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I went out for a ride last night after dinner. My bike is a 2004 Yamaha V Star 650. It was the first good day weather wise we have had in the last 5 so I thought I would take advantage of it. Anyway I was sitting at a stop light when I hear some voices to my left. It was a SUV two lanes over in the turn lane with about 5 high school to college age kids in it all yelling how they liked my bike and giving me the thumbs up sign. My bike does not have stock pipes and gives off a nice low rumble. I shot them back the thumbs up sign. It was nice to get the compliments.

Its always nice to have some recognition from people that like your bike. I always give people a little nod if I like their car / bike, a little friendliness goes a long way.

Coming back from a ride today, my hubby and I were at a country stop sign. There's a pick-up coming the other direction and as we're waiting for traffic to clear, I can see across the highway that there's a fair amount of looky looky in our direction. As the truck comes across the intersection, I got a truck full of women cheering me on! Made my day and it was a great day before that.

I have to add though--while this may have amused teenagers in the vicinity, there is a good chance that nearby adults were grumbling about it.

A certain amount of rumble is great, but how much is too much? I was passed by a guy on a Sportster that, yes, I could hear him coming, but after he passed me, I could still hear him a mile away on the other side of a hill. I was wearing a full-face helmet and earplugs!! It hurt my ears when he was passing me. That's waaay past necessary. A lot of times it just seems to be a childish way to get attention, not a safety decision.

I don't know about the grumbling.... my bike is a LOT quieter than many of the trucks out here.

MZ33 wrote:A certain amount of rumble is great, but how much is too much? I was passed by a guy on a Sportster that, yes, I could hear him coming, but after he passed me, I could still hear him a mile away on the other side of a hill. I was wearing a full-face helmet and earplugs!! It hurt my ears when he was passing me. That's waaay past necessary. A lot of times it just seems to be a childish way to get attention, not a safety decision.

I would say most of the time that is all it is.

Problem is, many people don't realize that their bike sounds like craap, yes its loud, and it doesn't have a good sound, its just obnoxious.

Problem is, many people don't realize that their bike sounds like craap, yes its loud, and it doesn't have a good sound, its just obnoxious.

Exactly. Was driving home from work when I came upon another rider. We were stopped at an intersection, I caught myself shaking my head... because when he pulled forward, I figured his bike really had to be gas powered. It sounded like an obnoxiously loud... fart. And it was awful.

PacificShot327 wrote:

Problem is, many people don't realize that their bike sounds like craap, yes its loud, and it doesn't have a good sound, its just obnoxious.

Exactly. Was driving home from work when I came upon another rider. We were stopped at an intersection, I caught myself shaking my head... because when he pulled forward, I figured his bike really had to be gas powered. It sounded like an obnoxiously loud... fart. And it was awful.

Think that's bad, try going through the George Massey Tunnel with a brace of Harley's in front of you with those pipes. Makes me want to pull up beside them and kick their front tyres out. Luckily the old Sabre still has enough get up and go to blow by them and let them enjoy the scream from my F1 slip ons for a bit.

When I ride with my two Harley neighbors I always insist on being ride captain because if I'm behind them in a tight formation, I can't hear my bike and it makes it difficult to shift correctly.