Loud pipes piss off most people

I live in a rural area of Central California.

Loud pipes piss off the neighbors. I don't have them, but lots of the
locals do.

Noise ordinances restricting days and times that people can ride dirt
bikes on their own property have been implemented in my town. I hear
that the cops are going to get a DB meter and start cracking down hard.
Good on them. I hope that they start going after the loud street bikes
as well.

I can hear the Harley RUBs on the freeway and I live over a mile from
101.

The AMA has has it dead on - "Loud pipes lose rights".

Loud pipes provoke people to do stupid things. Like throwing rocks at
riders. Or oiling corners. Or spreading gravel in corners. These
actions are wrong. Understandable, but wrong.

Have a little respect for other people. Don't install loud after market
pipes. You might think they sound cool. There are lots more people who
think they really suck.

Your rights to make a hell of a racket to sound cool ends when the
general public decides that peace and quiet is more important. The dirt
bikers in town pitched a bitch when the restrictions were discussed and
enacted. Too bad they brought it on themselves by riding morning, noon,
and night on clapped out old motocross bikes. Mouthing off to the
neighbors about how they have the right to make as much noise as they
wanted backfired on them. When the majority of the townspeople are sick
of the racket, rules get passed.

Loud boats suck, too. Especially loud boats with really loud stereos.
California has implemented noise regulations for boats. It seems to
have made a difference. The lakes are quieter than a few years ago.

Maybe the Feds can get into the act and implement noise limits for
motorcycles. Aftermarket pipe makers could be required certify their
products as meeting Federal standards.

 

I can see where this thread is likely to go. Before it gets there, I'd
like to ponder whether noise laws can be effectively enforced,
particularly in view of the wholehearted dissent of those against whom
they will have to be enforced. Since noise is so much affected by
distance from the sound source, and ambient noise being produced by
other sources, you will have to be able to compel search and seizure in
order to produce a legally convincing test. We are willing to do this
with drunk drivers, with less than effective results. Applying
resources of this kind to noise pollution requires one to ask what
you're prepared to give up in order to prioritize this problem.

The State is likely to intervene most effectively where a profit motive
is involved. Motor vehicle manufacturers could be required to meet
noise emission standards on new vehicles sold in this state, just as
they are required to meet chemical emissions standards. And vehicles
subject to inspection could be tested for noise as well as emissions
and whatever else the state might choose to impose. But this step would
require that motorcycles be subject to periodic inspection as are cars,
and I'm not terribly interested in pursuing the public good at my
private expense and inconvenience.

Finally, as it is already illegal to alter factory exhaust systems on
motorcycles, one could revoke the licenses of mechanics who perform this
illegal operation.

Go beyond this, and you spend a lot of bucks for damn little bang.

I'd like to believe that education would be effective, but I suspect
that most noise polluters are perfectly aware of what they are doing and
reasonably aware that they are creating nuisance. One need only look at
how many drivers cannot resist the urge to share their musical tastes
with me while on the city's streets.

As to the public's reaction, I was commiserating with a neighbor about
the noise from a particularly loud out-of-state cruiser (NOT a H-D) that
appeared on our block recently and whose owner seemed to be leaving
every night around 11 pm. I opined that based on the times the bike
appeared and left and on the out-of-state registration, that the owner
was probably dating someone in the neighborhood. Her response: I hope
they break up.

Happily for us, it seems as though they have.

Rich, Urban Biker

 

Maybe keeping completely quiet in a situation like that is
the wrong thing to do.

I think I might have tried some response along the lines of

"I'm sorry you were disturbed; I was trying hard not to make noise
but there was another guy here with a really loud bike who made
lots of noise then left."

Whether the guy was really really pissed or just bullying, it
seems like some kind of a calm expression of regret might
have been the best way to defuse things. YMMV.

Sounds like he picked you as a proxy.

 

Ahh, I LOVE a gal on a Moto Guzzi!

 

I'd stick to commercial mufflers -- the one you suggest is likely to
blow up in your face.

