Motorcycling.

What about the spokeheads with earbuds in? They are lolling along in the middle of the road with no idea you are behind them in a big ass dump truck. I think everyone needs to be paying attention, regardless of noise. Are we to use less efficient vehicles solely to announce our presence on the road?

As to electric being "greener" Stig has the right idea. Moving the burning of fossil fuels from an inefficient vehicle to a sophisticated power plant that can deal with the emissions better is the whole idea. Also, not all grid power is from fossil fuels. A good portion now comes from wind, solar, and hydro. Also, I believe using short range electric vehicles in heavily congested areas like cities is a great idea.
 
I have to say that my BMW is just as silent to other people on the road as the electric bike.
You'll hear it a bit as it passes you, but not if it is coming up on you from behind.

That is one reason I bought it, apart from the fact that it is a high quality bike.
It always pisses me off when I'm outside, enjoying a quiet evening and a bunch of the Harley riders come by up on the road and tear the silence apart.
I never could figure why some bikers enjoy noise so much. I run a saw all day, i want QUIET when I'm off work.
 
I like the sound of a well running Harley. I'd like to be riding on it. I"m not familiar with the newer ones, but I have a Harley calendar in my shop that shows various periods in the past of Harley production, from the first bike with pedals, and there are a number of models that I think are really fantastic designs. The more compact designs appeal to me. BMWs are no doubt great machines, but they look pretty sterile to me. I might prefer a slight oil leak if I had to choose.
 
I like the sound of a well running Harley too, but not when it's 100+ decibels. I can't believe it doesn't deafen the rider.
 
Ha! Thanks Jim. A friend of mine has a new Harley. I think a mid life crisis compelled him to purchase it, but it's a nice bike and he has added some upgrades, including an original muffler/pipe system.
 
Right, D, I have a hankering for the older bikes, though I guess not as technologically sound. If someone was offering, I'll take an FXB Sturgis, thank you!
 

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Jay, there are basically two kinds of motorcyclists.
Those who are all about image and looking cool, so they go all out with retro style Harleys and accessories like leather sidebags and wear their Harley davidson leather jackets EVERYWHERE, so we all can see, how tough and cool they are.

The other type cares only about riding and don't GAS about how the bike looks.

Then, of course, there are all the ones that fall between the two categories.

I met a bunch of fat middleaged men ( Like myself) in full battle dress, chaps and all, on their loud Harleys in Mt. Lassen NP last month.
A real band of weekend warriors.
Then come monday, they put on suits and go back to the office.

There are no words for how ridiculus I find that!
 
I pissed of a Harley rider once when I was talking about seeing some nice BMWs and how quiet and smooth they were.:D I had a friend once that had a "Harley Parking" sign at his gas station. He would put speedi dri on the ground in front of it. :/:
 
There are better V twins out there than Harleys.

And I would never describe any of BMW's motorcycles as sterile, they are widely known for being a little idiosyncratic and characterful. I love the beat of a boxer twin BMW.


BMW_R_nineT_Dual_Seat.700.jpg
 
Sterile is a bad choice of words. I find a lot of modern motorcycle designs over stylized to the point of boring after a time. Not saying that they aren't technical achievements and wonderful to ride, but the design is so overwhelming that they are meant to impress as art objects of a sort. That's cool, but it's only great if the vividness lasts. I think that applies to a lot of design work. What makes a design keep it's freshness is something in addition to the initial look, and sometimes not so easily discernible, like understatement. Lots of new bike designs, I wonder what they had in mind besides the wow factor. It's probably a good way to market a product, though.

The Boxer Twin has it's subtlety, nice looking bike!
 
I just bought a Yamaha RoadStar 1600 today. Gave 3000 bucks for it with 30,000 miles. It is pretty loud, (sorry Stig) and goes like hell. Plus it was cheap!

Dad likes his V-Star 1100 and so do I, must be why I bought a Yamaha. Cheap metric bikes at a Harley dealer!
 
I get 230mph when I convert that from kmh. I had friends that used to do that crap. They all lived and sold their bikes.
 
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