|
A lake, motorcycles and enforcement hypocrisy |
|
Published 4/24/17
By John Freivalds
I do love the warm weather and the arrival of spring, but unwelcome visitors are the hundreds of Harley-Davidson motorcycles that starting noisily plying around the lake and where we live on Hennepin County Road 19.
Honda and BMW motorcycles don’t attract the type of riders who want to make as much noise as possible. A Harley with straight pipes (no muffler) gives off 100 decibels. That same as a car horn at the distance, according Purdue University.
By comparison, an idling car emits 35-45 decibels and in the low 70s at freeway speeds. A Harley out of the factory is 80 decibels. But remember the decibel system is logarithmic. So a difference of 10 decibels doesn’t sound like much, but it represents a sound level that is TEN times as much. Anything above 70 causes permanent hearing loss if it goes on for extended periods.
Bruce Murphy writing in Urban Milwaukee notes that Harley riders all opt out for loud noise. Its part of the rebellious thrill of being an outlaw on the road. It’s audio graffiti.
Ever see a biker wear Dockers? As the website The Aging Rebel notes, those modified pipes are an act of righteous opposition to the “noise nuts” and dastardly bean counters whose noise and pollution abatement goals are mandated by a self-righteous and distant bureaucracy.” I never saw Bikers for Obama rally. Yet the Harley Davidson website shows well-dressed, clean-shaven young thin millennials on their Harleys.
This is not the Harley biker we see in Minnesota. A man who is portly, tattooed and 51 years of age is the “average.”
But in the American easy-rider tradition, you can only enjoy the open road on a Harley. And Harleys have their own pilgrimage to Mecca — the annual get-together in Sturgis, South Dakota. It is some 600 miles from here, and it attracts 500,000 Harleys from around the country. I have been there, and it’s really an exercise in debauchery, and something dedicated Harley bikers try
to do every year.
Not surprisingly, the state with the highest per capita ownership of Harleys is South Dakota. Wisconsin is fourth, and Minnesota ninth. Dead last is the District of Columbia
I don’t have an issue with Harley-Davidson, for to be against that company would be against motherhood and apple pie. It’s American even though all it’s computer work and numerous parts have been outsourced.
Rather, almost every Harley owner customizes with aftermarket straight pipes — i.e., remove
Harley’s muffler to get even a louder sound.
Here is the wording from an ad from an aftermarket seller of straight pipes: “A motorcycle will never sound right without a right exhaust. Here at our shop you will find a great selection of pipes. These pipes are loud.”
Although the Harley-Davidson president laments that the noise is creating a backlash, he cites “a fourfold increasing negative media converge during the last decade, bans on motorcycles in some communities, efforts to curtail motorcycle events (mini Sturgises) and anti-tamper legislation.”
So how to stop the excessive Harley noise? Every community already has noise-control ordinances. These were enacted to prevent big semis from Jake braking, using the motor to slow down. Whatever the noise levels are the same and could be applied motorcycles going around Lake Minnetonka or West River Parkway. But on the Facebook page “I hate Harley,” it warns “do not approach or attempt to reason with motorcycle riders. When possible, take down the license number and call the police.”
In New York, loud motorcycles are subject to a $400 fee if bikes are audible from 200 feet away, and in Carefree, Arizona, engine noise in excess of 80 decibels face fines of up to $750. Chicago has a fines of $500.
So why aren’t cops around the lake enforcing noise laws? They say that they are too busy, but there is a bit of hypocrisy involved. If someone played ear-spitting rap music from his car in Orono where I live, he would be stopped, but insofar as bikers are concerned, they let “bikers be bikers.”
Here is what the people are saying!!!
Enjoyed your article. I'm a retired Houston PD Officer who fought, with fervor, the exponentially increasing vehicular noise problem on our public roadways. Thought I would share some of material with you in case you interested...any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Thanks,
Rick Holtsclaw, Houston PD/Retired
Concerned Citizens Against Loud Motorcycles - Facebook, YouTube and Wordpress
Article: The Truth about Loud Motorcycles the Police Won't or Can't Tell You: https://rickeyholtsclaw.wordpress.com/2016/03/10/the-truth-about-loud-motorcycles-the-police-wont-or-cant-tell-you/
Congressional Bill Proposal: The American Quality of Life Act - 2017 (A Federal Motor Vehicle Muffler Mandate): https://view.publitas.com/p222-12679/american-quality-of-life-act-2017-congressional-bill-proposal/
Video: Loud Motorcycles? (Pt. 1) THE LAW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouBsdUq-2Iw&t=25s
Video: Loud Motorcycles? (Pt. 2) OBFUSCATION AND DECEIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxFtHInScZQ&t=1562s
Video: Loud Motorcycles? (Pt. 3) OBSTACLES & SOLUTION?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtiVZ6qUX40&t=115s
Video: Loud Motorcycles? (Pt. 4) BIKER RALLIES & MAYORAL PROSTITUTION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZiGBqbcFwA&t=160s
Video: Loud Motorcycles? (Pt. 5) A SOUND SOLUTION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt-HvGTiOgg&t=964s
Video: Evidence of Arkansas Vehicular Noise Conspiracy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ--8v2S784&t=24s
Video: Do Loud Pipes Save Lives?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRxyoSj4sNU&t=29s
Article: Patriot Guard & MC Noise Nonsense: https://rickeyholtsclaw.wordpress.com/2017/04/24/patriot-guard-mc-noise-nonsense/
Article: Vance and Hines - Regulatory Concerns? It's About Time!: https://rickeyholtsclaw.wordpress.com/2017/04/26/10203/
Article: A Final Appeal to the 8th Circuit Court for Intervention: https://rickeyholtsclaw.wordpress.com/2017/03/07/a-final-appeal-to-the-8th-circuit-for-intervention/
Article: Conservative Houston Cop in a PC World: https://rickeyholtsclaw.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/conservative-houston-cop-in-a-pc-world/
Article: Illegally Loud Motor Vehicles: A Sound Solution: https://rickeyholtsclaw.wordpress.com/2017/03/06/illegal-motor-vehicle-noise-a-sound-solution/
Article: Motorcycle Noise Enforcement - 101: https://rickeyholtsclaw.wordpress.com/2016/09/12/motorcycle-noise-enforcement-101/
Article: Loud Motorcycles and the EPA: A Letter and Plea for Intercession: https://rickeyholtsclaw.wordpress.com/2016/09/16/loud-motorcycles-the-epa-a-plea-for-intercession/
Article: My LOUD Day at the Harley Dealership: https://rickeyholtsclaw.wordpress.com/2016/08/08/my-loud-evening-at-the-harley-dealership-truths-a-killer/
Article: EPA v. Harley: $15-million lawsuit: https://rickeyholtsclaw.wordpress.com/2016/08/20/epa-sues-harley-for-15-million-better-yet-the-aftermarket-scam-is-out-of-the-bag/
Article: The Loud Biker Cult[ure] Personality: https://rickeyholtsclaw.wordpress.com/2015/09/04/loud-biker-mentality-1949-v-21st-century/
Article: State Muffler Laws - A Compilation: https://rickeyholtsclaw.wordpress.com/2016/09/12/state-muffler-laws/
Article: Warning: Motorcycle Rights Organizations Seek Protected Class Status: https://rickeyholtsclaw.wordpress.com/2016/05/01/warning-motorcycle-rights-organizations-seek-protected-class-status-warning/
Thank you
Rick Holtsclaw, Houston PD/Retired
Concerned Citizens Against Loud Motorcycles - Facebook
Loud Motorcycles Suck - YouTube
Noise Free America - A Coalition for Quiet