It is no secret that prolonged exposure to loud sound is highly damaging to our hearing. Listening to loud music is one of the common factors leading to degraded hearing ability and tinnitus, and is deeply unhealthy.
At the same time, such level of noise negatively impacts the quality of sound perception, which degrades the musical side of the musical performance.
In what seems to be the echoes of the so-called “loudness war”, bands still stick to the idea that “the louder you blast it - the better”. But it’s not true. There are many other ways to energize the crowd without causing them sound damage, and I’d love to see more of those, instead of them trying to be the loudest ever.
Tires don’t make any significant noise below 30 km/h. This is why electric cars must emit a fake engine noise, for pedestrian safety. In a city, motorbikes are BY FAR the number one source of noise pollution. They can be heard up to a kilometer away, and can cover the sound of people talking inside of a building.
Bikes ARE loud. This is a fact denied only by bikers, who all have their eardrums damaged by their engine.
Motorcycles are disproportionately more likely to be the source of loud, annoying engine noises, even though there are more cars than motorbikes. Loud cars are very rare, and are still quieter than any motorcycle.
They are not very rare, loud cars, that is. Harleys… maybe… but that’s a story on it’s own.
Actually, I’m now quite convinced you have profound hearing loss. If the ONLY big noise you hear day to day, is motorcycle engines, I think you’re missing a lot of the soundscape. I’d be willing to bet you have some real loss in the high and midranges. Get it checked out, if that’s the case, you’re going to need to protect what you have left.
That doesn’t jive with anything described in this thread. We wear earplugs, because they are noisy “to us”. Bikes all meet certain volume limits from the factory. So do cars. (they are in fact often the same levels…) You have bikes on the brain, think any high reving, 4 cylinder is a bike, and are happy to point your finger at it. But you also… aren’t hearing the dozens, hundreds, of other bikes that are going by.
A honda S2000, any Civic type r from before 2020, are going to make some very similar noises if some jerk decides noise is better than enjoying your drive. I strongly suspect you’re blaming bikes for wankers with $50 tesco cherry bombs on their panda.
Just a kilometer? Look, I’m 3km from a major highway. And 2km from two different rail yards. I can hear anything with a missing muffler, and I hear trains at high idle every day. The fact you think it’s “just” 1km for the jerks? that also shows you just don’t know the subject.
I have several decades on my ears. “I” am the one who hears the things. Case in point, some dropped pixel 3 earbuds were on the ground, and the only one who could hear the music playing was me. And “I” am the one with the noisy hobbys. I protect my ears. Honestly, it sounds a bit like YOU may have some hearing damage? Do you keep a fan on in your bedroom at night? is it one of the 10" or smaller ones?
I get wanting quiet. But I also think your calibration is off.
I’m less than 300m away from a highway at this very moment and can barely hear it. It’s sound is covered by people talking in the office. 1km inside a city is a lot. Cars are barely audible from 30m away. This is not a problem with my hearing. I often cycle on the road that’s next to the highway, the only sound barrier being trees, and I can hear the woosh woosh sound of car tires but not their engines. Unlike bikes.
Bike and car engine sounds are easy to tell apart. Loud cars are usually VW Golfs or BMWs used by assholes, and they are somewhat rare and quieter than any random bike.
Here in France, the noise limit for bikes is higher than that for cars, and Harley Davidson have a special exemption to be allowed to go up to 97dB. Bikers always insist that their bike is silent, yet on neutral without acceleration, they are consistently louder than cars accelerating.
You’re showing signs of profound hearing loss in the mid and high ranges. You really should get your ears checked. For real. This is outside the complaint you’re making.
What you’re not hearing, are the thousands of 250 -500cc learner bikes. Those yamaha FZ6’s, Honda Transalps, ST1300s, BMW GS’s, K and R series, even the wild high end sportbikes are quite quiet at mild power levels.
My personal bikes? all have stock exhausts. They’re less noisy than my idling Jeep Cherokee, and it too, is dead stock. (though it is a very loud machine at idle) “I” am not the problem.
