Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Loud pipes save Cop lives in Oakland

I recently made a post asking if anyone was aware of evidence supporting the claim "loud pipes save lives". Nothing conclusive came back but I did find this article from the San Francisco Chronicle on the 93 decibel pipes the Oakland PD is installing on their Harleys. According to the article, "It seems the cops just didn't feel safe on toned-down bikes." The article refers to an inconclusive study the city did on the subject. Maybe the Oakland motorcycle cops just like to sound cool?
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5 comments:

mq01 said...

they DO have fantastic sounding bikes, i can attest to that. interesting that there is actually an article on this. great post.

David said...

Thanks for the comment. A good sounding bike is important especially for the police.

Anonymous said...

The OPD should be writing tickets for these obnoxiously loud bikes, not joining in on the noise.
How can it possibly be legal, or even defended, to have bikes on city streets that are so loud that every resident must stop the dinner conversation just to let the hog pass out side? I used to appreciate those big shiny bikes, now I just think "narcissistic ass" whenever they thunder by.

Anonymous said...

No one said the police were smart.

Anonymous said...

As I've told my daughter when she wanted to fork out $$$ she didn't really have for "better pipes"... "If this 'louder pipes' BS was true, then HONDA, BMW, and others- would be an extinct species!".
After 23 years riding, 8 bikes (only latest a STOCK Harley), and over 265,000 cumulative miles; the only thing 'loud pipes' got me was... my 67 Honda was sent to the back of the (Harley) pack, 'cause my pipes (baffles removed) were TOO LOUD even for them to ride behind me.
In today's society- there's more of THEM (who want to silence us) than we riders- and WHY would you want to wake up (and piss off) the 'sleeping giant' that can take us off the road.
Me- I'd rather ride quiet- than not be able to ride at all.

STROLR in Virginia