Menace To Society?

[Vander]

It's nothing new that motorcycles and their riders are seen as hooligans in the general population.  But there are some groups that seem to stick out and contribute to the bad reputation of bikers more than others:

Reckless Squids- weaving in and out of traffic turning the streets into their own track

Outlaw 1%'ers - rolling crime wave on two wheels peddling vice through intimidation and violence

Loud pipes - destroyers of peace and tranquility intentionally revving their loud engines through communities

Any others?

And do you feel the reputation of ALL motorcyclists is worsening by these groups?

[Jvs]

Great movie I must say.

[Vander]

Great movie I must say.

Yes.  But... would you like to share your own story about your bike and your neighbors to help the discussion along?   

[Jvs]

"you buy now"!!!






My neighbors are all over 65 and hate my exhaust when I'm leaving at odd hours of the night. If I was in their shoes id probably be the same way in the sense that there are a lot of morons on bikes that make way too much noise for attention using loud pipes saves lives excuse to justify what they are doing.

There is a fine line difference between an aftermarket exhaust and a look at me I make everyone else deaf and pissed off exhaust.

[Vander]

There is a fine line difference between an aftermarket exhaust and a look at me I make everyone else deaf and pissed off exhaust.

Oh absolutely!

I was hoping to exhibit more how you are compromising with your neighbors and keeping the dialog of their concerns open.
That's a good thing. 

Personally I think your bike sounds great the way it is.

[Jvs]

It does, I love the sound of it but The cost isn't worth the reward to me.

I don't ride to sound good or to get people to look at me, I ride to have a good time and to meet new people many of whom have become life time friends (sorry to get all hallmark)





While on the topic I have two shortened Yoshi pipes on my sv1000 I wanna trade for stock cans if anyone is interested!

[carlson_mn]

When I leave I am rolling down my driveway in neutral before I start my engine just so I'm not an annoyance to my neighbors. 

[Greg]

I live in city as well. I roll my bike to the end of the alley so my bike doesn't wake the neighbors on an early weekend morning.

[pkpk]

There is no shortage of moron stories that involve bikes and yes, the public registers these things, one little incident at a time.  Just today, we were riding up the Great River Road in Iowa just north of Breitbach's in Balltown Iowa and got stuck behind a rolling roadblock of probably 20 cruisers doing 45-50 in a 55 zone.  This is nothing new, this road is the only road they ride in that area.  Unfortunately there is enough oncoming traffic, hills and curves that make it impossible to pass all 20 bikes in one shot.  They were so tightly packed, you're at their mercy if you want to start passing and forcing your way into their rolling herd (not good for the health.)

It's bad enough to be stuck behind this pack for 10 miles while they trundle along oblivious to the stacked up traffic behind them.  But then one of the rolling roadblock riders starts having bike trouble and almost caused an ass-pack in their own group.  Now here is where it gets really irritating, the 10 bikes behind him all flip on their four-way flashers and they all continue to occupy the traffic lane while Mr.  Sputter is fiddle-farting around with his reserve, choke, whatever.  The section of road where this occurred had a 10' wide breakdown lane, yet their logic was to continue in the regular lane to an almost stop.  When oncoming traffic let up, I got around them then pointed to the breakdown lane.  The lead biker must have thought that was a good idea and led the group off the road, but not until more cars had to drive around them on a double yellow.  BTW, Mr. Sputter was laughing and I can guess it's because he ran out of gas.

[Hope2Ride]

How annoying! And to answer Vanders last question in the OP... yes! Those guys certainly did no favors to the public image of bikers. The public only remembers the bikers going really fast and weaving through traffic or the really slow ones that are holding everyone up.

[Tumbler]

I know my Victory is loud so I tend to be cautious with how much I rev it close to home.  It helps that I'm right off a highway so within a block it doesn't really matter anymore.

I do agree though that we all get lumped into general categories by the non-riding public.  I don't think its fair & do try to represent other riders well by not being an asshat when I ride.

Its sort of like being in the military or working in public safety.  The public sees the uniform & if you mess up while wearing it they don't see you as an individual, they just see the entity you are representing in that uniform.

[motoexplorer]

I have no problem with aftermarket exhausts in general as long as people aren't douchebags.  Some bikes just beg for nice sounding cans like Ducati's.  An RC51 with aftermarket cans, coupled with the gear whine, is one of the best sounds ever.

The fact is however that 90% of the population out there would disagree with me.  To the general public, motorcycles have become almost synonymous with noise.  And the noise haters are calling their mayors, city councils, and state representatives as we speak.

Earlier this month I was at First Thursday at Dulono's.  There were a couple of times when, as a motorcyclist, I found myself embarrassed.    It was around 8pm or so and all of a sudden all the Harley's had to leave.  Maybe Willie G. declared curfew, but for whatever reason a whole bunch left at once.  The drill is always the same, start 'em up, and immediately start blipping the throttle.  Now why an 800lbs touring bike needs a deafening exhaust and requires the throttle constantly blipped,  I dunno, but there were plenty there.   And they don't even sound that good.  Some of these straight shot exhausts they put on just sound tinny and hollow.  Then add in the guys who have shorty exhausts on their 600 sportbikes and constantly bounce the engine off the rev limiter.

I certainly don't think we all have to be goodie-two-shoes while riding.  In a world that demands conformity, motorcycles are a great way to engage in a little civil disobedience now and again.  We don't have to be dickheads though.

[Hope2Ride]

Any others?

How about those people who think they're God's gift to motorcycling 

[pkpk]

How about those people who think they're God's gift to motorcycling 

Ah, that would be Jesse James.

[mikey]

i sit in my garage with just the door open and rev my bike to redline for atleast 10 minutes.