OFF THE WIRE
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100907/NEWS01/9070317/1002/NEWS Greece to crack down on noisy motorcycles Meaghan M. McDermott • Staff writer • September 7, 2010
Greece police have a message for motorcyclists: Pipe down.
Responding to a spate of complaints about noisy motorcyclists rumbling and roaring around town, the department this summer started cracking down on illegal noise-makers.
During July and August, the police department started holding stationary and roving checkpoints to combat motorcyclists running with illegal equipment and violating safety laws. More are planned throughout the fall.
"It has been more of an educational process, for our officers and for the public," said Police Chief Todd Baxter. Officers with the department's Traffic Enforcement Unit attended special training on motorcycle safety and equipment violations during the early summer months. "We are out there doing some enforcement, but we're also there to educate."
At issue: illegal mufflers that ramp up motorcycle noise levels from a legal 80 decibels (for bikes manufactured after 1986) to levels that can top an ear-splitting 100 decibels. That's the difference between what it sounds like next to a running garbage disposal and the sound standing about three feet away from a jackhammer.
From Maine to California, motorcycle noise is a hot topic.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering signing into law a bill requiring all bikes on the road in his state to display that EPA stamp. Maine this summer made it illegal to operate a motorcycle with an exhaust system "that is noticeably louder than similar vehicles in the environment."
Greece is the latest front.
"Motorcycles are built with factory installed (muffler) pipes and they're made to make the motorcycle quieter," said Greece Police Capt. Patrick Phelan. "If you make any alterations to those pipes or change to non-factory pipes, that's illegal."
Indeed, under federal law, factory motorcycle pipes are stamped with an Environmental Protection Agency seal and it's illegal to tamper with those pipes. And, state law prohibits motorcycles "equipped with an exhaust system that has been modified in a manner that will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the motor of such vehicle above that emitted by the exhaust system originally installed on the vehicle."
But while the rumbling, throaty roar of a well-tuned Harley-Davidson with non-stock pipes or the screaming whine of a racing bike with a modified muffler can grate on some residents living near popular riding spots, such sounds can be "music to the ears" of a serious biker, said Eric Carlston of Rochester, president of the Monroe County Chapter of American Bikers Aimed Toward Education.
"But I would never advocate that persons be disrespectful of their neighbors and communities," he said. Riders "need to be sensible about their equipment and the way they ride."
Nevertheless, he chafes at the idea of police checkpoints. He'd rather police stick to pulling over drivers who are clearly breaking noise laws.
"We have the view that here and anywhere else, such checkpoints are illegal," he said, noting that if police are going to crack down on noise ordinances, they need to make sure they're doing so across-the-board and also handing out tickets for loud car and truck exhaust and for "boom cars" with loud stereos.
He also questions if the federal and state regulations on motorcycle noises go too far.
"Why is it you have to have a stock exhaust on a motorcycle when you don't on any other vehicle?" he said. "Isn't that discriminatory? That's one standard for us and another for everybody else."
Heavy-handed enforcement of motorcycle laws is just another way Americans are losing their freedoms, he said.
"The common denominator for every motorcyclist out there — whether they're riding a custom chopper, a BMW or a formula bike — is a love and appreciation for freedom," he said.
Phelan, who has owned his own motorcycles in the past and is part of the Greece Police Department's motorcycle unit, said the department's crackdown isn't about being unfair.
"It's not that there's a problem with motorcyclists," he said. "What it is, is some of these guys out there giving law-abiding riders a bad name. Our hope is really to do more education about this and communicate to people so we can get local riders to buy in. It's not that we want to come out and write tickets — we want you to follow the law."
