To the editor:
RE: Loud Pipes Save Lives

I have to dispute the opinions of NM on loud pipes saving lives. The
fact of the matter is that loud pipes are basically ineffective at alerting
drivers to the presence of a motorcycle. I know this because although I
am a biker I also happen to drive a car or pickup most of the time. The
only time you can really hear the loud pipes while inside a four-wheeled
vehicle is when the motorcycle is in front of you! This is because
exhausts on bikes invariably point to the back of the vehicle and the
sound is projected that way. If you want to alert someone to to where
you were a second ago, it's great. If you want people to know where you
are, it doesn't work. When a loud bike passes me I don't really hear it
until it has drawn even with my vehicle. Since I actually use my rear
and side view mirrors I already know it's there. A second point is that
the exhausts are really only loud while the bike is accelerating. In
effect, to 'alert' other motorists to their presence, you have to be
constantly accelerating and decelerating. This isn't the best way to
avoid being in an accident.

As a motorcyclist I know that I have to drive like everyone is trying to
run me down at all times. If you can't handle this fact of
motorcycling, don't ride a bike. If you want to alert someone to your
presence, a quick beep of your horn or a flash of your high beams is
more effective. Don't try to convince me that blasting down residential
streets or gunning your engine every time you see an open window on a
car is for your safety, it's an inconsiderate and immature way to get
attention so you can feel cool. Unfortunately, 95% of the time it's
just pedestrians and the cars behind whose attention you grab. I'm not
trying to generalize about Harley's and the like as a whole because most
riders are great. It's the same with everything, a few rotten apples
spoil the lot.

NM illustrated that he/she is one of those apples as well as just how
grown up he is by calling motorists a 'bunch of monkeys', tells us to
move away if we don't like the noise, and says pipes are only going to
get louder. Get a life. Learn to ride your bike properly and not rely
on an ineffective safety technique, and stop being a hack. You're
giving all of us a bad name. And don't forget, in a collision a
'bad-ass' on a bike is no match for any car.

A.C. - Kelowna