Why are motorcycles so loud (especially choppers)? Isn’t there anything can be done with their mufflers?
In: Engineering
Motorcycles have the fundamental problem that their exhausts are short and their mufflers are small.
I have a motorcycle with a relatively small engine, exhaust pipes that run the full length of the bike, and mufflers that weight 11kg *each*. It’s still loud.
About 10% of my bike is muffler. Nobody is going to fit a bigger muffler than that.
As you can probably imagine, anyone who wants to save weight (which matters on motorcycles more than cars, partly because you rarely push cars anywhere) will see an obvious weight saving to be made, and indeed smaller aftermarket ones exist. They are lounder.
These also appeal to dickheads who like being loud.
Some motorcyclists say that loudness is a safety feature. “Loud pipes save lives.” I don’t disagree, but I’ve never seen a fellow rider make that argument while wearing a high visibility vest. Loud shirts save lives too, but they aren’t as cool.
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