Loud Pipes Annoy Sleeping Neighbors

The other day I asked my wife, "does my bike seem loud?" She replied, "Your bike is loud. I think all bikes are loud."

This really dampened my spirits. The FJR has a sewing machine sounding exhaust, which I happen to enjoy because it's not nearly as noisy as most of the obnoxious aftermarket exhausts out there. I even put the stock muffler back on the XT not only because the Supertrap that preceded it was not only too lean, but obnoxiously noisy. To have the FJR thought of as loud seemed a like a stab in my "quiet bike as a courtesy to my neighbors" heart.

I thought about this as I went walking this morning. A Harley Davidson with loud, farting pipes ran up the street with his stereo blasting (no doubt due in no small part to that rumbling noise machine between his legs). He was a full block away and I could hear in detail the talk radio he played, despite the bike's noise. I kept walking and heard a baby crying from a house. I bet this bike startled the baby and woke it up. I wondered how many other people he woke that morning. To top it off, he apparently forgot something and had to return to his house, grab the forgotten item(s) and head out again.

But cruisers aren't the only guilty party. I hear sportbikes a mile away on Loop 1604 banging through the gears to merge with traffic. I hear them cruising on that highway, too. Then they whiz by my house in second gear leaving the traffic light with the kind of noise only a sportbike makes.

But with all that said, bikes aren't the worst offenders regarding noise pollution. Instead, far more commonly cars and trucks use loud, offroad exhausts, blare their stereos with far-travelling bass and "peel out" getting onto the main road.

I cannot believe that "loud pipes save lives." But I know they destroy the positive image of the friendly neighborhood biker.