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Op-ed: Loud motorcycles are annoying

Op-ed submitted by “OneEyed” –

Well, Spring is coming and you know what that means….loud motorcycles. Most of which, I find very annoying. However, there are quite a few (emphasis on few), that are courteous and I really appreciate those few.

But the majority seem to take part in a few common disturbances.

The first is speeding down the street while banging through all the gears just to end up at another stop sign. I can understand out on the highway its fun to go fast, but why are they racing between city blocks? Please do us a favor and save it for the open road.

The second is the revving up the engine at the stoplights. From what I can gather, Harleys have been around about 100 or so years, right? So am I to believe that after all this time, they still just haven’t figured out how to set the idle on those pesky carburetors? I turn my stereo down, especially if I have the windows open, out of respect for other people on the road. I ask you to please do the same with the revving.

Which leads me to one last thing.

What’s with all the bikers that proclaim “Loud Pipes Save Lives!” It would appear that these people are primarily concerned with their safety. So, maybe instead of loud annoying exhaust sounds, they can emit a humming or chirping noise? Maybe a bell or chime? Put a nice bright orange flag on the back?…kind of like how the law required me to install on my moped when I was 14. But I guess those things wouldn’t be very manly now, would they?

If bikers are so worried about safety, how come they hardly ever wear helmets? If you want to live by the Loud Pipes Save Lives way of life, then you would think wearing a helmet would be a no brainer…( or no brains without one!). After all, helmets have been PROVEN to save lives.

So how come they almost never wear helmets? Freedom? Well, wait a minute…if it’s freedom, why does a law require me to wear a seatbelt? Where is my freedom? I have multiple airbags, anti-lock brakes, traction control, crumple zones and many others, but still the law requires ME to wear a seat belt regardless of everything else I just mentioned.

I’m no expert on motorcycles but it looks that your helmet is about all YOU have for safety features. Why not wear it?

If loud pipes factually did save lives, I would assume that manufacturers would install them as standard equipment, kind of like my seatbelts.

Of course I could care less about who wears a motorcycle helmet or not, but when you boast about something that ‘Saves Lives’, yet you totally disregard another that factually does, its hard for you to be taken serious about your safety.

It seems to me that this is more of a myth made up by bikers, that happens to roll off the tongue nicely, than anything else.

With that being said, I hope everyone has a nice Spring and lets all try to be a little more courteous to one another. Thanks you.

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