Scooters and noise

Long live Voltes Five and perdition to Prince Zardos and the Bozanian! Can somebody please tell me when will this end? I am not talking about the intergalactic battle between Voltes Five and the Bozanian Empire. I’m talking about something more nonsensical and insane: the Filipinos obsession with motor scooter.

Some of my countrymen have altered their scooters mufflers to make it sound like a 2000cc Harley Davidson Easy Rider. I tell you this is insane. I could hear this booming motorcycle engine harrumphing down the road, and I was expecting a zooming Arnold Schwarzenegger riding on a V-engine motorcycle only to find a skinny Filipino on a 100 cc Honda scooter passing by.

It maybe funny but once a group of these loud, small bikes (Hell’s Fart Riders is what they are) comes broom-brooming down the road, all humor is lost.. They’re noise polluters and what’s unbeleivable is that they are proud of it.

And now, oh now, this is for the Guinness Book of World records, oh now my some of my countrymen have installed stereos in their  scooters. How on earth could they hear them hip-hop music if their traveling with their helmets on? How could they hear their stereos if their scooters mufflers boom like a Huey Helicopter?

Don’t they know that automotive engineers spent a lot of time researching and designing mufflers to minimize  engine noise while maintaining a delicate balance between noise and engine efficiency.


The noise gives me headache not to mention the annoying blasts of high pressure, hot air from these open mufflers hitting the faces of  motorcyclists and pedestrians'  behind them, enough to drive a person to kill. There are already ordinances against open mufflers but they are not enforced by theauthorities.

From suspension lifters to make these scooters look like motocross ATV bikes, to removing the lifters and lowering them to minimize ‘air drag” as if these scooters can travel at the speed of sound, to altering the mufflers  to make these scooters sound like a big bike to installing stereos.

What’s next? Airconditioning?   Power Steering? Spoilers? Four wheel drive? Leave those scooters alone!

(A repost)