In response to Robert Rock's letter to the Observer on Friday July 12 regarding noisy motorcycles I would ask a question of the local law enforcement agencies as to why they do not enforce the law. Under
section seven of the Motor Vehicle Act . it requires that all gasoline and diesel powered vehicles be equipped with mufflers and baffles. Mr. Rock my be surprised to learn that in 2012 no successful charge, not a single one, was brought against a motor cyclist operating a noisy machine on the highway in British Columbia.
I find it hard to understand why the operators of these mostly domestic motor cycles want to make a noise. Under the Act all new motor cycles are required to make no more noise than 93 decibels, but often the stock pipes are removed to be replaced with straight pipes containing no cat, no muffler, no baffles and can make a noise often in excess of 120 decibels, three times the legal maximum.
It seems that the only beneficiaries are the owners of hearing aid shops who are only too happy to provide expensive services to those with injured hearing. These short open pipes neither improve power nor fuel consumption. If the riders of motor cycles use the argument that quiet motor cycles are dangerous, they should buy a little sports car.
I am further confused that I have to submit my car for Air Care inspection a regular basis, sometimes having to have expensive repairs done to my exhaust while these high powered motor cycles produce forty times the maximum level of pollution allowed for my little Mazda.
Denver in Colorado appears to be the only jurisdiction in North America that has been successful in reducing noise from motorcycles to acceptable levels. It has now become the law in Denver that all motorcycles must be equipped with EPA approved exhaust systems. Operating a machine with an illegal exhaust results in an immediate $950 fine which may be refunded in full if the bike is presented to the authorities within nine days with an EPA approved exhaust. A second offense results in very serious consequences including impoundment of the bike and a larger fine which may be enforced with a bench warrant!
The nightmare cacophony of groups of bikers has ruined my friends' long weekends at their cabin. There is a biker house nearby whose residents celebrate life with callous disregard of the nearby residents by riding their straight piped machines around the lanes throughout the night with impunity.
Yours truly,
Ed Monro