No Warm Welcome For Motorcycles In National Parks

[Scorch]

http://www.npr.org/2012/06/25/155727...national-parks

Loud pipes, do they belong in places where people want to relax? Do riders with open exhausts really think their bikes are "quiet" if they putt along slowly?

[Gravel Guy]

Originally Posted by Scorch

http://www.npr.org/2012/06/25/155727...national-parks

Loud pipes, do they belong in places where people want to relax? Do riders with open exhausts really think their bikes are "quiet" if they putt along slowly?

How many riders patrol parks with "open exhaust".....I call
BS...it's a FEW disrespectful bikes with uncaring owners making the rest of us (sound) bad...

[kurt]

Originally Posted by Gravel Guy

How many riders patrol parks with "open exhaust".....I call
BS...it's a FEW disrespectful bikes with uncaring owners making the rest of us (sound) bad...

They said as much.

TREVINO: Oh, actually, that's great. You know, and I'm glad you told me that. It actually gives me an opportunity to make a very important point, which is the largest problem comes from a very small number of motorcycles and those are the very large bikes that have modified pipes.

[Gravel Guy]

Originally Posted by kurt

They said as much.

Yes, sir, I was debating Scorch's statement......

[gixxerjasen]

Hey lookie, another law that was put into place and rarely enforced. Once again, so much easier to make money off of speeding tickets.

[The Bruce]

Probably a bigger issue when the rallies invade an area. When the herd comes through with the rolling thunder mode activated in the cool morning air I can see it being annoying.

We don't like loud pipes...that seems to be the consensus on TWTEX.

RB

[tshelfer]

Amen, amen, amen. Whether it's loud bike pipes, a Chevy truck with glass packs, a boom box radio in a camp site or a generator that somebody runs from dawn to dusk in their camp site -- if it's noisy, please don't bring it with you to a national park.

[pottie]

Cant judge from louder pipe...
I think is all bout the rider then just the louder pipe....IMO

[kurt]

Originally Posted by pottie

Cant judge from louder pipe...
I think is all bout the rider then just the louder pipe....IMO

How so?

[tshelfer]

It's not hard to tell a loud pipe when you hear one. Maybe you can't tell 90 decibels from 100 decibels. But you can tell doesn't-shake-my-windows-when-idling from shakes-my-windows-when-idling.

Come to think of it, most national parks have a gate and an admission. Maybe this is too much to put on that poor ranger who is having to handle the line coming into Yellowstone, but the gate would seem to be the perfect place to either warn somebody that they're on the cusp so be very very careful, or to turn them back.

[STScott]

Originally Posted by tshelfer

Amen, amen, amen. Whether it's loud bike pipes, a Chevy truck with glass packs, a boom box radio in a camp site or a generator that somebody runs from dawn to dusk in their camp site -- if it's noisy, please don't bring it with you to a national park.

Or any park at all.

[pottie]

Loud is perspective
My across neighbor have Mustang GT500 that loud enough when he start the engine but he never make trouble by pressing hard or showing off

Originally Posted by kurt

How so?

[The Bruce]

Originally Posted by tshelfer

Amen, amen, amen. Whether it's loud bike pipes, a Chevy truck with glass packs, a boom box radio in a camp site or a generator that somebody runs from dawn to dusk in their camp site -- if it's noisy, please don't bring it with you to a national park.

Yep. My ears tell me when it's loud. And setting off car alarms as you ride by would be an indicator of too loud.

[Desert Skies]

Refused entry... This, one day will be enforced if these riders think they are the only one on the planet that matters.

Some Wing riders have posted about refusal in some gated communities in CA simply because they were on a motorcycle even though they were riding a Whisper Glide.

My neighbor's FXDSE sets off car alarms, he thinks it's funny.

[weekend_warrior]

State parks do have noise limits for off-road and have a for a while now. Less than 96 decimals. Not really that bad and still actually fairly loud. If you can trim that down by just 5 dBM than the noise you will hear will actually be 50% less. Noise is definalty not an issue where I ride now, but I do race in the SHNF every now and then as well as other areas where noise can be sensative.

I actually put a flow master on my last truck to get rid of the duals and glass packs. While it sounded great it was way loud. The exhaust on my current truck may get modified, but likely not until the stock system needs replacing or unless I can find something that sounds good and is not that loud. The flow master I had was a little deeper and not very loud at all unless it was crazy high in the RPMs.

The only reason I would switch on my V-strom or KTM is to shave weight up high. Likely something that looks better than the stock can on V-strom, but is lighter and has a quiet insert. A little more noise would be OK, but I don't want to rattle the neighbors as I ride by for a nice cruise or commute to work early in the morning. It's all about finding the right balance to make it sound good while riding, look decent, and be quiet enough not to annoy those around you.

I've been ride a sewing machine sounding bike since 07 and I've not felt the need for a loud pipe to save my life at all.

[DFW_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Gravel Guy

How many riders patrol parks with "open exhaust".....I call
BS...it's a FEW disrespectful bikes with uncaring owners making the rest of us (sound) bad...

Just an FYI, but last time I was in BBNP I encountered not one, not two, but three separate groups of Harley's larger than 20 bikes, and I would venture a guess that probably 70% of each group was sporting aftermarket exhaust.

Personally while I think there shouldn't be a law against it, I won't be surprised when it happens. People want to be inconsiderate, then new laws generally get put into place to force the issue. This isn't anything new.

[nchristie]

Implement and enforce the AMA supported (we ARE all AMA members, right?) noise testing standard. Can be aplied to bikes, cars, generators, boats, whatever.

I heard that interview on NPR yesterday - the park employee was wel spoken and even, and when they interviewed some "biker" he clearly was a ******.

[tshelfer]

Don't assume that everybody hates all motorcycles; I get pleasant surprises sometimes. Recently I was at my 90-y/o dad's gated retirement community picking up his mail - an almost daily occurrence for me these days. As I climbed off my VStrom and flipped up my helmet, an old lady with a cane limped up to me. Uh oh, this could be trouble. But no, she smiled at me and said "My, that's a quiet one." I replied, "Thanks; that's the only kind I'll ride."

When I ride with my Harley buddies from church, they never fail to make fun of my "sewing machine" just before they light off their afterburners and knock the moss off nearby trees. Hey, I'm not the one pointing out the noise difference; they themselves take pleasure in doing it. And then they're gonna get all defensive and act insulted if somebody else points out the same obvious fact?

[Meriden]

The NPR reporter rides a 2012 Bonnie. Hmmm.

Noise is relative. What doesn't sound bad in town is down right annoying outside of town. My neighbors are 100 yards due south and on a light breeze I can hear their conversations quite well at times. I have also called the sheriff on them for, of all things, loud exhaust when the kid spent the whole night running up and down the road with open pipes.

Loud pipes lose rights...