Yamaha FZ-09 Forum banner

Poll: How Do You Feel About Loud Pipes?

26K views 78 replies 53 participants last post by  Welder 
#1 ·


'Loud pipes save lives' and 'the louder it is the faster it is' are all phrases you’ve probably heard before, but for a lot of people – particularly the non-riding public – loud exhausts prove to be obnoxious. Which camp do you find yourself in?
Read more about the Poll: How Do You Feel About Loud Pipes? at Motorcycle.com.
 
See less See more
1
#4 ·
I was on the patio at the pub the other day (in a strip mall type complex where there are concrete walls everywhere to resonate sound) and some douche canoe gets on his straight piped s1000rr and starts bouncing it off the rev limiter. The entire patio started booing him, it was great. All of our ears were ringing for a while after
 
  • Like
Reactions: DrunkulaTX
#5 ·
I dont mind the loud pipes, it's the revving at the light that annoys the shit out of me lol. No offense to harley riders, but it seems like 100% of them do this at a light. What gives lol.
 
#6 ·
I think excessively loud exhausts sound terrible on anything and I hold as much contempt for obnoxious bikes as I do for guys who want to put Cherry Bombs on their cars. I think about the way my dad's Mustang GT sounded. Loud enough to appreciate it, you could easily hear music over it, even with the top down, and it still had a nice, deep V-8 rumble.

As far as my FZ goes, I think it's plenty loud enough. Like I said earlier, I appreciate a deep, throaty engine sound, though. If I could drop the sound an octave or two, I'd be very happy.
 
#8 ·
Here's a quote for y'all.........

"If Loud pipes save lives, just imagine what learning to ride the thing would do!"

PS.....I have to give credit to PJ's Parts store for coming up with that, as they sell (or did sell) an orange T-Shirt with that saying on it!
 
#17 · (Edited)
Agreed. Every time I hear a loud exhaust fly by, I always turn to look at what it was. And I actually like the high pitch, F1 type exhaust notes more than the bassy low rumble types. My last 3 bikes had full FMF exhausts and they were loud.
That said, I'm on the fence at the moment about which exhaust to go with for the exact reason you mentioned. The open exhausts broadcast your every intention to the cops. So I might be keeping a DB killer on the exhaust I eventually get for the FZ.
Normally it would have been done by now, but we spent a ton of money on last xmas's family vacation and a couple other bigger ticket items have been purchased, etc.. Hell, had a root canal today, so there goes another grand that could've gone into the bike.

I hate when life gets in the way of me having fun....LOL
At least I have the bike !!!
 
#11 · (Edited)
I have to say cruiser riders that wallow away, at ear splitting sound levels, from every restaurant, gas station, stop sign, etc. really pisses me off and I'm a rider. It's just infantile. Imagine what it does for the average citizen? I do not have an aftermarket exhaust on the FZ09. I run the same roads in the mountains dozens of times a year and quite often alone. So I would be an easy target for retribution. I don't want to anger the locals, who may just decide to throw a bag of kitty litter in the middle of that tight/blind downhill turn just to express their displeasure with motorcycles drowning out the serenity of their rural fortresses.

Hell, I want to get vocal with the OCD neighbor that dusts his driveway with a blower...every day at 6:30pm.
 
#16 ·
Well that explains why I never noticed it was paid advertisemnt - it's not - we were both right - motorcycle.com is part of VerticalScope ;)

"Yamaha FZ-09 Forum: A Motorcycle.com Community
Yamaha FZ-09 Forum is a part of the Motorcycle.com network of professionally managed motorcycle enthusiast communities. It is the ultimate motorcycle resource for consumers with discussions ranging from advice on which motorcycle to buy, to the latest part and modification for tuning-up the hottest bikes. It is owned and operated by VerticalScope, an established leader in consumer-generated media, and on the cutting-edge of Powersports media."

VerticalScope.com
 
#18 · (Edited)
In my neighborhood the sounds of a screaming 600cc sportbike annoy the shit out of all of us.
However it only lasts for a few days and then it is replaced by another wailing 600 that always sounds a bit different.
A solution as to why that is was quite simple.
These bikes only last a few days because they either get wrecked, blown up or the real owner finds it!
I call it "self cleaning".
 
  • Like
Reactions: sobe and ridetofish
#21 · (Edited)
Losers

You should buy a bike that is fast enough with a stock pipe! Putting a louder pipe on a street motorcycle is about as effective as sanding off the paint to make it lighter. You weasels need to learn to ride the bike you have better, not try to bolt on skill. You're all bunch of gullible dupes. And stay offa my lawn!

And you Harley folks: It won't be fast no matter what you do to it......

"Loud pipes save lives." Really? You know, the deaf folks drive. The blind do not. You don't HEAR accidents coming. You SEE them. Sound doesn't enter into it.
 
