Check out this Front page article from the Fresno Bee. What do you guys Think??? How about the motorcycle cops comment?


Published online on Monday, Jun. 15, 2009
By Jim Guy / The Fresno Bee


That rumble rolling up Valley roads on warm summer evenings is sweet music to some — and a buzz-kill for others.
It’s the roar of motorcycles, revving at stoplights and thundering up and down the street, bouncing shock waves off buildings like the soundtrack of a 1960s biker movie.
For some motorcyclists, the noise is as much a part of the riding experience as fresh air. Harley-Davidson even sought to patent the potato-potato sound of its engines a decade ago.


Some riders pump up the volume even more by removing stock catalytic converters and adding aftermarket pipes in search of better performance — and an ear-splitting roar that can infuriate patio diners or sidewalk latte drinkers.
While some bikers revel in the sound, others justify it by saying it protects them from inattentive motorists. “Loud pipes save lives,” is their mantra.
Nonsense, says Fresno motorcycle Sgt. Eric Eide, who rides an ultra-quiet BMW.
“Straight pipes are hugely offensive,” he said. “It’s a quality-of-life issue.”
Noise “is one of those things that needs to be addressed.”
That appears to be happening. A proposed law working its way through the California legislature, SB 435 by State Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), targets modified motorcycle exhausts that produce more air pollution. The bill also aims at the extra noise generated by after-market motorcycle exhausts.
Local opinions are as sharply divided as they were during a recent Sacramento hearing on the bill.
Scott Maddox, who was standing near his Harley-Davidson on Olive Avenue, didn’t think it was fair to single out motorcycles.
“I don’t know if it’s any more noise than when a city bus goes by,” he said.
Karey Wedemeyer, who was enjoying ice cream at an outdoor table, seemed to agree.
“It’s no more a problem than loud] stereos,” she said. “It’s more the stereos that bother me.”
Several blocks up the street, bicyclist Kevin Statham disagreed.
“No one should have the right to inflict their noise [on others] as they drive down the street,” he said. “Ridiculous.”
Said Mariam Widenham, who tends bar on Olive: “If you start it up and go, it’s cool. But if you’re revving it … it’s rude.”

Martin Garcia, who rides a Yamaha cruiser, concedes that sometimes the temptation to do just that sometimes takes over.
“Everyone does it,” he said. “They want to see how loud their bike is … like we don’t know it’s loud enough already.”
Eide attributes the excessive noise to some motorcyclists trying to emulate the outlaw biker lifestyle through loud exhausts, faux-**** helmets and skull facial masks. Eide said officers currently use a vehicle code section to cite motorcyclists for excessive noise but generally only go after extreme cases.
And it isn’t always easy for police to make noise violations stick. Mary Lynne Vellinga, a legislative consultant in Pavley’s Sacramento office, said the standards in the current law are not clear and tickets may not stand up in court. She said her research shows that California Highway Patrol officers wrote just 14 citations in the past two years.
Pavley’s office wants to strengthen the law and, after an initial setback, is still fine-tuning a bill that would do so, Vellinga said. A portion of the bill that would require semi-annual smog checks for motorcycles appears dead for now, but Vellinga said her office still intends to use SB 435 to target motorcyclists who remove catalytic converters.
Under the current law, a motorcyclist cited for removing a converter often can ride home, bolt the stock exhaust back on and have the citation cleared. That would be much more difficult if smog checks were required because many riders would need to have expensive engine modifications done to pass a tailpipe emissions test. Vellinga concedes getting a law through the legislature has been a tough slog.
“Motorcycle folks are super-vocal,” she said.
But industry officials are aware a backlash is looming. Harley-Davidson President Jim McCaslin, in a message on the company’s Web site, told riders to pipe down, citing a 400% increase in negative news stories regarding motorcycle noise in the past 10 years. Local dealers warn about it as well. At Harley-Davidson/Buell of Fresno on West Shaw Avenue, a sign urges bikers to ride away quietly.
“The noise issue is huge,” said Peggy Day, sales manager. She said the American Motorcycle Association had to fight local officials near Carmel to win back the right for motorcyclists to ride down 17 Mile Drive. She said riders need to discipline themselves.
“Unless we’re socially responsible,” she said, “our right to ride is in jeopardy.”

 

Dozens (hundreds?) of threads here on the subject.

 

cHarley,

I'm sure there are, but this is a recent article that a law may be on the way. I sure hope not.

 

Old issue that just keeps coming back. Sounds like it is tough to get legislation passed against motorcycles there. Hopefully the motorcycle riders who live in her legislative district can vote her out.

 

Well.... it is going to happen sooner or later. If we don't control ourselves, others will do it for us. It is sad that a few ruin our freedom. There is no good reason to rev the engine for good 2 minutes at the light. It is nice to let people know you are here and you like your bike, but there is no reason to **** everyone off because you like the noise.

I am sorry, I am so embarrassed by some of the riders in our town. May be that is why I am a loner and like to ride alone quietly to enjoy the ride.

 

The "I don't give a Dam what others think", I can do what I want, suck the others, attitude is all about ME, ME, ME.
We do have to take care of our selves and family's, but at the same time we need to have some respect of others.

I also have loud pipes, not obnoxiously loud, but with the wrapped baffles they came with.

At night when riding downtown or in my addition, the sound carries and sounds louder than I want and I try to stay out of it just out of respect for others, but they are just right out in the open.

Point is, there is a time to let it roar and a time not to...

 

Sad it comes to this ........... 36th season for me, been running 2" open drags on shovels for all of them. Never been hassled, never got a ticket, no problems. I also have a RK with 2.25" Rush mufflers, loud when I want to be, but quiet when I should be. Ain't sayin' I'm perfect, but I am smart and know where and when to play. "Eide attributes the excessive noise to some motorcyclists trying to emulate the outlaw biker lifestyle through loud exhausts, faux-**** helmets and skull facial masks." It's these guys that kill it for all of us, their idea of the lifestyle is the "weekend warrior" affair, raise as much hell as I can on the weekend, park her until the next time. As always, it's a shame, punish the masses for the crimes of a few.

 

Sounds like 99% of bikers are soon to be "Outlaws"!

 

Damn---a group hug moment. How embarassing.

 

Ya, "he's a loner", "he just has to be him", "he's just trying to find himself".