New noise law in Maine 7-12-10

[kmk]

The short of it, from this Article.

The current law governing road noise says vehicles must have adequate mufflers that are maintained properly to prevent excessive or unusual noise. Language is being added that says excessive or unusual noise includes motor noise that is noticeably louder than that of similar vehicles in the environment.
The law says an exhaust system may not be modified with the intent to make it louder. The upcoming change leaves out the "intent" part and says the exhaust may not be modified if the result is amplification or noise that is louder than the muffler originally installed on the vehicle.

Please tread quietly through the pine tree state. Not the the FJR is loud, I just wonder if it will keep things quiet around the neighborhood.

Also check this https://www.mecalm.org/

 

[dustyrains]

This should scare the bejesus out of the HD aftermarket pipe manufacturers. The backlash against loud pipes has started. If it works in Maine, look for other states to follow. Wonder if Vance and Hnes will supply a better silencer for the Pro Pipe on my 94 Road King?

 

[phroenips]

but if the "similar vehicles in the environment" are the other 20 Harleys with straight pipes, it wouldn't be "noticeably louder," would it?

 

[fljab]

The short of it, from this Article.
Please tread quietly through the pine tree state. Not the the FJR is loud, I just wonder if it will keep things quiet around the neighborhood.

Also check this https://www.mecalm.org/

I don't have a problem with this as long as it targets the noise level of every vehicle, including the guys with loud stereos and old trucks with rusty mufflers; I don't think it's in our interest - as a motorcycle "community" - to isolate motorcycles in general or HD's in particular, regardless of what you think of them.

I don't like loud pipes either, but noise pollution comes from many sources, not just the straight pipe crowd...

I read the first article - and I'm not clear on how they are going to enforce it; it seems to me that it should be on the db level. You could look at the mfg's/compliance stamp on the muffler (and think about it, many here have aftermarket cans) but it seems to me (as someone that slept at a Holiday Inn) that would open up challenges from why they didn't crawl under that old truck and look at those mufflers.

Under the "full disclosure" note here: I do own an HD, a '99 I bought new. It has the stock exhaust, and always has, and IMO it's still too loud, but it is a rarity among most of that crowd it seems. I have a good LD buddy with an '07 HD tour bike that I ride with lots of times regardless of which bike I ride (which is usually the FJR these days); he has a basically stock bike but with - not sure brand- loud replacement cans. I keep on him to drag those stock mufflers out of the attic. The loud ones don't add that much to performance and besides, if performance is what he's after he needs to get a FJR...

 

[MojaveFJR]

We have a law like that out here. Doesn't hold up to anything though. Half the cops around here ride harleys in thier off time. The "intentionally modify" is ambiguous in that what does that mean? Does someone have to remove the packing, drill holes, what? Most street legal mufflers come with statements stamped on them that give a dB rating or state, "FOR OFF ROAD USE ONLY". This is what people really get nailed for out here.

 

[lnewlf]

Good ole' Troy, NY has started enforcing a noise ordinance, with aggressive ticket writing and occasional confiscation of bikes and cars that exceed the limit measured by fuzz with decible meters. Oh well, the Cobras on the old FJ1200 were starting to give me a headache anyhew..

 

[kmk]

I don't have a problem with this as long as it targets the noise level of every vehicle, including the guys with loud stereos and old trucks with rusty mufflers; I don't think it's in our interest - as a motorcycle "community" - to isolate motorcycles in general or HD's in particular, regardless of what you think of them.
I don't like loud pipes either, but noise pollution comes from many sources, not just the straight pipe crowd...

I read the first article - and I'm not clear on how they are going to enforce it; it seems to me that it should be on the db level. You could look at the mfg's/compliance stamp on the muffler (and think about it, many here have aftermarket cans) but it seems to me (as someone that slept at a Holiday Inn) that would open up challenges from why they didn't crawl under that old truck and look at those mufflers.

.......

It covers all vehicles, which is good, I am curious to see if makes any difference. As for enforcement it states

"The current law governing road noise says vehicles must have adequate mufflers that are maintained properly to prevent excessive or unusual noise. Language is being added that says excessive or unusual noise includes motor noise that is noticeably louder than that of similar vehicles in the environment."

I have a hard time believing that this will stop the few morons that make most of the noise. Time will tell.

 

[Baddog]

Things that are too noisey......

