NEW HAMPSHIRE: Time to muffle loud motorcycle pipes

OFF THE WIRE
http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/273681/time-to-muffle-loud-motorcycle-pipes?CSAuthResp=1313402021%3A1s3t2phao99n5i7r5gm4m89et6%3ACSUserId%7CCSGroupId%3Aapproved%3A58235CEC2A87205C7138525B135E412A&CSUserId=94&CSGroupId=1
Time to muffle loud motorcycle pipes
  By Monitor staff August 15, 2011

The roar of high-performance motorcycles revving their engines at the starting line thrills like a fireworks show finale. It can be a beautiful sound - though not one that should bounce off bedroom walls or belong on city streets. But as anyone who's been awakened by bikes with straight pipes thundering by knows, some riders like to announce their presence by drowning out all other sounds.
When the Legislature next meets, Republican Rep. Michele Peckham of Hampton plans to introduce a bill to reduce the permissible level of noise that motorcycles can produce. No one has the right to needlessly destroy the peace of others, which is precisely what loud pipes do. Peckham's bill deserves to become law.
Current state law permits bike exhausts to emit an ear-splitting 106 decibels. Peckham's bill would reduce that to the EPA-approved standard of 84 decibels, a level perceived by the human ear to be roughly one-third as loud as the current standard.
Unlike some failed legislative efforts to further limit motorcycle noise, the bill does not require police to stop motorcyclists and use decibel meters to enforce the noise ordinance. But to pass inspection, a motorcycle would have to meet the noise standard and display a sticker proving that it did. The police could stop a bike they believe exceeds the noise limit, check for the sticker and presumably issue a $350 ticket. If the bike's exhaust system subsequently passed the decibel test or if the bike's owner proved within 15 days that the system had been modified to comply with the law, the fine would be waived.
Peckham delayed the effective date of the law until in 2013 to give dealers a chance to sell their stock of exhaust systems that wouldn't meet the new standard. The delay would also allow the motorcycle industry and riders organizations time to alert members and customers of the change.
Motorcycles driven out of the showroom are rarely annoyingly loud, since they meet the federal noise standard. But a minority of riders replace their bikes' factory exhaust system with one that's much louder. Doing that does may increase the engine's performance slightly, but what it mostly does is say "look at me."
Fans of loud pipes claim that by alerting drivers to their presence, they save lives - but no study bears that out. The American Motorcyclist Association advises against the use of loud pipes because they prejudice the public against motorcycles and cyclists. The CEO of Harley Davidson, the maker of the famous V-twin engine whose "one potato, two potato" rumble can be music to the ears of bikers and non-bikers alike, warns against modifying the machines to produce excessive noise for the same reason.
Law enforcement, particularly in this time of lean budgets, does not have the resources to set up roadside sound-inspection stations to enforce the law. But when they hear a bike that's rattling the dishes in the cupboards of roadside homes, the police do have the ability to stop the rider, check for the approved muffler label and, if necessary, issue a ticket whose fine can be wiped out if the bike passes inspection. "Live Free or Die" also means living free of excessive noise.