Did not see me or hear me!

[Sea-Strom]

So after 6 months with original exhaust back on for the summer I put the Black Widow back on today after a near miss last week. Woman did not see me and just pulled straight out. Emergency stop saved an off! Ocurred to me that if she had heard me, she may have waited. Can't take the risk cos I ride mainly in town traffic so......noise it is!
 

[Hugo Magnus]

You would be safer to regard yourself as invisible (and silent), so it's up to you to avoid everyone else on the road.

[kwackboy]

Doesn't matter how loud your exhaust is, if the woman had music on and her windows closed, she's hearing nothing.

Personally, I ride assuming everyone is blind and can't hear. 

[Sea-Strom]

Yes, yes ride carefully. But I've been riding for 55 years and owned over 25 bikes, from whisper quiet to stupid loud. Whenever I'm on a bike with a loud exhaust more cars move in for me than with quiet ones. There are advantages to nice quiet pipes as all the good boys will tell you but there is no doubt in my mind, noise to announce your arrival, is  an aid to staying safe. Loud music and numpties will always be against us but some bikers fight back, some hang back. I have friends in both camps.

[Mr Nick]

The actual sound going forward from your bike on the move and making it into a modern car is much less than you think. Stats will no doubt show that cars behind getting the full benefit of stupid loud pipes seldom pull out in front of you though...
Whatever makes you feel you're safer is all that matters at the end of the day.

[mr_diver]

I ride (particularly in Swansea) with the asumption that everyone around me is a complete numpty, blind, deaf, is on their first driving lesson, currently high as a kite, applying their makeup, playing with their phones and themselves... usually I'm proven correct.

Expect the unexpected, an prepare to give the finger.
 

[Sea-Strom]

We have a couple of complete nutters near me who ride without plates and probably tax and insurance, jump red lights and wheelie constantly between traffic lines etc etc. Probably their type is found in other places. Their skill is superb albeit perverted. I do not condone their riding habits in any way. But, had they not got virtually no exhausts I doubt they could part the 'red sea' like they do. You can hear them coming very fast and loud from behind just like emergency vehicles and most give them the room they demand. In the normal world bikers who like to push it a bit within the law are probably at an advantage with louder exhausts. Very sensible riders probably don't need them. In my mind, you would only really need a loud exhaust once, just like abs brakes - the day it saved your life! 

[Rusty Nuts]

I suppose what could be dangerous is to ride less defensively or less pessimistically due to thinking "they're bound to hear me with this pipe fitted".
Same goes for high risibility vests, multiple lights on all the time - if they're not even looking they're not going to see us.

[Sea-Strom]

Yes it's a good point - I ride faster in full leathers than jeans and t shirt. It's whatever works for you. I feel more 'visible' with noise but may ride less well as a consequence. But I'm probably not going to change after half a century on 2 wheels 

[mr_diver]

To understand how loud my exhaust is... when I worked in the dealers and a tech would at some point bring my bike inside for MOT you could feel my desk shake and the air vibrate from the other side of the building.

Yet, I still get cars pulling out on me. 

The volune does help with filtering as I had very few issues filtering over the Bank Holiday weekend with full panniers. 

[rikpward]

Rather than invest in an exhaust, invest in further rider training.

[Sea-Strom]

Like the thrill of riding with a loud exhaust. Think I'll get louder cans for my ZZR too. Rider training sounds a good idea - want to do a track day before I'm 80  and learn how to ride faster safer.

[rikpward]

Track days are brilliant fun and will teach you that the bike/tyres will go further than you perhaps will - but a track day will not teach you to go faster on public roads, as it's not the point. The training to consider is either IAM or RoSPA advanced rider training, which is aimed at making you safer - if you happen to go faster as a result then that is a bonus, and the chances of getting from A to B faster and safer are almost guaranteed.

[Sea-Strom]

 

[Brockett]

In my car with the radio and being a bit deaf, I almost never hear any bike coming. I only hear them going. No matter how loud the exhaust. However, for me on my bikes, I find that a too quiet exhaust reveals the normal mechanical clatter with is anoying and a too loud exhaust equally so.  There is no way I would fork out for a fancy system A-crap-o-vitch No. Delkavik? mmmm! Maybe.

[Mr Nick]

You've already decided you want to leave a loud noise behind you, so just do it, but, don't think it makes you think you're more visible front the front as a result.
Track days teach you practically zero safety road craft, and can make you less safe as you push further on the road without the protection of a controlled environment & specifically grip enhanced road surface to back you up. This just looks more & more like it's your inner desire to be loud & fast that you need to justify rather than being safer.

[Youngman]

Repeat the mantra "They're all mad and trying to kill me".
Personally, I've found 99% of the time car drivers see me and all is cool.
But its the 1% of the time we all lose concentration. The wife yells, the satnav goes mad, a CD needs changing etc... and it's "Sorry mate, I didn't see you" so I never assume anything. Works for me and I don' go round complaining about other road users. We're all trying to get somewhere safely.

[Sea-Strom]

Cars in front move in more for me with a loud exhaust than a quiet one. I filter a lot in town sometimes down the middle and often see the cars parting in both directions especially with open windows. A few might not hear but so be it - I put the anchors on sharpish for them. Some car drivers are bloody minded, deliberately blocking bikers, others are just too distracted to see or hear. The 'loud pipes don't save lives' brigade have their own opinions but I know what works for me. It's just one tool many of us use - if you don't, that's fine by me. However being safe is not my main priority, for me it's having fun. If I wanted to be really safe I would not ride at all. I sometimes see well meaning adventure bikers dressed to the hilt with more armour than a Middle Ages knight, sporting 'sensible' dayglow items, overdressed in heat and often riding to make their advanced instructors proud. I also see dickheads riding as if there was no tomorrow. I'm somewhere in between. I push it but know when to hang back a little. I never worry too much I have to confess and enjoy the thrill of noise, cornering, overtaking and most of all traffic busting. After 1/2 a century on the road I think I know where hazards are and , touch wood, my style of riding has served me well so far. The real numpties can catch out even the most cautious biker. I try not to knock another rider's approach to their face but don't expect criticism either, unless they are riding with me (that works both ways!). We all ride the way that suits us. I have owned many bikes but today my trusty V-Strom with noisy muffler took me round the city as good as any, rev counter leaping nicely and using my tyres down near the edge on clear bends (that's where a track day would help, even on the road), I had a huge smile on returning home. Final words from an old man.....ride safe but don't forget that yahoooooo! sensation when you got on your first big (possibly noisy) bike. For me, it's why I ride.     

[Lemonwizard]

Just don't leave the city with your loud exhausts, alright? Here in Austria they're prohibiting loud motorcycles from entering certain (very beautiful) roads in rural areas, and I imagine it won't be very long until more extensive prohibitions are put into place.

Yes, a loud motorcycle with an epic sound is thrilling, but I don't think you'll be particularly thrilled when you're not allowed to ride through your favourite rural roads anymore.

A few weeks ago I went climbing in Styria. You can see the road on the right in the pic which I'm not posting because it's nice to look at but rather so you can get an idea of how far away from the road I was. It was very quite, almost silent up on the mountain... except for some of the motorcycles with absurdly loud exhausts. Now, we all know that these bikes are not the majority, but villagefolk don't know that and the only thing that's going through their mind is how much of a pain all of these motorcycles are.

[UK_Vstrom650]

I think the govt is looking to install sound cameras in England to fine loud motorcycles. Am sure I've read of proposed trials starting on popular bike routes around rural villages.