Things that annoy you...

Right, but this noise lasts just a few seconds doesn’t it?

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

^ It's long enough if it wakes you up that early... My neighbour has a motorcycle too and the noise is horrendous, thankfully he doesn't use it early.

She said she’s already awake.

I know, it's still annoying for people who are not.

Motorcycles with loud exhaust are annoying no matter what time of day, no matter how long it lasts. They don't have to be that loud, and they aren't that loud with the stock exhaust systems. It's the morons that have to replace the stock pipes with loud pipes. Like little children, "Hey, look at me!". Idiots.

(BTW, my rant applies to any vehicle with after-market loud exhaust. Meh!)

Like the kids who put fart tips on their little Japanese cars. Just don't get it, like at all.

Many years ago, I worked with an organization that had a motorcycle ride for charity, and I spoke to a lot of the riders afterwards about why some of them had very loud motorcycles.

They explained that, (at least for some of them), it was for safety reasons because some drivers don't notice motorcycles on the roads, so they feel invisible, and that's dangerous for them. They prefer the bike to be loud so that cars will hear them, and they won't get hit by other drivers who can't see them.

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I've never had a problem seeing motorcycles. I see them in the rear view mirrors. If they were concerned with safety, why do they ride without helmets? I find motorcycles annoying too.

Another new trend is combining a motorcycle engine that sounds literally like multiple bombs going off with a radio! I find this laughable.

Saw / heard one just yesterday. The engine is deafening, and the driver has a helmet on, but you can just barely make out a boom-box-sounding radio turned up as loud as the speakers will go. The music can't be heard legibly because the engine is so loud - so it's just indecipherable noise on top of more noise (seems like a way just to make the intolerable even worse for attention since the radio music cannot be heard as music, no less hearing any lyrics).

I don't ride a motorcycle, so I can only tell you what they told me. The only thing that I should add is that most of the riders that day were respectful riders, who obey all the rules of the road, and rode motorcycles like Harley Davidson, not the idiots who speed through traffic on "rice burners", dangerously weaving in and out of the lanes.

Yeah I don't like them either. They're young kids who think they're invincible.

While I respect motorcyclists in general, I have questioned some of their explanations.

Under the logic that since motorcycles are less protected & smaller than cars they need to be loud for car drivers to hear them, the same argument could be made that cars should be loud so that tractor-trailer truck divers can hear them since cars are smaller and stand little chance in a collision with a large truck. Yet, cars aren't made louder so large trucks can hear them.

Conversely, I've had many experiences where I was approached by excessively loud motorcycles while driving and was actually startled & distracted by what sounded like I was suddenly being bombed. Startling drivers (which may cause them to take their eyes off the road, start franticly checking mirrors or even weave out of their lane) like that is far more dangerous than just approaching or passing safely & quietly.

I'm still awaiting an explanation why: the louder the engine, in a residential area, the longer a motorcyclist has to rev it to "warm it up"?

When the reality is it only takes a few seconds for a combustion engine to reach its optimal heat level. Most people who "warm up" cars do so to heat the interiors so they feel more comfortable or defrost the windshield, but even in cold temps, there is no need to "warm up" a car's engine beyond a minute or so. Motorcyclists can't even use the excuse that they are heating the interior or defrosting the windshield, so running and revving the engine is yet another act of attention-seeking inconsideration via disturbing the peace.

I can't answer your questions because, as I said, I don't ride a motorcycle. I only spoke with people who do, and that was their explanation. But I can speculate that truck drivers have less trouble seeing small cars because there's an expectation of seeing cars on the roads, but less of an expectation of seeing motorcycles. Also, there are more small cars on the road per the number of trucks, than there are motorcycles on the road per the number of cars.

Something they complained about was that there was a law, (at the time, but I don't know if it's still a law), that motorcycles had to ride with their headlight on, presumably to make them more visible to other vehicles. But the motorcycle riders complained that the headlight actually worked against them because many drivers would sort of get "hypnotized" by the headlight during the day, and subconsciously "aim" at the motorcycle. The bikers would have to honk their horn to "wake up" the other driver to avoid getting into a head-on collision.

As I said... "I question some of their explanations" (and after that last one, I'll probably question even more).

Maybe you should look for a motorcycle riders forum, and ask them? Or go to a biker bar and ask some questions, if you're daring enough.

Oh no - years back I got threatened on an eBay board for debating motorcycles - the irony is one guy threatened to firebomb my house (getting my address by winning an auction back when you could accept cash payments in the mail). I merely quoted the guy's post to respond to it, politely mind you (I didn't report him or anything) - then I got banned for posting "threats of violence"! The violent threat post remained and the poster who made it got to keep posting, but I got banned for quoting it!

I did go to some biker bars with a friend when I was young (when I was in my 20's I looked like I was 13). One time a guy came up to me and said, "You gotta either be the stupidest kid in the world to come in here with a face like that... or the bravest."

(Man, I got a lot of stories, don't I?)

That sounds like eBay's boards.


Look at the bright side. A lot of stories means that you've lead an interesting life.

It’s odd. Not quite a few seconds, as he revs the engine, then waits for the automatic gate to let him out while revving, then rides down the road very loudly. But no, it’s not very long that it lasts. However, I have very intense insomnia and in the morning I get some kind of stress arrhythmia with my heart hammering out a beat and whatnot, so by the time it’s quiet again, I have no chance of falling asleep.

It’s any kind of strong noise. Back when I lived in Cheltenham, the seagulls would wake me in the early hours, and I would never be able to go back to sleep. Just my luck.

Yes GB. I've heard and read that so many times . . . Unfortunately that is the reason given almost every time. It is utter BS and hides the real reason -- they just like to make noise. On the H-D forums they brag about setting off car alarms by revving their engines in parking garages and along streets I have ridden motorcycles for 55 years, since I was 17 yrs old. I've owned over 60 bikes -- one time I had 10 bikes -- I know, I was crazy then. I mostly owned Japanese bikes, but also a few German, a few Italian, and a few American bikes -- each and every one with stock exhaust. I like quiet. Imagine if every one who rode a motorcycle (or even a very small car) used loud noise to announce their presence on the road -- what a shitty loud world that would be. Riding a bike just requires you to be careful and proactively watch others in traffic -- in other words, ride defensively. And no matter how careful you are, it is dangerous. I was never an ATGATT rider (all the gear, all the time) but I did always wear a full helmet, jeans, gloves, and a sturdy MC jacket -- no small feat living here in the Sonoran Desert. I recently gave up riding, realizing that I made it this far sometimes by sheer luck alone.

(BTW, I never wore the "land pirate" costume that most H-D riders wear. I even used to wear my Kawasaki MC jacket while riding my H-D. Needless to say I was shunned by the H-D loyalists. Oh well.)

Yeah, it’s a bit of both. It’s really awful. And yes, regarding the motorcycle-related posts above, he does rev the engine.