Harley-Davidson

[scott43]

There’s always one in every discussion! Lol

Honestly I’m cracking up. A post like that making the argument the Harley rider is the jackass! Too funny.

Honestly it's about respect. 99% of people think a Harley sounds like broken jackhammer. They're all breaking noise by-laws and they just don't care. People can't possibly be surprised, but they certainly get defensive, when they get called out about it. And I'm a bike guy. I just get tired of people making excuses for their behaviour. Just own it, It's more respectable.

 

[François Pugh]

I think as you get older your tolerance for noise decreases, even as you become more deaf.

I figured out the reason for loud exhausts in Canada; it's because the government won't let you buy a 50 calibre machine gun to listen to, which is exactly what my brother's modified (bored and stroked and many added on performance parts, including racing only exhaust) Harley sounded like. I asked him how he could drive anywhere without getting pulled over. He told me the exhaust had valves that progressively opened up in stages depending on RPM. At low rpm it was ok, then a certain point, it became freer flowing, then another. I can't recall how many rpm points there were, but at high rpm it was basically straight pipes.

When I was younger I wanted a race bike with lights (e.g. big GSXR or R1 with racing exhaust), noise be damned. Now that I'm old and much less wild and crazy, I'm thinking about a large displacement, less hyper bike. Something more quiet and gentle, something more sensible. Like a Hyabusa

 

[Dakine]

Probably. Like I said I live along a very well known cruising route. The sound of a loud Harley is still preferable to a loud sport bike, IMO. YMMV.

My 69 Corvette has headers with 3" outlets hooked to Edelbrock straight through racing mufflers and lake pipes.
Piffle on your loud Harleys.
Now a pack of Harleys is in the hunt.
Of course, my Hayabusa with a LSR Ti Force pipe is whisper quiet...
That pipe went 232 at the Texas Mile before I bought it off a record holder.

 

[Tom K.]

For grins and giggles -- and because it isn't time to ski yet -- I started a general motorcycle owners thread over here: https://www.skitalk.com/threads/motorcycle-owners-thread.24404/#post-643552

Let's have some fun!

All HD guys from this thread also more than welcome!

 

[Ogg]

My 69 Corvette has headers with 3" outlets hooked to Edelbrock straight through racing mufflers and lake pipes.
Piffle on your loud Harleys.
Now a pack of Harleys is in the hunt.
Of course, my Hayabusa with a LSR Ti Force pipe is whisper quiet...
That pipe went 232 at the Texas Mile before I bought it off a record holder.
View attachment 142360

TBF you have the cylinders of of 4 Harleys and the displacement of 6-8.

 

[Coach13]

Honestly it's about respect. 99% of people think a Harley sounds like broken jackhammer. They're all breaking noise by-laws and they just don't care. People can't possibly be surprised, but they certainly get defensive, when they get called out about it. And I'm a bike guy. I just get tired of people making excuses for their behaviour. Just own it, It's more respectable.

I think your percentage is a little high, by about 95% to be honest. Lol I’m not a long-term Harley owner but the vast majority of the folks that approach me say that they love the sound of the Harley but question the reliability based on Harley‘s past. I’m guessing most of the people that have problems with the sound of a Harley are not bike or car people. Most bikes are fairly loud, whether it be the rumble of the Harley or the zing of the sport bikes, especially at high rpm levels. Personally I doubt anybody has to listen to the sound of a bike over an extended period of time, to the point that it should cause them a problem. I think we all hear the loud truck or bus etc. making loud noise from time to time. I think most of us just shrug our shoulders, move on and mind her own business.

As far as the noise ordinances, I’m fairly certain that’s not the case here in Virginia where I live. The police officers here play the role of revenue collector quite aggressively. Most ticket 3-5+ over the speed limit and they are all over the drivers with tinted windshields, expired inspection stickers, etc. There are a lot of Harleys in this area and I’m pretty sure the local revenue collectors are not providing them a pass on the noise out of the goodness of their heart. If it were an issue they would ticketing.

I’m not saying I never hear a bike with loud pipes but it doesn’t bother me anymore now that it did before I had my bike. I think I’ve mastered worrying about myself and my goings on and letting others do the same. And I respect everyone, until they show they don’t deserve my respect. When I find others that are more concerned about everyone else’s business than they are there own, that’s usually the person with the issue, imo. YMMV

 

[tch]

I’m not saying I never hear a bike with loud pipes but it doesn’t bother me anymore now that it did before I had my bike. I think I’ve mastered worrying about myself and my goings on and letting others do the same. And I respect everyone, until they show they don’t deserve my respect. When I find others that are more concerned about everyone else’s business than they are there own, that’s usually the person with the issue, imo. YMMV

A perfect example of the problem: "It doesn't bother me, so why should it be an issue for anyone else?"
It doesn't bother me when I throw my trash out the window and I've gotten used to the crap all over the streets, so what's the problem? And besides, you only have to look at each piece of trash for a moment or two as you drive by.
It doesn't bother me when I play my NWA cd's really loud at 2:00 a.m. in my neighborhood, what's your problem?

You mention respect, but where is the respect offered to the folks who have to suffer with this sound pollution? I'm not "more concerned about everyone else's business"; I'm concerned about my OWN welfare, and the welfare of my friends, some of whom have trauma-related sudden noise issues. You report most people who approach you love the sound of a Harley, but that's a self-selecting sample. I can assure you that there are a significant number of folks like me who do, indeed, equate the noise with a broken jackhammer -- and we do not approach folks riding Harley's to gush over them.

Respect is a cycle; it begins and is earned by not imposing yourself on others. Someone who rides a 100 db motorcycle (or car or anything for that matter) is imposing him/herself on everyone around them.

 

[Coach13]

My bike has stock pipes just like all my other vehicles. I don’t think it’s any louder than my Camaro SS, which also has stock pipes and neither approach the noise of my kid’s Cummings Diesel powered Dodge truck, which is also stock. I guess we’re supposed to just park them all? Probably my most noisiest and annoying ride is my Echo weedeater. That I would love to park for life.

The wife does have a fairly new Prius Prime that’s pretty quiet, so I guess that’s a blessing.

 

[François Pugh]

My bike has stock pipes just like all my other vehicles. I don’t think it’s any louder than my Camaro SS, which also has stock pipes and neither approach the noise of my kid’s Cummings Diesel powered Dodge truck, which is also stock. I guess we’re supposed to just park them all? Probably my most noisiest and annoying ride is my Echo weedeater. That I would love to park for life.

The wife does have a fairly new Prius Prime that’s pretty quiet, so I guess that’s a blessing.

I don't think the stock pipe vehicles are the problem, although a red-lining superbike could be, but that's more a time and place thing that requires a little user-descretion.

 

[Coach13]

I don't think the stock pipe vehicles are the problem, although a red-lining superbike could be, but that's more a time and place thing that requires a little user-descretion.

I agree with that, but that’s the case with all vehicles and certainly bikes, right? I ride with a bunch of other professionals all in the 50+ age group that range from business owners to lawyers to doctors. 2 retired cops join us from time to time. I also ride by myself some. From time to time, I will ride into town on an evening and work on low speed turns and other drills in a vacant parking lot.

We are not screaming around anywhere on our bikes. We go out and mostly ride around the back roads of Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland and avoid anything with traffic or in town congestion. We’ve ridden on skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Shenandoah Valley. Both are very secluded. Probably 90% of the time I’m riding, what’s hearing my bike are the deer, squirrels, rabbits, foxes, etc. that we have in this area.

I live in a small, very expensive neighborhood, full of well to do professionals and sometimes snooty neighbors. If my vehicles were too loud, they would be the first to complain. I’ve never heard a word from any of them. Now the weedeater, that’s a different story. I did have a former neighbor complain about that because he didn’t appreciate my son using it so early on a Saturday morning. He was using it at about 10 AM.

It is what it is. If folks want to make the generalization that Harley riders are jackasses like happened here, I guess they are entitled to their opinion. I simply take exception to that generalization.

 

[sparty]

It's absolutely not all Harleys, but it's hard to know how many, exactly, because you can't hear the stock ones (or your own thoughts) over the loud ones. I worked a flag station at the last Indy MotoGP, and one of the more amusing moments was when the undercard Harley race was happening and the race bikes went by but weren't as loud as the street bikes outside the venue.

I also lived in a small town in Montana with an annual Harley rally, and while many of the attendees were certainly in those doctor, lawyer, etc., demographics, the noise level was just absurd. They also spent a ton of cash at the restaurants and bars, so there was a significant benefit, but if you didn't work in the service industry, it was an excellent weekend to go camping.

All that said, I kinda want a Pan America. Not in the budget anytime soon, but I'm a bit soured on BMW given the limited dealer network in the U.S., especially out west.

 

[Coach13]

All that said, I kinda want a Pan America. Not in the budget anytime soon, but I'm a bit soured on BMW given the limited dealer network in the U.S., especially out west.

Lots of folks apparently loved the Pan America

Sold Out: Harley Says The Pan America Special Is North America's No. 1 Selling ADV Bike - Adventure Rider

If you were considering getting the new Harley-Davidson Pan America adventure bike, it looks […]

advrider.com

I’ll definitely consider it down the road.