I LOVE to hear a loud bike/car/Cobra drive by...it's when they REV it up (sometimes REPEATEDLY!) at a stop sign/light that gets my hackles up. Driving thru a residential neighborhood I think all drivers with louder than stock exhausts (you know what I mean) should drive thru as quietly as possible.

Kinda nice to hear the bikers coming when they are splitting traffic on the freeways. It gives you a chance to move over a bit so you have room and they have room. Be loud but don't be obnoxious, this can apply to everyone. I go quietly through the neighborhood, but I also know some of my neighbors live vicariously through me and want to hear me rev it up. I don't speed through the neighborhood either, but some of those quiet hybrids do.

John

So, now that they have red light cameras they don't have to write tickets for people running through intersections causing all sorts of problems, they can pick on the loud people and those without front plates to raise extra money for their municipality. Meanwhile, the folks texting while driving and god knows what else go on their merry way - but at least their quiet until they crash that is.

It is not so much that Harleys are the problem as it is the shear number of Harleys.If it were the shear number of sidepiped Cobras it would be the same complaints.The few sidepiped snakes I have ridden in both small and big block powered,can be equally as loud,to some annoying.Both my Harleys have huge engines spewing through performance tuned exhaust,like my Cobra,sound truly incredible.By themselves and with consideration to the public not annoying at all.The blame is with the owner/driver,not the Harley or the Cobra.

And there are a lot of Harleys in the summer. And they are pretty much all loud. And pretty much ridden by goofballs that run them wide open in town. The govt. has started cracking down, many places with decibel meters, and places like CA simply ticketing people for any pipe other than stock. That's all due to citizen complaints of loud bikes.

It's possible to drive a pretty loud car/bike in a quiet way. Just shift early and don't use too much throttle. That's a good respectful compromise when there are cars or houses around. Out of civilization, feel free to lay on it WFO. So the operator can mitigate the problem....

That being said, I've heard some REALLY ****ing loud bikes. Like I'm in the Cobra and can still hear them going through the gears a mile in front of me OVER the Cobras exhaust. Too loud. So, the machines themselves can be an issue. You need a socially acceptable exhaust. It can be loud, but should be able to be tamed in town. You wouldn't drive the Cobra around town open headers, would you?

And I DO sort of justify my Harley and Cobra BECAUSE of my neighbor's lawn mower. It's loud as piss - I can't be in my garage when he's mowing - and he mows for 4 hours every Saturday. ****ing drives me crazy! So he, and the world, can put up with my car/bike when I'm passing their houses at 11PM (at a reserved rpm/throttle level of course).

BTW, I hired a landscaping firm that's very inexpensive and mows my yard - same yard as neighbors - in 20 minutes every Wed morning. Doesn't bother anyone.... Weekend mowing should be illegal.