this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2023

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Do electric motorcycles make artificial noise? (self.evs)

submitted 11 months ago by mulcahey to c/evs

23 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'm interested in getting an electric motorcycle, but something I've been wondering:

ICE motorcycles can be loud, and that can act as a safety feature, especially when lane splitting. I'm thinking about Los Angeles, where motorcycles regularly weave through bumper-to-bumper car traffic. The noise they make helps prevent riders from getting accidentally doored.

Do electric motorcycles have any kind of artificial noise maker to achieve the same thing? Or does anyone sell a device that does this?

Note that I'm not talking about generic speakers, because

I don't want to have to blast music all the time just for safety, and
most speaker kits are pointed BACK at the driver, not FORWARD towards traffic.

Anyone know the answer?

all 25 comments

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[–] PlantJam 28 points 11 months ago (5 children)

I question the premise entirely. I've seen "loud pipes are safer" quoted endlessly, but never any data to back it up.

Are there already quiet scooters weaving through traffic? If so I wouldn't be any more worried on a quiet bike.

[–] InternetCitizen2 8 points 11 months ago

"loud pipes are safer"

Its not. And the sound is pointing the wrong direction for most crashes.

[–] LesserAbe 5 points 11 months ago

I'm very irritated when loud motorcycles drive by. It's noise pollution, it's antisocial.

Some googling came up with this chart, listing motorcycles as 4-8 times louder than cars.

This post refers to a Romanian study which found loud motorcycles are not more likely to be heard by drivers unless right next to the vehicle.

With the advent of electric motorcycles there should be regulations mandating they have the same volume ceiling as other vehicles.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

They weave through slow moving city traffic, not highway traffic anywhere I've seen.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 11 months ago

Quiet scooters arent on highways and interstates- places where traffic will still back up and lane splitting is perfectly legal, even with traffic still moving.

[+] jackoneill -20 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Loud pipes really do save lives. This is an extremely valid concern

[–] dogslayeggs 21 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Can you show the data to back that up? The person you are replying to said, "never (seen) any data to back it up."

https://www.autoweek.com/news/industry-news/a35952569/loud-pipes-do-not-save-lives/

That's the only study I can find anywhere on the internet, and it is refuting your statement.

[+] jackoneill -7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

My source is I rode a bike for over a decade and several times had folks drifting into my lane that corrected when I revved my engine and they heard me because they couldn’t see me. Likewise when lane splitting when I rode in California where that was legal at the time I noticed that if I rolled up in neutral folks would try to merge in front of each other jockeying for the closest spot and nearly slam into me, but if I opened the throttle a bit as I cruised down they could hear me and wouldn’t merge right into me.

My evidence is anecdotal as I rode for years, but never published a peer reviewed research paper on the subject. Take it for what you will. The main argument in that link you posted is that it’s harder to hear the motorcycle in today’s modern cars as they block a lot of noise out. Sure seems like if you had really loud pipes they might hear you anyway, thus proving my point with their own argument. But that’s just basic logic.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

several times had folks drifting into my lane that corrected when I revved my engine and they heard me because they couldn’t see me.

So what you're saying is, even with your loud pipes, people didn't hear you even when they were almost on top of you, so you had to create more noise again? Sounds like your loud pipes did nothing, and you needed a decent horn.

I've been riding in the UK for about 15 years, and filtering is legal here. When you're in a car, you can't hear bikes until they're next to you or have just passed you, and that's including the ground shaking cruisers.

[–] jackoneill 1 points 11 months ago (2 children)

You intentionally ignored my point. I didn’t say I had overly loud pipes. I said folks were more likely to notice me when I gave it some revs while splitting/etc rather than just coasting. It’s easier to hear more noise than less noise, this is very basic. What’s also very basic is riding is a numbers game. Everything you do, you are tweeting to improve your odds of survival. So the upside of louder pipes is the possibility that more folks will hear you and notice you and possibly not run into you. That’s a big bonus. The downside is, well nothing as long as you pick ones that sound good to you. Yeah, some guy might have his windows up and his music blasting and not be able to hear you no matter how loud your pipes are. Ok? Who cares? I’m still improving my odds by getting a larger chunk of drivers to notice/hear me. Just because I can’t get 100% conversion doesn’t mean I super just give up entirely

[–] Faildini 4 points 11 months ago

The downside is you're annoying everyone you drive past every day. Get a damn horn, that's what they're invented for.

[–] Usul_00_ 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Wouldn't the horn have been faster, more effective, and not require you to go into neutral (by pulling the clutch)?

[–] jackoneill -3 points 11 months ago

OK so you can ride around like a kid on a bike constantly squawking a horn every time cars are near you, always smashing that little horn button, after you upgraded it of course so people could actually hear it. Or you could have some nice sounding pipes that when you rev, folks can hear. I know what I’d rather have. If you want to ride around with your little horn go ahead, that’s your prerogative

[–] [email protected] 27 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Most exhaust pipes are pointed BACK. if loud pipes actually helped in any significant amount, they'd point them forwards.

Always ride as if invisible, sound deadening in cars is getting better anyways.

[–] Treczoks 3 points 11 months ago

Most exhaust pipes are pointed BACK.

And then there are the assholes who remove the dampening parts out of the exhaust so they can hear their bike roaring even when they are riding fast...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Pretty sure your answer is going to be no. The ONLY way to do this would be a horn or speaker system pointed forward like you mentioned which would have to be speed controlled, otherwise it would just be a constant siren of sorts. That being impractical and likely not well sought after, I dont think anything exists. Like other commenters have already said, scooters and such quiet, small displacement bikes dont have any noise enhancement and have never needed it- BUT they are primarily used in slower-speed city-type traffic, not out on higher speed highways and interstates (regardless of the actual speed of traffic flow when lane splitting is utilized).

I understand your concern, though. I used to commute daily on 2 wheels in the Bay Area on highways and on I-80 and people definitely could hear me and would move over when they could, and my bike isnt even “loud”- just a 900cc Triumph. Sometimes they wouldnt realize they were on the center line blocking progress and you could blip the throttle and then they’d notice and move over- something you wont be able to do on an electric bike, short of just beeping the horn i guess. It was a nice, reassuring feeling that you knew that THEY knew you were there. Not to mention i’ve been in a cage plenty of times and heard motorcycles well before ive seen them, so again…noise is justified.

[–] mulcahey 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Looks like Yamaha might be making just such a device. Interesting.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Awesome! It is kinda odd that electric vehicles have to have noise generators at lower speeds for safety reasons, why dont motorcycles?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

To answer your question: Not that Iv'e ever heard of.

But just FYI. Speakers can make all kinds of sounds, not just music. They can make beeps and sirens too. They can even make motorcycle ICE sounds if you wanted to. Speakers can also be pointed in any direction. So if you want you can totally have speakers blast motorcycle sounds all around for safety.

[–] Donebrach -5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

If your plan is to be an asshole on a motorcycle and break traffic laws and weave around inside other drivers’ blind spots you deserve to get doored, among other things.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It's legal to lane share in California.

Even if it wasn't, wishing physical injury on someone for minor infractions is unkind and unreasonable.

[–] mulcahey 3 points 11 months ago

Seriously. Can't believe there's a "He shouldn't have resisted!" guy on Lemmy