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

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

Anyone know the answer?

  • @LesserAbe
    5•1 year 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.