On Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:09:45 -0500, Leon wrote:

Until you have ridden both bikes in heavy traffic you may not understand
the advantage the rider has riding a louder bike.

That may (or may not) have been true in the past, but with the plethora
of drivers entombed in their autos with the stereo blasting and/or a cell
phone conversation going, your point is certainly not true today.

Fire and police departments around the country have complained about
drivers either not hearing or ignoring their sirens. If they won't get
out of the way of a fire truck do you really think they'll pay attention
to a motorcycle.

BTW, I am a rider and have been for 60 years. My current bike has a
fairly loud muffler on it although certainly not a straight pipe. I had
another bike that was much quieter. I could tell no difference in driver
response.

I have wondered about the availability of a diesel locomotive horn for
the bike :-).

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw