#MotorcycleNoise #ChopperNoise #MotorcycleMufflers
Have you ever found yourself wincing at the ear-shattering sound of a motorcycle zooming by, particularly a chopper? 🏍️🔊 Many people wonder why motorcycles, especially choppers, are so loud and whether anything can be done to quiet them down.
## Why Are Motorcycles So Loud?
### Engine Design
One of the main reasons why motorcycles, especially choppers, are so loud is attributed to their engine design. 🛠️ The exhaust system on motorcycles is often less restrictive than that of cars, which allows for a louder sound to emanate from the engine.
### Sound Amplification
Another factor that contributes to the loudness of motorcycles is the lack of sound insulation. 🚫🔇 Unlike cars that are equipped with sound-dampening materials, motorcycles do not have this luxury, resulting in the amplification of engine noise.
### Style and Image
For chopper motorcycles, the loudness of their exhaust is often a deliberate aesthetic choice. 🎨🔊 Choppers are known for their rebellious and bold image, and the loud exhaust adds to their “bad-boy” appeal.
## Can Anything Be Done with Their Mufflers?
### Aftermarket Mufflers
One option for reducing the noise level of motorcycles is to install aftermarket mufflers. 🛠️ These mufflers are designed to offer a quieter ride without compromising performance.
### Regulatory Compliance
It’s worth noting that in many places, there are laws and regulations in place regarding the noise level of vehicles, including motorcycles. 🚔📏 If a motorcycle is deemed too loud, it may be subject to fines or modifications to meet noise regulations.
### Personal Choice
Ultimately, the noise level of a motorcycle, especially a chopper, often comes down to personal preference. Some riders may enjoy the roar of a loud engine, while others may prefer a quieter ride.
In conclusion, motorcycles, especially choppers, are loud due to their engine design, lack of sound insulation, and intentional style choices. While there are options available to reduce the noise level, it ultimately comes down to personal preference and regulatory compliance. 🏍️🔇
So next time you hear a chopper roaring by, you’ll have a better understanding of why they’re so loud and what can be done about it! #MotorcycleNoise #ChopperNoise #MotorcycleMufflers
It’s because many of the riders of these types of bikes are immature jerks. They crave attention and a loud flashy bike is one way of achieving that. Typically one of the first modifications a Harley rider makes is to replace the factory exhaust with something much louder, often with no muffling whatsoever. It’s uncommon to see a Harley with a stock exhaust. They think it sounds good and assume everyone else does as well. You’ve probably noticed that when they are waiting at a red light, parking or maneuvering or taking off they will blip the throttle repeatedly to make more noise. Even when not riding, congregations of these riders are loud and obnoxious. Basically they are juvenile and insecure and overcompensate by being loud and showy. The South Park episode on these guys was accurate. As a rider of 50 years these idiots are an embarrassment to motorcycling.
Every single time you hear an extremely loud motorcycle, its owner has deliberately modified it to be that loud. There are very, very few exceptions.
Even superbikes with 210 horsepower come from the factory with fairly quiet exhaust.
How much safer would the biker be if they could hear and had better situational awareness?
They try to say “loud pipes saves lives”, but I don’t hear that lane splitter doing 30 more than everyone else until it’s at my fender.
I fired up my car today and it was super loud. There is a problem with the exhaust. I’m super embarrassed to drive it around making so much noise.
Because the rider modified the exhaust pipes to make them louder. That’s it.
Is there anything that can be done? Yeah. Ticket the riders and impound the bikes.
Studies show that loud pipes HAVE NO EFFECT on saving lives. Car drivers generally are not going to hear loud pipes unless the open ends of the pipes are pointing at the driver, i.e., the bike is in front of the driver. The “loud pipes save lives” crowd is usually the anti-helmet crowd too, so…
Bikers like to see themselves as rebels (even the ones that have short hair because the CPA firms they work for won’t let them grow their hair out). The loud, obnoxious pipes are their way of saying “Fuck You” to the man. The pipes also let their wives know that they are home and it’s time to get Sons of Anarchy queued up on the VCR.
