Age and persepctive
Discussion
So apropos of nothing, but I was driving back home through London yesterday afternoon, when a gaggle of motorbikes tore past enthusiastically.
A few of which had 'motorsport' pipes on the back.
Being the owner of noisy cars myself, I thought nothing of it, right up to the point it scared the life out of my 2 kids in the back (2 and 3yo). Sufficiently for the youngest to cry quite a lot.
Which made me think that I should be more observant / considerate before opening the taps in future.
Just wondering if others have had similar thoughts before?
Maybe I'm just getting old.
A few of which had 'motorsport' pipes on the back.
Being the owner of noisy cars myself, I thought nothing of it, right up to the point it scared the life out of my 2 kids in the back (2 and 3yo). Sufficiently for the youngest to cry quite a lot.
Which made me think that I should be more observant / considerate before opening the taps in future.
Just wondering if others have had similar thoughts before?
Maybe I'm just getting old.
I can see how bike exhausts are alarming, sometimes you dont notice them when they are on part throttle and sat behind you other than spotting a motorcyle in your rear view mirror and then when they hoof it past the sound can make you jump as it goes from a low burble to a scream in half a second.
There are a few supercar owners round our way who are driving like tossers based on the noise, definitely not normal cars, I quite like hearing one being wound out down the bypass during daylight hours but not at 2am as has become the norm down the 30 mph main road round the corner.
Similar are those people who think setting off fireworks after midnight is a good idea.
There are a few supercar owners round our way who are driving like tossers based on the noise, definitely not normal cars, I quite like hearing one being wound out down the bypass during daylight hours but not at 2am as has become the norm down the 30 mph main road round the corner.
Similar are those people who think setting off fireworks after midnight is a good idea.
Cactussed said:
Which made me think that I should be more observant / considerate before opening the taps in future.
Just wondering if others have had similar thoughts before?
Maybe I'm just getting old.
Yep, you're not alone - all my vehicles (cars/bikes) now run more-or-less standard quiet exhaust systems (and intakes) - I don't feel the need (now) to modify them either in the pursuit of more power or aural enjoyment.Just wondering if others have had similar thoughts before?
Maybe I'm just getting old.
Neighbours are happier I'm sure and it's much easier to use performance while in 'stealth' mode.
Didn't always think like that, but as you get older you do tend to become more conscious of others; mid-50's now BTW.
Thanks to work, I have had the misfortune to stay in a hotel next to a roundabout in Crawley for the last few nights. I was surprised by how regularly the air was split by people razzing their vehicles around. Mostly bikes with aftermarket exhausts (the ones I saw while out and about nearby), but also chavved up hatches, nice stuff like M4s, and some stuff that sounded quite exotic.
I'm all for finding ways to enjoy yourself on the road, but was pretty depressed by how many people thought a busy, built up area was an appropriate place to wring out every last drop from your engine, not to mention how antisocial the timing was. Anything from early in the morning to midnight seemed fair game. Some people are just tiresome bell ends.
I'm not sure this is really on topic now I've typed it, but maybe noticing things like this is an age thing too.
I'm all for finding ways to enjoy yourself on the road, but was pretty depressed by how many people thought a busy, built up area was an appropriate place to wring out every last drop from your engine, not to mention how antisocial the timing was. Anything from early in the morning to midnight seemed fair game. Some people are just tiresome bell ends.
I'm not sure this is really on topic now I've typed it, but maybe noticing things like this is an age thing too.
I've had loud exhausts on cars and motorbikes.
I try and be as quiet as I can at antisocial hours and in built up areas.
Motorbikes are far worse as they are much louder on loud pipes, especially when some muppet removes the baffles in their aftermarket stubby zorst. A friend of mine was due to drive 2 miles across town to meet us on his bike, without his baffles we heard him leave his house and could hear his progress all the way.
I don't think I have ever heard a car as loud and antisocial as the worst offenders on motorbikes.
I try and be as quiet as I can at antisocial hours and in built up areas.
Motorbikes are far worse as they are much louder on loud pipes, especially when some muppet removes the baffles in their aftermarket stubby zorst. A friend of mine was due to drive 2 miles across town to meet us on his bike, without his baffles we heard him leave his house and could hear his progress all the way.
I don't think I have ever heard a car as loud and antisocial as the worst offenders on motorbikes.
A few times a year I can guarantee that when I'm walking along the narrow, built-up street from the nearest car-park into the city centre that some utter muppet on a Harley will come thundering his way down it, no doubt his flaccid member twitching beneath his leather chaps at the dB count he's farting out.
On an open road or track it's fine, but driving through a crowded city street with the intent of making everyone in a 1 mile radius hear you coming is pretty pathetic. It hurts my ears and I do wonder what it does to kids in buggies who are nearer the exhaust - albeit briefly.
Norwich Harley rider(s) - go forth and multiply.
On an open road or track it's fine, but driving through a crowded city street with the intent of making everyone in a 1 mile radius hear you coming is pretty pathetic. It hurts my ears and I do wonder what it does to kids in buggies who are nearer the exhaust - albeit briefly.
Norwich Harley rider(s) - go forth and multiply.
Definitely an age thing and I'm fully on board with it.
Making lots of unnecessary noise seems to be THE big thing with cars now. You can't read a review without their being mention of how it sounds and manufacturers seem to be locked in a war to produce a car that makes the most unnecessary gearshift farts and over run gattling gun crackles as possible. The jaguar F type is bloody ridiculous. It just seems to be what generation show off want.
This trend is actually why I have less issue with piped in synthetic noise. Make them whisper quiet outside and let the inhabitants think they're making lots of noise.
As for folk that stick stupid noisy exhausts on crotch rockets, those people have other issues. Dogs as well, more specifically my neighbours dog, noisy wee 4rsehole of a thing keeps barking and waking my kids in the middle of the night. Add it to the list.
Making lots of unnecessary noise seems to be THE big thing with cars now. You can't read a review without their being mention of how it sounds and manufacturers seem to be locked in a war to produce a car that makes the most unnecessary gearshift farts and over run gattling gun crackles as possible. The jaguar F type is bloody ridiculous. It just seems to be what generation show off want.
This trend is actually why I have less issue with piped in synthetic noise. Make them whisper quiet outside and let the inhabitants think they're making lots of noise.
As for folk that stick stupid noisy exhausts on crotch rockets, those people have other issues. Dogs as well, more specifically my neighbours dog, noisy wee 4rsehole of a thing keeps barking and waking my kids in the middle of the night. Add it to the list.
Did you have any windows open?
Never had my kids get a fright from exhaust noise, car or bike. Then again, when i notice something load coming up, i tend to alert by going "oh look, a motorbike!" in the hopes that they would learn about anything petrol powered sooner.
And yeah, im 31, and if i werent deathly affraid of looking like a right pillock with a drainpipe under a measly 1.6 hatchback, i'd be the loudest thing in the street
(if only my 147 were a GTA..)
Never had my kids get a fright from exhaust noise, car or bike. Then again, when i notice something load coming up, i tend to alert by going "oh look, a motorbike!" in the hopes that they would learn about anything petrol powered sooner.
And yeah, im 31, and if i werent deathly affraid of looking like a right pillock with a drainpipe under a measly 1.6 hatchback, i'd be the loudest thing in the street
(if only my 147 were a GTA..)I had similar yesterday. 30 mph zone and some t
t on a bike absolutely screamed past at about 80, cutting me up to the point i mover pit of the way. He was followed by his mate with no rear plate. I saw them coming but they would easily scare most road users.
I am sure many of us drive quickly at times but their speed and aggression surely means they will soon be donors...
t on a bike absolutely screamed past at about 80, cutting me up to the point i mover pit of the way. He was followed by his mate with no rear plate. I saw them coming but they would easily scare most road users.I am sure many of us drive quickly at times but their speed and aggression surely means they will soon be donors...
TBH I think the same when passing cyclists in the RS 4, I know the sound inside the car sounds good but from the outside.... I've been overtaken by bikes and cars which have opened the taps and sometimes it sounds awesome, other times it sounds like st. Depends on the exhaust I guess.
I do try and not be too noisy but sometimes the kickdown drops a gear or two more than needed ;-)
t. Depends on the exhaust I guess.I do try and not be too noisy but sometimes the kickdown drops a gear or two more than needed ;-)
Cactussed said:
Maybe I'm just getting old.
Nope. just the UK is getting noisier, more packed and ever more stressful, Narcissism and showing off is on the increase and people of all ages are getting less tolerant to it. Mainland Europe strives to become quieter and cleaner as the UK gets noisier and dirtier. UK always has been the poor man of Europe, far less sophisticated than the mainland (just look at our vile housing estate culture with cheap and tacky homes) and IMO there was no point being in the EU. We were often fined for missing pollution targets and get proposed new laws overturned to protect the UK's makers of illegal pipes such as the one banning loud pipes via the EU blanket ban on modifications
I've been trying to make the point in another thread that 'loud pipes lose rights' . Vehicle emissions have a very bad press at the moment and its getting worse. How long before bikes are required to have catalyst converters as a way to keep them quieter? An activist could Kill two birds with one stone right there.
I'm a biker and break the speed limit everywhere, to be fair it's difficult not to. I admit we are pretty much immune to all laws and speed limits, especially using a small rear plate and no front plate.
but I gave up the loud pipes years ago. One reason is a loud pipe just advertises youre speeding giving ammo to the people wanting to slow the roads down to a crawl, another one was I used to compete where we were under strict noise controls and learnt to appreciate the stigma attached to bikers and loudness. (we're hated) We lost motocross tracks as society became less tolerant. People within our own group were t wats in not keeping to the rules. I also used to do some Kart racing and got to the point where we were being reported for noise violations and it turned out to be friends of racers on sportsbikes with GP pipes riding through the village to watch us.
The village in question was actually subjected to a by-pass with constant F1 type sounds from Japanese sports bikes a plus the Harley problem, with the Police unable to do anything, so they take it out on the local Kart track to gain at least some peace. Councils have more power on property, than Police do/or care about on the roads.
loud pipes are illegal, but we (and exhaust makers) are also protected by the MOT as it doesn't require the engine to be revved like with the car test.
A bloke I know has 'not for road use' on his GP Pro pipe (which is a failure) , so he puts some electrical tape over it and the MOT man just laughs and passes it (yes I call him out for it too) The same MOT guy has a Police officer's bike in for service with no baffle in his Arrow exhaust (sounds like an old F1 car apparently) go figure, even the Police are at it.
Another who ran a stupidly small plate finally got pulled and now he has a full sized plate bolted to the inside of the rear mudguard facing the road and they cant touch him for it. he just claims it got bent and gets away on all the ANPRs and speed cameras.
The loud pipe thing is an ego boost and gives a feel-good factor. You think everyone thinks you're cool or a hero, then your frontal lobes develop at 21 and then grow out of it. Or some people do.... Narcissism seems to be a disease on the increase.
Harley riders are the worse, serious issues affecting their self-esteem. Genuinely feel sorry for them.
This South Park episode sums them up perfectly.
http://southpark.cc.com/full-episodes/s13e12-the-f...
short version
https://youtu.be/xGyKBFCd_u4
Edited by oilspill on Wednesday 31st August 21:42
Edited by oilspill on Wednesday 31st August 21:44
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