Chicagoland Sportbike Forums banner

Governator to piss of a lot of "****?"

3K views 99 replies 26 participants last post by  MVRC51 
#1 ·


The laid-back vibe of this affluent Los Angeles suburb gets a jarring wakeup on weekends when hundreds of motorcycles thunder through the Santa Monica Mountains, triggering car alarms, rattling windows and jolting alive barking dogs.
"They rev their engines with complete disregard for the people who live here," complained neighborhood resident Tonia Aery. "It's obnoxious."

Aery's wish for peace and quiet could come true after the state Senate passed a bill this month that would make it a motor vehicle violation to ride a roaring hog. The only catch is that the decision now falls to the state's biker-in-chief, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, an avid motorcyclist.
Schwarzenegger's fellow riders — still bitter over an 18-year-old state law requiring helmets — are hoping he'll veto the law.

The bill targets motorcyclists who remove factory-installed emission control devices mandated by the U.S. government and replace them with custom, after-market parts that often make their bikes louder — and, consequently, dirtier. If passed, motorcycles would be required to bear the proper U.S. Environmental Protection Agency label certifying that the exhaust system is clean burning and does not exceed 80 decibels — about the same as a vacuum cleaner.

Last year, Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, tried to close a loophole in the state law that exempts motorcycles from pollution standards by mandating smog inspections every two years. Vocal motorcyclists helped defeat the bill so she amended it to target noise. If signed, the bill will effectively make the state's 826,000 registered motorcycles meet air pollution requirements by meeting noise standards.
Federal and state laws that limit motorcycle noise already exist, but Pavley said enforcement is lax because it's impractical to outfit police with noise-monitoring instruments.

"It's already illegal to modify the pipe to make your bike louder," Pavley said. "So this is not a new law, it's enforcement of an existing law."
California Highway Patrol Officer Leland Tang, whose Woodland Hills office regularly fields complaints about noisy bikes, noted that state law prohibits drivers from modifying their cars' exhaust system to make the engine louder. But bikers can dodge the ordinance because the Bureau of Automotive Repair, which inspects vehicles to ensure their exhaust systems are in compliance, is not set up to inspect motorcycles.
Bikers fear the legislation would put a crimp in more than their tailpipes and could prevent them from customizing their motorcycles because makers of aftermarket parts — faced with the daunting task of having to list every make and model their parts can be used for — could go out of business.

Pavley said the EPA stamp will be required for motorcycles made after 2013, giving enough time for parts makers to comply.
Even motorcyclists known for sounding off on their boisterous peers think the new law is a bad idea.
"This bill doesn't directly address the noise issue, it just regulates what you can purchase for your bike," said Don Amador, whose Quiet Warrior Riding consulting firm advocates riding with sound-compliant equipment. He suggests that authorities adopt a decibel test to measure actual noise output.
Schwarzenegger, who has until Sept. 30 to decide, has not taken a position on the legislation, said spokesman Aaron McLear. The governor, whose most famous movie image depicts him as gun-toting, motorcycle-riding cyborg in "The Terminator" series, has a bike collection and sometimes rides around the Malibu hills with his pals.
McLear said he didn't know if Schwarzenegger's motorcycles meet federal noise requirements.

The bill's not the first time Schwarzenegger has faced the prospect of being in the hot saddle over something that would affect his lifestyle. Earlier this year, the governor known for puffing on expensive cigars vetoed legislation that would have banned smoking at all California state parks and beaches. He said the bill crossed the line of government intrusion.

On the other hand, Schwarzenegger received environmental kudos for signing Pavley's landmark global warming law imposing stronger regulations on greenhouse gas emissions.

Mike Levison, the Harley rider, said he gets annoyed by loud hogs, but thinks peer pressure's a better way to quiet loud bikes. In the past, he's banished loud bikes to the back of the pack.

