Your Exhaust is Not a Personality
May 10, 2026 • 4 min read
I need someone to explain to me the fun in a loud pikipiki. Because I have never understood it.
You are in your house. Minding your business. Enjoying your evening. Then from nowhere you hear what sounds like a bomb going off in your street.
It is not a bomb. It is a bodaboda with a modified exhaust pipe announcing his arrival to the entire estate like he is the president's motorcade.
Children are playing outside. Babies are sleeping. Someone is trying to work from home on a Zoom call. And this man on a 180,000 shilling motorcycle is making noise like he is landing a fighter jet on your street. For what?
You remove the silencer from your exhaust so that your pikipiki sounds like a tractor. Then you ride through a busy estate at 9pm revving like you are auditioning for Fast and Furious: Eastlands Edition.
And it's not just the bikes. I have the same problem with cars. Some of you have exhaust pipes that set off car alarms when you drive past. You wait until you get to a busy shopping centre then you rev.
Everyone turns. You feel seen. You feel powerful. But my brother, you are driving a vehicle you are probably still paying loans for and making noise that nobody asked for.
The Reality Check
That is not power. That is noise pollution with a number plate. If you want to make noise, go to an open highway where nobody lives. Rev there. Scream there. Race there. But in an estate where people are living their lives? Respect the space.
Your noise is not confidence. Keep it down. Some of us are trying to live in peace.