Posted on 08/28/2013 3:05:14 AM PDT by rellimpank
West Allis resident John Glass used to pull up to intersections on his motorcycle and sometimes find he was stuck.
Traffic lights remained red because they didn't sense his bike, and the longtime motorcycle enthusiast would have to take a roundabout route or wait for a car to come and trigger the sensors.
Today, Glass knows what to do: He simply runs the red lights.
With thousands of Harley riders descending on Milwaukee this week for Harley-Davidson's 110th anniversary celebration, you might see quite a few motorcyclists running red lights — and they have the right to do so, under certain circumstances.
A 2006 state statute says motorcyclists and bicyclists can go through red lights if they believe traffic signals aren't picking up their presence, if the intersection is free of cross traffic and if they've waited at least 45 seconds.
The problem, Glass said, is not a lot of people, including police officers, seem to know the law exists.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
I do not doubt your statement about your motorcycles. However, how does one get around the everyday evidence that yours is a minority viewpoint?
Oh, meow.
Yeah, I've done that too. Pain in the butt, but it beats waiting for a car, or risking being seen by an ignorant cop and the resulting 15-minute wait while they figure out common sense.
Same with my Harley. It came with some aftermarket pipes (Vance and Hines) that were too loud for me, so I put on some 2-1 SuperTrapp. I can adjust the baffles to suit my noise level, still has a nice sound, just not ear splitting.
As one who used to ride a Harley, and then falling on hard times sold his bike off, but hopes he might come on better times and get another bike... I’ve wondered if anyone makes, or if there are even fabrication plans available for, a toggleable wastegate for bike exhaust, so your machine can roar and thunder when you want it to, and it can be quiet when you want it to, all at the flip of a lever accessible while riding. (Your neighbors might appreciate it if you had your bike in quiet mode when returning home in the wee hours.) Extra points for concomitant adjustment of the air intake and fuel injection/carburetion system so that the machine runs optimally in both configurations.
Thanks! I do what I can.
One thing I'd like to point out, is that I've met some of the most wonderful people since I've started riding. (I ride just about every day - except if there is ice on the road). I haven't been able to make many Patriot Guard rides since my wife was diagnosed with cancer a couple of years ago, but the folks I've met doing that are some of the most amazingly patriotic folk you'll ever meet. Most are veterans, which explains a lot of that, but I can't tell you how deeply touched I've been being a small part of their organization.
Another thing that is fairly amazing IMO is that you almost can't pull off the side of the road to take a phone call for a couple of minutes without having another biker (or cager who rides) stopping to make sure everything is OK.
i have ten motorcycles, of them three older Goldwings, an 81,84,85 all Interstates, two Yamaha Ventures an 83 and an 89 Royale my favorite bike with its sweet quiet V4. Two Honda Cx bikes a 500 and a 650 and it has used Dyna pipes on it, really quiet, like riding a sewing machine.
My new Star XVS1300 with its drilled out stock exhaust is still quiet.
Loud pipes do nothing but make noise, too many vehicles are being built with better sound protection, and some even have sound canceling systems in the audio package like the Bose systems, sends out a counter frequency.
I would actually prefer a near quiet bike, its already common knowledge bikers are invisible, cagers stare right at you and run right into you, turn in front of you or ride your tail like you are nothing in front of them.
Frankly I can actually live with being in stealth mode, bikes have no Onstar that can be hacked by the innnessae nor can they be easily tracked.
What evidence do you have that mine is the minority viewpoint?
Personally, loud pipes do not bother me (on bikes or cars) as long as the engine is well-tuned. However, I recognize that noise bothers others, so I try to keep my own bikes (and cars) out of the 'super-loud' realm. I do like to at least be able to hear my own engine though, no matter what I'm riding/driving. I love the different 'songs' sung by the various cylinder quantities and configurations of internal combustion engines.
As far as loud only being loud, in my competitive roadracing days (mostly Japanese 4-cylinder sport-bikes) I learned that 'louder' pipes (i.e. those which are less restrictive & provide higher flow) CAN do more than simply make noise. As long as one was willing to tune the bike to the exhaust by rejetting carbs at a minimum, and performing head work to increase intake flow when necessary, significant power gains were to be had at relatively low cost. Sadly, a lot of people who switch out their pipes do not take the time to do the necessary tuning, so their bikes are not only obnoxiously loud, they run and sound like crap.
By the way, many of the tracks I raced at had noise limits, and they enforced them (usually 100 decibels at track side on the front straight).
PS - My first street bike was a 1981 CX500. That was a great bike, and I loved the Moto Guzzi-style V-twin with a cylinder sticking out each side.
us sportbikers have some noisy friends, but in my opinion an unmuffled R-1 is only annoying at full honk. Unmuffled Harleys are obnoxious even at idle. Your opinion may be different.
Mine (1994 FZR-1000 Yamaha) is getting prepped for the fall season this weekend. I don' ride on holiday weekends. Even polishing a bike is fun!
My evidence, since I’m much too lazy to look up the information, is being 72 years old and having heard motorcycles all my life. Almost all of them are loud, very loud.
Every Saturday when I go into town I come across the motorcycle “clubs” out on the road. Unless my hearing is deceiving me, they have nothing but rudimentary mufflers.
I have run across letters to the editor in which they posit the question (unanswered): why are car engines muffled and motorcycle engines not?
So, the ones you notice are loud.
What about the ones you don’t notice?
Yeah. Back when I worked third shift there was a light that was induction-activated (no timer AT ALL) and I got caught sitting there in the yammerhammer 650.
Once.
The corner gas station had entrances on both sides of the corner.
Pigs in B’town will bust you for avoiding the light at 5:30 A.M. just as bad as if you ran a red-light so I had to be careful. Hell, one of them rousted me for swerving to avoid running over a kitten (maybe he was former BATF).
Harley Davidson: A machine that turns gasoline into noise without side effects like horsepower.
BWAHAHahahaha!! Back in the day AMF owned the Harley brand, we used to joke that the road need oiling every time a HD went by...
Air: fuel ratio is an issue on carbureted. There are kits for cutoffs to run straight pipe vs muffled, but you’ll lose performance on one or the other.
I also have another restoration 'project' which has received very little attention of late. It's a 1974 Yamaha 100cc 4-stroke street bike (unsure of designation: possible MT100?). It is complete as far as major systems go, but is missing a few parts and needs a thorough going through. Now that I live less than 10 miles form work, that one might be a good candidate to finish up and get on the road - it'll probably have a top speed of about 60 mph, but I bet it will get 80 miles per gallon.
Whereabouts in Alaska are you?
By the way, if you're ever fixing up an old Yamaha FJ600 and need parts for it, send me a message; I've got a good bit of stuff for those.
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