"Guys revving up their noisy pipes remind me of my 8-year-old grandson. Every time he jumps in the pool he yells 'Hey Grandpa, look at me! Look at me!'" the retired businessman said. "They're making noise to get attention. It's no wonder the public has come down on us because of these idiots."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_motorcycle_noise
 
See less See more
1
#2 · (Edited)
I guess the aftermarket pipes industry will be another victim of the libs now. Oh well, to many people employed by private industry anyway.:rolleyes
 
#5 ·
Yaaaa. No noisy aftermarket pipes on them Gixxers.:laughing:
 
#10 ·
CerkMX said:
Dickheads on sportbikes are just as loud and annoying as dickheads on Harleys. Brothers of a different mother, all idiots.
Not true and you know it.
Not to say some built up bikes aren't loud but a pipe on a gixxer is nowhere near a pipe on a Harley in terms of raw sound. Even a duc or an aprilia doesn't hold a candle to those open headered harleys
 
#16 ·
.....You obviously havent ridden behind me have you
 
#14 ·
What if we liked 2001? What if we want to stay in 2001? Some guys like 1986 i kinda like 2001!
 
#12 ·
I get just as many assholes doing holeshots at the stop sign on my block on sportbikes as I do on Harleys. The fucking later it gets, the louder they rev them.

Personally, I hope they do figure a way to ban the loud pipes. People are too ignorant to run quiet shit, motorcycle advocacy groups have been saying for years to quiet them down.

Loud pipes piss people off. Myself included.
 
#13 ·
CerkMX said:
Nope, I don't "know it". Idiots on sportbikes cause just as much of a scene as idiots on Harleys. I'm not having this debate tonight...it's soooo 2001.

It's fingerpointing and scapegoating...and just stupid, IMO.

I'm on my cell walking the dog but I did a quick search. Harley straight pipes and decibels. Most sites claimed low to mid 120's.

Gsxr1000 with a full exhaust rang in 103 to 107 with 107 being a shorty. I'm not claiming a full exhaust on a Superbike is quiet, just that Harley motors with straight pipes are very loud under even light load. Also twins are generally louder than 4's

Living downtown and hearing both all the time there is a big difference in sound volume.
 
#19 ·
Quit yo bitching!! :laughing

Actually I hate a loud bike no matter what. That's why the Honda is still stock and the HD I'm looking for something low on the noise scale.
 
#20 ·
I don't like really loud pipes on sportbikes or cruisers. Just an opinion but I feel that some cruisers go well and beyond having some loud pipes. And I can see how it pisses some people off, I ride and it gets to me sometimes. Some are so loud that I have notices these riders have adapted a new style of riding to put up with the noise. Normally when you ride a bike you are smooth on the throttle and keep a consistent amount open to maintain speed. These cruisers with super loud pipes can't do that because they would go deaf or vibrate apart. So what they do is give short 5 sec. bursts of throttle and coast. When they slow down too much they crank it again. Very odd way of riding...............on, off, on , off.......
 
#22 ·
So let me get this straight...the averaqge person in their home should be able to tell the difference between an HD with straights and a gixxer with a full race exhaust going by at 2 AM, waking them from their sound sleep and waking their kids and causing all the car alarms on the block to go off etc. etc. etc. ? ..............They don't care who's waking them up or what they're riding or how many decibles the bike was emmiting when it woke them up! They just want those responsible for it to STOP! Loud pipes risk rights...plain and simple and no single group of riders is more responsible than the next for the public out cry against unnecessarily loud pipes!
Everyone has been warned for years that if we didn't work together and self police the people and the government were going to do it for us...Hopefully this will get vetoed, because if it doesn't it could lead to a very dangerous precedent nationwide...But if it does pass...WE, ALL OF US who ride have no one to blame but ourselves.
You can help in 2 ways...contact the California governors office and ask him to veto this legislation (easily done through the AMA's rapid response on their website) and ride responsibly with consideration for others whether you have a stock or aftermarket pipe!
For the record...the only motorcycle I own with aftermarket exhaust is my dirt bike.
 
#23 ·
why is it when you post up facts on here everyone ignores them and continues on their drone.

I never said sportbikes can't be loud. I said they weren't as loud as straight piped harleys.
That is a fact.

