F***king Motorbikes

Warning: Rant!

Spring/summer is here now in St0ckholm and all these freaking motorbikes are all over the goddamn city.
Some are just making so much f****king noise that I have to cover my ears every time.
Today I went outside to get some air before going off lunch, and I didn't see that it was a motorbike just behind me (like really 1 meter or so) and he just freaking starts the engine from nowhere and make that awful sound and my heart was about to pop out of my chest from the surprise and fear. I hope that crap haven't affected or damaged my ears now. But for f**king sake, why do people feel like they have to show off and feel like they are so freaking cool and manly going around blasting their shit all over town? Or like raving up their motorbike when waiting for the red light, or raving up when you come close? Attention?

How about you motorbiking f**kers can go and f**k yourselves.

 

stupid people....I know that situation. I fucking hate it too. those people deserve Tinnitus and H(at least temporary) So they learn what they are doing to other people. Also honking constantly in the traffic is stupid af.

I understand your feeling. I too just get so scared and aggressive. next time smth like this happens I want to do it like GTA-style and pull the driver out of their car!

 

Same problem here. They usually do it every sunday afternoon in my neighbourhood so I know I can't go walking my dog out that day..
Sometimes I think about taking my car and rushing at these fuckers. The problem is that the (very) noisy airbag would probably burst out (not mentioning that I would have trouble with justice of course )

 

Yeah, I get so scared each time. Or when I see a motorbike standing still in traffic and I just cover up my ears when I can before they start raving the bike up. It's a constant fear and I never get over how loud it is. Why does it have to be so loud??? Who designed it that way? Forbid them in the city goddamn it. Even worse, what about small babies or children? How can they not have T by now from bikes blasting around. Just because some fuckers want to show off with their bike, that cause everyone to potentially damage their ears!!!

I wish they had a day here too so at least I could avoid it. Now I can barely go outside work without earplugs because these idiots are around all the time. Why did he have to rave up his bike when he saw how close I was? Do they enjoy seeing you being scared? I have tried to not use my earplugs while outside because it has never been that much traffic or noises outside until now! From now on, always ear plugs during spring and summer just because some idiots just have to take their bike and fucking make loud noises all over town!

 

Ah, I planned to visit Stockholm someday but I think I'll change my mind..

I don't understand that the police let them do. They have a really dangerous behaviour..

 

Don't Be a Fag

 

Fully agreed before I even read your post I ranted about the same, it's a real plague in any big city in Europe nowadays it seems. Some are less noisy, some deserve to be blown to the moon only for existing and feeling free to bother others with this f..ing noise . Anything making more noise than 85 - 90 db should be forbidden except for highways maybe. They will understand when they get their tinnitus

 

So you should avoid ANY bigger town in any civilised country then. Is that a solution ? Just be careful, look around or wear earplugs during your stay.

 

i thought swedish girls are nice and adorable...

well, i am a motorcyclist by myself and i still like the sound of fast bikes and beautiful cars, even with tinnitus.
in the first few weeks when i had my tinnitus i was scared of loud bikes too, even of my own bike when i startet it and ride with it. my opinion is, the problem here is not the sound of the engine. the problem is the fear of it and the negative thoughts of ,,that bike was too loud, i am scared that my tinnitus could be louder''. fear, anxienty, negative thoughts are the problem. in the first few weeks/months i learned to ignore that fear. today, i still love riding my bike and i still like to listen to good engine sounds. my bike isn't that loud and i am not one of those bikers who rave up their engine every red-light or when i start it.

this is me

 

they don't know that you suffer from tinnitus. if you had a nice bike and not suffering from tinnitus, you probably would do the same. i bet if most of the bikers would know if there is a tinnitus sufferer arround them, they would not rave up their engines..

 

@hoper ''my opinion is, the problem here is not the sound of the engine. the problem is the fear of it and the negative thoughts of ,,that bike was too loud, i am scared that my tinnitus could be louder''. fear, anxiety, negative thoughts are the problem. ''

Well, of course the fear is the problem, but it is only because it's justified. Some bikes are so loud that being exposed to their noise every other minute every day while on the street can definitely damage the hearing, even if not instantly and some ppl get spikes from things even less loud than that. If you ignore it it's your choice but it's not because you ignore it that the damage to hearing won't happen.

 

Even if they don't know about tinnitus, they must know about noise pollution they create. Noise damages health in general, not only hearing. In my town lately there were two strikes of bikers - the whole downtown was filled with them and they were blowing the engines and honking for HOURS - chances are at least a few new tinnitus sufferers appeared on that day among them As I said, some make a totally bearable noise . After all cars do noise too. Only some bikes are so fuc..ing loud it seems they tune up the sound on purpose. Don't silencers exist for the bikes or what ?

