Tourer
Posts: 363
Goldsboro, NC | Letter to the author of that article, John Johnson:
I should preface this by disclosing my personal feelings about loud pipes. I don't buy into the "loud pipes save lives" bit... I don't believe that the performance increase, if any, is worth the money... and I believe that loud pipes do more harm to motorcyclists' overall welfare than good. I'll get lambasted for this view, but it is mine and I'm keeping it. Debate, discussion and objectivity is welcome. Knee-jerk reactions and flames will be ignored.
That being said, I read the article and bristled all up and down my back. The author had a valid point to make. People may or may not agree with that point, but it was valid. That point is that there are enough bikes out there with loud exhausts congregating in nice riding areas to make it less enjoyable for those who do not like such things. That should have been the end of it.
However, in true i-have-a-degree-in-english-and-you-have-a-real-job snobbery, this particular laddie boy author (or old, decrepit, nasty old fart author, who cares?) decided to couch his otherwise valid point in a veritable sea of viceral, derisive and malicious scorn. Hate to break it to you, Johnny boy, but you lost your purpose with that choice. All you have done is alienate the very people that you might have reached with a valid point to consider and turned them into your enemies. The other consequence of that choice is to take those who know nothing of motorcycling and are thus not qualified to enter the debate and whipped them into a frenzy that clouds their judgement even further. I did not say, bay the way, that they have no right to debate. I simply say that they are not qualified. Nothing hurts a case worse than an unqualified advocate (look at Nancy Pelosi and Jimmy Carter, for example).
Finally, the author calls for and credits government intervention. Now THERE is a great idea! How many bailouts... how many attempts to socialize our economy... how much community organizer crime... how many medicare frauds and social security bankrupcies must you be faced with to understand that "the government should do something" is a phrase that should be uttered with trembling and fear? Targeted enforcement is as unconstitutional as targeted legislation. You want to enforce the sound and the smoke coming out of my bike? Fine, then also enforce the sound and the smoke coming out of that illegal alien's 1978 Matador. Enforce the sound coming from that lump-lump tuner from some 'hood somewhere. If you've got an axe to grind, grind it with ALL of the offenders. Target one segment of the population simply because you do not have any more skill at driving than you do a writing, or beacuse you are much braver facing a keyboard than facing the world, and you will find that one day someone will decide that your kind of writing (sic) is offensive and punish you for expressing yourself.
Oh, and by the way... although it was cute in a lillte-girl kind of way (hog Heaven, dog Heaven... yeah, we get it, how precious), the headline is rather uneducated. In motorcycle parlance "HOG" is the acronym for "Harley Owner's Group" and by association has also been used to refer to a HOG member's bike. That bike would be a Harley Davidson. Here is the huge, flaming epiphany... ready? There are other motorcycles out there. Other brands and other sytles. With that small datum, Mr. Johnson, you will be slightly less ignorant for your next hack piece... although I can't guarantee you'll be less stupid.
Paul Podbielski
Edited by trailbarge 2009-09-18 12:30 PM
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What's the purpose...?
