require them.

And, quite obviously, if you actually cared about safety, you wouldn’t dangerously squeeze between moving vehicles at high speed.

Yeah, you’re so worried about safety that you think loud pipes will do it all, right? It’s a magic elixir that makes every other stupid choice you make irrelevant, right? Forget the safer vehicle, forget the safety gear and principles, forget safe riding, just make it extremely loud and hop on.

Norm

Other than that, I disagree with your opinion. Most motorcycle horns are not loud enough to hear at all. I luckily have an air horn.

Norm

Just an FYI.

Norm

Now let’s say I have a Harley Davidson, and I purchase another type of exhaust from Harley Davidson that has been EPA certified, that is legal. I am sure the same goes for other manufacturers of motorcycles as well.

If you do go to a shop, and they do install another type of after market pipe on your motorcycle, keep all receipts in your saddlebag just in case you do get stopped.

Norm

I do disagree with you that my reasoning is flawed. In my own experience, my loud pipes have saved me from getting hit, because the people in the cars and trucks that would have hit me, heard my pipes and knew I was there. Had I not had the loud pipes than who knows what would have happened.

My article has nothing to do with the rights of others not to hear loud pipes, it has to do with my personal opinion that loud pipes save lives.

I do agree that I would not want to hear chainsaws firing up in the middle of the night, etc. I also don’t like to hear trains or big rig trucks throughout the night, but I do and they are super loud. A big rig truck is very loud! We have train tracks about 1 mile from where I live, and they blast their horn every night when going by a local intersection. What can I do?

In the end, this is about my personal opinion.

On a personal note, my Harley has baffled pipes from the dealer called Screaming Eagles. They are probably the quietest pipes I have ever had on a motorcycle. I am installing an Air Horn real soon, to counter the fact that my bike is not currently loud!

Norm

Lawyers can and do challenge many laws which they feel may be unconstitutional, or may be invalid with respect to common law. Just because a law is written does not mean it is set in stone. We challenge laws all of the time. At one point in the nation Abortions were illegal, and it was legal to discriminate against persons because of their race. It was lawyers challenging these laws that got things changed. In California a guy challenged the helmet law because it was ambiguous and won. My point is that just because a law is written, does not mean that it cannot be challenged. There are a huge amount of laws on the books in many States that are not enforced because they are either outdated, or they were meant for the 1800’s, and the legislatures never got around to repealing the laws.

With respect to my position being un-American; that is lunacy. Being American means being free to do what you want to be able to do within the law. It also means challenging laws that may not be constitutional or properly written as stated above. America is about freedom of choice.

The system you are talking about seems more communist to me. In communist systems, the good of the all takes precedent over the individual. In America the individual has freedom of choice.

I am Jewish. Your Holocaust analogy was way out of line with respect to this topic. My article is based on my own personal opinion, and was meant to incite debate on the subject.

I would not give out my home address over the Internet but I can say this. I live in the San Fernando Valley, California. We have more registered motorcycles in California than in all of the other States combined. In the San Fernando Valley the concentration of motorcycles per capita is more than in any other place in the nation. We have parades of bikers every day and on every weekend. I love the sound of motorcycles on the road. This is not the same as motocross riders racing behind my house all day.

One thing about America and freedom is that everyone has a right to their own opinion. We can agree to disagree.

Norm

Norm

You will notice that in my article I do state that it is illegal to modify the stock exhaust system on your motorcycle. I did not cite the specific Federal Law, and the new EPA act that went into effect.

The reality is that most motorcyclist do put after market pipes on their motorcycles. I have not heard of any Federal agency stopping individual motorcyclist and charging them with violating Federal laws for modifying their stock exhaust.

Notwithstanding Federal Laws, you do need to check your local laws because there are local and state laws and/or ordnance’s which put max DB levels on motorcycle exhaust that are separate and apart from the federal law. Furthermore, some States do require regular motorcycle inspections. It is far more likely that motorcyclist will have an encounter with State law enforcement, hence all motorcyclist need to know their individual State laws on the issue.

With that being said, my article is based upon my own empirical observations, and discussions with numerous other motorcyclist and their empirical observations. I am not a scientist, nor do I know of any studies that would bolster my opinion. My opinion is based on my own personal experience. How alien abductions go into the mix I do not know.

I can understand how someone could be pissed off if they could not hear each other speak in their own back yard. That is not the subject of my article. I am sure that you are pissed off because of it. Do big rig trucks drive by your house too? They are the loudest vehicles on the road.

Based upon my own first hand experience, I stand by what I wrote in my article. Thanks for your comments.

Norm

Norm

Norm

I am not sure where you live but I am quite sure that it is not legal to race dirt bikes in a residential neighborhood.

Good Luck Man!

Norm

I wrote this article to express my own personal opinion about this issue. I fully believe that loud pipes save lives based on my own personal experience.

You will notice in my article that I am not advocated breaking the law, and I am telling everyone to check their local laws, and to maybe get a loud horn as an alternative.

I do care about public perception of bikers and motorcyclist because they seek to take away our right to be free in the wind. I myself am not ruining it for anyone. I do not have that kind of power. I am currently running baffled pipes in my Harley Davidson Electra Glide.

The purpose of my article was to express my opinion on a controversial subject. To be quite frank, I am of the opinion that the general uneducated cager community does not like us no matter what we do. That is another subject altogether.

Next week I am going to write an article which is going to invite other Bikers to sign up as members of the Blog and submit articles to the Blog.

No ones opinion will be censored here, except Spam submissions that come in from time to time.

Jeff, check out Google Alerts. You should sign up for Google Alerts and put in “motorcycle safety,” and “motorcycle accidents,” as two separate alerts. You will be appalled at the number of motorcycle accidents and deaths that are occurring each day. Most of the accidents are caused by negligent cagers.

I am not the holy grail when it comes to motorcycle safety. I am after all, just a biker and a biker lawyer. I have my opinions just like everyone else. However, when it comes to prosecuting motorcycle accident cases, or bikers rights issues, I can tell you this; I give no quarter!

With respect to the outright banning of motorcycles by cities. Most of these laws have been overturned because they are not reasonable. There are already laws on the books with respect to the maximum decibal level of motorcycles and the modification of exhaust systems. The Courts have ruled that the cities cannot outright ban motorcycles, but they can enforce their noise laws.

Norm