Do you think the main reason people get loud exhuasts is safety or image?
Personally, I don't care for loud bikes but I am not knocking anyone who does or who chooses to get loud pipes--as long as they don't annoy me at night.
I am into pickups and a lot of drivers get maganflow or flowmaster exhausts to add some flair to the truck. I put a TRD catback on my Tacoma just because I like the stainless steel pipe and tip and it isn't overly loud. In this, case, however, safety certainly cannot be offered as a valid reason, especially when you are driving a Ram2500 HD, which can take out about 90% of the vehicles on the road without even breaking a stride.
With bikes it is different, however, and I think a reasoned argument can be made that loud pipes do offer a bit of a safety cushion of sorts. I think ti is true that if someone can hear you, they know you are around. That is not certainly true for many drivers who drive poorly to begin with, or just don't pay attention or care, etc..But I have to admit that I usually do hear loud motorcycles on the highway before I see them, especially if they are coming up trhough my blind spot.
As far as why people choose to get loud exhausts to begin with, my opinion is the answer for a good number is possibly a mixture of both safety and aeasthetics. And many will just get it because it is loud.
In the end, however, you look and wonder--if safety is the overrdiing factor, then why the lack of gear? I noticed today when driving on the highway that most of the riders with loud exhuasts on ther bikes(primarily cruisers) weren't even wearing a helmet. Many were in shorts and tennis shoes and nobody wore gloves. Nobody I saw had any kind of riding jacket and it was either a t-shirt or tank top. I am not judging them for choosing to ride how they want. I just think it strange that if being safety-conscious is the big concern, you would think at least minimal gear would be used. Then again, maybe they have a false sense of security and think the loud exhaust offers a margin of safety that means that they won't get into an incident. So, perhaps having a loud exchaust leads to this behavior and cancels out any possible advantage, given the consequences of a wreck without gear. Who knows.
Personally, I don't care for loud bikes but I am not knocking anyone who does or who chooses to get loud pipes--as long as they don't annoy me at night.
I am into pickups and a lot of drivers get maganflow or flowmaster exhausts to add some flair to the truck. I put a TRD catback on my Tacoma just because I like the stainless steel pipe and tip and it isn't overly loud. In this, case, however, safety certainly cannot be offered as a valid reason, especially when you are driving a Ram2500 HD, which can take out about 90% of the vehicles on the road without even breaking a stride.
With bikes it is different, however, and I think a reasoned argument can be made that loud pipes do offer a bit of a safety cushion of sorts. I think ti is true that if someone can hear you, they know you are around. That is not certainly true for many drivers who drive poorly to begin with, or just don't pay attention or care, etc..But I have to admit that I usually do hear loud motorcycles on the highway before I see them, especially if they are coming up trhough my blind spot.
As far as why people choose to get loud exhausts to begin with, my opinion is the answer for a good number is possibly a mixture of both safety and aeasthetics. And many will just get it because it is loud.
In the end, however, you look and wonder--if safety is the overrdiing factor, then why the lack of gear? I noticed today when driving on the highway that most of the riders with loud exhuasts on ther bikes(primarily cruisers) weren't even wearing a helmet. Many were in shorts and tennis shoes and nobody wore gloves. Nobody I saw had any kind of riding jacket and it was either a t-shirt or tank top. I am not judging them for choosing to ride how they want. I just think it strange that if being safety-conscious is the big concern, you would think at least minimal gear would be used. Then again, maybe they have a false sense of security and think the loud exhaust offers a margin of safety that means that they won't get into an incident. So, perhaps having a loud exchaust leads to this behavior and cancels out any possible advantage, given the consequences of a wreck without gear. Who knows.
real 
