Time for my summertime Harley rant...

Ya I know, I have complained about this before but.............we have been having some stellar weekends up here in Michigan and frankly we deserve it after the six month ball buster winter we went through. So out I go for a drive in the Miata with the top down. I always get stuck at a stop light next to a Harley Davidson biker dude that has blip the throttle every few seconds the entire time. My ear is literally 4 feet from the damn pipes and "BBBRRRAAAAAPPP, BBBRRRAAPPPPP". Sport bikers don't do that, hot rod guys don't do it, nobody else does it but HD guys always do it. Is it part of keeping the bike running correctly, do they hate Japanese sports cars or what?? Alright I'll leave it alone now.

They think they are berkeleying badasses?

Install a set of these. Every time they blip the throttle, blip the horn. It shouldn't take long for them to figure it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8a1n_BlLD8

Yeah, I don't understand how we all have to abide by noise levels on our cars/trucks, but so many of these berkeleytards run open berkeleying pipes and the cops generally don't bat an eye.

Meanwhile, forget to signal or don't have a front plate or a burned out taillight and we get tickets.

Loud pipes don't do E36 M3 except make me wish you would wipe out. Not cool I know, but they are just so damned irritating.

Don't get me started on the "coal-rolling" dorks in their diesel trucks, which usually have their pipes pointed right at your window, etc.

Look over at them, get their attention, and do this:
Brapbrapbrapbrablahblah
Incredibly satisfying

By my count this is about the fourth thread about this of the year. Ya'll should just make it a sticky so everyone can pile on.

nicksta43 wrote: By my count this is about the fourth thread about this of the year. Ya'll should just make it a sticky so everyone can pile on.

I'll pile on to every thread like this that gets created. Loud-ass Harleys are one of the stupidest things on the road. Every time I hear one (because I hear it long before I see it), I assume the rider is trying to compensate for certain deficiencies.

Note: This doesn't apply to all Harley riders, just the ones that decide to remove all semblance of exhaust noise suppression from their bikes to make them sound as berkeleying obnoxious as possible.

No "rolling coal" is one of the stupidest things on the road.

I must have pissed the auto gods off last night because I had the top down on the BMW enjoying a nice Texas night.

in the course of a mile, I hit the pony car with no exhaust, followed by the 2 stroke scooter with no exhaust, then the coal roller, finally....Capped off by the harley. Oh Boy was I happy.....Not

Maybe we should all demand that the government makes it illegal to change any portion of the exhaust of any type of vehicle from stock. That would solve everybody's problems.

In my city and many others, there is a maximum decibel level allowed when measured at 50 feet. (92db in my case) and everyone is supposed to abide by this. They check this when you go in for emissions testing.

No emissions testing where you live? The police can and should stop and give you a fix it ticket for being too loud.

I don't want people to not be able to customize their rides, etc. Just abide by the same rules we all have to.

92db is still pretty damned annoying sitting next to you revving like an idiot at a light or hammering on it in front of your home at 2A.M.

I know cops around here will warn you if your junk is to loud. I'm not sure there is any follow up on it though.

I need to find a quite 2 into 1 pipe for my bike to gain some lean angle. I almost have a hole scraped in the bottom muffler. Every thing I've heard so far is considerably louder than stock, and stock is loud.

docwyte wrote: No "rolling coal" is the stupidest things ever devised by mankind. These people should be publicly executed.

FTFY

Also the berktards that use jake brakes in neighborhoods suck, especially when they leave them activated during acceleration.

carbon wrote: Also the berktards that use jake brakes in neighborhoods suck, especially when they leave them activated during acceleration.

Ya forgot about those. They rank right up there too.

Since this is the first time this subject has come up on the internet I guess I could share my thoughts.

around here, most of the loud bikes aren't Harleys- Victory is the bike of choice in this area... and they sound just as loud and annoying as a Harley when they put the straight pipes on them..

and most of the people that own those loud Victorys also own big jacked up diesel trucks that "roll coal" every time they pull away from a stop sign..

but, hey, to each their own... who am i to judge when i'm out making sweet noises with my Camaro that has headers going into a 3" glasspack with a turnout in front of the passenger side rear wheel?

Am I mistaken that leaving the jake brake on during acceleration just stalls the turbo on every shift?

nicksta43 wrote: Maybe we should all demand that the government makes it illegal to change any portion of the exhaust of any type of vehicle from stock. That would solve everybody's problems.

as a Harley rider, can you explain why it's ok for y'all (that's a royal y'all, not necessarily aimed at the personal y'all) to run straight pipes ?

I just don't get it

I do get that you feel a bit persecuted on here each time this comes up … but if you have a quite Harley, then none of these threads are aimed at you

and I've seen plenty of Harley's that are no louder than a stock Camry

and I've seen plenty of Harley's that are no louder than a stock Camry

The ones that don't run?

docwyte wrote: No "rolling coal" is one of the stupidest things on the road.

I think we agree. Both are among the stupidest things on the road.

I don't believe it is ok. I've seen and heard metric cruisers and sportbikes with straight pipes, just not in the numbers of Harleys.

Dyno tests have proven that straight pipes almost universally significantly hurts bottom end torque and usually cuts down on mid range power as well. So it's only done for the noise.

And while I certainly don't believe in the old saying "loud pipes save lives" many people believe it.

I just like to be able to hear the engine in whatever I'm driving. I can do that usually without annoying the hell out of everyone else. Some people just want to annoy the hell out of everyone else.

I have a quiet harley. I occasionally blip the throttle so I can see. At idle my harley shakes so bad my eyeballs rattle in my skull and I can see anything. Blip the throttle and the engine smooths out and I can see what's going on around me.

I'm more upset about the frequency of these "negative" posts. I thought most of you got all the complaining out in the car guy pet peeves thread. I mean that thing hung around long enough to draw a pension. The rant thread in off topic is not bad because usually more than one person is there to lend assistance or support for whatever someone is ranting about but these threads about hating this or that where everyone piles on and adds to the hate and negativity just depress me.

There is so much about this hobby to love but everyone gets so much joy out of ripping into other people for the choices they make. It's like being back in high school.