 

Best applied midway through the expression of regret when he's
not expecting it.

 

I agree with you about loud pipes. Some Harley club came down the street
one block from here a while back, at 2:00 am, setting off car alarms,
dogs and babies. And it went on and on! There were dozens of them! Woke
me up and pissed me off!

When I lived downtown, they had this music festival called Street Scene,
which drew a crowd of 60,000 over three days. One Saturday, a bunch, I
think it was the Harley Owners Group (HOG) kept going around and around
and around on their blatting steeds. I was out on the front patio
overlooking Market street, getting seriously annoyed as they came around
for perhaps the tenth time. Suddenly, I heard the 'whoop!' of a police
siren and looked over the wall. The cops had cut two hogs out of the
herd, and were scrutinizing the bikes while the riders argued. Then a
tow truck was called to haul the bikes away. I may be wrong, but my
impression was that these bikes exceeded the noise limit, and that's why
they were towed.

The lesson being, never be last in a pack. The preds will pick you off
first. Interestingly enough, the rest of them quit doing their "hey!
Lookit me!" rounds, and the neighborhood returned to relative quiet.

We call 'em 'profilers' down here. Their idea of a "ride" is to go
downtown to Dicks Last Resort, line their bikes up on the sidewalk for a
block, and hang in the patio in their leathers being all "bikerish."

"Rolling thunder," my ass. "Rolling 'Look At Me on my Loud Motorcycle
and Day Old Beard'" is more like it.

--
--
Spidergraham
Chaplain, ARSCC



"Comparing Scientology to a motorcycle gang is a gross, unpardonable
insult to bikers everywhere. Even at our worst, we are never as bad as
Scientology."
-ex-member, Thunderclouds motorcycle "club"

 

Yeah. I had a similar situation with a guy whining about the loud
motorcycle that had just left the parking slot next to mine in Coronado.
I was on my bike, putting on my gloves, when he came up to yell at me. I
pulled the face shield of my helmet up and said, "Maybe you should make
sure you're screeching at the right person before shooting your damn
mouth off." Fired up the bike, which doesn't make much noise at all, and
left him standing on the curb with his face all read.

People don't hear me pull up outside their houses, either. The
occasional passenger often comments that they weren't sure the bike was
even running on the freeway. You can tell, these days, cuz I need new
shocks.

--
--
Spidergraham
Chaplain, ARSCC



"Comparing Scientology to a motorcycle gang is a gross, unpardonable
insult to bikers everywhere. Even at our worst, we are never as bad as
Scientology."
-ex-member, Thunderclouds motorcycle "club"

 

Awww...you're just jealous cuz you can't grow one. <g,d&r>

 

It's amazing what Halloween costume props are like these days...
I met Doc Wong once in a stick on mustache, and he never even knew I
wasn't a guy!
I hate that cement tho...it itches and doesn't come off real easy.

--
--
Spidergraham
Chaplain, ARSCC



"Comparing Scientology to a motorcycle gang is a gross, unpardonable
insult to bikers everywhere. Even at our worst, we are never as bad as
Scientology."
-ex-member, Thunderclouds motorcycle "club"

 

Yeah...like Judy Garland. Amazing what you can do with a simple Ace
bandage! (or duct tape, heh heh)

--
--
Spidergraham
Chaplain, ARSCC



"Comparing Scientology to a motorcycle gang is a gross, unpardonable
insult to bikers everywhere. Even at our worst, we are never as bad as
Scientology."
-ex-member, Thunderclouds motorcycle "club"

 

No, no, not 'Rolling Thunder' the organization! 'Rolling Thunder' as the
cultural perception of Harleys. The term 'rolling thunder' comes from
pop culture way before an organization named that was formed.
The group, "Rolling Thunder" is the folks that make the Run to the
Vietnam Memorial every year. I wasn't referring to them. Sorry for the
confusion. Those are good guys.

