Any noise tickets for loud pipes happening out there?

[cbsnbiker]

I hope you realize how ridiculous that statement is referring to motorcycles...  But I am curious what you mean by "less efficiently."  I've never gone out to the AMA races to see a stock exhaust on a single race bike.  Why is that?

By less efficient intended job, you must be referring to the job of muffling the exhaust noise.  

To some, motorcycles are transportation.  To others, they are an outlet of ones personality and need to reach a level of customization to make them feel like they are an extension of their owner.  I fall in the latter, and I'm not afraid to express that I'm passionate about motorcycles.  

Ridiculous? I think not.

First of all, there is the obvious: loud pipes are less efficient at muffling sound than quiet pipes.

Then, there's the reality that most modern street bikes actually lose HP and torque with loud pipes. Sometimes they may gain a few HP in a narrow range of the power band, usually near redline where it's not very useful for street riding. More rarely they may gain an incremental amount of HP, for a lot of money and often a fair amount of labor to get the engine to work properly with the different pipes. Unless you're a professional racer, that last bit is hardly worth the added $$$s -- at least IMHO. I'd rather ride.

Owners of such noisy bikes may *think* that they're going faster -- after all, listen to all that extra noise! The reality often diverges from the cacophony. I was reminded of this just yesterday, when observing a motorcycle creating quite a racket while modestly accelerating from a stop light.

As for your equation of a passion for motorcycles with creating loud noise, there are four a propos words: loud pipes lose rights.

Ergo my advice for the original poster.

[slvrsprint]

I wish more tickets were written than are currently.  There are occassional check points in NY that will ticket pipes and a lot will be written at Americade in a couple of weeks.  I support that (the tickets, not the motorcycle only checkpoints).

Simply, loud pipes piss me off.  I hate getting stereotyped as inconsiderate because I ride a motorcycle.

[turbo.mp]

Ridiculous? I think not.

First of all, there is the obvious: loud pipes are less efficient at muffling sound than quiet pipes.

Then, there's the reality that most modern street bikes actually lose HP and torque with loud pipes. Sometimes they may gain a few HP in a narrow range of the power band, usually near redline where it's not very useful for street riding. More rarely they may gain an incremental amount of HP, for a lot of money and often a fair amount of labor to get the engine to work properly with the different pipes. Unless you're a professional racer, that last bit is hardly worth the added $$$s -- at least IMHO. I'd rather ride.

Owners of such noisy bikes may *think* that they're going faster -- after all, listen to all that extra noise! The reality often diverges from the cacophony. I was reminded of this just yesterday, when observing a motorcycle creating quite a racket while modestly accelerating from a stop light.

As for your equation of a passion for motorcycles with creating loud noise, there are four a propos words: loud pipes lose rights.

Ergo my advice for the original poster.

You sure are making a lot of assumptions.  I'm not defending loud pipes, I'm defending one's freedom to modify their bike to suite their personal needs without coming under fire of our judgmental peers.  I'm sure you've done plenty of things in your life that I would be quite confused about.  Live and let live.

But do aftermarket exhausts need to yield a HP gain?  I put an Akra on my CBR and the last thing I was concerned about was HP.  It was subtly louder but it really brought out the great tone of the bike.  It was very tasteful in my opinion, the opinion of anyone that never commented on it, and even my grandparents (who actually quite liked the sound it made).  Aftermarket pipes don't have to make things obnoxiously loud, but SHOULD (IMO) bring out the best of the bike.


Similarly, I just disabled the flapper on my VFR because of the horrendous flat spot around 4,000-4,500 rpms.  Did I gain power by doing it?  No; I actually think I lost a bit of power.  But did it smooth out the throttle a ton and make riding more enjoyable?  Yes.
Are you going to pass your judgement on my decision because it didn't yield HP gains??

Unlike yourself, apparently, some people do things without regard for HP gains but more to improve their personal riding experience.  In all reality, I hate ridiculously loud pipes as much as anyone...

[Justin]

I have never gotten a ticket in and of itself for being loud. But with the muzzy can on my old XX I wound up getting a few tickets just because the cops heard me going fast; when I'd otherwise have been ignored. I now have a faster bike with a quieter pipe, and have had way less tickets. I still ride fast.

[SoCalFJR]

Nothing like some "deaf" and "deafer" pipes to get the juices flowing!........lol......as for power gain, I think the dyno freaks have determined there is little to no power gain with most generic type pipes.  Not the point for me, I just want my machine to have a little sound to it.  Perhaps its in the DNA of us bikers, I think back to 1962 and my brand new Honda 50 with the upswept pipe.  Eventually I took the back half of the pipe off and ran that thing around with a straight pipe. Of course it makes a difference if you're on a 40 acre farm. So perhaps that started me on the road to ruin we see today.  That and the fact that my last hearing test was a flatline, from 38 years of jet blast in the airline industry.........that is a consideration also.......

When I get the pipes on this week I will report on it........love or hate..........  

