As I said (GP here) - I rode motorcycles since 2008; I'll grant you that sound is absolutely part of the fun - but loud aftermarket exhausts, detonating straight pipes, etc which are the subject of the topic here -- I feel the world's balance is overwhelmingly on the negative in the "joy to self" vs "average impact to others".

I understand many people put the aftermarket pipes "for themselves", at least consciously, or at least claim so - but I feel at best, it's a degree of self-centerdness to not realize impact on others. I see it on Subaru forums too - fellow WRX/STi owners moaning about their neighbour's complaints and cops stopping them and people giving them dirty looks etc etc - obliviously blind that it was themselves who brought in on by installing ridiculous loud exhausts. A factory exhaust on my bikes gave me plenty of thrill, and while I did put a high-flow cat on my Scoobie, I searched for an exhaust with nice sound but quieter actual dBs than stock. Few things are B&W - but there is a loudness at which point it really really is about others.

(note that when you say "past 10k RPM", it sounds like you likely have a sportsbike, and as you say a stock one; those can be loud at high revs, but generally speaking the loudest bikes in my experience tend to be modified cruisers and wanna-be Harleys.

Also note that rider may not always get straight opinions from friends, depending who wants to fight what battle when - e.g. last summer, a rider was revving his throttle at a friends' cottage and boasting about his aftermarket pipes; given we were both guests, I politely nodded and meandered away... but everything for the rest of the evening confirmed the image I formed the moment I heard his pipes :-/)

I'm not trying to defend anyone - I'm just saying that looking at it from the perspective of "they are just doing it to show off" etc. is not really my experience (there's some of that for sure)

I'm not a fan of aftermarket exhausts, stock one is plenty loud for me and doesn't disturb anyone while I'm riding normaly. I especially dislike the grandpa chopper bikes that sound like tanks, like you said my sports bike gets insane at >9k RPM - but I don't ride insane in populated areas.

I think we are likely indeed converging to a point of agreement.

Things are usually on a spectrum and not binary; I agree that part of the thrill of ride is the sensation - vibration, noise of wind and engine, gravity forces, etc - and certainly manufacturers of both performance bikes and cars frequently tune the engine and particularly exhaust for desired image and sound.

I still maintain though that there is a wrong side/portion of that spectrum, and that e.g. a straight pipe on a Harley does far more negative impact on others than positive impact (real or perceived performance, rush, etc) on the rider.

If you're knowingly annoying people for your own pleasure, I don't much care what your intentions are. You're either intentionally mean or too self centered to consider your actions effects on the people around you.

Or, more generously, just young and immature and not completely cognizant of the impact of your actions on others.

In a different lifetime I had a few bikes including a TL1000R that was just plain intoxicating to ride with aftermarket pipes.

There is no way in hell I could do that to my neighbors at this stage of my life, however, and I often cringe at the actions of my younger self. Nowadays, I refuse to even use gas powered garden tools for noise (and environmental) reasons.

I don't disagree with the conclusion but it's equally self centered to think someone is doing something just to annoy you - so if you just said "loud pipes annoy me" I have no problem with that statement, if you say "bikers are installing loud pipes to annoy me/others" well that's just wrong and I'm giving you insight into what the actuall motivation is.

Sure.. I get a kick out of twisting the throttle on my Yamaha a couple times but I totally disagree that it is an essential part of the experience. If you could sell me a completely silent but very powerful motorcycle I would buy it. And even if you are thrilled by the sound, there comes a point (when you put straight pipes on) where it clearly becomes less about whether the rider can hear their own bike and more about whether everyone else can. So As someone who has spend hundreds of thousands of kilometres on a motorcycle I totally agree with grandparent post here, once it gets to that point where you are changing your exhaust to make it louder, it out is mostly about egos and images.

IDK - I had a few biker friends (before I moved last time, pretty much stopped riding since my son was born, going to sell the bike any day now), they would use DB-killer but if we went off riding twisties they would pull it out and just enjoy the insanity. There was one guy who would ride without dbkiller all the time, he was a dick in general, so there's that.

I don’t ride, but I’ve often considered it as a hobby. Even still, I wish people who just really like noise would get themselves some headphones instead of disrupting everyone else, damaging their hearing, interrupting their (even indoor) conversations, waking sleeping children, etc. It’s incredibly selfish behavior and I can only imagine people who behave this way are compensating for something.

I almost buy the “loud pipes save lives” angle but if you need to deafen others to protect yourself maybe motorcycling just isn’t an institution worth keeping around. That said, I don’t think it needs to come to that.

Loud pipes argument is bullshit in my book, I've been riding for 5 years now and never had a traffic accident, defensive riding is the only way to be "safe" (you're never really safe on a bike, even a little gravel on the road can mean you end up in a coma), relying on other drivers having to notice you is a pointless gamble, just assume they aren't going to and drive accordingly. Also I notice people get startled by a loud bike approaching - and the last thing you want is to startle an insecure driver.

People aren’t deafened by them, only annoyed. That said, I can’t stand loud bikes!!

"Being an asshole is an essential part of the riding thrill." Fixed that for you.

There are plenty of places where it's "safe" (in the not endangering others sense) to ride at high speed and loud

If you've ever supertucked on a road bike and broken the speed limit down a hill you'll see how little sound has to do with it.