Can a person tell the difference in a gixxer and a harley at full throttle as otb said? They sure should be able to, as a matter of fact that should be a captcha test to be a member of this board - play a wave file of a duc (with an open dry clutch), or a gixxer, or a harley and hit them with the multiple choice. If you can't tell the difference in a Harley and a gixxer.. you don't belong on this board.

seriously an open harley at 3k rpm is louder than a gixxer 1k at 10k w a full ak.

I used to live on state and wacker and the harleys were all I could hear from up there.

We aren't talking opinions and I am not throwing out some "we need to ban harleys" shit.
I am saying a harley at almost twice the displacement with straight pipes (generally sport bike pipes have more to them than an open section of tube with nothing around it) is louder.

I post 103-107db to mid 120's db
knowing how db are measured (as I am sure Cerk and OTB do) that is a massive difference.


Intentional ignorance is still ignorance.

I know better than to accept stupidity as an answer from you two, so I assume it's agenda.
We either like Harley so we refuse to acknowledge facts or we plan on getting one or.. we're just being "fair"

The truth is fair is the opposite way - sport bikes are harassed 10x as much as harley people are and... well deserved or not.. we all know that is true.
 
#24 ·
Wowsers. Greg, seriously man, sportbikes are "harrassed" more because of a reputation. ...not that I really buy that anyway. I've never been harrassed by anyone. Ride like a dickhead, expect to be bothered by the law.

If you think "cruisers" haven't had harrassment or reputation problems you're certainly not up to speed on your moto-history. Shit, "bikers" used to be banned from bars, campgrounds, motels, etc...my Dad had to take his leather jacket off to register for a night's stay in many places...and not so long ago.

Ignorance truly is bliss, some people are just blinded by perspective.
 
#25 ·
No matter what sort of bike someone rides people are just assholes with small dicks sometimes. Some folks go out of their way to make noise. Example, the person who sits at a light revving, the person who goes through a mall parking lot 10 mph and pulls the clutch in to rev, the person who on a Sun. morning sit in their driveway revving a loud bike to warm it up.
Maybe I am just too considerate, I have the baffles in my Arrow pipes and I still push my bike out of my condo parking garage by hand and do not start it until I am outside after the door shuts and I push it away from anyone's balcony.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Loud pipes save lives.:laughing::neener:

But really, I can't even count (I run out of fingers and toes) the number of times I've stopped someone on a cell phone from drifting into my lane by simply twisting the throttle a bit. Face it, the horn on most bikes, including HS's are pretty lame and useless.
 
#28 · (Edited)
Tom I don't even ride on the street any more and all my bikes have pipes that came from the factory on them (full disclosure the aprilia pipes are pretty frickin loud and are "race track only")

I personally don't have a horse in the game right now, just intentionally misstated facts are this huge pet peeve of mine (i am so that "somebody is wrong on the internet" guy.. and I know it) :laughing

Piped Harleys are louder than piped Sportbikes - even at full bore on the sportbike.
That is fact.

If I get another street bike it will either be a motard or a cruiser (probably a harley).
I need to take away the temptation to smear myself on the pavement and I think getting something that didn't make me think "i could have gone through that 10mph faster" every corner I go through will do that.. fingers crossed.

oh and your biker thing? yeah.. that was a long time ago.. now most harley bikers are accountants and lawyers or ceo types trying to imitate the bikers you're talking about.

Every morning on my walk to the train I see the same 3 harley guys go by me wearing suits.

in regards to the harassed sportbiker comment well we both know that could go either way. I have seen harleys pass sportbikes and then saw the sportbikes get pulled over, i have heard a million times about selective enforcement.. but that's not what this discussion was about. I said Harley's were louder than sportbikes and that *is* generally the case.

The loudest sport bikes I have ever heard may have been on par with Harleys.. Laguna Seca in 2005 in the pit area - they warmed up the liter GP bikes.. Hairs on my arm are standing on end just remembering that vrm vroom vrooom vrooom noise. Admittedly those bikes are a bit more race ready than the 75% of sportbikes with a slip on and maybe a pc or the 75% of harleys with a straight pipe on them that consists basically of a piece of open pipe with 0 baffles and one or two bends (dipped in chrome of course)
 
#31 ·
The point is sportbikes are just as intrusive, obnoxious and troublesome to people. It all comes down to behavior. Contending anything else is scapegoating and blameshifting, and frankly speaks to a stereotype and ignorance.

