Maine newspaper editorial on loud pipes

[Ken R]

I used to put playing cards or baloons in my bicycle spokes when pre-teen.

I've had loud motorcycles since then, too. 

Now, I have Screamin' Eagle Street Trouring mufflers.   They're quiet.   Performance ain't bad, either. 

I like the quiet.   I like to hear the wind and the radio when I'm on the highways.

I think loud pipes are a fad and it'll fade away.  Especially as we lose our hearing and put up with tinnitus. 

[hotroadking]

Yeah I try and ride the softail in mid day

One neighbor came up, he has a vette, his kid races and Rx7 with a 350 Chevy, so he likes the sound,
said when I start it up his house shakes and he thought it was kool...  I apologized and he was fine..

I started thinking about the others with kids sleeping as I rolled out in the AM... so for now I grab the RG with slip ons.

Need to put the E series back on it... but I love the bassani,s oh well...

[Skullfork]

I'd like to mention all the kids driving those little cars with those loud canister style mufflers blasting/thumping their 1,000 watt sub-woofer driven stereo's rattling my car widows as I sit in traffic. Hell, they even rattle my home windows when they drive by ...now that's noise I can live without.  Seems to me to be more prevailent than the loud Harley's.

[CraigArizona85248]

I'd like to mention all the kids driving those little cars with those loud canister style mufflers blasting/thumping their 1,000 watt sub-woofer driven stereo's rattling my car widows as I sit in traffic. Hell, they even rattle my home windows when they drive by ...now that's noise I can live without.  Seems to me to be more prevailent than the loud Harley's.

The way you feel about those kids is exactly the way the guy who wrote the editorial feels about bikes.  While I also find the loud stereos annoying, pointing them out will not solve our problem.  All that achieves is to throw them under the bus along with us.  In my neighborhood, loud bikes are much more common then cars with loud stereos.

Motorcycles are starting to have a PR problem similar to what there was many years ago.  Difference now is that back then people just complained and there was some police harassment... today they want to legislate everything.  Once they pass laws against loud pipes, it's no longer harassment if you get a ticket but a case of them upholding the law.

-Craig

[hotroadking]

I don't like to hear screaming kids in any public environment, yeah I had kids, mines in the teens but they never screamed however if they did we would have  removed them from the area and calmed them down.

Today at the PO some lady has a kid screaming, but to not get back in line, she lets the kid scream, much worse than my loud pipes and beyond the level of decorum..

Tickets for Tots!

[GaryD]

Craig is right. The vocal minority rules today. Once a law is passed it's too late. So the ones with the really loud exhaust are going to ruin it for those with moderately loud pipes or the ones that don't flaunt it. There's just so much the average citizen is going to take. All it takes is one overly sensitive activist  to organize a larger "anti loud exhause" group to go to the politicians.You know what that leads to.
I think all it takes is a LITTLE restraint and everyone would be OK with it.

[Skullfork]

Trust me, I have nothing against the kids and their loud stereos, except for when they drive by at 1am with the volume turned up.  But lord knows I was a hellion back in the day too.  For example, when I was 16, I had a 1972 Gremlin X with a V-8, no exhaust and it was LOUD! I terrorized the whole county and mom & dad got their fair share of phone calls.  Especially from a minister who had outside services in the summer along a dirt road that I liked to roar down every Sunday afternoon on my way to and from a buddies house.  

I just wonder why the bikers are being singled out when it seems there are plenty others you can point the fingers at also. The kids in the loud cars was just an example ...

[mscoolone]

Eventually they are going to pass so many laws that we are all going to have the same hair cut, the same uniform, and driving the same model bike.

[One4Tone]

..same haircut..I dollar .25 cents per side...and electric scooters...no noise

[CraigArizona85248]

Trust me, I have nothing against the kids and their loud stereos, except for when they drive by at 1am with the volume turned up.  But lord knows I was a hellion back in the day too.  For example, when I was 16, I had a 1972 Gremlin X with a V-8, no exhaust and it was LOUD! I terrorized the whole county and mom & dad got their fair share of phone calls.  Especially from a minister who had outside services in the summer along a dirt road that I liked to roar down every Sunday afternoon on my way to and from a buddies house.  

I just wonder why the bikers are being singled out when it seems there are plenty others you can point the fingers at also. The kids in the loud cars was just an example ...

LOL... Man, your Gremlin story brought back memories.  I also raised a lot of hell with my car back in high school.  Only my car was a '71 Ford Pinto that I'd shoe horned a V8 into.  I'm sure the neighbors hated me.  I was a jerk (but it was fun).  LOL

Why are bikers being singled out?  I dunno.  Probably because we've been trying peoples patience for a long time and they are finally fed up with it.  The non-riding masses are no longer entertained by American Chopper and Biker Build Off so they no longer cut us any slack.  We are last weeks newspaper and they are ready to use us to wrap up stinky fish.

