If you happen to reside in the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia you're no doubt already painfully aware that on September 28 our lame duck governor (finally, truth in labeling), A. Schwarzenegger signed into law Senate Bill 435 which when it goes in effect January 1, 2013 will make it a crime, that's right my fellow scofflaws, a flippin' crime, ".....to operate any motorcycle registered in the state that was built on or after Jan. 1, 2013 that doesn't have a Federal Environmental Protection Agency exhaust system sound emissions label." (American Motorcyclist, Dec. 2010).
Great, we've got houses that aren't worth as much as the cars parked in the driveway, unemployment levels higher than the backers of Prop 19, and a state government as effective as a paper condom, but the golden state's gonna make sure your i-pod induced buzz won't be disturbed by some obnoxious biker. Really..........
Yet, as forward leaning libertarian, the idea of another mindless Big Brother edict really frosts my Lily's, but we saw this one coming right..........right!? You do remember that little tussle our off-roading brothers went through in the late 80's and early 90's, those Sierra Club Nazi's were gunning (yeah, I said gunning) for anyone treading the backwoods on anything but a Vibram soled boot. And so was hatched, "less sound equals more ground", or some such slogan. And for the most part, they were right.........but here's the deal, off-road ain't the street, and on the street, sound can be the difference between life and death. Could be the reason just about every vehicle on the road comes with a handy device called a horn. Think about it. But I wander.
The fact is, there is something to that old "loud pipes save lives" cliche', as is the case with most cliche's and everything your mother ever told you. Anyone that has ever split lanes can tell you that a quick blip of the throttle can jolt that cage jockey off her phone and back into her lane quicker than you can say "Real Housewives". No doubt about it. Being heard is often a key factor in being seen, a first step in a process if you will. A process that might just keep your hind-parts out of the local OR, and that's always a good thing.
Need more proof? Wouldn't you agree that there's probably no more experienced and skilled warriors on the road than motor cops? Then how is it that a majority of local Five-O's retrofit their Harley's with aftermarket (read illegal) mufflers? Ask the officer that rides one, and they'll enlighten you, "....so drivers can hear me, duh!?" The fact is, lame "Doppler effect" arguments aside, louder pipes are indeed heard by drivers, at least those not blasting their ear buds at 110db's, while a silent exhaust note, on the other hand, can be deadly.
But what about those idiots that blast through Sleepy Hollow at three in the morning rapping their straight pipes like, well, idiots. Good point, and I make no excuses, it's stupid, and one of the chief reasons we're now staring down the barrel of Senate Bill 435. We weren't able to keep it together, like reasonably sober adults should. Now dad (Arnie and his mindless minions in Sacramento) has to tell us kids (riders, I mean suspects) to keep the damn racket down or we're all grounded. Should have never cranked BTO to the max on the old Pioneer..............and definitely should have been a little more judicious with the right hand. And for the record, straight pipes just don't sound good, at any volume. Sorry bro's......
But that train has sailed, and we're most likely stuck with another idiotic law that's gonna make just about everyone in the cruiser community a criminal, which come to think of it isn't such a bad thing for all those lamewad wannabe patch guys........you know who you are, with your Sons of Anarchy t-shirts....at least now you'll have some street cred, sort of.
The obvious solution, at least to your humble scribe, is that motorcycle sound standards should be re-evaluated with an eye to a greater level of allowable db's. The current EPA standards are simply far too silent, and I don't know what the standard ought to be, that'll take some work on both sides. But the fact is we need to be heard so we can stay alive (sorry AMA but it's true). On the flip side, John Q commuter shouldn't suffer brain damage if he's stuck sitting next to one of us at a light. All I ask is little more sound, so we can maintain our ground....and not piss off the neighbors. Should be easy, right!?
Chrome Asylum features articles on motorcycles and motorcyclists with a focus on all things Harley Davidson. We cover the latest gear for riders, issues important to the motorcycling community, riding tips, and reviews on motorcycling apparel and clothing...with my decidedly "unique" insights into current world happenings thrown in for good measure.
Hear,hear! A voice of reason -all to rare- these daze... ). But I would think of this another way. The “noise” issue is not the pipes themselves but in the rider's discretion in using those pipes as you have well noted. Riders choosing when to get on the throttle –and when not to is about respect for your fellow humans i.e.: your aforementioned tour of Sleepy Hollow. Idiocy and disrespect will never be conquered by arbitrary laws (really glad that no cell phone whilst driving law went into effect –that’s really working…).
