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Law would crack down on roaring motorcycles (Another reason to hate California)
MSNBC ^ | 21 September 2010 | ALEJANDRA MOLINA

Posted on 09/22/2010 12:56:11 AM PDT by Terrence DoGood

"As the popularity of motorcycles increases, loud pipes become offensive to the general public out there," Scott added.

The roaring motorcycles -- primarily Harleys -- have led to a bill that would target motorcyclists who remove factory-installed emission control devices mandated by the federal government and replace them with custom, aftermarket parts that often make their bikes louder and more polluting.

SB 435 had been approved by the state legislature and now is sitting on the Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk. The Harley-riding governor has until Sept. 30 to sign the bill into law or veto it.

If the governor puts his stamp of approval on the measure, motorcyclists would be required to post a visible, unaltered Environment Protection Agency stamp to confirm the exhaust system is clean burning and does not exceed 80 decibels -- about the same noise level as a vacuum cleaner. The stamp would only be required for motorcycles and aftermarket parts made after 2013.

"The noise caused by illegally modified motorcycle exhaust systems is a major quality of life issue across the state," said state Sen. Fran Pavley, a Democrat from Agoura Hills. "Basic common sense and decency dictates that when a motorcycle drives by and sets off every car alarm on the street, that is too loud

First-time offenders would be fined up to $100; tickets could be voided if the owners bring their bikes back into compliance. Subsequent infractions would be subject to fines of $100 to $250.

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: california; harleydavidson
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To: glorgau
As a general rule, the louder the bike the smaller the d***.

You get a grant from Bwarney Fwank to study this?

121 posted on 09/22/2010 5:29:44 AM PDT by Tainan (Cogito, ergo conservatus)
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To: Terrence DoGood

Gents, its been a blast, its almost 1700 here in the ‘stan and I’ve got to get busy. Be safe


122 posted on 09/22/2010 5:29:57 AM PDT by Terrence DoGood
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To: RFEngineer
We’re free to be absurd, aren’t we?

That's a country song title if I ever read one. For what it's worth, I don't think loud pipes make me safer. They just make a Harley sound like it's supposed to sound. I have the fondest memories of being a small child and hearing 10-20 bikes coming down my street on a Friday night and parking in our front yard. What I love the most about bikes and even loud pipes is a sense of nostalgia and tradition. Which why you'll never find me on a modern Japanese bike.

123 posted on 09/22/2010 5:30:42 AM PDT by Melas
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To: reagan_fanatic

His response to almost killing me - a look of ‘where the hell did YOU come from??’
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It is for exactly this reason I stopped riding my bicycle. Honestly, I think it because drivers are conditioned to look for other cars and trucks. A bicycle or motorcycle simply doesn’t make the brain cells fire.

Yeah! I was in the right but I could easily have been dead right.


124 posted on 09/22/2010 5:32:55 AM PDT by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are not stupid.)
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To: Terrence DoGood

Stay safe and keepeth thy head down.


125 posted on 09/22/2010 5:34:53 AM PDT by Tainan (Cogito, ergo conservatus)
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To: msrngtp2002
Good post.

I try to be a good neighbor, too. But then, I'm an old greybeard 1%er (Still with the Club). My bike is now a bagger, and just slightly louder than stock ("Rush" mufflers) but I take great pains to idle in and out of the neighborhood even during the middle of the day. I remind my Brothers when they come over to keep the noise down.

About a year and a half ago, a young guy on the next street bought an early model Evo Sportster and outfitted it with shotgun pipes. For several days he ripped up and down the street just being an a$$hole, usually while I was not at home.

Finally the eighty-something year old lady at the end of the street (the one who calls me when she hears things go "bump" in the night) asked me if I would "have a word with that young man".

On his next pass, I flagged him down, and asked him why he was being such an a$$hole. I reminded him that folks on the street had kids and grandkids who were usually either playing outside or sleeping. He was pretty cool about it, so I invited him into the garage for a beer.

