Every community has show offs and attention seekers. There are guys with chipped up diesel trucks, truck drivers who drive through cities with their Jacobs brakes on, import cars with boom box stereos that vibrate the windows right out of your house and then there are buses, ambulances with sirens blaring, fire and police...sound pollution/noise pollution is a HUGE issue.
Noise is an issue - a health and a quality of life issue. Motorcycles are being singled out and targeted because of those in our community who sadly think it is their right to be as loud and obnoxious as possible. We are treated like we are all members of the Hells Angels and are like them in that we are a highly visible minority that is easy to single out and target.
My opinion is not always the most popular one. There are many that think I am too outspoken and too obnoxious for words BUT from my experience the riders who don't like the way I think or the things I have to say are generally the offenders, the one's who do their level best to screw everything up for the rest of us who just want to ride without being singled out or hassled.
My bike has stock pipes for a reason - three actually... One - I do not wish to be hassled by the police services - I just want to ride. Two, I ride an H-D these days, Milwaukee makes a pretty bomb proof engine and if you don't mess with it, it runs just fine with very little issues, and three - it's a 96 inch - I can if I decide to speed, get just as many ticket as the next guy/gal. Fact of the matter is, since I don't race, Canadian roads really don't offer up a place that I can use the horsepower of anything bigger so why bother? It's an expense I don't need - I would rather put that money in to a holiday and create some riding memories for when I am 110 and can't ride any more.
People - it is long since past the time we start policing our community. If we took some action as individuals we might actually get some consideration as a community when it comes to being heard out by city councils etc but until we start looking after our own crap - someone else is going to do it for us. That some one else is the police and whether we think it is fair or not - WE have created the situation by either egging on the person who feels the need to do a burn out in a public parking lot, or by shaking out heads and walking away with out having told the person that they were ruining it for the rest of us.
We complacent Canadian riders are just as responsible for these bylaws that are now restricting us as anyone else in the equation is. Don't blame the police or the counselors who are tired of getting complaints from their constituents about the noise our community makes - blame the right people, our fellow motorcyclist who feels the need to rip it up with that right hand. That person who is so selfish that they feel theirs is the only "right" that matters. They are the problem and until we deal with them - well, we will continue to be a target.
As always, I welcome your comments, thoughts and feedback - with out your involvement I am just another hack writer with a two bit opinion.
In the news today:
Winnipeg is watching the Edmonton Motorcycle Noise Bylaw
Rene Cormier gets an award in New York City
Producer/Band Member Daniel Lanois is in critical condition after a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles.
In The West Kootenay's they are gearing up for ticket sales on their motorcycle lottery and getting things ramped up for their toy run.
In Ontario the wife of a motorcycle accident victim speaks out about her husband.
In BC - another man with a 50 year driving ban is arrested for riding a stolen motorcycle.
As always there is much more in the latest news over on www.beltdrivebetty.com there are some other accident reports, motorcycle reviews and event stories today so come on over and check us out.
We are running some auctions for F.I.R.R.E. on our Facebook group page - come join us or better yet, sign up to become a member of F.I.R.R.E. at www.firre.ca
We need people on our Injured Riders Committee, Rights Committee and our Education Committee - come and get involved in improving the lot for motorcycling in Canada - we'd love to have chapters right across this fine country of ours!
If you are blessed to be riding today, please ride like everyone around you is blind AND OUT TO GET YOU! And please, Ride Proud not Loud - save those pipes for when they count and can help protect you like when someone drifts in to your lane. Stay safe out there folks!
Belt Drive Betty
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ReplyDeleteOn June 21st, 2010, the California Assembly Transportation Committee will hear the most unfriendly and anti-motorcycle piece of legislation proposed since the passage and imposition of the mandatory helmet law. ABATE of California has learned that SB-435, originally known as the Motorcycle Smog Check bill, is about to be amended by its author, State Senator Fran Pavley (D), Agoura Hills from a Smog Check bill into a Noise bill. Nearing the end of its status as a two-year bill, Senator Pavley has been frustrated in her attempts to burden the motorcycle owners of California with unwarranted and needless regulatory legislation for smog checks. Now she is pursuing a different direction still with the intention of singling out and punishing the motorcycle riders of California with a discriminatory, poorly crafted, and extremely unfair amended bill that targets a very small portion of the state’s motoring public.
According to Jim Lombardo, Legislative Director and Lobbyist for ABATE of California, “The fact that Pavley has chosen to drop any smog testing requirements, no roadside sound checks, and is simply using an existing 27 year-old EPA noise requirement with an increased fine, is a testament to the hard work that everyone did in defeating an unfair and ineffective smog check law.”
If SB-435 is allowed to pass through the Assembly Transportation Committee and move forward to passage in the legislature in its proposed amended form, it will wreak unimaginable harm to the state’s motorcycle owners and to the motorcycle industry at large in the State of California. The aftermarket muffler industry has been supplying replacements for California’s motorcyclists due to normal wear or damage for decades. However, if SB-435 with the proposed amendments is allowed to pass, California motorcycle owner/operators will be facing increased fines and penalties simply because of Senator Pavley’s insistence to enact discriminatory nuisance legislation whose design will create an unmanageable statute and one that will nevertheless create havoc for ALL of the riders in this state.
ABATE of California adamantly opposes the passage of SB-435 for the underlying fact that EPA muffler label stamps on mufflers are the equivalent of the tags on bed mattresses — they are manufacturers’ warranties. In this case, the labels mean that the muffler complies with the federal noise standard for new motorcycles for one year or 3,730 miles, whichever comes first. After that, due to wear and tear or damage, compliance with the noise standard no longer applies.
Under current law, if the mufflers are replaced with noise compliant ones, labels or not, and verified by peace officers, the citations are written off with a $25 court fee. This way, a proper correction to a violation is accomplished. The aftermarket muffler industry has supplied replacements due to wear and tear or damage for decades. For the tens of thousands of aftermarket catalytic mufflers that wear out, where does one get a replacement, if stock parts aren’t available, since CARB reportedly has approved only one aftermarket replacement, so far?
Not addressed by SB-435, but what happens to visitors from other states who are unlucky enough to be cited while operating a motorcycle in California but are compliant in their home state? The list of flaws could go on and on but the potential catastrophic nature of SB-435 to cause financial devastation to California’s motorcyclists, its aftermarket industry and the tourism industry are on a level with the damage caused by the recent earthquake in Haiti. If you ride a motorcycle in California, you need to be concerned with SB-435! In fact, you need to be more than concerned, you need to be vocal and active to preserve your rights to ride and be free, as an American and a resident of California that rides a motorcycle.