[Silverbird]

Most people would agree loud Harley pipes are annoying as hell. What makes you thing it's any different for a sportbike?

[SoCalFJR]

Silverbird.......I know a whole boatload of large leatherclad HD riders who would beg to disagree with you........ ...........pure musical nirvana to some........

[OmegaSix]

Question:  Are they required to yield more horsepower in order to put them on a bike?

That's a simple YES or NO answer, please.

Yes.

Any drive train mod that doesn't make more power is nothing but metal masturbation.

Pure bullshit.

A waste of money, time, and effort.

To do what?

Piss people off?

Doesn't take a genius to see the fallacy in THAT...

Make it go faster, brake harder, turn better, be more comfortable, provide more information, be measurably BETTER, or leave it the fuck alone.

[CLAY]

My B12 came with a carbon fiber D&D on it.  It was perfectly jetted to match the full system- they guy did a great job.  At first I was looking for a new pipe, but very soon I got used to it.  When I'm putting around it's a low rumble.  I can cruise into the neighborhood with no problems.  When I rock on it, however, it does make some noise.  When I ride far, I have plugs in anyway, so it doesn't bother me.  Down the highway it's not crazy loud unless you are right behind me.  

[sprk_sprd]

Yes.

Any drive train mod that doesn't make more power is nothing but metal masturbation.

Pure bullshit.

A waste of money, time, and effort.

To do what?

Piss people off?

Doesn't take a genius to see the fallacy in THAT...

Make it go faster, brake harder, turn better, be more comfortable, provide more information, be measurably BETTER, or leave it the fuck alone.

Yes.  And we'll all wear the same uniforms in the same color.  And all our houses will be painted the same color.  And we'll all read the same books.  And we'll all....[please, dear overlord, continue our thinking for us...]

[county]

And you're adding very noisy pipes because??? More HP, women will think you're hot, everyone will believe you're faster than them?? We definitely need another bike making a bunch of racket for no other discernible reason than to stroke the stunted ego of the rider.

No, he is adding the pipes for the weight they save....

[county]

Yes.

Any drive train mod that doesn't make more power is nothing but metal masturbation.

Pure bullshit.

A waste of money, time, and effort.

To do what?

Piss people off?

Doesn't take a genius to see the fallacy in THAT...

Make it go faster, brake harder, turn better, be more comfortable, provide more information, be measurably BETTER, or leave it the fuck alone.

Do you have any idea how much an FJR weighs....cause if you did you would see that taking some weight off is better.

[OmegaSix]

Well, if he wants to take some weight off his FJR, he could probably accomplish this quickest  by getting his own personal big fat ass up onto a treadmill....Maybe start skipping the donughts and the Red-Bulls...    Maybe just eat well, and get some PT - - - and imagine that - - the FJR is faster.
Significantly...

Wonder how THAT happened?

[Rogue]

Similarly, I just disabled the flapper on my VFR because of the horrendous flat spot around 4,000-4,500 rpms.  Did I gain power by doing it?  No; I actually think I lost a bit of power.  But did it smooth out the throttle a ton and make riding more enjoyable?  Yes.
Are you going to pass your judgement on my decision because it didn't yield HP gains??

Unlike yourself, apparently, some people do things without regard for HP gains but more to improve their personal riding experience.  In all reality, I hate ridiculously loud pipes as much as anyone...

What you should have done was put a Powercommander 3 or 4 on your VFR800.    Not only does that smooth out throttle response across the rev range, it REALLY smoothes out the V-Tec engagement too.

You don't need hp gain to justify aftermarket pipes.  Pick what looks good and one you can afford and put it on.  Don't listen to the naysayers.  However, do us all a big favor, do NOT put loud obnoxious pipes on PULEEZ!  It makes you look stupid and it pisses everyone off including your brothers on two wheels.

[tomek]

Loud pipe is a more efficient safety device then  headlight modulator or ABS .  

[cbsnbiker]

Loud pipe is a more efficient safety device then  headlight modulator or ABS .  

Actually, the Hurt Report says that motorcycles with loud pipes are overrepresented in crash statistics.

[M.Brane]

 This thread makes me want to put a loud pipe on the RT just to piss people off.

[02Tac]

Loud pipes save lives .

 I prefer a different kind of loud.  

[bubba zanetti]

Loud pipes, gaudy gear, flashing lights, rabbits feet, or mojo ... whatever keeps you alive is good by me. It is an aggressive world of risks for riders out there. And feeling safe is a good thing.

I always just basically liked the look of aftermarket pipes over stock. More sano as we used to say, lighter too.  The noise was fun now and then, but also an embarrassment at other times. I have packed and repacked pipes to get the noise down, especially for those early morning rides on a Sunday.

[cbsnbiker]

You sure are making a lot of assumptions.  

Um, what's the title of this thread again?

Oh, yeah: "Any noise tickets for loud pipes happening out there?".

What was that again about assumptions?