Jack Hammers

Air tools

Guns

Fireworks

Diesel Engines

Construction Equipment

Air conditioners

Furnaces

Sirens

Back up Alarms

Ice Cream Vendors music

Mother in laws

Daughters

Dogs

Carpenter Ants

The Rolling Stones

Wives

Husbands

Kids

Relatives

Irrelatives

Things that go bang in the night

Things that go bang @ 4 AM

Politicians

Chain Saws

Heavy Metal Bands

Bicycles with balloons tied to the spokes....or playing cards

Hail on a roof

Hail on a metal roof

Hail on a glass roof

Hail on your car

Hail on..... ok, you get the idea

The Ocean .... crushing anything (during a huge+ storm)

Jimmy Hendrix's guitar feedback

Tractor trailer (18-19 or 20 wheelers) running over rumble strips

The noise that follows a lightning strike

Your x-wife

My x-wife

The sound created when one shorts out a 220 volt circuit .... BOOM/OUT GO THE LIGHTS!!

A vehicle falling off a lift (8 feet to the floor in 8 seconds)

Cannons

The horns @ a soccer game in Africa

Anything beyond the sound of silence

I have been annoyed by all of the above.......

........................................and motorcycles

:blink:

 

[ctfjr]

Things that are too noisey......Jack Hammers

Air tools

Guns

Fireworks

Diesel Engines

Construction Equipment

Air conditioners

Furnaces

Sirens

Back up Alarms

Ice Cream Vendors music

Mother in laws

Daughters

Dogs

Carpenter Ants

The Rolling Stones

Wives

Husbands

Kids

Relatives

Irrelatives

Things that go bang in the night

Things that go bang @ 4 AM

Politicians

Chain Saws

Heavy Metal Bands

Bicycles with balloons tied to the spokes....or playing cards

Hail on a roof

Hail on a metal roof

Hail on a glass roof

Hail on your car

Hail on..... ok, you get the idea

The Ocean .... crushing anything (during a huge+ storm)

Jimmy Hendrix's guitar feedback

Tractor trailer (18-19 or 20 wheelers) running over rumble strips

The noise that follows a lightning strike

Your x-wife

My x-wife

The sound created when one shorts out a 220 volt circuit .... BOOM/OUT GO THE LIGHTS!!

A vehicle falling off a lift (8 feet to the floor in 8 seconds)

Cannons

The horns @ a soccer game in Africa

Anything beyond the sound of silence

I have been annoyed by all of the above.......

........................................and motorcycles

:blink:

I'm with you right up to the Stones - I draw the line there

 

[Charlie Hoss]

Things that are too noisey......Jack Hammers

Air tools

Guns

Fireworks

Diesel Engines

Construction Equipment

Air conditioners

Furnaces

Sirens

Back up Alarms

Ice Cream Vendors music

Mother in laws

Daughters

Dogs

Carpenter Ants

The Rolling Stones

Wives

Husbands

Kids

Relatives

Irrelatives

Things that go bang in the night

Things that go bang @ 4 AM

Politicians

Chain Saws

Heavy Metal Bands

Bicycles with balloons tied to the spokes....or playing cards

Hail on a roof

Hail on a metal roof

Hail on a glass roof

Hail on your car

Hail on..... ok, you get the idea

The Ocean .... crushing anything (during a huge+ storm)

Jimmy Hendrix's guitar feedback

Tractor trailer (18-19 or 20 wheelers) running over rumble strips

The noise that follows a lightning strike

Your x-wife

My x-wife

The sound created when one shorts out a 220 volt circuit .... BOOM/OUT GO THE LIGHTS!!

A vehicle falling off a lift (8 feet to the floor in 8 seconds)

Cannons

The horns @ a soccer game in Africa

Anything beyond the sound of silence

I have been annoyed by all of the above.......

........................................and motorcycles

:blink:

I'm with you right up to the Stones - I draw the line there

Police sirens? (Edit: Oh crap, you got that one already!)

 

[Charlie Hoss]

This law is kind of like the bans on smoking. A few inconsiderates made it tough on the rest. Now you can't smoke virtually anywhere in Maine (50 ft from the nearest govt building). While I don't like the politics of laws like that, I gotta say I'm glad they were passed. So nice to eat in a restaurant and not have to inhale smoke from the next table.

I feel the same about the new anti-noise law. I live on a hill on a busy major highway. There is a passing lane going up the hill. There is a Saracens motorcycle "club" down the road. Everyone guns it going up the hill to pass elderly drivers in their Buicks. The loud pickups and teenyboppers in their "souped up" Honda Civics with the fat exhausts are almost as noisy as the Saracens when about 30 of them head out for their weekend rides, all with straight pipes. Did I mention the BSTs with their jake brakes rapping at 3 AM as they roar down the hill? We can't have our bedroom windows open and expect to get any sleep. We have to keep the front door closed during the day. I hope they crack down on these noise polluters with the same vigor as with cycles.