ReplyDeleteCertainly, the urban environment, not the least of which is the modern freeway system is not a place where one seeks the solitude of a noise-free existence (however one defines that). And with all due respect to our cousins in the off-road community, I don’t expect the modern urban assault on my auditory senses (to say nothing of olfactory…have you ridden in the urine drenched canyons of San Francisco on an Indian Summer day? “Fragrant” is being kind!) to be a place of refuge from noise.
Anystreet, USA is home to a plethora of devices as equally, loud and arguably annoying, as the “loud pipe” scourge Der Governator -the Pol searching for legacy- (some ‘friend’ of Riders he turned out to be!) seeks to save us from. Leaf blowers, jackhammers, air-compression tools of every sort, and of course any 18-wheel truck are the high-decibel stuff of modern human life. So why pick on the “non-approved” Loud Pipe? I don’t think “loudness” has nothing to do with it. Notwithstanding the high-speed freeway pass in your example. And of course, the cry for ADDING noise to the modern electric/hybrid vehicle to ostensibly ‘warn’ a non-sighted pedestrian, only punctuates the absurdity of a “noise free” urban landscape.
No, I believe the debate is not about noise pollution at all. Nor is it about whether "loud pipes save lives". These are the manufactured arguments that a Leviathan Government hopes that we all have to obscure its REAL mission.
What we have in this country is LAW POLLUTION. By that, I mean, there are SO many laws, so many potential violations that no one –including the enforcers of The Law- have any idea what they are. The iron fist of government (Federal, State AND local) is doing what its DNA compels it to do: To, control, regulate, interfere in the affairs of free people –with the power of the Police State (unless of course you are The Police as Oakland PD has demonstrated; read: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/08/BAJB114OUT.DTL ). This is what Government is wont to do –well, that and expanding and perpetuating its own power. This is the real debate that all of us should be having.
So, while the “loud pipes save lives” debate may have been ‘silenced’ by The State, the REAL argument lives on. This is a terrific Blog by the way!! Keep up the great work!
Hear,hear! A voice of reason -all to rare- these daze... ). But I would think of this another way. The “noise” issue is not the pipes themselves but in the rider's discretion in using those pipes as you have well noted. Riders choosing when to get on the throttle –and when not to is about respect for your fellow humans i.e.: your aforementioned tour of Sleepy Hollow. Idiocy and disrespect will never be conquered by arbitrary laws (really glad that no cell phone whilst driving law went into effect –that’s really working…).
ReplyDeleteCertainly, the urban environment, not the least of which is the modern freeway system is not a place where one seeks the solitude of a noise-free existence (however one defines that). And with all due respect to our cousins in the off-road community, I don’t expect the modern urban assault on my auditory senses (to say nothing of olfactory…have you ridden in the urine drenched canyons of San Francisco on an Indian Summer day? “Fragrant” is being kind!) to be a place of refuge from noise.
Anystreet, USA is home to a plethora of devices as equally, loud and arguably annoying, as the “loud pipe” scourge Der Governator -the Pol searching for legacy- (some ‘friend’ of Riders he turned out to be!) seeks to save us from. Leaf blowers, jackhammers, air-compression tools of every sort, and of course any 18-wheel truck are the high-decibel stuff of modern human life. So why pick on the “non-approved” Loud Pipe? I don’t think “loudness” has nothing to do with it. Notwithstanding the high-speed freeway pass in your example. And of course, the cry for ADDING noise to the modern electric/hybrid vehicle to ostensibly ‘warn’ a non-sighted pedestrian, only punctuates the absurdity of a “noise free” urban landscape.
No, I believe the debate is not about noise pollution at all. Nor is it about whether "loud pipes save lives". These are the manufactured arguments that a Leviathan Government hopes that we all have to obscure its REAL mission.
What we have in this country is LAW POLLUTION. By that, I mean, there are SO many laws, so many potential violations that no one –including the enforcers of The Law- have any idea what they are. The iron fist of government (Federal, State AND local) is doing what its DNA compels it to do: To, control, regulate, interfere in the affairs of free people –with the power of the Police State (unless of course you are The Police as Oakland PD has demonstrated; read http://tiny.cc/79ggu). This is what Government is wont to do –well, that and expanding and perpetuating its own power. This is the real debate that all of us should be having.
So, while the “loud pipes save lives” debate may have been ‘silenced’ by The State, the REAL argument lives on. This is a terrific Blog by the way!! Keep up the great work!