Please sign my petition to allow straight pipes in Ontario for rider safety

So after 35 years of riding you're telling us there's two kinds of straight pipes? The polite kind and the ignorant kind? Let me tell you, around forks of the credit and surrounding areas there's only one kind. The don't come around here anymore kind. I get cops tailing me here or looks from people for riding a crotch rocket. Should I tell them I'm riding a polite bike? I don't think they care. Also as stated in here before, people should spend money on skill improvement. If you " see them about to cut me off or turn in front of me" most times you're too close and revving your engine with annoying illegal pipes isn't going to save you. If they're in a position to "suddenly cut into you" then you're either in their blind spot or close enough to it. I never ever sit beside a car even if it means speeding up to get away from them slightly. Maybe if they pass your idea, they could make those awesome ape hangers legal too. I know I don't miss a single clown bombing down a highway with his arms 3 feet in the air :rolleyes:

apehangers.jpg


Edit: As I'm typing this, there goes my awesome neighbor with his polite straight pipes that I hear every time he starts his harley heap of crap from three houses away and continue to hear until he's a 1/4 mile down the road. I can't imagine what people would have a problem with them for :rolleyes:
 
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Never had a problem on my stock-exhaust bikes that a noisy exhaust would have solved ...

yup and I can guarantee some of the mysterious rocks and gravel on popular roads are not a result of quiet bikes using the road but rather locals protesting the obnoxious loud pipes. One guy went by me in the opposite direction yesterday and my ears actually hurt despite being in a helmet.

The OP's position is ludicrous.

Horn and high beams gets attention when needed.
Quiet bike gets appreciation.
 
油井緋色;2063908 said:
I know you're going to get flamed for this, but I'll sign it.

I've found clutch in, rev limiter bounce gets the attention of a retarded driver easier than the horn does. However, the exhaust really is faced the wrong way for it to be used effectively lol

Didn't bother reading all replies. I also do the clutch-in to 'notify' people who are not looking, but I am not signing that petition. Straight pipes are crazy annoying. You shouldn't need straight pipes to attract attention of other drivers.
 
Watch her video link, you'll get an idea. Now I know who she is, well not personally. I've seen her on her stretched black chopper, even have a couple of photos :D


Hmm, I did check it out.

So, a rider so very concerned about rider safety and the inherent risk of riding a motorcycle in Ontario traffic? and wears open face helmet and minimal protective equipment on a stretched chopper that can't turn to avoid obstacles and has brakes that would be lucky to stop it before it rolled right through the Timmies parking lot.

Yep, meets my expectations. Only thing that can save her butt are loud pipes.

And, as others have pointed out, you cannot nerf a harley with straight pipes. They are indecently loud ALL THE TIME. Particularly to anyone behind them. Fortunately, they ride so slow it isnt too hard to get in front of them. But if you think the only time these pieces of crap are obnoxious is when you rev them at an intersection you have another think coming. Even at idle they suck.

At least an inline four with straight pipes can be kept down a bit at low rpms. Still not acceptable though.
 
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newer Harley's with evo or twin cam engines and straight pipes just make obnoxious noise. My panhead and shovel sound really nice and not stupid loud with straight pipes as do the titanium bodis on my MV ( ok those are pretty loud)and the Akro on my RSV4. So I agree if we ban them on evo or twincam Harley's and ban douchesz from constantly blipping the throttle for no reason....it's Harley f@gs that ruin it by constantly blipping and revving for no reason...same reason ferrari are doucheszy as the ferrari f@gs ruin it

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Harley Fag

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ferrari fag
 
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With every cause, you will definitely have your critics but I am surprised to read some of these comments that sound more like the rantings of prejudiced non riders. Come on. You may be right about certain ignorant individuals who ride ALL STYLES of bikes, but let's stick the facts at hand and not trash people.

Some people who ride with straight pipes are inconsiderate with their pipe noise i.e. revving at lights, gunning it through tunnels and underpasses, making excessive noise through a neighborhood late at night, etc. I personally don't condone that behavior and believe in being polite. It is not the point of this petition.

What I'm talking about is after 35 years of riding and 29 years on roadways, I have enough experience and expertise to state that loud pipes do in fact save lives when faced with a distracted driver riding alongside or turning out in front of you. I've seen it, lived it. I do understand the physics of pipes that face to the back and noise travel. That loud 'crack' wakes them up and gets their attention when I see them about to cut me off or turn in front of me. It's more important to live to see another day, not become a new hood ornament. I won't apologize or back down from anyone who wants to debate that loud pipes are effective in that situation in addition to safety equipment, courses, etc etc. Even with the negative feedback I've read, my darlings, all the driver training in the world won't help you if they suddenly cut into you because they can't hear/see you. I am seeking to lower the odds of that happening.

So to re-iterate, I am not promoting legalization of straight pipes to give riders permission to scare the crap out of people or seek attention by being obnoxious. That would be excessive, unnecessary noise and owning a motorcycle does not come with the right to break the noise pollution laws. Those who choose to show no respect to others unnecessarily should be penalized. What I am asking for is the legalization of straight pipes for safety as a warning to drivers. Of course, there would need to be stipulations but I beleive the HTA is antiquated in areas and should be re-addressed and updated.

Love with a bum slap ~ Choppergirl
There's so much wrong with your posts, it's hard to know where to start.

I guess I'll start off by agreeing that loud pipes save lives. The key to being safe in traffic is being seen, and loud pipes help drivers to see us. I can hear loud bikes coming up from far behind me on the 401, so clearly their sound carries forward no problem. I don't see why it should be such a controversial claim. Bikes are already louder than most cars, so we already have that safety benefit on our side. However what you are proposing is the use of exhaust noise as a tool to deliberately get people's attention in specific situations. There is simply no sense to the argument.