Or maybe it's because we aren't high school aged kids.  We are adults and should probably know how to behave in public by now.  Not sayin' I'm not guilty of forgetting sometimes.  But when someone sees a high school kid raising hell, be it by loud exhaust or loud stereo, we might grumble "Damn kids." under our breath, but secretly (maybe subconsciouly) we are remembering that we were the same way and so we are a bit more forgiving.  Seeing a 40-50 y/o biker raisin hell is just obnoxious.  LOL

-Craig

[Hawg Holler]

The loud pipers have s@%$#ed us all. There's no way we can win this one as every community and state has laws that protect the general public from people who disturb the peace. Under the law that uses the EPA sticker, even quiet pipes that haven't met the regs will be banned. As this spreads, look for bankruptcies upon bankruptcies for the exhaust pipe and muffler makers who can't or won't be able to get an EPA sticker. And the ones that survive, look for prices to soar in order to cover the costs of designing new mufflers, conducting the red-tape EPA tests and the lawyers that will be needed to handle the paperwork and file for appeals of the EPA's decisions.

Yes, thanks to the loud yo-yos who have soiled all our pants with thier arrested development.

[76shuvlinoff]

Lots of stock mufflers on ebay boys, get em while they're hot!

[PaJoe]

I can understand why non bikers get really frustrated, just as the home owner get frustrated with dog owners allowing their dogs to "Potty mouth" on the home owners sidewalk and not cleaning it up afterwards. It's all about respect for others, if the majority of people showed any respect for others we would not need the laws, but unfortunately it usually takes laws to stop unwanted behavior. As bike engines get bigger and more plentiful on the highway, noise does become more of an issue, and along with that more laws. I like bikes with loud pipes as long as they are not near me. I get really frustrated when any biker with loud pipes hangs around to show off. Most times they can be avoided, but depending on traffic you may get stuck next to a noise maker that likes to be disrespectful and that can be unpleasant.  

For Harley owners, I think Steve at www.fullsac.com has the right idea, he is constantly working on ways to increase performance without increasing the sound level too much.

[Tsani]

Even stock pipes can be revved to an irritating level. So it comes down to disrespect, pure and simple. And that EPA stamp don't mean crap. If you have modified the bike's engine from it's stock configuration, then that bike no longer meets the standard it met to get that stamp. Just tlike a UL rating on an electric part, it is only good for the setup submitted for testing and approval.  The pipe issue is just the beginning. Cars will get nailed eventually as well, it's just that bikers are easy target to start with. And while it may be seemly on the local levels, you can bet they are getting help and advise from the Feds.

How about vacumn cleaners? The one my wife uses is louder than my bike!

[Dennis The Menace]

A sign of the times....Bub now offers EPA compliant slip on muffs.  http://www.bubent.com/

Clearly, there is a trend to reduce noise levels, and the legislation in many cities is living proof.  We must not only be considerate of others but be the policers of our brethren, unfortunately.  We must collectively act responsible as a group to keep this from getting out of hand.

Many of us, myself included, have loud pipes.  Its possible to ride and not annoy most people, just a matter of riding with a sense of respect for others.

Just my .02

menace

[GaryD]

tsani, speaking of vacuum cleaners. I'm sure you heard the joke about "What's the difference between a Harley and a vacuum cleaner"

You can get 2 dirtbags on a Harley. 

[Tsani]

Personally, I don't find that funny. Heard it years ago from a Wing rider when he was trying to use it as a putdown. But hey, if it gives ya a chuckle, go for it. I have a sense of humor so no harm, no foul.  I guess next should be what's the similarities between a Harley and a whore?

You can ride em both,
they both screw ya
they both suck
they both cost ya a bundle of money

Know what else? You don't have to be a dirtbag to ride either one

[Tsani]

Dennis - can't find info on their site as to if they have a compliance stamp on it. Ya know the local yokels are going to look for it. Would be nice if they come out with a softail stock looking version. Bit pricey tho...

[texaskatfish]

So - are we still allowed to get a little loud while accelerating out of the way of the next Mom van that tries to kill us?

And I'll admit to rapping Gracie out under the occasional bridge way out in the middle of nowheres...................I'll stop I'll stop!

[GaryD]

You gotta laugh, if they see it bugs you, then they got ya. Next time you see that Wing rider tell him the joke about the 2 Gold Wingers riding an elephant and someone says "Look at the 2 assholes on that elephant" and the Wingers get off and go back and lift the elephants tail and look quizically at each other.
Friends tell me my sense of humor is going to get me in trouble. So be it. I laugh at ethnic jokes, politically incorrect jokes, religious jokes, handicap jokes and Obama jokes. If it's funny, I laugh, if it isn't I don't. Nothing offends me ....... except drivers on cell phones.
That's the problem today, it seems like everyone has lost their sense of humor and is too easily offended.

Laugh....it makes people wonder what you are up to.