I always found that people that ride around on a bike that everyone can hear in a 1 mile radius are total bell ends. I couldn’t imagine riding through towns and villages on something that puts me at the center of everyone’s attention for a few minutes. It’s so inconsiderate to people living near by. Tossers
I drive a motorcycle and I think it’s because most motorcycle drivers believe that being loud means that you’re going to have higher chances of people hearing you before they can see you. Honestly I think it’s a bunch of BS. I see loud bikes as a huge distraction for the rider. I want and need to hear other things around me like horns, sirens, ECT and don’t want my own bike to drown out those warning sounds that could save or end my life. I need to be aware of everything and everyone around me. If I can’t hear sirens behind me or a persons horn possibly warning me of a road hazard they’d be screwed because their bikes were so loud.
There are various reasons, the loudest bikes typically fall under 1 or 2, but the reasons can be any and all of the following.
1. Obnoxious attention getters (typically revving at red lights)
2. Better performance
3. You can hear it better and less likely to be hit by a car
4. It actually sounds better, the harmonics are actually more pleasing to the ear. (This is subjective, but there is actual science to it.
5. My personal reason and favorite, it feels better to ride- the vibration of the exhaust provides more feedback to the rider through their ears, the seat, the handlebars, the whole riding experience.
Dudes that rev the shit out of their harleys at red lights in the middle of towns see annoying as shit, but the feeling you get at 8500 rpm with a good sports exhaust on a good road is hard to match.
There are multiple reasons, different strokes for different folks.
A regular motorcycle will be pretty loud just because of the size and exposed nature of the engine. But there are people who want it louder because it makes them feel cool or special or whatever. Just like some people will do with their cars, they’ll make it loud and obnoxious because they have the mind of a toddler. Loud=cool to those people
Back when I rode, I wanted a quieter muffler so I wouldn’t wake up the neighborhood when I left in the morning. Every place I called about it acted like I was speaking an alien language when I asked about options for a quiet muffler. One woman even said “they don’t do that”.
The next question is… Why aren’t vehicular noise ordinances enforced?
Because they like the noise. The loud pipes save lives is a crock when the only time you hear them is when they’re in front of you while driving or passing you. I’ve seen too many people with loud pipes get hit by cars. They think it will save them when they’re being idiots.
I learned how to ride bikes before I learned to drive a car, well over 50 years ago now. Just my experience. Learned from an old boyfriend who was also a motorcycle mechanic.
There’s two answers to this question depending on which angle you’re coming from.
Why are some bikes so loud from the factory: because motorcycles are very small and consequently have very short exhaust system that have to be designed around weight and packaging concerns. And while manufacturers are doing everything they can to quiet down bikes these days there’s only so much you can do with three free of pipe and a reasonably sized muffler. Especially in the case of high power bikes which can have compression ratios as high as 13.5:1 while producing 200ish horsepower out of a little over 1000ccs.
And why are aftermarket exhausts so loud: in part for performance, a free flowing exhaust will help an engine make more power with the appropriate tuning. But mostly it’s because loud pipes sell and a lot of people who ride like them.
I always think it’s funny that these dudes riding around on loud motorcycles think it makes them look cool and the rest of the world hates them and thinks they look like tools.
They say loud pipes save lives but the problem is that the exhaust is pointed backwards so you still barely hear them anyways. It’s just another excuse for being and driving like an asshat.
There’s a tasteful level of volume that many people don’t seem to understand.
Loud choppers are the worst sounding things on the road. Hot garbage. All volume, no tone.
And I’m someone whos all for modding exhausts
This is done on purpose, many bikers want you to LOOK AT ME AND HOW COOL AND LOUD I AM! LOOK LOOK
Motorcycles have the fundamental problem that their exhausts are short and their mufflers are small.
I have a motorcycle with a relatively small engine, exhaust pipes that run the full length of the bike, and mufflers that weight 11kg *each*. It’s still loud.
About 10% of my bike is muffler. Nobody is going to fit a bigger muffler than that.
