The quiet ball is rolling...

Myrtle Beach (my second home) is now getting on board and I applaud it. Don't get me wrong, I'm the last guy to squelch someone's fun but we'll all agree that a set of straight pipes on v-twin is unpleasant and unnecessary to everyone but the rider. Sportbike pipes are annoying also. No one enjoys a high-revving bike going by them with an aftermarket pipe blasting away. The recent bike boom hasn't helped. You can't go anywhere without hearing it which is why the non-riding community is starting to get ticked off! There has to be a happy medium somewhere.

Boy am I getting old :biggrin:

Bikers shushed
Cities create ordinances to stop excessively loud riders
By Emily Fredrix - The Associated Press

MILWAUKEE --Cities from New York to Denver are giving motorcyclists the silent treatment.

And that worries riders rights groups, which fear that a wave of ordinances aimed at muffling Harley-Davidsons, hushing Hondas and stifling Suzukis will create a confusing patchwork of laws that motorcyclists won't be able to navigate. The motorcycle industry is concerned it could turn these frustrated riders away.

"From our perspective, this creates enormous problems for us because people notice the one motorcycle that makes a lot of noise," said Bill Wood, spokesman for the American Motorcyclist Association. "They don't notice the 50 that pass that don't. So there's a perception that motorcycles are noisy."

Ordinances come in many forms. Some are against certain types of products - like mufflers that would rattle the apples off of trees - while others are aimed more on the intent of the driver, who may want to turn some heads or rile up the neighbors.

As of July 1, riders in New York City are subject to a minimum $440 fine for having a muffler or exhaust system that can be heard within 200 feet.

In Lancaster, Pa., starting this month riders - and all motor vehicle drivers - could be ticketed for drawing attention to themselves, whether by creating too much noise by revving their engines or doing hard accelerations. Tickets start at $150.

As of July 1, motorcyclists in Denver could be ticketed $500 for putting mufflers on their bikes made by someone other than the original manufacturer, if the bike is 25 years old or less. So-called after-market products can be louder than manufacturer-made counterparts.

Ordinances restricting motorcycle noise have been around for years. The American Motorcyclist Association does not track the numbers of such ordinances and often only hears about them just as they're being passed, Wood said.

The association would rather see an ordinance that targets all vehicles or uses a decibel test to measure noise.

The changes leave riders confused, said Pamela Amette, vice president of the Motorcycle Industry Council, the industry's trade group. Enforcement can be subjective, too.

The council is working with the American Society of Engineers to establish a sound test that would help equalize enforcement. A similar test has been set for off-road bikes, and several states have adopted it, Amette said.

The group hopes to have the test ready next year. The new tests could even heighten demand for quieter systems, Amette said, because riders will know what they need.

"Unless it's very precise and adopted uniformly, then it's just really not fair to the riders and to the industry," she said.

The stakes for the industry are big. There were 1.1 million new motorcycles sold for $9.8 billion in 2005, the most recent year available, the Council said. Parts, including those after-market mufflers, accessories and riding apparel, were an additional $2.8 billion.

Noise complaints of all types are on the rise, as more Americans feel they are losing control of their neighborhoods, said Ted Rueter, who leads a national anti-noise group. Denver's ordinance is music to his ears.

"I think more and more people are putting pressure on communities," said Rueter, director of Noise Free America, based in Madison, Wis. "The fact that Denver has done so is going to give a lot of encouragement to people who love peace and quiet."

Harley-Davidson Inc., which tried in the 1990s to trademark its products' distinctive rumble, is monitoring the growth of anti-noise ordinances that target motorcyclists, said Rebecca Bortner, a Harley spokeswoman.

The Milwaukee-based motorcycle maker feels the issue is less about the equipment and more about what riders do with it. The company asked its dealers a few years ago to stop carrying the loudest of after-market mufflers, Bortner said.

Harley is asking dealers to encourage riders to be considerate, she said. Sometimes, that means riders should put a bike in neutral when they're in a driveway. They can fire up the engine down the street.

"You hear about jackhammers in New York City and people who live close to airports," Bortner said. "We are very sympathetic to that, but our stance is that we're really encouraging riders to take steps to be considerate and socially responsible about it."

All motorcycles sold for road use in the U.S. are subject to federal noise laws keeping them within a certain range of decibels, below 80 decibels from 50 feet away, said the industry council's Amette. A good rule of thumb is that your average motorcycle - as approved by government standards - should hum like a sewing machine, she said.

But some bikes are louder. That happens when bikers buy after-market equipment, either for the sound or for more heightened performance.

Manufacturers divide their motorcycle products into two types - for highway use and off-road, which is more performance-based and sometimes louder. You can buy a road bike and then add an off-road muffler, which means it'll be louder on the street. That's what Denver's ordinance aims to stop.

Enforcement has been minimal, said Wade Eldridge, a motorcycle-riding lawyer representing a handful of riders who have been ticketed so far. He said they're trying to get the ordinance declared unconstitutional because it creates two classes of motorcyclists.

Rider Dave Christy, 53, of Golden, Colo., said he knows some bikers now avoid Denver rather than deal with the new ordinance. The problem is riders who enjoy being loud without a thought to people who live nearby, he said. Christy uses after-market mufflers on his bikes, but he knows when not to be loud.

"What came out of the ordinance is a result of what motorcyclists pretty much brought down on themselves," he said.

 

To me the only fair way to enforce a noise law is with a decibel limit. If the vehicle meets the set decibel limit then it should be good. The police here have equipment to measure noise and give tickets for excessively loud stereos so it should not be stretch to do the same for cars or bikes.

Action

 

I used to own one of those really loud Honda Civics up until a couple of years ago. No big wings, no ugly body kit, just lowered with tasteful mods and a loud exhaust.

I was pulled over for the loud exhaust in Massachusetts in the summer of 1999, because the exhaust was "too loud and modified from stock". He actually asked me if my car came from the factory with a 4 1/2" tip, looking to "catch me in the act". Not only was I NOT a resident of Mass. (car had VT plates), but he pulled me over without any justification, because I was going 65 in a 65 (cruise control was set), which equates to hardly any noise out the back. I was profiled as a punk kid driving a hopped-up import. This is part of the reason that I don't have it anymore.

As he was writing me out a "written warning", a group of Harleys cruised by, easily surpassing the speed limit, and making 10x the noise I was making. I couldn't help but point out that the Harleys were OBVIOUSLY louder than I was...

His response: "We don't target motorcycles."
Translation: "An out-of-state kid in an import tuner car is an easier target."