As it turns out, he is a good guy. He had just gotten his first bike and thought that was how he was supposed to act. He even told me later on that he was doing to try to "impress" me; he wanted to hang around with the Club.

He still rides by now and then. He putt putts through the neighborhood till he gets to the highway, then I can hear him light it up. It's OK though, I do the same thing.

Have you had a word with your neighbor about the partying? Could be he is just trying to impress you to start partying with him.

126 posted on 09/22/2010 5:34:58 AM PDT by PalmettoMason (Jesus had twelve followers... and one of them turned out to be an FBI Agent.)
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To: Ronin
One of my best drinking buddies a few years back was a Honda engineer who worked on exhaust systems. When he was drunk, he would go completely ballistic at the sight of a bosozoku. He and his coworkers spent millions of yen and uncounted manhours designing exhaust systems that were absolute marvels of cleanliness, efficiency and noise minimization — only to see their hard work destroyed so callously by these cretins. It was hard not to feel his pain. Especially when you live next to a major inner-city road.

People underestimate the goal and objective mindset and hard work that goes into designing a product, especially a high performance vehicle, to meet federal requirements and come in at a price point that marketing tells them they need to meet to keep it competitive.

Only to have the aftermarket "kool" crowd muck-it-up. I too feel his pain ....

127 posted on 09/22/2010 5:40:57 AM PDT by taildragger ((Palin / Mulally 2012 ))
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To: Tainan

“You did nothing but wind up looking like a “chat room” wannabe with a small pecker syndrome.
Sorry about your affliction.”

Thank you. Fortunately for me, and people like me, our pecker will get much much bigger if we buy a Harley, and it’s girth increases exponentially with the loudness of the pipes we install.

It’s nice to know we have the same option that so many of you have taken advantage of. So really, friend, while I appreciate the sympathy, there really is no need to feel sorry for me.


128 posted on 09/22/2010 5:41:41 AM PDT by RFEngineer
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To: Terrence DoGood

Well, this thread confirms my theory that nearly every American is pissed at something. Good! I hope we can channel that anger to form a skirmish line from the Canadian border to the Rio Grande and drive every damn liberal into the sea. The staging area is on the east coast and muster begins at O dark-thirty on Nov. 2.

See you in hell, liberal scum.


129 posted on 09/22/2010 5:48:16 AM PDT by sergeantdave
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To: PalmettoMason

Thats a pretty good post, you approach the issue instead of throwing a billion dollars into it trying to wish it away like most liberals.

I ride a bike, heck I own two, one is a restored classic 1980 Honda CX500, though it revs over 9000rpm its as quiet as a sewing machine, well a loud sewing machine anyway.

My bigger bike is the Star 1300 Tourer, I drilled out the last baffle on my exhaust immediately after I bought it to cure a performance issue at low RPS as its fuel injected and was factory set too lean.

Still its hardly any more louder than normal and as far as a big displacement V-twin its downright scary quiet. I went a different direction and I have HID headlights and ultra bright LED lights on it, most cars now have too much sound dampening and the drivers are too plugged into their cellphones or other devices.

I think there are some really obnoxious sounding bikes that rattle what few teeth I have left but this is America, Land of the Free. I say do what you want, to me the more oppressive the state or government the more I will display my figurative “finger” at them.

Poor wittle sheeple getting too scared of noises that wake them up from the daze of the own created little society of listlessness and non productivity.


130 posted on 09/22/2010 5:51:12 AM PDT by Eye of Unk (If your enemy is quick to anger, seek to irritate him. Sun Tzu, The Art of War.)
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To: RFEngineer

If you ever pull out in front of me, you had better hope you kill me.


131 posted on 09/22/2010 5:51:20 AM PDT by Rearden (Deo Vindice)
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To: PalmettoMason

Thats a pretty good post, you approach the issue instead of throwing a billion dollars into it trying to wish it away like most liberals.

