Loud Pipes (When Lane Splitting In California)

[willboe]

Wow, what did I start? You guys did get me to stay away from the slip-ons but still think I might get the remote cut-off one I talked about where I can make it stupid "loud" with the touch of my finger, and the price isn't too bad.

Guess it's the old "rebel biker" ex-Harley guy in me. It feels good being an "*******" at times. And, yes, I do make a point to waive thanks to anybody that moves over, even a little, for me when splitting the lanes.

Well there you go. The "remote cut-off one", as you described it, sounds like the perfect FJR 'high side' enhancement farkle. There is nothing like a nice high speed tumble down the highway because you diminished the ground clearance of your bike. Even if you do not crash, it sounds like you would enhance your ability to 'burn up your engine', and as the fellow mentioned, "the engines are pretty cheap". You may also enjoy this video demonstrating, by a guy riding a Harley, an interesting turning technique, which could be described as: Always shift your weight to the outside of the turn, and use your inside arm to push your bike into the pavement.



As you can see, some good low-side crashes are possible as well.

God! The opportunities for sarcasm are endless with this . . . Actually you have purchased a bike that is significantly different in function than most Harley Davidson motorcycles. You might want to consider getting to know it for a few thousand miles before you 'enhance' it.

Good Luck.

 

[Bounce]

Because sound isn't directional, stopped cars can hear the bikers coming and (hopefully) get out of the way (make room for the bike).

How? By teleporting? By definition, stopped cars are stopped. It seems clear that the vast majority of this thread isn't about parking lots but moving traffic.

 

[azitlies]

Guess you've never seen cars stopped for a stop light...

 

[SacramentoMike]

Because sound isn't directional, stopped cars can hear the bikers coming and (hopefully) get out of the way (make room for the bike).

How? By teleporting? By definition, stopped cars are stopped. It seems clear that the vast majority of this thread isn't about parking lots but moving traffic.

Had the same thought, Bounce, but AZ is so adamant about defending his point of view I thought I'd just leave it alone. But since you brought it up . . .

AZ, I live here. I split lanes ALL the time. The main benefit of lane splitting to me is in slow, heavy traffic on the freeway. They're crawling along, sometimes even stopped, and I'm moving. King of the world! Doesn't matter that I'm only going 15 or 20 mph. They're not moving at all. Or maybe at a walking pace. I love it. Yes, I do filter up between cars at lights sometimes, but I often look up that open lane and see that somebody is in too tight to the guy next to him and I can't get through. And if I can't get ALL the way to the front, I don't go, because I don't want to be stuck between two cars when the lines finally start to move.

Loud pipes would be useless most of the time for my purposes. People don't ride with their windows open anymore, especially on the freeway. All they hear is their A/C, heater, stereo, whatever. Maybe once in a while somebody might hear you, but I sure wouldn't count on it. I don't even count on them seeing me with my bright Clearwater LEDs burning. I ride assuming they don't see me, and I'm seldom wrong. Not nearly enough justification for annoying everybody and adding to the anti-motorcycle bias of most car drivers.

 

[SkooterG]

Because sound isn't directional, stopped cars can hear the bikers coming and (hopefully) get out of the way (make room for the bike).

Huh? If cars are stopped how do they move?

Ya better quiet while your behind.........

 

[SkooterG]

Because sound isn't directional, stopped cars can hear the bikers coming and (hopefully) get out of the way (make room for the bike).

Huh? If cars are stopped how do they move? Besides, if they are all stopped, why would they even be a threat and need to know you were there?

Ya better quit while your behind.........

 

[azitlies]

oh man oh man you guys I think I might quit at this point...

but before I go!! hahahah ya knew it was coming

if ya haven't done this guys than you might want to learn from those that have! In Mikes case, he likes some aspects not others. And still others that lane split will do something different, take it all with a grain of salt.

For those that don't understand... look, even if yer stopped in a line for a light, or traffic is moving slowly (10 or so mph), if you are coming up between the cars and they hear, see you, or both, many of them will move the car farther away in their lane so you can go by. It's legal in California, the cagers know this, that's why many of them do it.

And yes, even if the cars are at a complete stop, many of them will turn the wheels and move over as much as they can. It's not a lot, but it only takes a few inches of clearance for the bike to get by.

Even though I only did this in Cali on my 4 day trip... kind of got the hang of it. As I was filtering up at one light, pick-em-up bonehead turns the front of his rig into me, trying to scare me from going further. I turned my bike into his rig, telling him I was gonna scratch the hell out of it if he didn't let me by...

he turned back so I could go by.

Okay! no more education for you boneheads! you can find it all out yourselves when u get there!!

 

[exskibum]

Okay! no more education for you boneheads! you can find it all out yourselves when u get there!!

With all due respect -- what a load of paternalistic hooey. Please stop already.

I'm a native here, who started riding motorcycles (legally) on California roads in 1967 with my learners permit (all that was required back in the stone age). Since then, other than the 3 years I lived in Colorado and 3 years in Nevada, I have been living, riding and driving in California. While I live in the foothills of the Sierras and lived for many years at Lake Tahoe, I've also lived, worked, gone to school, driven and ridden in the Los Angeles, Sacramento and SF Bay Area metropolitan areas. I've lane split in ways that I've considered safe in that time -- filtering to stop signs and signals, on freeways between congested (stopped OR slow moving) traffic, as well as all manner of other opportunities to avoid being stuck at a standstill and overheating. More importantly for this discussion, my daily commutes in the car have put me in a position to regularly observe motorcycles lane splitting (and it's the car drivers' attention you are talking about getting here).

So, with decades of experience splitting lanes and being in a cage in California while others have split lanes around me, I simply disagree with you.