--
--
Spidergraham
Chaplain, ARSCC



"Comparing Scientology to a motorcycle gang is a gross, unpardonable
insult to bikers everywhere. Even at our worst, we are never as bad as
Scientology."
-ex-member, Thunderclouds motorcycle "club"

 

Lusty, (What a great nickname!)

I'm amazed that this guy came out of the motel and gave you crap about
the loud pipes he and others heard. He had no right to do that and my
guess is that if I were standing there next to my stock Goldwing, he
wouldn't of had the guts. But then I'm 6'' 2", 245 lbs and play ice
hockey.

If a '68 Camaro with glasspacks had made that noise and someone was
next to or in their '71 Firebird, would he have come out and done that?
Nope. He was as much of an a-hole as the guy with the loud pipes; bad
temper without the sense to direct his anger where he should. Just
consider the source.

The General.

 

The complaining guy was mistaken, but that didn'tmean he had no beef.
And I can't fault anyone for not wanting to tangle with an angry male in
full bellow mode. Another way to handle it:
---

if Lusty hadn't started her bike up, agree that the noise was a nuisance
but invite him to touch her exhaust pipe and assure himself that it
wasn't her bike that made the noise.

If Lusty's bike was running, point out that neither of them were
shouting to be heard over the idling machine.

 

Invite him to touch the exhaust pipe anyway!

Too true.

 

Good call. Sometimes, there's just nothing you can say. In those
cases, that's just wha tto say.

Al Moore
DoD 734

 

A DB meter -- comical. Short of slapping badges on trained audio
engineers with an intimate understanding of things like proximity
effect and sonic transmission loss, equipping cops with those cheesy
little Radio Shack DB meters makes about as much sense as hiring a
20-dollar hooker to perform spleen surgery.

Ignorance-driven oppression -- just one unfortunate aspect of living in
an overcrowded, ass-backward state. The more people get jam-packed into
a given geographical area, the more the infringement of basic personal
liberties (like the common-sense acknowledgement that a person has an
inherent right to ride a dirt bike on his/her own fucking property).
Thank God I don't live in the People's Republik of Kalifornia. Or
should we call it Chinafornia?

Best wishes,

Tim Kreitz
2003 ZX7R
2000 ZX6R
http://www.timkreitz.com
http://www.myspace.com/timkreitz
http://superbikeblog.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/dingosanctuary

 

I am very happy that I don't have an inconsiderate asshole like you for
a neighbor.

If the noise and dust from your dirtbikes on your property makes it to
my property, there is a problem. Why should I have to put up with that,
hour after hour, day after day, week after week? If you had thousands
of acres and you weren't bothering anyone, great. If you are bothering
all of your neighbors and being a total dickhead when asked to cease
and desist, things are going to escalate.

Are you really a total dickhead, or just one of the modern selfish
scumbags that has no consideration for other people?

 

I'd be the best neighbor you ever had, because I'd respect and help
look after your basic human liberties.

Wow. Then move into the city and barricade yourself into a soundproof
studio apartment. I'm consistently amazed when yuppies move into rural
areas and then have the gall to become offended by blowing dust and the
like. Here's a tip: DON'T EVER MOVE TO WEST TEXAS. LOL. You guys don't
know what dust IS.

Besides, your whole mentality smacks of a person who has no REAL
problems to deal with. Spend a few months in Somalia or Haifa and maybe
you'll start to realize what a pussy you're being.

Because you're not the center of the fucking universe, and because
living around other humans means putting up with their annoying noises
and general presence. If your nerves are that fragile, buy your self
some earplugs, a feather duster, and a lifetime supply of Zoloft,
'cause life won't be getting easier for you.

Pot. Kettle. Black. I find it farcical that you preach so fervently
against self-centeredness while in the same breath endorsing the
infringement of others' freedoms for personal gain. Hypocrite.

Best wishes,

Tim Kreitz
2003 ZX7R
2000 ZX6R
http://www.timkreitz.com
http://www.myspace.com/timkreitz
http://superbikeblog.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/dingosanctuary