Seeing Tom's post on his bikes and the other responses has made me want to share this safety tip. I used to be a MSF instructor here in Canada. I want to share a riding tip that has saved me and a lot of people I have shared this with. The m/c safety book tells you to make eye contact with the driver at an approaching intersection to ensure he sees you. THIS IS WRONG!! I have been a policeman for 17 years and have investigated many m/c collisions including my time as a collision reconstructionist (investigating fatalities). The one commonality between so many of these crashes...the other driver saying "I didn't see the motorcycle". My tip is thus: You cannot EVER assume someone sees you. What you can do is see what they are doing and intend on doing. How do you do that? If you're coming up to a 90 degree angle intersection with a driver approaching to the side, you WATCH THE WHEELS. The wheels will tell you exactly what that car is going to do. Are the wheels stopped? Are they rolling slowly? Are the wheels turned indicating an impending turn? The wheels tell the story, not the driver's face. This is a simple thing to do that if you practice will become second nature even in your car. Of course you always want to assume the worse and slow down approaching any intersection but this added tool will clue you in to what's happening. If the wheels are rolling quickly or have just started to accelerate, you KNOW you're not seen. The other thing I have done is to copy my police motorcycle and have installed dual air horns on the bike. I don't get how the manufacturers could install such wimpy horns. Your pipes project back..horns project forward. Safe riding everyone!
thanks richy, watching the wheels is something i not only practice while riding bikes but also when driving my car. people are many times not paying attention to what's going on around them so its always good to stay alert
I think it's key to getting a very loud aftermarket exhaust! I know it projects towards the rear but if it's loud enough, I don't think it'll really matter, especially when you rev it to get someone's attention, LoL.
good tips. my only complain is that motorcycles can get almost straight pipes that are loud as hell but regular cars have restriction on amount of noise they can make. if somebody tells me its couse its harder to see motorcycles then im sorry its not good enough for me. if its hard to see motorcycle then make DRL mandatory on those things and additional lights on sides
Those loud pipes you are talking about are in fact illegal in a lot of areas, just not enforced. I've had friends out here ticketed for running aftermarket exhausts on sport bikes as well as Harleys. Too loud is too loud regardless of the vehicle. It just depends whether the police in your area see it as a problem or not.
lol. that guy is priceless. and he just blew through stop sign and did wreckless driving on camera. dumba$$