Yeah, all these bozos are being inconsiderate and the only solution as I see it are repressive laws that target them and will also hassle others who aren't so bothersome.

Loud pipes save lives! Yeah right. Helmets save lives. (We went on a 76 bike ride Sunday and we were the only bike with ATGATT, most had no helmets and many were wearing shorts!)

Another issue that got the politicians all excited is that of inspection stickers, or I should say the lack of them. Different figures abound, but something like only 40% of Maine cyclists have current stickers. The reason is that they currently are not displayed on the bike but rather carried in a wallet or tucked away with license and registration and only shown when stopped by a cop. The noise and the sticker issues were both addressed in this bill and in 2012 we all will have to figure out a way to display the sticker on the bike. The politicos think that because you have a current sticker, you will have legal pipes. They don't know that many of these loud pipes can be swapped out in about 30 minutes. Thanks, iceholes!

Just ranting. Thanks for listening. :angry2:

 

[Bugnatr]

One of the FZ1 boys got pulled over in New Hampshire for a noise db check. He figured he was doomed with Two Brothers pipes. The cops put the mike up to his pipes and said" take it up to 3,500 rpm for 20 seconds". Well as you may know that is barely above idle with a 13k redline so he passed while the Harley boys were getting tickets left and right.

Smog checks are coming for bikes in Ca which means more government regulation. :angry03:

 

[Fred W]

I do not like this law because it is too subjective. It will be very hard to enforce.

I do not like the proposal that motorcycle mufflers must carry an EPA cert, as this applies only to motorcycles, and none of the other noise sources identified by baddog.

The only way to equitably apply noise ordinances is via a standard sound measurement technique and universal limits. This would mean that all vehicles should be held to the same noise level standards. Trucks, Busses, Cars (including their stereo subwoofers), Harleys and FJRs. As long as the limit is reasonable it will not cramp anyone's style except the true noise makers.

 

[Romy]

I live 1/2 mile from a Harley rider watering hole and even at that distance some of the pipes are obnoxiously loud. On the other hand, my Warrior has a V&H Pro pipe so I think I would rather see specifics on the law books (db levels like NH) rather than the opinion of some cop who might be having a bad day.

Spotted on a bumper sticker recently:

"New Hampshire, the way Maine should be"

 

[Fred W]

Spotted on a bumper sticker recently:"New Hampshire, the way Maine should be"

:thumbsup:

I love that. I'll have to get one.

The rest of my family are heavily taxed Mainiacs (York, Naples and Portland).

 

[Romy]

Spotted on a bumper sticker recently:"New Hampshire, the way Maine should be"

:thumbsup:

I love that. I'll have to get one.

The rest of my family are heavily taxed Mainiacs (York, Naples and Portland).

The best part was it was on a vehicle w/ Maine tag.

 

[Auburn]

snip... I live on a hill on a busy major highway. There is a passing lane going up the hill. There is a Saracens motorcycle "club" down the road. Everyone guns it going up the hill to pass elderly drivers in their Buicks. The loud pickups and teenyboppers in their "souped up" Honda Civics with the fat exhausts are almost as noisy as the Saracens when about 30 of them head out for their weekend rides, all with straight pipes. Did I mention the BSTs with their jake brakes rapping at 3 AM as they roar down the hill? We can't have our bedroom windows open and expect to get any sleep. We have to keep the front door closed during the day. I hope they crack down on these noise polluters with the same vigor as with cycles.
...snip.

I agree there are bikes that are too loud.

I was with you until you said "you live near a busy major highway". I assume the road was there before you moved in and that your purchase price in the house reflected the fact that you had environmental noise associated with the roadway.

This is like the folks around here that move in during the winter months and then complain about Pacific Raceways because the dragsters and road course are loud during the rest of the year. They were there first (50 years now). The raceway sound is music to my ears. I love when NHRA comes to town. When you get two top fuelers who put in a full qualifying run on Friday night, it sounds like they are right in front of me. (I live 1/2 mlie due south of the track almost even with the finish line.) The only thing is you don't feel blast from the air as they go by.

In typical passive agressive fashion, people *****/demand their politicians to pass noise laws because they didn't fully do their homework before purchasing their homes. :****: them. Don't blame everyone else for your failure.

The consequence is the rest of us pay for your failure to do your homework. Same goes for the ones who move in near an airport and then complain about the planes. I have no sympathy for those folks either.