Golden CO cracked down on bike noise.businesses lose money

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/24088369/detail.html Golden Cracking Down On Motorcycle Noise Golden Police Issuing More Tickets Than Ever Christin Ayers, 7NEWS Reporter
POSTED: 6:27 pm MDT June 29, 2010 UPDATED: 7:51 pm MDT June 29, 2010
GOLDEN, Colo. -- The city of Golden is cracking down on motorcycle noise, ticketing bikers who have outfitted their motorcycles with noisy modified mufflers.
Police issued just one citation for a motorcycle noise violation last year. Six months into this year, they have already issued 67.
“If our police officers hear a motorcycle that is being very loud and obnoxious, drawing attention to itself, they will stop the motorcycle,” said Golden City Manager Mike Bestor.
Bestor said the city’s motorcycle campaign, called Silence is Golden, simply enforces a state law that prohibits modified mufflers. Officers who pull over a loud motorcyclist check the muffler to make sure it has not been modified. If it has, the rider is issued a $125 ticket.
Some Golden residents, who complained that motorcycle noise sometimes drowns out their televisions, are welcoming the new enforcement campaign.
But Murray Martinez, owner of the popular biker bar The Buffalo Rose, said the campaign is hurting business.
“My business is down 25 to 30 percent in the last two months,” said Martinez. “It’s specifically because motorcyclists are not coming to Golden anymore.”
Martinez shuffled through a stack of printed e-mails, in which some of his customers threatened to boycott Golden.
“It seems like [police] are using the loud pipe law to harass motorcycle riders in Golden,” he said.
Bestor said there is a state law banning modified mufflers, but enforcement in each city varies.
Martinez equated the crackdown to “profiling” and said the drop in business will not just affect him, but also the entire city.
“Hopefully, the city will see that the less money I make, the less city sales tax they get,” he said.