Deal with me playing death metal into your home's windows every day whenever I please. Then deal with me pissing on your lawn... and your pets... and your children... And then I'll deal with stupid-ass useless Harley's. Do we have a deal? Seriously, I don't want a law. I want all these tough, aging, fat, short guys to really show how tough they are. Every 1 in 6 Harleys should be rigged to explode in a giant fireball at random within its first 10 months of use. That's the same odds as Russian roulette. Then when you saw you a Harley there would be no doubt that you were looking at one bonafide idio-- er, tough guy. Then at least everyone else would have some reason to care two ****s about that awful sound. It would be like "oh, maybe I'm going to hear the explosion! Cool!"
Wow so much hatred towards a Harley here. I like some of their designs, but they are very loud. There was a pretty young guy who had one in my neighborhood and it looked very nice. He was a nice guy and I hardly ever hear his bike in the neighborhood. I guess not all Harley owners are douchebags, just most. Still, I do like Vespa's more.
More like just people who weren't raised in a barn and have even the slightest concern for other human beings around them. You could call it, I dont know... class.
And they've become really good, reliable bikes with great dealer support. They got the reputation as bikes for tough guys when they rattled so bad they got out of time every few hundred miles, and a "real rider" could fix anything with a pair of Channel Locks. The kickstarters took either a lucky touch or a whole lot of kicking. Today, they're one of the best made bikes on the road, which is the biggest reason they've become more popular. (This all comes from a Suzuki rider whose pipes don't get much attention on the road.)
Motorcycles are dumb, useless, stupid, should be rigged to explode, and are comparable to pissing on someone's lawn. Never mind that they're American classics in every sense of the word. Nope, just dumb and useless. You don't think you're overreacting just a tad, perhaps? And I like death metal.
I have a sport bike and a Harley (Sportster), and neither of them have had their mufflers removed nor do I ride them obnoxiously like some posters have claimed motorcyclists will do. It's unfair to stereotype us that way. Motorcycles have such a smaller ratio to cars on the roads, and due to their advantages and differences versus cars, they tend to attract a higher percentage of crass/d-bag riders than car drivers imo. But not all of us are like that.
Most motorcycle accidents are 1 vehicle accidents. Loud pipes do nothing for the average driver with the AC and music on, driving 75mph.
Welp, I hear them when I'm in my car with the windows up and the AC and stereo on. Of course, I can't say that I hear them 100% of the time, but I do hear them. I'll stand by anything that makes other drivers more aware of you when it's their 2 ton sedan vs. someone on a few-to-several hundred pound bike.
Maybe they shouldn't be allowed on the highway then. I think Harley riders and their bikes should just be quarantined. Oh please, I bet plenty of people here listen to much louder music than a Harley's dying shriek. But we do so in private or with headphones on, not streaking across the street for everyone to hear while spewing smoke out of our rears.
Harley's don't piss me off that much. It's those jack asses who drive around with their car rattling because of their subwoofers.....which you can here from a mile away, and feel when stuck in traffic when within 30 yards of them.
