Why? A couple of things that go unanswered, handlebar heights and the death of a loved one

 

Duh....... The obvious answer is the legislators in that particular state get to make the laws in that particular state. They do not have to justify their actions to the public, especially to those of us who do not reside OR (and this is the biggie) vote in that particular state.

Nobody ever said it had to make sense or have some hint of reasonable thought in the decision making process.

 

So you are assuming that only HD's are loud? I've heard some pretty GD loud rice rockets in my time...

[not trying to hijack the thread though; carry on]

 

installing apes changes the handling characteristics and some higher ups have figured out they are dangerous. i had baby apes on my softail and it handled fine.

 

I would guess it has to do with safety...I have seen a lot of apes that won't stay tight in the clamps unless they are pinned...With the leverage the tall handlebars put against the clamps and riser bolts...They either need to be pinned or checked on a regular basis.

 

I would guess it's based on a guess.
They don't ride and assume they are unsafe. So they voted on what they as non riders thought was safe.

Have you noticed the posts by riders here that say they think they are unsafe, uncomfortable, for looks only because they've not ridden on a bike with apes?