Why Do Some Riders Rev Their Motorcycle's Engine at Stop Lights?

Evans Brasfield
by Evans Brasfield

There must be a reason.

We’ve all seen it: a guy on a bike at a stoplight will periodically rev his engine for no apparent reason. A few days ago at Daytona Bike Week, I witnessed a rider doing a U-turn while holding in his clutch lever and constantly blipping the throttle. Because the engine was always at a different speed, the bike lurched each time he engaged the clutch. Then there was the woman riding the custom bike with ape-hangers so tall that she looked like she had to stretch to reach them. Still, at every stoplight (I was stuck behind her for a while), she’d pull in the clutch and vroom-vroom-vroom. Although the straight pipes were noisy, I think it was her tube top and riding position that triggered all the extended looks.

This behavior isn’t just limited to rallies, either. I see riders around my little slice of suburbia on the other side of the continent doing the same thing. So, why do riders do it? Listed below are some of the reasons we’ve come up with. Let us know what we’ve left out in the comments.

Evans Brasfield
Evans Brasfield

Like most of the best happenings in his life, Evans stumbled into his motojournalism career. While on his way to a planned life in academia, he applied for a job at a motorcycle magazine, thinking he’d get the opportunity to write some freelance articles. Instead, he was offered a full-time job in which he discovered he could actually get paid to ride other people’s motorcycles – and he’s never looked back. Over the 25 years he’s been in the motorcycle industry, Evans has written two books, 101 Sportbike Performance Projects and How to Modify Your Metric Cruiser, and has ridden just about every production motorcycle manufactured. Evans has a deep love of motorcycles and believes they are a force for good in the world.

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  • Peter Moffa Peter Moffa on Apr 08, 2017

    I came across this thread because I questioned that myself and googled why, I guess there are many reasons why they do that when they dont have to, they like to make noise or they like to show off or in some cases the bike will stall. I've had bikes and my last one was a sportster I didn't do that because I liked to hear it lug at a stop light but to say I've never done it I can't

  • Sj tom Sj tom on May 11, 2018

    They're a-holes. Period, end of story.

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