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Loud pipes save lives?Posted Thursday, September 18, 2008, at 12:57 PM
It was a nice morning. The temperature was a cool 62 and the air was very thick from the early morning mist rising from the fields. Ahhhh…..so relaxing. Suddenly up ahead I see what must be Bambi's father gingerly pawing at the road using the light from my motorcycle to see. A quick grasp of my clutch lever and a twist of my throttle caused a roar that sent the huge beast (I swear he was 14 points or better) back into the woods. Another life saved by loud pipes……mine.
This is the most recent case of my pipes saving myself from certain injury and possible death. There have been many others in the past. For those of you who always ask why motorcycles have loud pipes, I'm going to TRY to explain a bit of it here. It is a well known fact that people have trouble seeing motorcyclists on the road. We run with our headlights on all the time, but with so many cars and trucks doing the same thing, people seem to be ignoring that as well. We try to ride in the part of the lane where we can easily be seen, but people seem to concentrate on the larger vehicle either ahead or behind us. I was sitting at a light next to a vehicle waiting for my turn to go. When the light changed both of us accelerated. Unfortunately for me, the car next to me decided to move into my lane (I was still next to her) in order to turn into a gas station. A quick bark of my pipes let her know to get back into her own lane. I slowed to let her over and neither of us was hurt that day. The point is this. I was stopped right beside her and she didn't see me. She did HEAR me though before there was an accident. You see, maybe if you look but don't see a motorcyclist, perhaps you will at least hear them. I know, some of you are now thinking that if we want to be heard, why don't we use our horn. You may not realize this, but motorcycle horns are not very loud. In fact, with so much effort placed by car manufacturers on keeping outside noise outside, car cabins are nearly impervious to the sound of motorcycle horns. I was unable to find a study on the affects of loud pipes and accident prevention. I can, however, state with certainty that my pipes have saved me on numerous occasions as well as many I have ridden with. Next article ... noise ordinances. Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] |
MacGyver's Motorcycle Thoughts  - Archives - Blog RSS feed ![[Feed icon]](http://www.bannergraphic.com/images/icons/feed-icon-14x14.png){kind=icon} - Comments RSS feed - Login Dan Stockton is a Putnam County native and graduated Salutatorian from North Putnam High School. He earned his BA degree from Wabash College in Crawfordsville. He is a co-author of research for the Indiana Academy of Science Journal and currently writes a column for "The Hoosier Motorcyclist". He is often seen at the Putnam County Playhouse and is an avid motorcyclist. He and his wife of 25 years have two children.
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My bike is a stock 4 cylinder and is pretty dang quiet and I don't really have much of an issue with people noticing me on the road or in traffic. You should try applying the brakes when Bambi is looming in the distance instead if just revving the bike up. That won't always work, you may scare up a few more if your not carefull. Don't misunderstand me here, an exhaust is nice to have, it gives the bike character. It makes it your bike and not just another stocker. Just make sure that is has baffles and not just a set of straight pipes.
"A quick bark of my pipes let her know to get back into her own lane."
This sounds more like an act of aggression than a defensive measure. As a rider you should be more aware of what is going on around you and consider that everyone else on the road is out to get you. Then you deal with that in non-aggressive ways not a "get back in your own lane" way. As for the deer, sometimes they don't run directly away they cross the path of the noise. Good luck riding. I hope you wear full protective gear like a helmet, jacket, pants, gloves, boots, and eye protection because it sounds like you may need it.
I'm almost shocked at the lack of comprehension here. A woman (not paying attention) is about to run me over (which is very probable considering the size difference between our two vehicles) and you think I'M the agressor????? There was a time this happened and I was "non-agressive" as you suggest and I crashed as a result. The lady (yes it was another lady) drove off and never looked back. I think it better NOT to crash thank you and as far as protective gear goes, I believe in safer riding.....NOT safer crashing.
I get it because I ride. And there have been several times I have had to pull in on the clutch and make some noise to let someone know I'm there and please don't mow me over. Highway 240 in Greencastle is the worst, if your rolling dowm it BEWARE. People pull out of MT Carmel and Old Folks Home Roads like there running a road course. And I'm sure there are others; I am just familar with this one.
Please watch for 2 wheeled vehicles we have the same rights as 4!!!!
Ok i'm not a nice person if you have read my last comment. First off i'm gonna talk to the first guy that commented......If you think that everyone needs baffles you can take them and use em all you want. I have used my loud pipes and made people notice me and saved me from an accident. Now, I believe I have some of the loudest set of pipes around, and that is a blessing. In town there at Warren Drive and indianapolis road I don't know how many idiots try and turn right on red when i have the left arrow. Now if i didn't have loud pipes what do i do? my bike is a 1970 so no horn? do you have a solution? Even if you do I like mine and it's proven to work.