I ride a bike, heck I own two, one is a restored classic 1980 Honda CX500, though it revs over 9000rpm its as quiet as a sewing machine, well a loud sewing machine anyway.

My bigger bike is the Star 1300 Tourer, I drilled out the last baffle on my exhaust immediately after I bought it to cure a performance issue at low RPM’s as its fuel injected and was factory set too lean.

Still its hardly any more louder than normal and as far as a big displacement V-twin its downright scary quiet. I went a different direction and I have HID headlights and ultra bright LED lights on it, most cars now have too much sound dampening and the drivers are too plugged into their cellphones or other devices.

I think there are some really obnoxious sounding bikes that rattle what few teeth I have left but this is America, Land of the Free. I say do what you want, to me the more oppressive the state or government the more I will display my figurative “finger” at them.

Poor wittle sheeple getting too scared of noises that wake them up from the daze of the own created little society of listlessness and non productivity.

(edited for spelling, need coffee!)


132 posted on 09/22/2010 5:54:02 AM PDT by Eye of Unk (If your enemy is quick to anger, seek to irritate him. Sun Tzu, The Art of War.)
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Comment #133 Removed by Moderator

To: Terrence DoGood

1 the stamp would melt

2 there is a federal etching UNDER the bike

3 the reason aftermarket bike pipes have disclaimers is because each individual bike has to be tuned

4 even straight pipes can be tuned to comply

so

this is just a way to have pretext stops or is unenforcable

and

just more money for a dead department of california.


134 posted on 09/22/2010 5:54:21 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: November 2010

Sure. Everyone knows that all those well-engineered BMWs and Hondas have a terrible accident record compared to the owner-modified Harleys. We certainly can’t trust Harley’s engineers, can we?


135 posted on 09/22/2010 5:55:20 AM PDT by Atlas Sneezed (Congressmen should serve two terms: One in Congress and one in prison.)
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To: Terrence DoGood

therein is the irony.

the average harley rider:

has a college degree,
earns 65,000 dollars a year
votes conservative/republican

when they see motorcycles cities should see money. Money spent in their dying cities, dying businesses, collapsing states.


136 posted on 09/22/2010 5:58:07 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: Rearden

“If you ever pull out in front of me, you had better hope you kill me.”

See, you Harley guys always resort to violence.

(you did realize that I was making an absurd counter-point to the absurd notion that loud pipes keep cars from pulling out in front motorcycles)


137 posted on 09/22/2010 6:03:38 AM PDT by RFEngineer
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To: TChris

how is it a sentence when it is clear some people consider it a musical symphony?

This is about raising money not your or anyone’s concerns.

any adhesive stamp would be melted. a metal etch would be a damage to the chrome or ceramics. Also it would be next to the “this complies with”

as for those silly enough to have a mere “six inch” exhaust on their untuned engine, their long term hearing loss seems penalty enough.


138 posted on 09/22/2010 6:03:42 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: Dem Guard

compared to the person who tests their fishing boat engine at 6 am sunday,

the barking dog,

the loud party music,

the arguing couple,

the kid with the car and the “loudener” exhaust.

This law is absurd because it should apply EQUALLY to all exhaust installations.

IOW EVERY SINGLE MUFFLER INSTALATION / REPAIR SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO COMPLY WITH THE SAME LAW. cars and motorcycles have the right to the same roads therefore it will be equally applied not selective.


139 posted on 09/22/2010 6:08:43 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: Rearden

“Like I said, you had better pray that I die if you intentionally pull out in front of me because you will if I don’t.”

No you won’t. If you actually ride a motorcycle, then you’ve experienced this many times. You probably haven’t killed anyone for pulling out in front of you, but your words do exhibit a profound sense of entitlement - everyone should watch you - it’s classic loud-pipes psychology.

When you ride, you expect EVERY car to potentially pull out in front of you if you wish to keep riding.


140 posted on 09/22/2010 6:08:50 AM PDT by RFEngineer
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