As you can probably imagine, anyone who wants to save weight (which matters on motorcycles more than cars, partly because you rarely push cars anywhere) will see an obvious weight saving to be made, and indeed smaller aftermarket ones exist. They are lounder.
These also appeal to dickheads who like being loud.
Some motorcyclists say that loudness is a safety feature. “Loud pipes save lives.” I don’t disagree, but I’ve never seen a fellow rider make that argument while wearing a high visibility vest. Loud shirts save lives too, but they aren’t as cool.
They are loud because that’s what sells. The ‘bad to the bone’ type want you to hear them, they think we’re impressed.
On a technical note, it’s very difficult to keep them quiet. These are very high output engines with little space, it’s hard to put a long/large enough exhaust on them. A car has a couple ot meters of exhaust pipe, and the space for a large muffler, bikes don’t.
If you take a Yamaha R6, it has 30% of the displacement of my 2.0 L car, but 70% of the power. That means high compression and very little mass. It’s just not something you can easily keep quiet. There are bikes that can be relatively quiet, but they’re larger, have large mufflers and generally have lower performance engines (specific output).
100% intentional, these aren’t weed wackers or lawn mowers that have tiny soup cans for mufflers. In fact many are very quiet. For example: listen to a VStrom. It’s also pretty common for them to be rather quiet at low RPMs and driven easy but scream at higher RPMs. Which is a detail that is not restricted to bikes, force your car to shift late under hard acceleration and it will probably roar too. Both my ford ranger and my DR650 do this, quiet when driven easy but if you push em they get pretty loud. Now the bike does get louder and does so sooner than the truck and both are quieter than harleys but you get the idea. Which leads to some bikes the noise is “part of the brand/identity” Harleys these days are built very intentionally to sound like they do.
TLDR: same reason fast cars are loud: it’s fun. (generally)
Same reason guys drive giant jacked up diesel trucks to the grocery store and nowhere else.
Small peen.
My BMW motorcycle is nearly silent compared to any straight-piped V-twin motorcycle.
Someone else has commented already on the “loud pipes save lives” mantra.
I lean more towards the “everyone is out to kill me so I need to be overly cautious” mantra myself, but to each their own.
(Side note: ask any fire truck driver how they feel about “loud pipes” or “bright flashy lights” making it so other drivers see you and don’t pull out in front of you.)
its always on purpose. people remove db killers from their silencers or swap them out for essentially empty cans. its mostly a rider preference thing. some riders completely remove the silencer altogether lol. its annoying.
“Loud pipes saves lives” is utter bullshit. Loud motorcycles, especially the american V-twin type, are primarily fitted with aftermarket mufflers to make them louder. Why? Because the riders don’t feel “manly” enough with their riding buddies who all have loud mufflers, too.
I bought a used Harley Davidson with aftermarket mufflers. It wasn’t the loudest I’ve ever heard, but it was too loud for me, and I put stock mufflers on it. It was still loud enough to get attention.
When I traded it for a BMW motorcycle at a Harley Davidson dealer, they asked if my Harley had aftermarket mufflers. I told them my story and they asked me to put the aftermarket mufflers back on. Why? Because it would be easier for them to sell since Harley riders tend to like them Loud. See paragraph one.
By the way, the BMW is ten times the bike the Harley was in every way.
It is entirely on purpose. Period. There are motorcycles that you do not hear at all, beyond an expected normal sound. They do not sell as well or have difficulty modifying them to be loud.
It’s intentional. They could be muffled significantly. Buuuuttt:
First, sound dampening the engine on a bike is more bulky and more challenging because, well, there is no hood that you can nicely add dampening to or anything.
Second, motorcyclists and manufacturers will tell you that the loudness of them is a safety feature. Since they are much smaller than cars and don’t have significant horns like cars and trucks do, the loudness of the engine helps alert drivers on the road that a bike is there.
This is why in videos where a car is merging into a motorcycle or doesn’t realize they are there, the motorcyclists revs the engine super hard, it’s to make it really loud like a motorcyclist’s “honk”