As I posted above, I'll move over for a lane splitting motorcycle IF I see him behind me between lanes, or if I know he's there by any means. But in all candor, I don't think I've ever noticed a bike lane splitting behind me from the noise it made. The exhaust noise is effectively non-directional WHEN it can be heard at all from in front of the bike. Moreover, it is not uniquely recognizable as intending to attract attention, unlike a horn. And it must compete with a driver's ambient sound environment (i.e., noise levels from all sources inside and outside the car) if it's to be heard at all. Worse, it must not only be heard and recognized as coming from a motorcycle, but understood almost instantly as an intended signal that a motorcycle will be coming up on your left OR your right side in time to allow you to act (e.g., to give him more room or to avoid moving into his line). Lights in your car's mirrors at least tell you where the bike is and if it's closing. And remember that we're talking about the ordinary driver whose attention you're trying to get, not the alert motorcyclist in his cage who is looking for motorcycles everywhere on the road.

As to being stopped, try to understand what you're being told. If I'm stopped in my car (e.g., at a signal), I very often have no rolling room to move the car left or right (have to go forward and turn the wheels) -- THAT's what you're being told but continue to reject. Most of the time, if cars are stacked up at a stop, the rider can either get through or he can't -- there's little the stacked up car driver can do until he can move his car forward AND to the side.

I recall that you're a MSF instructor, but the condescending lecture from your non-resident experience splitting lanes on your bike is misplaced. The more relevant experience is probably that of driving a car in those conditions with motorcyclists splitting lanes. From the perspective of a splitting motorcyclist, you're mostly speculating what drivers do and don't see and hear as you quickly pass them without so much as ever even seeing their eyes (except what you might see in a car mirror). Experiencing it from inside the car you get a much better idea of what the car drivers see and hear. For corroboration, I'll refer you back to Fairlaner's comments (above) as both a driver and a rider in the Los Angeles area, or SacramentoMike's comments (above) as both a driver and a rider in the Sacramento area.

No, we don't all agree on this. My main objection in this thread is that I know very few people who don't literally HATE being deafened by unmuffled motorcycle exhaust systems, and I have enough experience with the political and legal systems to know that citizen complaints to legislators end up costing the rest of us motorcyclists in a number of ways. Collaterally, and IMO, I don't think there's any evidence that loud pipes improve safety on the roadway and you haven't persuaded me otherwise.

 

[u wish]

i run two brothers" black series" with the baffles in them. still way loud!! (but thats what i like) they are slip ons , a bit of back firing on hard decel, otherwise runs fine with them! been riding inline 4s with loud pipes since 1977 and enjoy the sound .dont know about the saving lives part? but im still here lol. and i dont care if most think my pecker isnt large as im not wanting to bang them!! lmfao!!

 

[Bugnatr]

Were not talking South Park **** here.

You quiet guys make me want to take out the DB killers in my Akrapovic's and move next door so you can hear my sweet v twin growl.

While I'm at it I'll invite Odot to come by and set up a wall of Marshall amps.

 

[azitlies]

Take it all with a grain of (condescending ********) salt folks...

and remember, we don't all ride the same way.

We don't all view the same safety factors the same way.

we don't all do anything the same way.

and last but not least, we don't all lane split the same way.

that shouldn't be hard to understand, even on a Friday

 

[exskibum]

You quiet guys make me want to take out the DB killers in my Akrapovic's and move next door so you can hear my sweet v twin growl.

Doug -- either you're excluding me from "quiet guys" based upon my Muzzy system, or that reaction was because I've neglected to show you what all is in my gun safe.

FWIW, I like your Akropovics just fine with the dB killers -- you don't start all the neighbor dogs barking and I can still hear you coming up the driveway in time to put away whatever contraband might be out (or at least, to get dressed).

 

[dcarver]

Wanna know what's fun?

Arrive at an FJR quiet-peep-shoo-mooo event on a Harley.

Point exhaust at the shooo-mooo's...

Let her rip!

(oh no, I've NEVER done THAT!)

 

[azitlies]

and lastly (no... really ) if yer stopped so close to the car in front of you that you can't move...

you stopped too ******* close!!

 

[Redfish Hunter]

When I was in college I lived in an off campus apartment and would use Dad's GoldWing whenever I could get it away from him. In the same complex lived a guy with a loud piped Sportster. He took great pleasure in setting off the car alarms with his exhaust on his way out during the early quiet morning. This eventually got him kicked out but it caused me no end of trouble. I lived all the way at the back of the complex and had to ride past all those angry folks. Even though no one here could ever confuse a GoldWing with a Sportster, the general public just sees a MOTORCYCLE. I was fussed at, cussed at, flipped off, and had to deal with the landlady. I actually had to start the bike and rev the engine to show her there was no way it was me making the noise.

The fact that the public cannot tell the difference between "us and them", means that we are all stereotyped together. The ill will of the public will eventually cause us all to lose some of our freedoms. I want to retain the freedom to install an aftermarket system on my bike if I wish. I don't want that right taken away from me.

 

[dcarver]

Have we talked about loud bikes or diesel pickup trucks in campgrounds yet?

 

[HotRodZilla]

Have we talked about loud bikes or diesel pickup trucks in campgrounds yet?

Or THIS??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2q_yismwrw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[SkooterG]

and lastly (no... really

) if yer stopped so close to the car in front of you that you can't move...

you stopped too ******* close!!

WTF?

I was talking about other traffic and specifically cars.

Dude! Let it go..........

 

[Fairlaner]

Here are a couple of lane sharing videos for you.....

https://vimeo.com/29589379



R

 

[azitlies]

signing out, Happy Holidays to everyone, ya'll be good and enjoy them!