Most definitely in. And that is on the BMW Akra with catalyser, not the empty bean tin of the after-market version.
I really don't get this 'I want them to know I'm there' stuff.
I'm invisible. I can't see me, my mates can't see me, you most definitely can't see me. It doesn't matter if they are looking or not and most aren't. I'm not there.
More glaring spot lights on the front of the bike won't make me more visible, it will just get me confused for a car in the distance and then they'll hit me.
I don't want anyone to hear me, otherwise they'll know I'm there and then they are more likely to hit me. A huge booming silencer only annoys other bikes and pedestrians and innocent gardeners in villages. It will never penetrate the thick skulls of idiot drivers nor get past the bass vibrators of the 'quick' boys. The noise of a bike simply annoys. It may announce your presence somewhere and while they are all looking around to see where the bloody noise is coming from they are not watching where they are going (even the ones who might have been before) and then they are more likely to hit you.
If you are relying on other road users knowing you are there and doing something positive about your presence you are riding dangerously, meaning you are putting yourself in danger. It means you are putting your safety and even your life in the hands of eejits, ne'er-do-wells and mothers on the school run. I shudder at the thought.
You should be riding defensively. Bloody quick, but defensively.
That means being in the right place at the right time in the right gear and the right frame of mind. It means knowing where every other road user is and what they are doing and not putting yourself in their way. It means being a wannabe biking super-hero.
As the subject of a SMIDSY wrote in Motorcycle News a decade or more ago, 'It wasn't that he pulled out in front of me on a roundabout. It wasn't that he caused me to take evading action and fall off the bike. It wasn't the fact that he never even looked to see my garishly painted bike nor my idiotically loud protective clothing and helmet. But somehow, and clearly this was my fault, I did rather think that the blaring two-tone sirens and the flashing blue lights might just have caught his attention!' Note that the copper blamed his own riding for the incident.
And in my books, coppers on bikes are biking super-heros.
It can happen to the best of bikers. Stop relying on dazzling lights and loud pipes to save your life.
Have loud pipes by all means if you must, but please, do not think it grants you anything other than a curse from the cagers and if the cager in front is me and your pipe intrudes on my peace and quiet don't be surprised when I 'absent-mindedly' manoeuvre myself into your way to impede your progress a little.
The saying 'Walk quietly and carry a big stick' is as much true of riding a motorcycle as it is to international affairs.
Rant over...
