Loud noises can create serious issues then why the heck motorcycle riders love riding with loud pipes, this question comes to every care driver whenever a loud motorcycle passes them or ride behind them.
What makes Motorcycle Pipes so Loud? Motorcycle exhaust pipes are 2-3 times shorter as compared to the car exhaust pipe, and some riders replace them with aftermarket exhausts to improve the speed and reduce weight. Company fitted exhaust has chambers to reduce the volume but aftermarket exhausts are hollow from inside.
But motorcycle riders change it with the hollow exhaust pipe that doesn’t have any chambers and walls inside it which decreases the weight of the exhaust system and thus increases the top speed and loudness of their exhaust.
But there are many people who hate the loud noises coming out of motorcycle exhaust systems, and I am one of them, I love the stock exhaust because listening to loud noises for prolonged times can damage your hearing ability and can cause other serious health issues as well.
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What makes Motorcycle Pipes So LOUD
I am riding motorcycles from a very young age, my dad introduced me to it, but before hopping to a motorcycle they teach me a lot of things and they taught me about aftermarket exhausts as well.
As a kid, I also love the loud motorcycles passing by, but as I grow older these loud motorcycles start irritating me, and that is why I never used any kind of after-market exhaust on any one of my motorcycles.
Not only motorcycles create loud noises, but there are many sports cars that create such noises, and the reason for their loud noise is the same, they change their full exhaust system which is completely hollow from the inside, and that is why it becomes so loud and can create backfires as well, which can seriously damage the engine in a long run.
- Motorcycle Exhaust Pipe is Shorter than the car’s exhaust pipe: The length of the loudness of motorcycle pipes is the length of the pipe which is usually 1 or 2 feet in length as compared to the 12-13 feet of the car. There is very little space for the high-pressure gas to move inside it.
- Motorcycle Riders change their stock Exhaust system with After Market ones: I don’t know if you noticed or not, that motorcycles that come from the manufacturer are not that loud as compared to the motorcycles that you saw on highways and streets, because the stock exhaust has many small chambers inside it to reduce and absorb the energy and noise coming out from the engine, but that exhaust system weight around 15-20 pounds.
But motorcycle owners change the stock exhaust with an aftermarket one that doesn’t have any kind of chambers and catalytic converter in it, to improve the top speed and increase the sound of the exhaust.
If you reduce any kind of weight from the motorcycle that can help you in achieving more speed, and the aftermarket exhaust makes their motorcycle look cooler as well.
- Motorcycle Engines are not Closed with any kind of sound-absorbing material: The engines of motorcycle also creates noises when you pull the throttle to full, as the engine is completely open to the surrounding, which also increases the loudness of motorcycle.
Inside that small engine, there are many things happening like explosions inside the pistons, gear shits, throttle, etc. which increases the loudness.
Why are Motorcycles Louder than Cars?
You might have this question in your mind as well as I had if Motorcycles has smaller engines then why are motorcycles louder than cars? There are three main reasons why motorcycles are louder than cars.
Motorcycle engines are open to the surrounding, and there is no soundproofing material covering them to absorb the noise coming out from them, motorcycle exhaust is smaller in size that decreases the room inside it to move the high energy gasses, which then creates loud noise when they come out of exhaust pipe.
Motorcycle engines has a higher power band, a normal car can go upto 5k-6k RPM limit for its full power, but a normal motorcycle has to go upto to 10k-12k RPM to reach its power limit, and some sport motorcycles can go more than that. And many motorcycle owners change their stock exhaust to aftermarket exhaust that also creates more noise.
We have covered a detailed article on Why are Motorcycles Allowed to be so LOUD? You can read that article to know why they use Loud Exhaust and is it legal to use it or NOT?
Benefits of Loud Motorcycle Exhaust
Have you ever thought that there are some benefits of using loud motorcycle exhausts? Yes, there are few benefits of having loud motorcycle exhausts:
- To get noticed by other car drivers: According to the stats of motorcycle accidents, 2/3 of the motorcycle accidents are caused by car drivers other vehicle violating the motorcycle’s right-of-way, and that is why motorcyclists prefer to use a loud exhaust so they can easily get noticed by car drivers before taking a turn and prevent the damage caused by an accident.
- Increases the top speed of the motorcycle: I know it is illegal to go to higher speeds on public roads, but this is a benefit of using a loud motorcycle exhaust that it increases the bikes top speed to a small extent, and that can be useful for professional motorcycle racers.