Opinion: Loud Pipes Do Not Save Lives

Every rider has heard it. Loud pipes save lives. It gets stitched on patches and printed on tank bags. It is also not true, and the longer we keep repeating it, the more it costs us.

The evidence is not there

Exhaust noise points backwards. By the time a driver in a closed car with the radio on hears you, you are already past them. The car that pulls out in front of you is in front, where your pipe is pointed away. Nobody has produced a study linking exhaust volume to fewer crashes. The things that do show up in the data are conspicuity, lane position, speed relative to traffic and, above everything, training.

What it actually costs

Loud bikes are the reason canyon roads get closed to motorcycles. They are the reason towns ban bikes from main streets and campgrounds. They are the reason the neighbors hate the garage you spent years on. Every noise ordinance that targets riders was written because of someone who thought their pipe was a safety device.

What keeps you alive

Ride where drivers can see you, not in their blind spot. Cover the brake in town. Assume the car waiting to turn left has not seen you and have a plan for when it goes. Wear bright gear on the upper body, because that is what drivers look at. Take an advanced course every couple of years. None of it is as satisfying as a shriek at 9,000 rpm, but it works.

Keep the pipe if you like it

Plenty of riders love the sound and that is fine. Own that. Just stop telling yourself and everyone else that it is for safety, because the roads we are losing are the price.

#opinion #editorial #safety