NEW HAMPSHIRE - Loud pipes invite legislation

OFF THE WIRE
MOTORCYCLES March 19, 2012
Hundreds of motorcyclists gather annually in Laconia, N.H., for Laconia… (Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff)EVEN ALONG the “Live Free Or Die’’ highways and back roads of New Hampshire, loud motorcycle pipes have worn out their welcome. Efforts in the Granite State to dial back the noise level deserve the full support of the governor and state Senate. Last month, the state House of Representatives did its part by passing a bill that lowers the allowed decibel levels of motorcycles. It could have gone further by requiring motorcycles to adopt EPA-approved mufflers, and display a stamp to that effect. But the bill is at least a step in the right direction.
Some motorcyclists opt for loud after-market exhaust systems, which they say advance road safety by alerting other motorists to their presence. But the safety argument is implausible at best. Loud pipes serve only to buttress the egos of motorcycle drivers, whose exhaust choices are designed mainly to aggravate and intimidate anyone within earshot. The American Motorcyclist Association has long dismissed the “loud pipes save lives’’ canard, warning that noisy pipes actually impair good driving skills. And the motorcycle advocacy group accurately predicted that resistance to reasonable noise standards invites ever stricter regulations by local officials.
Enforcement of similar laws in other states has been erratic. But there are promising signs that motorcyclists are getting the message and are willing to police themselves. Even the New Hampshire Motorcyclists’ Rights Organization is backing the compromise bill, coming to the mature realization that loud pipes will elicit an even louder public response.