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Post by jayj79 on Mar 26, 2021 4:29:21 GMT -5
But if you want crazy - how about the Harley-Davidson crowd? This aftermarket exhaust systems often reduce performance and damage the hearing of the rider. I mean, at least with a motorcycle, the notion of making it louder (to some extent) has some safety benefit, since the smaller vehicle is more apt to not being seen by car/truck drivers (leading to unintentionally cutting them off or colliding), so making the bike louder could increase the chances of ensuring the other drivers know that you are there. But I'm sure some of those Hog-heads overdo it. And there is certainly no issue with pickup trucks needing to be louder for safety reasons.
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Post by mikegarrison on Mar 26, 2021 4:44:05 GMT -5
at least with a motorcycle, the notion of making it louder (to some extent) has some safety benefit, since the smaller vehicle is more apt to not being seen by car/truck drivers (leading to unintentionally cutting them off or colliding), so making the bike louder could increase the chances of ensuring the other drivers know that you are there. Nah. That "loud pipes save lives" line is utter bull. It's just a self-serving rationalization for guys that like to be able to rev their motor and hear a big loud noise. If anything, in my experience it would be more likely to startle the driver of another vehicle, and that's a bad thing, not a good thing.
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Post by mikegarrison on Mar 26, 2021 4:59:17 GMT -5
Were they Pilot Sport Cups? I remember Michelin selling an R-compound version of their Pilot Sports that they called Pilot Sport Cup. It came stock on certain cars like the 911 GT3. I don't think it was since those are fairly new. It was maybe 15 years ago as I was sitting in a shop waiting for my tires to be mounted. This was a specialty place in Berkeley that had a ton of accessories that your average tire shop wouldn't have. They were talking about possibly shaving a tire for someone with a blown tire on a Subaru who didn't want to replace the full set. But I was fumbling through the brochures and there was one for a Michelin competition tire. It was something really weird too - like 4/32" from the factory, but where they recommended shaving off even more for track use. Yup. I mostly used Toyo RA1s. They come with 8/32 tread, but the recommendation is to shave them to 4/32 unless you want to use them as rain tires. Most states mandate at least 2/32 for highway use. Typical road tires start at about 10-12/32, although snow tires are usually deeper. Some R-compound tires come new with tread that is really quite shallow, and are not really intended to be shaved at all. Nor are they really intended to be used in wet conditions, despite being legally allowed to be used on the street. Here is an RA-1. If you shave an RA-1 down to 4/32, all those lateral groves disappear, and all you have are three grooves that run around the circumference of the tire (it looks like 4, but one is quite shallow). You also see those small holes? Those are treadwear indicators (much like 2/32 "wear bars" on regular street tires -- if you look closely, you can see the RA-1 has those wear bars, but no one pays any attention to them). As long as you can still see the holes, you still have rubber. But if they disappear, you are about to cord your tires.
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Post by jayj79 on Mar 26, 2021 18:24:37 GMT -5
at least with a motorcycle, the notion of making it louder (to some extent) has some safety benefit, since the smaller vehicle is more apt to not being seen by car/truck drivers (leading to unintentionally cutting them off or colliding), so making the bike louder could increase the chances of ensuring the other drivers know that you are there. Nah. That "loud pipes save lives" line is utter bull. It's just a self-serving rationalization for guys that like to be able to rev their motor and hear a big loud noise. If anything, in my experience it would be more likely to startle the driver of another vehicle, and that's a bad thing, not a good thing. I dunno, there have been times when I've heard a motorcycle coming before I happened to notice it coming up along side me, so that's a good thing. then again, when driving interstate speeds with my usual music volume, and the fact that the sound from the pipes isn't really directed forward, most of the time I probably wouldn't hear even the loudest bike until it was in front of me. But I definitely get quite annoyed when my neighbor drives his loud bike down the road at night (or sits there revving the engine in the driveway)
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Post by BearClause on Mar 26, 2021 18:29:34 GMT -5
Nah. That "loud pipes save lives" line is utter bull. It's just a self-serving rationalization for guys that like to be able to rev their motor and hear a big loud noise. If anything, in my experience it would be more likely to startle the driver of another vehicle, and that's a bad thing, not a good thing. I dunno, there have been times when I've heard a motorcycle coming before I happened to notice it coming up along side me, so that's a good thing. then again, when driving interstate speeds with my usual music volume, and the fact that the sound from the pipes isn't really directed forward, most of the time I probably wouldn't hear even the loudest bike until it was in front of me. But I definitely get quite annoyed when my neighbor drives his loud bike down the road at night (or sits there revving the engine in the driveway) Years ago the Oakland Police tried to justify spending $500 per Harley as a safety measure. www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Oakland-PD-s-Harleys-have-a-new-roar-3281220.php
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Post by BearClause on Mar 26, 2021 20:55:02 GMT -5
Kind of related, but I found this interesting. The pilot seemed to be on a hot mic that caught him saying stuff that he probably wishes he wasn't recorded saying. Something about liberals, Hyundais, and "rolling coal" (intentionally dumping unburned diesel exhaust to annoy people). He was apparently bagging on San Jose. And Hyundai’s, for some reason. I’ve never thought of Hyundai as a liberal thing, maybe I missed the memo? Well - also violating the FAA's "sterile flight deck rule". There's good reason too as there were several accidents that were at least partially attributed to not paying attention due to unnecessary cockpit conversation. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterile_flight_deck_ruleThat 1981 rule was in place due to Eastern Airlines 212, which crashed when landing short of the runway in 1974. The crash killed James William Colbert Jr., Paul Colbert, and Peter Colbert. I think many would recognize the name. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Air_Lines_Flight_212www.biography.com/news/stephen-colbert-father-brothers-plane-crash
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