924, I understand what you mean. I myself ride a Yamaha XT225, its a dual purpose and was a gift from my mom and dad. I out-accerlate the harleys quite easily, they big and slow, im small and zippy. When Im riding I wear a black DOT approved helmet, leather gloves, and speacil riding goggles/glasses. Other then that I wear regular clothes, I dont ride for a fashion statement. I ride for the pure pleasure of riding. Thats it. Im not out too look like something Im not, im not fake and I enjoy myself. Do I look like a badass harley dude? No, nor would I want too. And yes the clothes the harley dudes wear is pure fashion. If I ever buy myself a street bike, it will proably be a mid-sized BMW, there cool looking bikes that are fast and really good quailty, ill never bother with a harley, 20-30k for a slow oil-leaking bike that everyone has? No thanks.

 

Well, as for the "Loud Pipes Save Lives" thing, someone stated that people who thought that also didn't use the front brake. I like loud pipes, because I like the sound of engines... period. However, I also have a certain degree of respect for the rest of the world. Anyway, back to the point, I'm not an idiot, and yes, I use my front brake. The front brake should be responsible for roughly 2/3 of the braking of the bike, and if you don't believe that, you need to take a MSF course.

Anyway, next point. I've ridden a Suzuki GS550 from stock piped to open header, with three intermediate steps in between, and I will say that, hands down, the louder your bike is, the more room you get. That doesn't mean that I haven't been almost run over with it loud (I have). I'm just saying, on average. What it comes down to, as has been said, is defensive driving. It is everyone's responsibility on the road to not run over you, however, it is your responsibility to not be run over. You learn that in driver's ed at age 15, at least, you should. If you don't pay attention in any other class, you still should in driver's ed. A good GPA does not mean nearly as much as your life.

Many have stated that open exhaust only mildly helps performance, and I've seen at least one person say it does not help at all. Have you done instrumented tests to prove that? I have. I drag raced (bracket raced, to be exact) my bike, and could run down the quarter mile consistently within .05 seconds, despite the fact that I was clutching and shifting completely manually, using my God-given hand and toe.

On the GS550 mentioned above, a 4-1 aftermarket system was faster than the stock system. However, going from the 4-1 baffle to an open megaphone (header collector 2.5", megaphone outlet 3.5") netted me a FULL SECOND IN THE QUARTER MILE when I jetted up one size to compensate. And that wasn't even from the stock baffle that came with the 4-1 system, that was with the optional "performance baffle". That is a HUGE difference. People spend thousands of dollars to get a TENTH of a second. The differences are different on all bikes and engines in general, and you have to remember that an engine has to be tuned as a system, but I am just trying to correct some fallacies which are out there.

Of course, riding with an open megaphone was socially irresponsible, so I custom made a 2.5" ID by 24" long perforated tube baffle (dissected from a thrush glasspack) which wasn't too bad. This caused me a negligible net loss in performance over the open pipe. Although it was still loud, I also didn't ride through neighborhoods early in the morning or anything like that either.

As for the Harley thing... As someone with an engineering mind, I am intrinsically turned off by the single-crankpin 45 degree V-Twin, as it's a stupid design. It has primary, secondary, infinity imbalance designed into it... with that said, the sound and feel of a well-tuned Harley are magical to me, and this is someone who currently owns two Suzukis and has also owned a Kawasaki, so don't think I'm some close-minded type. I just like Harleys, and apparently, I'm not alone.

Although, I'm a slightly different breed than today's average Harley rider.... someday, when I own a Harley, you won't see me wearing much "genuine motor company" clothing... in fact, I usually go out of my way to buy clothes that DON'T blatantly advertise the name. If it's in the details, that's fine. I think before someone buys a Harley, they should have to read "Hell's Angels" by Hunter S. Thompson. Heck, I think everyone should read a good dose of Hunter S. Thompson, even though many of his political views are somewhat different than my own... anyway, back to "Hell's Angels" - Although I certainly do not condone their activities, I respect their attitude towards their motorcycles - though they were fiercely loyal to the idea of starting with an all-American bike, nobody was considered for membership who had not extensively modified their bike (by themself) with aftermarket, or, even better, fabricated parts. They wore crusted Levi's and leather vests that bore not the name of the motor company, but only their Angel-related insignia. I do admire those aspects of their organization. They were true gearhead motorcyclists, and not posers.

 

Crazy001,

You did not up set me. I only stated a point. If that was all it took to up set me, then I guess I shouldn't be on a web site that is open to anyone.