 

@glynis would you drive with me in a ferrari?

Insane POV: Ferrari 458 Speciale w/ Straight...

 

@Gosia you already mentioned the only one solution: earplugs.

 

If sb really can't control it or if there are far too many of them and streets are narrow. Otherwise - only control and being careful cause wearing earplugs is anything BUT a good thing for the ears. It's only a lesser evil that should be kept on special occasions. Still, it's bikers who should respect the right of others to walk outside in bearable noise and not us damage the ears either by listening to them or by squeezing things in the ears . Waiting till the French authorities will forbid traffic fully downtown, like in some towns in England. Make your bike noise where people don't walk vulnerable.

 

As someone with significant tinnitus who also rides a motorcycle -- depending on the bike you often must rev at least a little bit while idle or at redlights, because you'll stall out if you don't, especially if the engine hasn't been running for very long. Motorcycle engines and clutches are quite different from car engines.

Another reason that cyclists like to make some noise is that it minimizes your chances of being invisible to nearby cars. Riding a bike in traffic around cars is more or less toying with death at every moment, all it takes is one texting teenager to erase you from the world. Of course this is true to some extent in cars, but cars are much more visible, and you're much safer when you're inside them.

I have a relatively quiet bike, about 80db idle at the pipe (~100 at most road speeds), and I have definitely had a couple "car didn't see me and almost erased me" moments. This is a risk you accept on a motorcycle, but I understand why people who do lots of highway riding are enthusiastic about louder pipes.

This will of course vary depending on where you are and what else is there, but from having walked around with a dB meter a fair amount, I don't believe motorbikes expose me to inordinate ambient noise compared to other urban noise sources in my area. Planes flying overhead can be 80-85 db, which is pretty similar to what I get from a bike going by if I'm not standing right next to it, or from a large cargo truck. If I am standing right next to traffic for any extended period, I tend to wear at least one earplug in the traffic-facing ear.

 

As someone with significant tinnitus who can still ride you are very fortunate..as a previous rider I am highly envious of you..but yea those f**King Harley weekend dipshits who do in fact Rev their pipes just for fucking fun..screw them all..of course it could be also they own Harley's and yea may stall..but their ridiculous non stock loud pipes do on fact hurt my ears as I have H and RT.... I live in the land of Bikes..everyone and their brother owns one..I envy and hate them now at same time.

Shiny side up. Ride On.

 

I don't do it if I'm in a bad cycle with my T, and I make a habit of not ever riding for more than about 45mins without a significant break. I also don't own a car, so... heh.

I think this is a pretty common affliction for motorcyclists in general; tinnitus threads on bike forums have a very different vibe than most threads here, and it's not uncommon to find people who say they have extremely obvious tinnitus and still don't wear earplugs. Or, you know, helmets in a lot of cases. Motorcycle culture is almost as stupid as American gun culture, IMO.

 

yep! Most do! But Lots have started to wear plugs ..at least back when I was on forums..Uhm..no helmet is just bizarre to me but hey, looks cool! Lol..anyways most people with T in general aren't bothered by it. .some of us just have a really fing gnarly form of it..(ME!)

 

yeah, tell me about it Wednesday was fine, yesterday was loud but not especially annoying, today is one of those hey-doc-take-off-everything-above-the-neck-please days .

 

Just to make things clear, I was talking about this kind of biker:



With the ridiculously loud engines

 

@hoper how loud is your bike? And do you wear ear plugs with it?

 

i don't even own ear plugs. my bike is a kawasaki er6n, serial exhaust. so not really loud.

if you think ,,oh my god this was too loud'' everytime you hear something noisy and wear ear plugs all the time you will be oversensitive. this is a bigger problem than the noise itself

 

@hoper yes, and I think that is where I'm at right now. I'm so paranoid that noise is causing damage to my ears and making them worse. I guess the set back the other day didn't help. I was exposed to a few loud blasts at 110 decibels.

It's cool you still ride your bike, I think I'd be worried if it was doing harm.

 

there is no cure or helpfull treatment for tinnitis. the only chance to get used to it or tinnitus get better is thinking positive. there is no other option.

 

So how do you approach really loud situations, such as gigs or mowing the lawn?
I could do all the positive thinking in the world and my ears would still be screwed

 

i do nothing. when something loud happen i don't even cover my ears with my hands. i try to stay cool and don't think about my tinnitus. i live my life exacty like before i had the tinnitus (except going to disco).

 

Maybe it's the herbs in Almdudler that protect your ears ;-)

 

i think so. i drink almdudler everyday and eat schnitzel and sachertorte i can fire with a glock if i drank enough almdudler before because my ears are protected^^

 

A glock started my T :-(
I was not prepared for Austrian gunpower, just like the Turks at the gates of Vienna..