Why are motorcycles so irritatingly noisy?

Question

Can they make motorcycles with a quiet motor? The sound of the motors really bothers me and hurts my ears whenever they drive by.

Oh, trust me- I can hear them if they are in front of me, behind me, next to me, or even two miles away and it REALLY HURTS MY EARS!!!

I will NEVER ride on a motorcycle. If the sound bothers me when I'm several miles away, it would KILL my ears to actually be on one!

Jay- You say the sound is for the thrill? So we're all just supposed to have our ears blown out just so bikers can act macho? That doesn't seem right. If the neighbors next door were playing their music too loudly, I could call the police on them for disturbing the peace and quiet. Why should motorcyclers have the right to disturb the peace and quiet when other people don't?

vladoviking- Actually, I would have no problem with motorcycles if they weren't so loud. And yes I have been to rock concerts, but it's completely different because I choose to go to them! It's not the same as being forced to hear an earsplitting, deafening, ugly motor against my wishes! The sound of a motor is hardly music!

Answer 1

It's a tough decision for a motorcycle rider to make. I've owned 26 motorcycles over the last 41 years. Some were very quiet, some too lound, most just loud enough (to me) but here is the quandry: I have ridden bikes that were whisper quiet. While riding those bikes, more times than I can count, I have had drivers right alongside me on my right, who were talking on the cellphone, holding it with their left hand, these drivers have changed lanes right into the side of me without even looking. On the other hand, I have been riding one of my louder bikes, and on the cell phone or not, they KNOW I'm there because they heard my obnoxiously loud mufflers. Even though I ride a loud Harley, I find these young (and sometimes not so young) people in their cars that have stereo's so loud it hurts MY ears just as irritating as you find the loud motorcycles. In fact, where I live, every car that stops at the intersection near my home, that has one of those loud stereos, actually rattles the windows on my house all night long with their obnoxious thumping music. You can't single out one group that annoys without pointing a finger at all of them, loud bikes, loud music, loud cars, loud trucks etc. I do enjoy the sound of a muscle car, just like I enjoy the thunder from a Harley. But, I try to be reasonable about noise from my bike, I never start it before 9am or after 9pm. I run it a low rpms when leaving or returning to my home so I don't bother the neighbors. I make noise when I'm in traffic or if I think someone is crowding me because they don't know I'm there, but when I cruise, my bike is really fairly quiet. For me it is a trade off on safety. My suggestion is that you acknowledge that you DID hear the bike, therefore you did not get into an accident with it, roll your window up and change lanes, speed up or slow down to avoid the noise and as for me, I will continue to try not to ride next to a car unless I have no choice, so that I don't annoy anyone.
You brought up a good point, thanks for letting me give my side of the story.

Answer 2

They do make quiet motorcycles. It all depends on the brand and equipment used on the motorcycle. Many of the Japanese brand motorcycles and Street bikes are more quiet than trucks.

The loud bikes are typically Harleys and other Cruizer bikes. A lot of people feel that if the bike is loud it helps other drives be aware of the motorcycles presence and thus keeps them safer.

Most motorcycle accidents happen because the driver of another vehicle doesn't seen them and hits the bike.

Answer 3

The noisy motorcycle is likely to be a scooter. Yes they can be very loud and a pain in the rear end. I have a Harley Davison and it is very loud but I don’t know of any law that I am braking. It is quite possible that the scooter has been modified in some way. Try getting in touch your local council office and speak to some one from the noise pollution department. They could pay them a visit and cheek the scooter out for you. Or creep to his house one night and put sugar in his petrol tank. He wont go far after that.

Answer 4

Although I am of the generation, I don't go to rock concerts. As beauty is in the eye of the beholder, music is in the ear. The kids like "Rap". To me that's not music. Yet the classic rock songs, and the sound of my motorcycle are.

They do make quiet motorcycles. Very quiet. So quiet you can't hear them.

A suggestion: roll up your windows.
As far as the kids with their stereos and sub-amps: I've seen the rust fall off their cars, the trunk lids buzz from the vibration and had my windows shake at all hours. I moved back to the country.

I also have personally heard the quote "I didn't see him".
It hurt.

Answer 5

Yes, but it would be dangerous - a quiet biker would need to be very careful riding with idiot drivers around.

Loud pipes save lives!

riding a 1980 Honda Hawk - ran off the road by RV who was not paying attention.

Riding a KZ750 - almost hit many times - drivers not paying attention or didn't see me

Now riding a 2003 Harley Sportster - seen and heard

Answer 6

There has been a lot of controversy over the "Loud Pipes Save Lives" idea. Statistics have not yet proved whether this is true or not --- but it could well be.

Engine noises have never bothered me. But even if they did, if I thought even one life would be saved by having loud motors, then I would tolerate it without question.

Of course there are riders (sad but true) who make noise just to be annoying.

And, just for your information, me and my sons all ride "quiet" sportbikes.

Answer 7

Some bikers love the noise. They don't care if others don't. The world revolves around them when they are riding. Sad, but true.

Some claim the noise saves lives. But, loud bikes get hit by cars, too.

Yes, motorcycles could absolutely be made with quieter engines and exhaust pipes. (FYI, it's the exhaust pipes that really make the loud noise that you are referring to.) This is evidenced by sports bikes that are not at all loud.

Why don't the manufacturers do this with all bikes? Fear of lower sales. Unless all of them did it at the same time, then the bikers who want loud pipes wouldn't shop at the stores that only sold quiet bikes.

Not all bikers like the super loud pipes. I get just as irritated as you when I hear them.

Answer 8

My bike, a Honda 599 is no louder than your average V-8 pickeup truck. If that hurts your ears you may want to consider seeing a doctor. Most loud bikes are owned by people in a mid life crisis looking for attention so they put a set of illegal race track only pipes on there bike and drive it on the street anyway.

Answer 9

Sounds like your just irritated with motorcycles in general. And really dont know much about them if you think every bike is noisy. Please tell me you listen to classical music and have never been to a rock concert.
Well for what its worth most of us do consider our neighbor hoods and if we do have loud pipes we ease them around kinda slow, especially at night. It's not neccesarily just to make noise, as opening up a rather restrictive exhaust and doing other mods can get better performance.

Answer 10

why do they have to have out door concerts? you people can hear the music better with head phones & just destroy your own hearing with out annoying the rest of us.
the same gos for big speakers in cars, they should be forced to wear head phones, whether they want to or not. no motor cycle can be sold in the U.S. that makes over 80 db at the proscribed distance why shouldnt this apply to any noise making device including speakers?
why would an annoying whiney snotty little hitler btch be allowed to post a question on a site devoted to something she hates? BECAUSE WE HAVE FREEDOM OF CHOICE IN THIS COUNTRY. so shut the hel up & go bother some other site.