Florida- pipes

[karen]

: Belleair Bee - Tampa Bay Newspapers

Motorcycle mufflers will be monitored By HARLAN WEIKLE
Article published on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 INDIAN ROCKS BEACH – On the eve of one of the loudest weekends of the year, Indian Rocks Beach residents might experience a little more quiet this Fourth of July – but just a little.

Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies are poised to begin enforcing a state law regarding motorcycle mufflers.

Two weeks ago local innkeeper Jim Labadie presented a petition to city commissioners with more than 50 signatures asking Sheriff Jim Coats to crack down on loud motorcycle operators. The commission agreed.

Last week the city was informed by the sheriff that a limited enforcement policy would be put in place and deputies would be on the watch for motorcyclists operating unlawful, modified muffler systems sometimes called straight pipes.

For several years residents along Gulf Boulevard have complained about the nuisance noise of motorcycles with modified pipes disrupting the quiet. In particular, residents pointed to the weekend gathering of motorcycle patron at local bars. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the complaints were hard to investigate because of a shortage of sound monitoring equipment. The county has only four decibel meters for the entire county, according to their public information office. By the time a deputy responded to a complaint, the alleged offensive vehicle was either silenced or gone.

Labadie and his friend, state Sen. Steve Oelrich, decided to concentrate on another part of the law which prohibits modifying mufflers in order to produce more noise than allowed by federal regulations; in Florida just the modification is sufficient to cite the owner.

Labadie said after Tuesday’s City Commission meeting, “This will be just a limited enforcement effort, limited to Indian Rocks Beach, but it’s a good start.”

K

[MONTY]

Originally Posted by karen

"...but it’s a good start.”

K

That sounds ominous!! I keep telling people, we bikers are a minority group with little support from the wider public, and not much in the way of "higher moral ground" to argue our case from. So if some folks keep overdoing it and irritating the citizens, sooner or later they'll be pissed off enough to do something about it, and you'll have difficulty putting up much of a defence. And in this example, because of a few people who don't know the difference between "cool" and "stupid" when it comes to exhaust noise, all bikers are going to be made to suffer. Great.

What to do? Join a riders rights organisation (ABATE etc.), exercise a little common sense with your own riding behaviour and bike modifications, and whenever the opportunity arises try to gently "coach" other bikers who seem to lack such common sense for themselves (be prepared to get a less-than-friendly reception of course, but you've got to try i guess ...).

You guys need to get this in hand before you're all saddled with as much crap anti-biker legistlation as we are over the pond.

[01 sporty]

Originally Posted by MONTY

That sounds ominous!! I keep telling people, we bikers are a minority group with little support from the wider public, and not much in the way of "higher moral ground" to argue our case from. So if some folks keep overdoing it and irritating the citizens, sooner or later they'll be pissed off enough to do something about it, and you'll have difficulty putting up much of a defence. And in this example, because of a few people who don't know the difference between "cool" and "stupid" when it comes to exhaust noise, all bikers are going to be made to suffer. Great.

What to do? Join a riders rights organisation (ABATE etc.), exercise a little common sense with your own riding behaviour and bike modifications, and whenever the opportunity arises try to gently "coach" other bikers who seem to lack such common sense for themselves (be prepared to get a less-than-friendly reception of course, but you've got to try i guess ...).

You guys need to get this in hand before you're all saddled with as much crap anti-biker legistlation as we are over the pond.

Well put I agree thankx for the input

[druber13]

Here we go again. I say we get a petition sign to get rid of the assholes in that town.I bet we could get more sigs than they did.

[Tinman13]

Originally Posted by druber13

Here we go again. I say we get a petition sign to get rid of the assholes in that town.I bet we could get more sigs than they did.

Hey Danny, tell 'em to give this a read while they're at it. Just click on the banner.




O.K. Try this link then:

http://www.bikernet.com/news/PageViewer.asp?PageID=902