Quote:
Originally Posted by 04gto
RE: "stanced" cars:
I am very much a function over form kind of guy, not just when it comes to cars, but everything in life. If it is an air scoop or spoiler, it has to be functional, not for style. Having said all that cars that are "stanced" to the extreme so as not to be safe or worse, drive like shit are often unsafe and fucking stupid. I am sure the owners IQ levels are completely inline with there suspension setup. To each his or her own I guess.....
I completely disagree that loud exhausts do not potentially save lives for motorcyclists.
I am a motorcyclist been riding bikes on and off road for 33 years. I am also a "cager" for more than 22 years and I drive/ride more than 30k miles every year. Loud pipes do not always help but there is many circumstances where they will definitely save lives. Just because most "cagers" are completely oblivious to motorcycles and do not hear your bike, does not mean that 0% do. Case in point here in LA when commuting as a "cager" there has been MANY times when I was going to make a lane change on the freeway only to hear an exhaust note (often from a Ducati as there are tons of them here) and cancel my lane change only to have a motorcycle appear out of my blind spot. I have also many times been splitting lanes on my motorcycle and been in the exact inverse of that situation where a car or bus only noticed me after I revved or blipped a little on my GSX-R 1000. Any time that someone can hear your motorcycle or see you in traffic it can save your life. Exhaust helps in the same way that a reflective strip or bright color might help out at night.
|
I still stand by my statement loud pipes don't save lives. It's the nut under the helmet that does. I've witnessed plenty of crashes in my time while riding and have been on the other end when I used to volunteer as an EMT. These crashes were with motorcycles with loud exhausts. While many incidents between motorcyclists and cagers are due to the lowest common denominator licensing system in place for people to legally drive 2 ton weapons, there are usually signs or something that the motorcyclist should have noticed to avoid the situation.
Your example of Ducati's is near and dear to me as I own one. As I mentioned, it's not a quiet one. Just a few weeks ago coming back from the beach, I was BESIDE...and NOT in this idiot's blind spot. I am literally right next to the driver and the idiot still made a lane change into my lane. I saw it coming and swerved left while on the horn. The funny thing is the horn was what startled the idiot. The brain dead driver never bothered to check her mirrors, look to the side to see if it's clear, or even utilize her peripheral vision...something that is part of the DMV vision test in my area. That's just one of many incidents I have avoided.
The recounting of your lane splitting experience doesn't persuade me either. I personally would never lane split even if it's legal in my area. I had a talk with one of the riding coaches for California Superbike School that live in that area. We were talking about lane splitting for some reason and he said he would never do it. It's just asking for trouble and this is a guy that routinely goes in the higher triple digit speed range and dragging knees.
Anyways, we're straying way off topic.