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OFF THE WIRE
You may or may not have read my article which ran in the June Bailing Wire.

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Greeting Brothers, Sisters, & Friends,

The anti noise crowd is hard at work to mitigate what they perceive as excessively loud and harmful exposure to motorcycle exhaust. Now I’ll be the first one to tell you that long, prolonged exposure to sustained high levels of sound can be detrimental to one’s hearing, and depending upon the type of noise, possibly even affect our mood. As an example of how loud noise “can” be harmful, just crank up some of that alleged “music” that is favored by kids today where the “vocalist” sounds as if he has just stepped upon his own “family jewels” and you will see not only my mood begin to swing from a happy, carefree mood but to one of increased irritability and anger in which no boom box of iPod or any other form of offending electronic media is safe from wrath and or/hammer.

Realistically though, unless you work in a motorcycle environment where you are constantly exposed such as a race team or a shop, how often are you going to encounter a motorcycle in your everyday travels or on your job or in your home? Unless you live in close proximity to a biker bar, motorcycle shop, racetrack or some similar type of operation, chances are slim.

They are slim because motorcycles only comprise 3 % of the total registered vehicles on the road. Sure there are concentrated areas such as large runs or bike nights but those are normally pre-planned events of short duration, scheduled well enough in advance that nearby residents should be prepared. Otherwise, you might go about your daily routine and travels without ever encountering a solitary motorcycle. And typically, motorcycle noise is transient in nature and of a passing nature. And some events even tout that noise is an integral part of the event through the names that are chosen such as Thunder on the Lot or Rolling Thunder. Just the word “thunder” evokes a mental image of immense sound but on the other hand, thunder is also a transient experience and once in a while it is good to experience a little of Mother Nature’s noise pollution to keep ourselves properly humble about our place in the grand scheme of things.

Regardless, I rarely hear or see another motorcycle within my neighborhood until I venture out onto a major thoroughfare. And my neighbors rarely hear mine either because as soon as I start the engine, I start idling to towards the main drag and get the hell out of dodge where I won’t bother them when I start to twist the throttle. I’m sure many of you are just as courteous towards your neighbors, so how is that we keep getting such a bad rap nationwide on issue of noise pollution?

First of all, we can thank the biker stereotyping of Hollywood for fueling much of the anti-biker sentiment that we accrue today. But we can also thank many irresponsible members of our own motorcycling community for the increased problems of noise we are facing. There is a time and place for just about everything and my perspective is a little noise once in a while is a good thing. But as we as motorcyclists begin to face the issue of noise pollution, there are many issues the anti-noise crowd is not coming clean about. They attempt to maneuver people onboard their platform under the guise of motorcycle noise being physiological harmful but there is another side of noise that I have just become aware of that involve studies in behavior modification or perhaps manipulation would be a better choice of words.

Noise researcher/writer George Prochnik tells us “For years social scientists and marketers have been scrutinizing the links between loud music, fast tempos, and dining habits.” What is even more frightening about these studies is that these folks have figured this science out in fine degree, such that they know how to use this information to manipulate people into chewing faster, drinker faster, and finish dining faster, all in an effort to boost corporate profits. According to Prochik, one example of such behavioral modification studies came when “In the mid-1980s, researchers at Fairfield University demonstrated that people increased their rate of chewing by almost a third when listening to faster, louder music, accelerating from 3.83 bites a minute to 4.4 bites a minute. Stoked with data of this nature, chain restaurants, such as Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Grill, developed computerized sound systems that were preset to raise the tempo and volume of music at hours of the day when corporate wanted to turn tables.”

Moreover, Prochnik informs us “a study completed in the summer of 2008 in France found that when music was played at 72 decibels, men consumed an average of 2.6 drinks at a rate of one drink per 14.51 minutes. When the sound level was cranked up to 88 decibels, the numbers spiked to an average of 3.4 drinks, with one consumed every 11.47 minutes. No wonder I’m thirsty after going for a ride?

My point here is that there are a great many more people who are exposed to noise levels as high as motorcycle exhaust in such seemingly innocuous places as our favorite restaurant at happy hour, be it Chilis or Chuys, than those who are simply exposed to motorcycles. How many of you have ever walked out of one of these places with your head and ears ringing from the ambient noise level of the crowd. So, as we wander through the corporate cultural wasteland of America, one thing becomes apparent. Noise is only bad if it caused by those nasty old tattooed up bikers but if you’re a “corporate personhood” as recently established by the Supreme Court, it is okay to produce noise to modify your customer’s behavior to increase your profit margin.

My advice is that we in ABATE begin to place a little emphasis on the issues surrounding noise pollution so that we can be prepared to tackle this problem before we are inundated with legislation and test parameters that we will find to be too restrictive and unworkable. Let’s be pro-active and not let the powers that be or those that would like to be rule the day on the issue of motorcycle exhaust. Until next month, ride hard, ride safe, & ride free!

Fraternally yours,

Anthony Jaime
Executive Director
ABATE of California