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Possible new California Law Regarding Exhausts
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September 5, 2010 at 3:03 pm #4225WeaponZeroParticipant
There’s a post up over on the SVrider.com forums regarding a possible law that may be put into place in California regarding aftermarket pipes. Violations of noise ordinances are the reason why.
http://forum.svrider.com/showthread.php?t=131339
Essentially, the law will ban ANY exhaust modifications, including aftermarket pipes of any kind. Basically all bikes that aren’t running their full stock exhaust will now be illegal. While most posters, as expected, posted in strong opposition to the law, one brought up a few good counterpoints that, after thinking about, I was inclined to agree with.
He basically pointed out that motorcycle riding is a privilege, not a right. And that if we can’t enjoy that privilege without disturbing others, we don’t deserve it. And really, who, on the street, needs the extra 5 or so horsepower you get over the stock pipe? Odds are you won’t even notice the difference on the street, and if you do it’s very slight.
Reading his post really made me think about where I stand on the matter because it does raise some good points. Opinions?
September 5, 2010 at 3:55 pm #28492MunchParticipantI’ll keep my freedoms thank you.
Whats their next argument ….. freedom is a privilege and not a right? And if you can’t enjoy that without offending someone then you shouldn’t have it?
Seriously you would think a state, like most other states, near bankrupt would have other things to do then target any group for the sake of regulating anything and everything they can. There again I can see the sheer genius of it….keep introducing regulations, laws restrictions in small increments so 1) they can generate money from it via legal fees. 2) Get the people used to being told what to do in every aspect of their lives so they can’t see whats being taken away from them…. that away when the big stuff comes up…. “See what we have done for you? Can you not see the logic behind what we offer…… You do not know whats good for you….we do……..” hmmmm come to think of it…kinda sounds like the main brain computer off of I-Robot.
Aftermarket anything is never about NEED. It’s personalization, expression, improvement and the list goes on. Not to mention it keeps companies competitive with each other. Think OEM parts are expensive now?….Let that garbage law go into place and watch the prices rocket.
Like how any specific model bike has progressed ….. yup that’ll disappear to (given a complete lockdown) because it will “stop” folks who are not in engineering degrees (read: tinkerers) from experimenting and creating better things that a corporate entity didn’t seem valid at the time. Yet som of the improvements you see today are by everyday folks “tinkering” …finding the results…make it known…. then the manu’s, usually years later, go “damn that was a good idea let’s use it!”What does it take to wake people and find out how even the smallest of laws can lead to a slippery slope Freedom Abandoned?
So Mrs. Bitchy britches hates “loud” pipes…. given that she’s likely going 15 miles below speed limit she will not have to listen to it for long….then in the next 30 secs. of her life she can find something else to bitch about.
Oh but wait! I can see the next argument…. “what’s everyone worried about, theres only a small population of these kinds and it won’t effect everyone”….. Sooooooo why bother and leave people alone…..
I give you respect WZ for looking at both sides of the fence…. I just ask you to take your thinking further then your normally comfortable with as I do anyone I talk with. Most people get to a certain point and figure their comfortable with that conclusion and fail to think further then that.
Think of all the aspects that can get influenced by that law…on both sides.September 5, 2010 at 5:50 pm #28488eonParticipantI think it is a very bad law that in order to cut down on loud pipes they ban all aftermarket exhausts. Aside from the practicalities of enforcing that I agree with Munch that it is an infringement of your rights. Basically your freedom is being restricted in order to stop some people from breaking a law, a law that you are not breaking and would appear to be very easy to enforce? I just don’t get it. I can no longer replace my cheap and very heavy exhaust with a lighter one because some others are breaking a law. That is just plain wrong.
BUT (and it’s a very big but), I am not at all surprised it has come to this. I completely disagree with Munch’s characterization that only Mrs Bitchy going 15 miles below the speed limit gets upset by this for 30 seconds.
I HATE LOUD PIPES. THEY REALLY, REALLY PISS ME OFF!!!
Ok, glad I got that off my chest. So maybe if you live in a rural environment on an acre of land you only ever hear loud pipes for 30 seconds at a time. I live in an urban area. I hear them all the fricken time. My neighbor leaves at midnight and wakes the whole neighborhood. It’s not exactly uncommon to see large packs of bikes with loud pipes go by and that lasts a whole lot longer than 30 seconds. When they are stopped at lights they somehow feel the need to rev the engine. What the fuck is that for? I was on a ferry last week with 30 “Headless Horsemen” who felt the need to rev their bikes inside this big metal container. The poor ferry worker was very upset as she hears this shit all day long. When she pleaded with them to stop as she was not wearing ear plugs the dickheads were very slow to stop.
So when laws like this get passed do not act surprised. For too long the loud pipe brigade have been happily trampling on the rights of others. Now the others (the vast majority of the population) have had enough of and are fighting back. Why the hell should they care if they take away some of your freedom if it means they can avoid having their hearing assaulted?
September 5, 2010 at 6:12 pm #28493Jeff in KentuckyParticipantIf this new law passes, people in California will get their “off road use only” exhausts in other states, and the people with the loudest exhausts in places that most bother others will get more fines for them.
Since California government is bankrupt, they will probably continue to find more ways to fine people to make money, and will hopefully make marijuana and hemp legal- alcohol became legal in most places again in the 1930s because the federal and state governments had a lot less tax money coming in during the Great Depression.
Maybe more and more people will choose to wear iPod earplugs or other noise blocking earplugs to not hear the rudest among us. I used to put cigarette butts in my ears at rock concerts, and later bought a pair of rubber earplugs for loud bars, so I hear better than a lot of others my age that never used ear protection.
I like my exhaust a little louder than stock because I feel safer, and I like the sound and the little bit of extra power, but those that run no muffler baffles at all are very annoying. I hope more of them get fined and the cops make them add some muffler baffling.
September 5, 2010 at 9:30 pm #28495MunchParticipantThats what “noise ordinances” are for. That gives everyone the freedom of choice. Live in a area that wants it quiet and the loud pipe people can go around ( much like to the mass boycott of Myrtle Beach ) or be able to freely do what you want in other towns. It gives everyone options. Not just trampling on the rights of everyone…. yes everyone for the sake of “not having your hearing assaulted”.
I am not a fan of overly loud pipes…. but 30 secs…heck even a ferry ride out of your day and the rest is to your liking…. I will keep the freedom. Much as the same way I wouldn’t try to force a law on soccer moms to limit their mode of transportation to indicate the true number of kids they have…..or Johnny sports car to a sedan or coupe that can only do 90 mph cause they don’t need the extra horses. Should we all be running around in the Smartfortwo because everything else is not economic enough and though you only carry a weeks worth of groceries you really don’t need the SUV that you spent $30+ grand on? Not only do I hate the law but I also get worried about whats next down the pike.
Loud pipes are loud…and can get irritating no doubts especially if they are straight pipe, no matter the bike. However a full on restriction of freedom is near communistic ( yes I said the C word)
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