#22 ·
You should buy a bike that is fast enough with a stock pipe! Putting a louder pipe on a street motorcycle is about as effective as sanding off the paint to make it lighter. You weasels need to learn to ride the bike you have better, not try to bolt on skill. You're all bunch of gullible dupes. And stay offa my lawn!

And you Harley folks: It won't be fast no matter what you do to it......

"Loud pipes save lives." Really? You know, the deaf folks drive. The blind do not. You don't HEAR accidents coming. You SEE them. Sound doesn't enter into it.


GOOD first post..... welcome aboard.
 
#23 ·
Less than .5% of the world is deaf, so odds of encountering them on the road is far less likely than encountering people who can hear.

If you have ever driven a motorcycle with, and without a loud exhaust, you'd instantly see a difference.

The car about to pull out an 1/8 mile a ahead suddenly stops pulling out and takes a second look when you blip the throttle, and people stop changing lanes into you. It's truly amazing.

Is it a hard and fast rule that people are always going to hear you coming? Of course not. But you're crazy of you think it makes no difference at all.

We use all our senses when we navigate public roads.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Amen brother. If we didn't use all our senses we would already be pancakes on the shoulder or over the guardrail...

My 2 cents - Hearing (Cager) versus listening (Biker) - opinion based, spoiler alert, lol

Listening (Biker) to a bike while riding, is a complete sensation. You "feel" the motor, you feel the brake, you feel the tires gripping the road as you push through the twisty roads, people see you (sometimes), you shift your gears to the full potential to maximize the fun you are about to have. Should I go on....

Hearing - A person that drives a vehicle (Cager) that hears something coming or going. Someone that doesn't know how to drive a stick shift that just travels from point A to get to point B or C or D. These are the people that do not pay attention, that "hear" annoying sounds and complain about them. Something they don't understand, might as well hate things you do not understand, right? That is human nature.... F that!!!

Sorry about my ramble, I went off subject, where was I? I haven't had coffee

RIDE ON
 
  • Like
Reactions: thrstrmech
#25 ·
#28 ·
There might be very few people who are deaf, but how many people don't listen or even worst, don't pay attention? lol.

This is one of the best write ups I have read on the subject of load pipes, it's long so I won't copy it on here, but here is the link.

https://shop.revzilla.com/common-tread/stop-saying-loud-pipes-save-lives

One thing people seem to forget is that most modern cars are insulated to block out road noise better. Some new vehicles even have noise cancelling stereo systems to reduce road noise even more.
 
#30 ·
Which is worse? Loud exhaust or loud bass from vehicles? Sitting at stop lights, parking lots, gas stations. Just letting the vehicle run, all windows down, crappy music even sounds crappier with every joint on the car rattling like a tin can... Loud exhaust I can handle,


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#32 ·
I like the sound of many pipes on the market. But I have ridden with some folks that just an embarrassingly loud (obnoxiously so). I hate that. For the sake of full disclosure, I've put put on some full exhausts and a few slip-ons since my (new at the time) '86 FZ600. It had a Yoshimura exhaust on it. It was fairly loud but sounded sweet as fook. I have yet to put an exhaust or slip-on on my 2017 '09. I will, eventually.

But to say that loud pipes saves lives - I don't buy into that. Does it make you more obvious? Yes, in certain circumstances. I tend to think it pisses more people off than anything. Luckily I don't give a crap what most people think!
 
#35 · (Edited)
Geez whats wrong with an Older Guy working his ass off his whole life and then treating himself to a new Vette? /forum/images/smilies/confused.png

I dont like insanely loud pipes either , but the biggest problem is indeed the reving. If its loud , but you are not sitting there reving it for no reason, I have no issues. Car or Bike.
I put 3k miles on my FZ with the stock exhaust. I must say now with the Graves it is so much more satisfying to ride and hearing that triple speak. Not even a question.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Moto26
#34 ·
NOT TOO LOUD! I think a little growl is fine but lots of riders get carried away with it. Harleys sound like old farm tractors when they discard the mufflers. I was out walking my 1 year old grandson on my street, country road, and 8 Harley riders blasted by with throttles wide open. The little guy started cry and you could see he was in pain and so was I for that matter. The louder the bike is the more safe it is is just BS. They saw me walking a kid a still throttled up. NO F'in CONSIDERATION!
 
#36 ·
I can always respect a nice quality exhaust. Exhaust has always been the first mod i've done to my bikes and got the SC project on my MT 09 and yes it is loud, but it is a very good loud, yes I wear ear plugs now but I love it. Revving at cagers is nice to let them know you're there but the idiots bouncing it off the rev limiter for no reason is very annoying...

Does it save lives? I don't know, sure you can be heard but in a situation where a car cuts you off or pulls out in front of you, which would you rather do, get on the brakes or rev bomb and then brakes? Personally i'm all about reaction and perception time so i'd rather get on the brakes then rev at the idiots.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top