This is gonna P.O. some Edmonton riders

[ceemes]

.....and I say too bad, so sad. About time someone cracked down on those noobs who feel the need to deafen me with their unbaffled pipes. With a bit of luck, the GVRD will do the same. However, I don't buy the Edmonton Polices argument that they don't have the tools to enforce the same noise restriction against cars and trucks. I figure the hand held db metre's they are planning on using on motorcycles should work just as well with other types of vehicles.

Edmonton muffles motorcycles
CBC News - Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Edmonton has passed a bylaw to muffle motorcycles, making it illegal to drive a bike that is louder than 96 decibels.

Council voted Wednesday to make it illegal for a motorcycle to be louder than 92 decibels while idling and 96 decibels while in motion.

Riders with noisier bikes face a fine of $250. The vote passed 11-1.

"I've had an awful lot of complaints from people that are being woken up at 2 or 3 a.m. with mufflers that are way beyond the standards of what the federal regulations say should there be on a bike," said Ben Henderson, councillor for Ward 4.

Edmonton police have already purchased eight sound meters, Edmonton Insp. Brian Lobay told CBC News earlier this month. Officers are expected to start enforcing the change in July on Whyte Avenue, Jasper Avenue and Groat Road, he said.

"The instrument is placed at a certain distance behind the exhaust and it gives you a digital readout on your decibel level. …You either pass or you fail," Lobay said on June 3.

Last summer, the Motorcycle and Moped Industry Council tested 200 bikes across Canada when developing the bylaw. The national agency represents major motorcycle distributors across Canada.

Seventeen per cent failed the sound meter test and all of those motorbikes had modified stock pipes. Motorcycles with regular pipes passed.

Coun. Dave Theile tried to expand the bylaw to include noisy cars and trucks, calling the bylaw discriminatory.

But Theile's motion was defeated. Police told councillors they don't have the tools to monitor the sound coming from vehicles other than motorcycles.

[paul246]

I wonder if by "tools" they mean a portable dynometer that would enable the police to test the vehicle in motion as well as at idle?

[havegunjoe]

One more government restriction on our lives. It never ends.

[Triumphgirl]

Well, I really dont know what the decibles are on my pipes. I dont agree with some pipes being outrageously loud, nor do I agree with the cars and trucks that loud either. Just think about the cost on the taxpayer to purchase this equipment for a riding season which lasts about 6 months out of the year. It has been raining and snowing on and off here in Edmonton for the last two months. So really not many riders out. So that leaves about 4 months. I am a little ticked off at the fact that just motorcycles are being singled out. I have been driving many years and there are far worse noise infractions happening around a city. Try the speakers that some people have in their car. They drive by and you can feel the vibration whilst sitting in your own vehicle. What about the noise of construction crews. Jack Hammering for hours at a time. Lets not forget Magpies that squawk incessantly all day out side your window. Oh and that noisy kid that wakes you up on a sunday morning having a tantrum outside, screaming at the top of his/her lungs. No decibles there. And while we are at it lets shoot all the barking dogs that are left outside at night by their owners, just to tick everyone off. So the point of my ranting is that if you are going to complain about noise, and are going to fine the noise makers, just send one ticket, to each person in the city. That is $250.00/person x 1 million people. There is $250 Million more dollars that the city council can utilize to find more ways just to pick our A$$.

[TFGeek]

They should be able to crack down on cars and trucks too. A few times after just getting my baby to sleep, a loud bike has passed and woken him back up now. Now he just sleeps like a log. A petrified log. Although being heard on a bike is good thing, don't over do it. What would be a good example of 96 dbs?

[JC Viper]

My bike stock should be around 85dB, with the supertrapp exhaust it puts out 92dB on the move in a low gear at high RPM. Some sound is a good thing compared to my 85dB max Vulcan 500 (very quiet at cruising speed) but anything louder and I would find it offensive to my ears while riding. My bike still gets masked by an "outlaw" Harley rider when we're both at a stop light.

Here in NYC it's mostly the cruiser riders that have the loudest exhaust, followed by modified pickups or cars, then sportsbikes with young riders. Still the garbage trucks that seem to be driving around every night put out the most noise and leave an awful smell that lingers for an hour. Barking dogs are a common annoyance as well.

[BuzZz]

I haven't ridden my bike in the city this year, but my bro-in-law got pulled over a month ago and warned that his '81 XS-400 was too loud to pass the test that was soon coming. Now his cracked pipes and mangled baffle in one muffler defiantly had something to do with that, but the bike wasn't really that loud. He's since bought a new V-Star 1100 and that thing is pretty quiet, so he's good.

My GSXR with it's blown silencer packing is pretty loud. It might pass at idle or low rpm/load passes, but when you romp on it, it barks. And it wails like am-fm when you really open it up. I'm pretty sure it will fail the test.

Mind you it's $50 and an hour to re-pack the silencer, but I like the way it sounds now.

[HYPERR]

My GSXR with it's blown silencer packing is pretty loud. It might pass at idle or low rpm/load passes, but when you romp on it, it barks. And it wails like am-fm when you really open it up. I'm pretty sure it will fail the test.

That's the great thing about inline 4s. It's reasonably quiet until the rpms climb. Near redline I bet your Gixer sounds like a pride of lions being strangled.