I grew up around both crowds, the riders, the REAL motorcyclists, are the same people. The fringe of both cause problems and perpetuate negative stereotypes, and are equally responsible for the problematic legislation we face every day. To suggest otherwise is to add fuel to the fire.

.02
 
#35 ·
I think you are being to nice in an attempt to be fair
each side has their problems

Sportbikers are quieter but they think the road is a race track and travel around often at unsafe speeds seeking thrills.

Harleys are more the "look at me" crowd - they go slower but they make a lot more noise.

The public hates both groups for different reasons. We all know this.. We all hear about it from out non riding family and friends.. Suicycles and donorcycles on the one side and all they ever say about harleys is how loud and pretty they are (which both i'd say are "hey look at me" factors
 
#32 ·
A bunch of f'n grandma's.:laughing: Go get a set.:laughing:
 
#34 ·
It's just that, that's what sums it up best.:laughing:
 
#39 ·
Turtles make a very tangy soup. It goes great with broiled dolphin!

But...That's as irrelevent as whose bikes are noisiest in this thread...If Governor Schwarzeneger signs this bill into law it will set a very dangerous precedent for all of motorcycling nationwide.
 
#40 ·
I hate both equally, but that being said, I do have a full system on my F3. Sure, I rip it on the highway sometimes, but when I pull off into a neighborhood, I keep as quiet as possible.

There is a guy that lived by my old house that every morning would start is Harley and rip it down my street. It would literally shake my house. I wanted to kill that guy.

Yes, there are sport bikers that ride the same, but to me, it seems the tone of the exhaust travels further on a Harley than it does a sport bike. I'm sure some of the audio experts on here can prove or disprove this though.
 
#44 ·
first off you guys are being intentionally off the mark.
Cerk.. I've never met you but I have come to expect a more scientific approach from you. Odd as that sounds.. You know how you build up persona's around people you merely know online?

First off I don't want to see this ban put into place.
Second off Harleys and the big cruisers ARE generally much louder.
Third I live in a much more populated area than the majority of you guys - I also have a baby. The Harley and big open piped cruisers are the ones that wake her up. Occasionally some guy on a gixxer is lighting it up and that's loud - but not as loud.
Fourth. Why do you ignore actual data?

Sport bikes.
How loud is an Akrapovic exhaust system?
Akrapovic exhaust systems are louder than stock exhaust systems. Noise measurements are made following the standard procedure: 50 cm from the exhaust outlet at an angle of 45° to the side of the outlet.
Typical measured noise levels for individual product groups depend most of all on engine type and vary from:

92dB to 98dB (street legal Slip-on, Bolt-on)
98dB to 102dB (Racing, Evolution)
94 dB (offroad)
The Street Legal series maintains the same noise levels as the stock exhaust systems. However, the color and the tone of the sound are changed, giving it a much sportier growl. The increase in performance is also less marked than with our other types of exhaust systems.

Harley
Our quiet option tuned inserts are approx 96-97 decibels, our standard H-P tuned inserts are approx 103 decibels, (stock pipes are 80, and open straight pipes are in the low 120s).

Obviously you all understand how exponential sound increases are from db to db but here is a chart

Sounds dB SPL
Rocket Launching 180
Jet Engine 140
Thunderclap, Air Raid Siren 1 Meter 130
Jet takeoff (200 ft) 120
Rock Concert, Discotheque 110
Firecrackers, Subway Train 100
Heavy Truck (15 Meter), City Traffic 90

Alarm Clock (1 Meter), Hair Dryer 80
Noisy Restaurant, Business Office 70
Air Conditioning Unit, Conversational Speech 60
Light Traffic (50 Meter), Average Home 50
Living Room, Quiet Office 40
Library, Soft Whisper (5 Meter) 30
Broadcasting Studio, Rustling Leaves 20
Hearing Threshold 0

apologies for it not formatting so pretty - i highlighted the examples.

how can you miss that point?

bah.
don't put me anti harley because I claim a big open headered twin is louder than an i4 with "some" baffling... put me in the observant category
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top