3 ms·

Loud pipes just piss people off. And ruin your hearing. And most likely the person in the car is yacking on the phone anyone and not listening to your $500 ch

Loud pipes just piss people off. And ruin your hearing. And most likely the person in the car is yacking on the phone anyone and not listening to your $500 chrome moly straight pipes. Harley is dying and needs to do something to attract younger buyers into the fold. Hopefully this will do that.

0xcde4c3db 9y ago
Also, in my experience most loud pipes are so bass-heavy that even when you do pay attention to them, the sound doesn't do much to help you actually locate the bike unless it's directly to the left or right.
stagger87 9y ago
Harley is definitely not dying.
- mwfunk 9y ago
  Their audience is though- the average age of a Harley owner has been trending upwards for decades. I believe it is somewhere around 67 right now, seriously. There may be some younger people buying Harleys still, but for a very long time the trend has been in the other direction. When the Boomers are gone, the company is going to have an existential crisis unless they figure out some way to expand their appeal to new demographics.
rleigh 9y ago
They are definitely bad for your hearing. In a previous job, my boss and his biker buddies were all deaf to varying degrees after years of biking. I got a 125cc bike and ended up wearing earplugs for anything but the shortest rides, and that was a relatively quiet bike. Even then, I'd have ringing ears for hours afterwards. I got rid of it before I'd had it a year for other reasons, but if I was in the market for another bike, being loud would not be on my list of desirable features. A quiet electric bike sounds great to me. As someone not really in the biker scene, I find the whole image people try to project with loud bikes etc. a bit ridiculous. It's not about the bike and enjoying riding it or just using it to get to places, it's all about what others think of you while you're doing it. It's a fashion/lifestyle statement, and it's not something I personally care about so much.

0xcde4c3db 9y ago

Also, in my experience most loud pipes are so bass-heavy that even when you do pay attention to them, the sound doesn't do much to help you actually locate the bike unless it's directly to the left or right.

stagger87 9y ago

Harley is definitely not dying.

mwfunk 9y ago
Their audience is though- the average age of a Harley owner has been trending upwards for decades. I believe it is somewhere around 67 right now, seriously. There may be some younger people buying Harleys still, but for a very long time the trend has been in the other direction. When the Boomers are gone, the company is going to have an existential crisis unless they figure out some way to expand their appeal to new demographics.

rleigh 9y ago

They are definitely bad for your hearing. In a previous job, my boss and his biker buddies were all deaf to varying degrees after years of biking. I got a 125cc bike and ended up wearing earplugs for anything but the shortest rides, and that was a relatively quiet bike. Even then, I'd have ringing ears for hours afterwards. I got rid of it before I'd had it a year for other reasons, but if I was in the market for another bike, being loud would not be on my list of desirable features. A quiet electric bike sounds great to me. As someone not really in the biker scene, I find the whole image people try to project with loud bikes etc. a bit ridiculous. It's not about the bike and enjoying riding it or just using it to get to places, it's all about what others think of you while you're doing it. It's a fashion/lifestyle statement, and it's not something I personally care about so much.