Now for the second posting...First off learn the English Language. I am not an aggressive rider because of loud pipes. They do save lives and read above and you'll know how. Let me give you another example in case that's not good for you. In Danville, where US 36 comes to IN 39, the road is wider. Now i ride right by the yellow line and people try and pass me on the right because they think that i am turning. A rack of the pipes wakes them up and makes them realize, "hey he's not going to turn maybe i should get back." Thanks for reading and.....Have a Nice Day!
I understand why you would use loud pipes to warn other drivers, that works. I think what has caused the most stink are the clowns that tac out their bikes in first gear just to hear the noise and to be seen acting like fools. No doubt these idiots have caused bad feelings for those who use it properly.
It's not a lack of comprehension. I do understand how cagers drive. I have over twenty years and many miles of road experience on two wheels and never once laid a bike down. I'm not a casual rider. I've been run into the median of the Interstate by cars and semis at high speeds because they did not pay attention and shifted into my lane. I've had cars shift across two lanes to make left hand turns and get stopped sideways in my lane. I've had cars pull out in front of me where I had no legal obligation to stop or yield (such cars pulling out of side road entrances to highways while I was on the highway). I've had deer cross my path after slowing down (to nearly 5MPH), blowing the horn, and having them still run across your path when there was a clear path away from the road. I've had friends killed by inattentive cagers. The reason I've survived this many years is attentive safe driving and always planning a way to get out of bad situations others put me in before they put me in them. Attentive safe driving does not mean slow boring grandpa riding the Gold Wing trike to the ice cream shop either.
No manner of exhaust or horns are the solution to getting these cager's attention. My horn is almost never used other than to amuse my daughter when we are taking a ride. Attentive driving, by both parties (one of which you as a rider can't control), is necessary. That leaves it up to you the rider. If you go look at the Indiana Motorcycle handbook produced in conjunction with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation you'll see they say to use the horn but that it is weak and often ineffective. We all agree on that issue. It also states in the section on crash avoidance to find solutions to situations. I am a firm believer that this, not racking your pipes, is the solution. There are really loud horns you can buy for bikes that make a huge difference. I've seen and heard them and they do work.
I'm not disagreeing that the cager did what they did or that they were in the wrong. You have every right to be mad. The problem I have is with the "I showed them"/"Loud Pipes Save Lives" bumper sticker mentality. It comes across, in my opinion, as aggressive behavior similar to a road rage mentality. While you may get your point across to a cager you also leave a mark on motorcyclist as a whole on others that witness the incident. In fact the AMA has even went so far as to state that this is one of the reasons believed that people hold prejudice against motorcyclist. The MSF and the Indiana Motorcycle license handbook do not recommend making noise with your engine to warn others. As you stated you've seen no studies on this matter and I personally would think that groups like AMA and the MSF would have done a study if it was believed to be a credible solution to a problem. When you drop the clutch to make noise you have lost control of your drive train. It is just not a safe maneuver especially if you have to make an emergency stop.
I believe in safer driving. Potentially crashing is part of driving that you can not remove from the equation. Gearing up is a big part of safety when the unfortunate incident does happen. ATGATT.
Loud pipes saves lives is a no more than a catch prase to enable people to be as loud as they can. Not many years ago towns and cities enforced the muffler laws but for some reason that has went by the wayside? Cycles are now running straight pipes?? Cars are required to have convertors and mufflers but cycles are not ?? One experience I had recently was that I was behind two cycles that were so loud I didn't hear a police car on an emergency run, I only pulled over to let him past when I looked in the rear view mirror. I could go with some additional noise from a cycle but as usual it has went beyond reasonable.
Thank you Cdale. I completely agree with your last comments. I took umbridge at the thought I was the aggressor which was not the case. I did what I had to do with the available tools at hand to avoid the impending accident. I'm glad to see so much interest in this subject. I will say this. It is easy for people to judge others when you do not wear their shoes.
I've got a 2007 HD that I bought with 5 miles on it in September 06. I currently have just over 22000 miles on the bike and I ride from the time the snow goes away until it fly's again. And my bike is as loud as I can possibly have it and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Ride on brothers and sisters!
Bondsman, I am extremely careful of cycles and give them plenty of space because cyclists are more venerable than anyone else on the road. Even so, twice I have almost not seen a cyclist and started to pull out and would have hit them except for the last possible split second that I was looking, right before I stepped on the gas. You may not believe it but some people are not only looking out for themselves but also for others. I don't personally want to be responsible for anyone's loss of life. Obviously motorcycles are not very big and therefore are not near as noticeable as any other vehicle on the road. Maybe some people really aren't intentionally not recognizing the motorcycle as a vehicle. I do think that gas prices being what they are, motorcycles are getting even more popular. Hopefully people will see them so much more that their brain will more easily recognize them for what they are. Just don't take it so personally and use defensive driving techniques.