Loud Pipes No Good, Huh?

 Then read this:

http://www.cyrilhuzeblog.com/2008/06/12/oakland-police-department-wants-loud=
er-pipes-on-its-harleys

The Oakland Police Department put louder pipes on their fleet because,
"It seems the cops just didn’t feel safe on toned-down bikes. 'There’s
an old motorcycle adage that you are heard before you are seen,' said
Deputy Chief Dave Kozicki, explaining the department’s decision to
toss the bikes’ muted factory-issued mufflers in favor of the more
high-volume pipes. Kozicki cited an accident three months ago in which
an Oakland officer riding a toned-down cycle was struck by a motorist
who said he hadn’t heard the officer approaching."

The department had loud pipes before and went back to stock.  When
stock pipes were put back on the bikes, "According to Kozicki, the
decibel drop sparked a chorus of complaints from other officers, who
said they felt less safe. So last year the department launched a
$1,200 study in conjunction with the city’s risk management division
to determine whether A) the louder motorcycles contributed to
officers’ safety, B) were detrimental to their hearing, and C)
complied with noise standards. Kozicki acknowledged that whatever
safety-related findings the study produced were largely anecdotal.
Still, after everything was taken into consideration, the department
concluded “it was in the best interest of the officers to put more-
audible pipes back on,” Kozicki said."

"Oakland officials acknowledge that the noisy pipes, when tested,
averaged 93 decibels - well above the federal legal noise limit,
according to the Motorcycle Industry Council."

 On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:40:53 -0700 (PDT), "Road Glidin' Don"


    You don't hear most cars approaching, either.  IMO bikes
should nto be accorded any special priviledges, such as breaking the
law, or irritating everyone around them,  in the name of 'safety'.

    At the same time, 'I didn't hear him' should not be a defense
for hitting one, any more than it is if you hit a car.


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Restrictive noise limits placed into law because they irritate people opens
a can of worms that society is not ready to deal with, in my estimation.

After all, folks riding skateboards irritate me to no end. They pull stupid
stunts, injuring themselves and sometimes others. Perhaps we should limit
this activity, what say?

Or, how about folks jumping out of perfectly good airplanes just for kicks?
Monthly we hear of several incidents where people are severely injured or
killed while participating in this activity. Should we put a stop to it?

Other things that irritate me and with which the world would be a better
place if they were legislated out of existence:

American football
Soccer
Snow skiing
Water skiing
Horseback riding
General aviation

I could go on and on. But I will spare everyone.

I have a set of V&H Cruzers on my 2005 Vulcan VN800 Classic. The bike went
from being too quiet in traffic to be heard, to being brash and nauseating.
When I asked V&H on several occasions if they offered tone downed baffles or
an exploded view of the pipes so that I could fabricate my own baffles for
reduced noise, I got back emails that appeared to be written by the
microceph that sweeps their floors. No usable data was available. I'm not
rich enough to be able to afford to run the Cruzers through a bandsaw so
that I can get an idea of how they are constructed.

In the Seventies, I bought a two into one Hooker header for my Honda CB-360.
That was the first year (1974) that mandatory quiet pipes came with the
bike. It too was too quiet in traffic to be safe and the engine was
overheating with the stock pipes. The Hooker two into one header and muffler
was the perfect solution. They could easily have been mistaken for a stock
set of pipes, from a noise perspective, when driven normally in traffic
around town. Roll back on the throttle and they became louder, but not
objectionably so, plus they really made the bike come alive after rejetting
and dyno tuning. That is what I was hoping for when I bought the V&H Cruzer
pipes.

I'm not bad mouthing the V&H Cruzers. They are now three years old and they
have been absolutely trouble-free and with no discoloration, but they are
too freaking loud! Even for this old fart.

Ed Cregger

 

<SNIP>
The flaw in your argument is that most people are not irritated by these other
things you list and it is easy enough to avoid them.   On the other hand it is a
fact that loud noise damages hearing and causes anxiety to most folks with
normal hearing.  When you are in the vicinity of a vehicle with loud  pipes it
"owns" your ears.

Ben

 

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Ben, you did notice that I said that my pipes were too loud and that I'm
looking for a way to quiet them down, didn't you?

Ed Cregger