In the scenario you give as justification, blipping the throttle is about the last thing you'd want to do if you were seriously concerned about your safety. What about avoidance? You have brakes and steering, use them. Take a course if you have to. Alerting the driver in front about your proximity is more about being territorial than being safe.

If you insist on being possessive of your piece of tarmac, then use the horn. The stupid gubermint that you complain about allows you to upgrade your horn. But no, you want the right to upgrade your exhaust to be obnoxious in perpetuity. Don't pretend that you could ride a bike with open pipes quietly. If you really rode that way then straight pipes would be nothing more than an engine-sounding horn that is activated by your throttle. Again, just get a louder horn. That way, you could control them separately; you could choose to accelerate without waking up the neighbourhood, or sound the horn without compromising your forward drive. Tying your horn to the throttle makes as much sense as tying your high beam switch to the clutch lever. There's simply no logic. None.

There are tons of disadvantages though. The most obvious is noise pollution, and it's called noise pollution because it's actually harmful to people's health. Our environment is already saturated with noise. We need less of it, not more.

Also, p***ing off other road users is detrimental to our safety as Griffin illustrated. There is nothing to be gained by annoying people that we need to share the road with. Besides, why shouldn’t they be allowed open pipes just like us, since they can get cut off by other drivers just like us? It would be unjust to reserve this amazing safety device for our exclusive use when it could benefit everyone. The fact that we are less visible and more exposed is an inherent property of riding a motorcycle, it does not confer any special privileges on us. If you can’t deal with that, stop riding.

Finally, I have to wonder about what you’re doing to end up in so many life-threatening situations on a regular basis as you claim. I absolutely can’t relate to what you’re describing in my 50000km of riding (most of it with a whisper quiet stock pipe). I make it my responsibility to make sure I am noticed, and that has never required the use of a horn. The only times I’ve used the horn are the two times that drivers looked me in the eye and cut me off anyways. Don’t stay in people’s blind spots, don’t pop up from behind other cars suddenly, signal your intentions well ahead of time. Stop blaming the government for your problems.
 
Petition to make loud pipes legal, but you should also think about a petition to ban all deaf or hearing impaired drivers also. While you are at it, ban everyone that uses ipod headphones in their pre 2000 cars, or the many motorcyclists that use ear plugs.
 
Okay...now correct me if I'm wrong but I didn't think there were any "laws" banning straight pipes...just regulations governing obnoxious levels of noise.

So any petition legitimizing straight pipes is moot...because they already are. Though reading through your two posts it wouldn't surprise me if you didn't know what you were talking about.
 
Troll or not, I'm glad the popular opinion appears to be swayed by logic and not crazy, unfounded claims.
 
Petition to make loud pipes legal, but you should also think about a petition to ban all deaf or hearing impaired drivers also. While you are at it, ban everyone that uses ipod headphones in their pre 2000 cars, or the many motorcyclists that use ear plugs.
Until I saw it happening constantly I thought it was illegal to drive with headphobes/ear buds. I've owned many pre-2000s cars and don't use an iPod/MP3 player (never owned an iPod since they are overpriced with fewer features than competition and always have been) with headphones/ear buds in the car. I do wear ear plugs in my 944, though, heh. The exhaust is hurting on that car. Not intentional though, just haven't found a good price on a replacement yet.
 
I propose this petition doesn't go far enough. The fine for being a Harley owner should instead be increased to $10,000.
 
Okay, is choppergirl hot or not?
If so, sign me up.
But I fear she looks like....








internet-troll1.jpg
 
Okay...now correct me if I'm wrong but I didn't think there were any "laws" banning straight pipes...just regulations governing obnoxious levels of noise.

HTA s. 75, poorly worded as it is, makes several types of exhaust systems illegal, notably a "straight exhaust", and requires any motor vehicle that is not an electric vehicle to have a muffler.
 
With every cause, you will definitely have your critics but I am surprised to read some of these comments that sound more like the rantings of prejudiced non riders.
Wrong, 20+ year experienced rider here.
Some people who ride with straight pipes are inconsiderate with their pipe noise i.e. revving at lights, gunning it through tunnels and underpasses, making excessive noise through a neighborhood late at night, etc. I personally don't condone that behavior and believe in being polite. It is not the point of this petition.
With straight pipes, they make excessive noise ALL the time, and it is impossible to NOT be inconsiderate. The only variable is by how much it is excessive. It seems that some straight-pipe Harleys make almost as much noise coasting with the throttle shut as they do with it open ...
So to re-iterate, I am not promoting legalization of straight pipes to give riders permission to scare the crap out of people or seek attention by being obnoxious. That would be excessive, unnecessary noise and owning a motorcycle does not come with the right to break the noise pollution laws.
But straight-pipe engines inherently break the noise pollution laws.
Those who choose to show no respect to others unnecessarily should be penalized. What I am asking for is the legalization of straight pipes for safety as a warning to drivers. Of course, there would need to be stipulations but I beleive the HTA is antiquated in areas and should be re-addressed and updated.

Straight-pipe engines make too much noise ALL the time - the only question is by how much they make too much. You can't make it loud enough to attract the attention of someone in an insulated Cadillac with the stereo playing inside, while simultaneously being quiet enough to not be extremely annoying to everyone else. It doesn't work that way.

As others have noted, if you feel the need to make noise on demand then get your horn to make more noise, not your exhaust.

Even so ... I think I can count the number of times that I use my horn every year on one hand, and I ride a fair bit on the road (but I avoid city traffic because I hate it).
 
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