What I hate is self-centered Bay Area people who buy a Harley and put straight pipes on it and run around town ruining everyone's peace and quiet because they want everyone to know how bitchen they are on their $25,000 motorcycle. It especially pises me off because one of these guys moved in down the street from me and he feels it necessary to blip the throttle in front of my house every time he approaches the stop sign. A lot of these guys justify the loud pipes using the quote "Loud pipes save lives." I say BS, so that's where my sig came from.
Anyway, off my soapbox and back to the topic...
Sorry guys...I came across this thread a little late and saw the motorcycle comments and I just HAVE to chime in.
I have been riding my street bike for going on 15 years.
Its a Honda VTX1300, big cruiser style bike. And yes, one of the first things I did was go out and get louder pipes on it.
Why? Mainly because I like the sound.
Is that self-centered?
Maybe.
But I dont see much of a difference there than those of us here who have other-than-stock mufflers on our mopars.
As far as the guy blipping the throttle when he comes to a stop, that is what many riders do....it actually has been shown that that helps sync up the tranny gears for smoother shifts and less lurching in the downshift. So there is a reason for it for MOST.
Do some riders make un-necessary noise?
Yep.
But unless you can say that you have never revved your Mopar's engine un-necessarily and never done a burnout and never left a stop light faster than necessary, none of us here can (IMHO) criticize someone else just because he is on a bike doing the same thing.
Do loud pipes save lives?
Thats a debate that has been around since the phrase was coined.
I will tell you this, though.
I have louder than stock pipes, twin air horns that seem to get more of a workout than I would prefer and a modulator on my headlight (makes it blink while I am riding during the day) and yet somehow brain dead cage drivers on their cell phones still manage to not see or hear me.
I feel that anything I can do to make myself more visible or to be heard, even if its iffy, is worth it to me.
Dodge freak, you said
"I gotta wear my seat belt while they can ride those deadly 2 wheel drive things.
And if I just bump them and they get killed it could be all my fault my legally. If they were in a 4 wheel car/suv they might not even been hurt one little bit. Its not fair or right. "
Its not fair or right that you cant hit me without damage or injury to me?
Did you really type that?
How about this: PAY ATTENTION AND DONT "just bump" ME!!!!
Yes, if you bump me on my bike and injure or kill me it IS your fault.
If you "just bump" another car on the road you are also responsible for any damage you cause.
What you seem to be saying is that I should NOT ride a bike so that you can have the option of not paying attention while driving and bumping into me and not have to put YOURSELF at risk.
Now I call BS.
If someone is unable to drive a car without "bumping" other vehicles, maybe its time to reconsider driving.
"Deadly" is all in the eye of the beholder. They are only deadly when they are ridden irresponsibly or when OTHER vehicle drivers drive with their heads up their @sses.
I have been in a couple minor (thank God) accidents on the bike in 15 years and a number of near misses. And every time it was due to some wingnut in a car or SUV, yapping on the cell phone or driving half asleep.
Ya know whats not fair? Its not fair that I can ride my street legal motorcycle in a legal manner and STILL have to worry about getting hurt or killed due to someone else lacking enough concern for others on the road to be 100% safe when driving.
People can smoke, drink, each fast food and have unprotected sex and they have all been proven to kill ya. People PAY to do all of those. Some people may do ALL of them.
So I dont think that my riding my motorcycle legally and safely is any more of a risk than that, assuming that you as a driver of an automobile are doing YOUR part to drive safely and be aware.
Ok, rant mode off.....LOL
I dont mean to hijack this thread......but when someone says something that makes comments about motorcyclists like this I do take it personally. :angry4:
We are all enthusiasts of the road and we should all share it and act responsibly so that we can all go home to our loved ones at the end of the day after enjoying a nice ride in our classic mopars , our daily driver cars or yes, even on our motorcycles.
But Lil cuda, looks like your project is coming along very nicely! :yawinkle:
