Maplewood Motorcyclists?

Congrats on the new bike, @hillsider. The route we did today was about 59 miles of mostly low-speed but fun roads, including a stroll through the "Mansion District" of Mendham. I think it would be perfect for you and your Blast. I can't do it tomorrow, but maybe next Sunday or Monday?

Sounds great, will stay tuned for other rides meet ups!

@hillsider, @seaweed, @calgaryjeff, @jmhndrxz, @sportsnut,

Do you guys have opinions on when the next one should be? Trying to maximize attendance.

adding @spysonic

I might be able to do early Saturday morning or possibly Monday morning.

Can I ask a general motorcycle question - why are some bikes so LOUD?! Some guy rode down my street last night at 9pm and revved his engine so thunderously loud, it literally shook my bookshelf. It also woke up our baby.

I know it's probably cool and fun to rev an engine. But.... ?

@composerjohn, some motorcycle owners like the sound of their engines so much, they replace the stock (original) exhausts with an exhaust that has less of a sound muffling effect.

There are other reasons riders do this, such as weight reduction or freer air flow for more horsepower, but in my experience the main (stated) reason for moving to an aftermarket exhaust is the sound.

Some argue that a louder bike is safer, as it makes drivers more aware of motorcycles in their vicinity, and less likely to hit them (the #1 cause for injury and death for motorcyclists is collision with cars).

Other motorcyclists take issue with this practice, as it can have the side effect (experienced by you) of causing non-riders (and even some riders) to resent *all* motorcyclists for disturbing the peace (and their babies). Riders face enough challenges on the road and in the court of public opinion, so many feel that agitating the public with noise is an added burden we don't need.

I, personally, have never changed my pipes from stock to aftermarket, mainly because I ride with ear protection and the sound is muffled for me anyhow. I also rely on driving defensively to avoid being hit, so I have less (perceived) need for the aural broadcast.

I know there are others on this board that might disagree with my choice, so I've tried to write this passage in as non-judgmental a way as possible

Thank you @marcsiry. Excellent explanation. Appreciate it.

I understand the safety issue, but wow... it seemed louder than a fire engine. It was explosively loud. It was obscene, especially on a small side street.

Because it was not a motorcycle, it was a Harley with a noise maker knob to provide a going faster feel as it gets louder by twisting the throttle.
Joking aside... Loud pipes saves live is simply a fallacy. Majority of the bike collisions do not involve but inability of rider to maintain the control of their bikes. Motorcycle collisions involving cars are either the vehicle coming into the travel path of rider or changing lanes without checking first. The drivers who cut into the path of the rider claim that they have not seen the motorcycle. Loud pipes are very hard to hear if you are in your car and the pipes are not in front of you or immediately next to you. Think about the number times you were startled by a passing by loud Harley but you did not even know they were approaching behind you. I have dealt with numerous bike v car collisions with fatalities, as part of my job, none involved "not being heard". I have lost rider friends, none involved not being heard.
If you want a safety future on your bike; be a safe rider. Loud pipes will not make anyone a better rider but nuisance. Needles to say, I have no love for people who make their bikes louder nor stock bikes sold by Harley which are deliberately made to be loud. Horsepower gain is another fallacy due to straight pipes with less or no restriction. Modern engines' are designed to optimize the fuel/power ratio. Altering it might add few horsepower but for what? To annoy people? That works for sure.
I have an aftermarket set on one of my bikes but to reduce weight and increase clearance, not to increase HP or noise to make me safer on the road. You would be hard pressed to see any "loud" bike other than a Harley on the road.
Speaking of which... I have plenty of those.

If it shook your house, the bike in question probably had straight pipes, which means no muffler. It's basically an open header system which give some horse power increase if the fuel system has been tuned to suit, which usually doesn't happen with Harleys. Feel content in the knowledge that this guy is probably accruing thousands of dollars in engine damage by burning up his pistons and valves with a lean mixture.



I have a full race exhaust on my bike and includes a muffler. It's roughly twice as loud as it was before, meaning it's as loud as two bikes next to each other. It give's me about 10% more horsepower and weighs 9 lbs. less, both of which is significant on a bike that started with 83 BHP and 300+ lbs. It also sounds dead sexy.

There are other ways to make similar performance gains, but they involve taking apart the engine and a lot of money. And why would you not ALSO do the exhaust if you did those? The exhaust system is usually the first thing people do because it is easy and cheap.

sportsnut said:

I might be able to do early Saturday morning or possibly Monday morning.

If we don't have rain Saturday morning I could be on board. We'll be out of town Monday for the holliday, but you guys should totally go without me if I can't make it.

Oh, and don't forget we're getting thunderstorms in the afternoon on Saturday.

No ride today?

Kid's birthday party for me. Talking to another group about going for a very early (sunrise) ride on Monday. Interested?

@maecsiey wonder if it's the same party we are going to on Rynda? I'm interested in the Monday ride if there room?

mja said:

No ride today?

Would have been up for an early ride. Canceled the twisted throttle ride because of the PM thunderstorms. I'll ride in rain but not lightning. Once that was off the schedule the Mrs controls the calendar.

Maybe next weekend for me. Seems like more people are around.

8:30 next Saturday at the park side of Maplewood train station?

Works for me.

GGartrell said:

@maecsiey wonder if it's the same party we are going to on Rynda? I'm interested in the Monday ride if there room?

Nope, it was *my* kid's party, at my house, so no way to miss that one! I am sure there's room for you on the early ride Monday- so far it's just me and the other dude! I'll post up when I have more details.

Bit of late notice- but I'm meeting my totally cool, totally Buell riding friend here at 6:30 AM Monday:

Town Square Diner - 320 New Jersey 15, Wharton, NJ 07885

We will do a NNJ loop and who knows what else.

All (early risers) welcome!

Great ride today! Blended my NWNJ route with a crossover on RT17A to Harriman and spent the rest of the day there. Fantastic day for a ride!

Sorry I couldn't make it Monday, I decided to take my bike down to Pt. Pleasant. Changed the oil by myself on Saturday, woke up early on Monday and was on the road by 8:30 (early for me). Traffic was not bad at all at that time so it was a nice ride even tho the traffic on the GSP was a little hairy at times. Came back very late last night - around 11 after traffic had subsided. It was a nice ride too as it had cooled off nicely.

Wow, that's a long day, @sportsnut. I was going to offer to help you change the oil in a couple of weeks - I did mine on Sunday, but I had a little help...

Who's on for Saturday morning at 8:30? (I think I'm going to drink less coffee this time.)

I'll be at a Triumph rally in Vermont- I'll catch you all next time.

Wife's out of town this weekend so I'm on daughter-duty. I'll be changing my oil Saturday if anyone is looking for a driveway wrench day.

RuhiA said:

Because it was not a motorcycle, it was a Harley with a noise maker knob to provide a going faster feel as it gets louder by twisting the throttle.
Joking aside... Loud pipes saves live is simply a fallacy. Majority of the bike collisions do not involve but inability of rider to maintain the control of their bikes. Motorcycle collisions involving cars are either the vehicle coming into the travel path of rider or changing lanes without checking first. The drivers who cut into the path of the rider claim that they have not seen the motorcycle. Loud pipes are very hard to hear if you are in your car and the pipes are not in front of you or immediately next to you. Think about the number times you were startled by a passing by loud Harley but you did not even know they were approaching behind you. I have dealt with numerous bike v car collisions with fatalities, as part of my job, none involved "not being heard". I have lost rider friends, none involved not being heard.
If you want a safety future on your bike; be a safe rider. Loud pipes will not make anyone a better rider but nuisance. Needles to say, I have no love for people who make their bikes louder nor stock bikes sold by Harley which are deliberately made to be loud. Horsepower gain is another fallacy due to straight pipes with less or no restriction. Modern engines' are designed to optimize the fuel/power ratio. Altering it might add few horsepower but for what? To annoy people? That works for sure.
I have an aftermarket set on one of my bikes but to reduce weight and increase clearance, not to increase HP or noise to make me safer on the road. You would be hard pressed to see any "loud" bike other than a Harley on the road.
Speaking of which... I have plenty of those.

Not to be argumentative RuhiA, but there are a few issues with this post. First, not all Harleys are loud, and none of the ones that come straight from the factory are louder than gov't regs allow. Mine is a Softail with stock pipes and is not loud at all. Second, the guy on a crotch rocket weaving in and out of traffic on the Parkway at 100 MPH, keeping his bike in 3rd gear so it is in the power band close to the 12000 RPM redline, is way louder than most Harleys. These are the worst, because they are not only loud but seemingly come out of nowhere, startling every car driver they come up next to. When you startle me as a driver, you have momentarily caused my reaction to be somewhat unpredictable. This is no different than a Harley guy on a bike with straight pipes, but at least they are usually riding with the flow of traffic, not weaving in and out at high speed, and therefore more predictable. Yes I don't like loud pipes, but as a car driver, I have never had a near miss with someone on a Harley. I can't say the same about the crotch rocket guys.

Alright. Great discussion on the merits of cruisers vs. sport bikes. Let's call it done and get back on topic. Other topics can be discussed in different threads. This one is meant to be inclusive of all motorcyclists.

So who's coming tomorrow morning?

marcsiry said:

Wow, that's a long day, @sportsnut. I was going to offer to help you change the oil in a couple of weeks - I did mine on Sunday, but I had a little help...

@marcsiry Whoa! How much oil does that thing take?

3L. I had an extra liter left over in one jug. Poured the old oil back in that one.

If anyone wants to know how to turn a $50 oil change into a $500 oil change, all you have to do is over tighten the drain plug.