Posted on 09/22/2010 12:56:11 AM PDT by Terrence DoGood
"As the popularity of motorcycles increases, loud pipes become offensive to the general public out there," Scott added.
The roaring motorcycles -- primarily Harleys -- have led to a bill that would target motorcyclists who remove factory-installed emission control devices mandated by the federal government and replace them with custom, aftermarket parts that often make their bikes louder and more polluting.
SB 435 had been approved by the state legislature and now is sitting on the Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk. The Harley-riding governor has until Sept. 30 to sign the bill into law or veto it.
If the governor puts his stamp of approval on the measure, motorcyclists would be required to post a visible, unaltered Environment Protection Agency stamp to confirm the exhaust system is clean burning and does not exceed 80 decibels -- about the same noise level as a vacuum cleaner. The stamp would only be required for motorcycles and aftermarket parts made after 2013.
"The noise caused by illegally modified motorcycle exhaust systems is a major quality of life issue across the state," said state Sen. Fran Pavley, a Democrat from Agoura Hills. "Basic common sense and decency dictates that when a motorcycle drives by and sets off every car alarm on the street, that is too loud
First-time offenders would be fined up to $100; tickets could be voided if the owners bring their bikes back into compliance. Subsequent infractions would be subject to fines of $100 to $250.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
What's up with the jakes in the cities, anyway?
Amateur truck drivers, bah!
Oh come on.
This is FR. Don't be insulting.
We've all heard that excuse; we all know it's BS.
Bikers like loud exhaust because it's the audio equivalent of giving the world the finger.
It's annoying, rude, selfish and juvenile. Yes it violates the rights of others just like any other disturbance of the peace does.
Some motorcyclists have actually matured beyond 16 years old and think of others.
Grow up and use a muffler. Some people have sleeping children, jerks.
(Yes, that goes for your 20-ft-tall, 140 dB pickup too, junior)
Personally, I wish all of them were sentenced to Guantanamo sleep deprivation treatments for a month or so. (Quit whining and deal with it, wimp. That goes for your 4-year-old too.)
One of my best drinking buddies a few years back was a Honda engineer who worked on exhaust systems. When he was drunk, he would go completely ballistic at the sight of a bosozoku.
He and his coworkers spent millions of yen and uncounted manhours designing exhaust systems that were absolute marvels of cleanliness, efficiency and noise minimization — only to see their hard work destroyed so callously by these cretins.
It was hard not to feel his pain. Especially when you live next to a major inner-city road.
Could it be that you are a little deaf?
Girly Gov’s last hurrah!
TD:
Talking to these folks about Harleys and people who ride them is a lot like trying to explain a conservative point of view to a liberal, or justify owning an American Pit Bull Terrier to most on FR, if you have to explain it, they are not going to understand anyway.
Keep the shiny side up.
Rearden, ‘20 Road King and 1966 FLH Elctra Glide rider and proud pit bull owner, lol
sorry, should be ‘02 Road King, lol
Roger that!
I’ll bet your a person who checks to see if everyone’s hose is perfectly rolled up and that recyclables are positioned squarely on the curb.
Don’t most locales have sound ordinances? Why is a State law needed
If you ever had a neighbor that did this to his bike and came home late at night often you would be for it too.
Here in Florida and in other states having traveled allot on my Harley I have noticed many small cars with very large mufflers tail pipes make more noise than any motorcycle could possibly make and never seen one pulled over because of it, the ones complaining about motorcycle noise get a life the noise is only there for about 5 seconds till out of range by your driving or the bike moving away.Police and ambulance sirens make more noise than they do.
Pretty sure that any car making that much noise would be pulled over and ticketed.
We have cars in my area that are as loud as any motorcycle, mostly Japanese sports coups set up for illegal road racing - like in the “Fast and Furious” movies.
You feel more ‘manly’ by riding your HD amongst the hordes and being obnoxiously loud? How fecking more insecure could you possibly get?
Any cars as loud as those obnoxious bikes should be pulled over and ticketed. Sounds like the cops in your area aren’t doing their job.
Some cars (and trucks) are indeed loud but I rarely hear a car exhaust that’s as loud as an obnoxious bike.
Horrible law. I gave up my motorcycle long ago after a minor accident. But . . . I took some of the baffles out of the muffler for safety reasons. Cars hear you even if they can’t see you.
Yesterday I was using a plastic gas can to fill up a dirtbike.
Because some dumbass from the gub mint mandated that cans can have NO breather hole like they use to it takes forever.
This is the kind of crap the gubmint has NO business getting in to.
Get the gub mint off our backs and out of our walletts.
One more thing Terrence, 2002 H.D. Electraglide here.
I think that has a lot to do with it, and it’s been going on for a long time.
Back in Spring of 1971 I was pulled for “loud pipes” when I rode into Virginia Beach on my 1957 XL. The cop had to pause in his lecture when a kid on a Kawasaki road by with straight pipes. When I asked him about it he told me he was only concerned about Harleys. I was given a warning ticket and told I had 24 hours to get stock pipes. I immediately rode to the Harley shop and bought stock shotgun pipes. They were louder than the after market pipes I had before.
I found out later it was an effort to “clean up” the city before the arrival of summer tourists.
There was another attempt in early summer. We’d park 2 or 3 bikes in a parking space and drop a dime in the meter. Police told us it was illegal - one space, one vehicle. The word was spread. Saturday morning about a hundred bikes showed up early and parked - one space, one bike. Tourists were driving around looking for a parking space. By noon we were told to park as many as possible in a space.
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