Hey, while the Qld Government is clamping down on bikies, perhaps it is an opportune time to clamp down on unmuffled Harleys!

They are an obscenity! They are the most blatant exception to an otherwise well-accepted rule in all of Australian society!

That is; the rule that excessive noise is offensive and noise pollution is …. well… bloody pollution and bloody annoying, if not completely bloody infuriating!!

Whether it be barking dogs, lawnmowers too early in the morning, neighbours partying late into the night…... we can complain about these and the authorities will most likely do something about it.

But those godawful extremely loud and intrusive completely unmuffled bloody Harley-Davidson motorbikes?

Nope, they seem to hold some sort of sacred position of unholy untouchability!!

Why are they tolerated?

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/xcfzy/unmuffled_motorcycle_owners_why_do_you_think_it/

Obviously Ludy you haunt owned a Harley.

There are very few things that attract attention in the car park like a Harley being cranked over.

Perhaps your quest would be better aimed at the doof doof some call music, but leave Harley's alone mate.

I don't have a problem with bikes. My next door neighbor has a collection of a dozen or so, including some Harleys. He even has the big bushy beard. I don't find him at all intimidating, probably because he is about 165cm & the beard is getting pretty grey these days.

He gets bikie visitors, who all ride considerately, & quietly around here at least.

One of the school busses is however very noisy. After turning around a hew hundred meters past us, at the end of the road, it sounds like a 747 taking off for quiet some time, as it slowly gets up to its 30Km/H cruising speed.

With a few long straights on our country back roads, we often hear Japanese type high revving bikes winding out to high speed, late on quiet nights. Of course, with little traffic, & not much fine revenue to be had out here at these hours, any cops have long gone for the night, so it's the local volunteer fire brigade & the ambulance people who usually scrape them off the scenery.

My only two bikes ww2 Indians, if they did not make a noise Iwould have removed every baffle in the mufflers
Great bikes shame I sold both over 40 years ago.

My pet gripes is dumbthump, dumbthump, dumbthump music blaring all night. In some houses there are little babies yet the moron occupants can go on un-punished for this child abuse. I recall one small Airline operator having a gutful of one such neighbor & he dashed to the sergeant's place at 1 in the morning & knocked on his door to get the police to stop the racket because all the pilots had early flights & they got no sleep. The sergeant demanded to know how the bloke got past the police dogs. When the bloke said that in his desperation to get help from the police he hadn't realised there were dogs the seargeant told the bloke off & said he was on private property & if he didn't leave immdiately he would arrest him for trespassing. You can imagine how stumped the bloke (a 747 Captain) was. Needless to say the dumbthump music continued all night & young bleary-eyed pilots were flying in the morning. Now, had there been an incident then CASA would have come down on them like an atomic bomb.

I too hate noisy neighbours with terribly loud rap music.
Strangely enough, I dont actually mind noisy Harleys.
I love the shiny look of them too.

It could have something to do with one of my first boyfriends having had a Harley that we used to race around the freeways on, without a care in the world..

Hasbeen, "I don't find him at all intimidating, probably because he is about 165cm & the beard is getting pretty grey these days."

Ergonomics is unknown to the makers of these tractors. The pedals and seating position are ideal for someone who is as you noticed the ideal height for a Harley, which is 165cm.

There is a reason why the "No-Necks" with black potties on their heads look like Cheetah doing a bog, and why even short trips result in that trademark Harley grimace. That seating position is cruel.

The loud tractor, like the tatts selected from the parlour wall, express their 'individuality'.

The is a fellow who sits on his for minutes outside the local shops, as the sound reverberates off the shop windows: "Look at moi", "Please look at MOI". But no-one ever does, they have things to do and lives to live.

I don’t have a problem with bikes, only with extremely noisy ones... and with lawless riders that speed and tailgate, which seems to be something over 50% of all bikers out there on our highways.

I do find it interesting that people don’t like doof-doof music, barking dogs and indeed any noise created by their neighbours, at any time not just late at night, but are not fazed by the extremely loud and intrusive sound and intrusive Harleys.

There are noisy motorbikes of all sorts, and then there are Harleys, which are at least order of magnitude worse.

It is just so blatant!

I witness it a lot around Cairns, especially at Ellis Beach, which has been favorite stopping place for bikies for many years. Even there, where bikies and their loud bikes are commonplace, when a Harley starts up and takes off up the road, all conversation stops, everyone looks at the intruder, and at least all the non-bikers in the place are not impressed at all.

Hey if you yelled at the top of your voice for thirty or so seconds close to a group of people, or blasted your car horn continuously for that period of time, how do you think they would react? You'd most likely get a very strong dressing down.

But an ear-splitting building-shaking Harley, which is much louder than either of those when close to you, let alone at some quite considerable distance away, is apparently fair game!

It is just so incongruous and hypocritical for us to have wide-ranging noise pollution, public nuisance and offensive behaviour laws, but for unmuffled Harleys to be excused from them!

Why??

Why isn’t there the simple requirement for all motorbikes to be fitted with mufflers?

Would that really detract from the experience of riding a Harley?

It seems like the Harley-Davidson company has had enough of this sort of criticism. I understand that 2014 Harleys are going to be fitted with mufflers.

Ludwig,

In Queensland it was once a requirement that motorbike exhausts could not make 'undue noise'.

However, the OEM muffler was always acceptable.

Now you can replace the muffler with something that is 'equivalent'. So some bikers probably drill the baffles. If found, that would be faulted by police or Dept Transport.

The manufacturer in this case has stretched the envelope from the start, believing that the particular sound of the bike is a selling point. The sound being the 'chuff, chuff', a characteristic resulting from the particular design of the engine. That means more volume sells more bikes, so they have ramped the sound up a peg.

Your question is why can this manufacturer get away with it?
The answer is that while some, perhaps many, object, too few contact the transport minister to complain. That applies everywhere not just in Oz.

So the 'real' problem is that citizens do not believe that once elected, governments are responsive. Only activists and professional lobbyists bother the minister's ear.

Some Harleys have the same fuel efficiency of a small car.

This has prompted their description as fuel to noise converters.

This has prompted their description as fuel to noise converters.
Shadow minister,
Mount Panorama, Philip island, Gold Coast Super Cars, Grand Prix etc. etc. must then count as ego & money hunger to fuel, noise, environmental damage converters.

I would rather hear a harley then a car with squeaking breaks go up the street.

Ludwig, I get where your coming from...one rule for them, one for everyone else. I'm a bit of a grump old woman at heart, and can't stand the doof doof music, cars that sound like giant sewing machines etc. I live in a small country town, so we rarely has a Harley rumble through. When one does no one (except maybe someone trying to move stock) seems to mind, and I think maybe its because of the way the Harley is used. Normally they start up, maybe give her a rev or two and get on the road, all the other noises you have listed are constant or stick around. The neighbours lawn mower, the twit "cutting laps" in his extremely annoying doof doof car. Although I would hate to live anywhere near a club house or gathering spot of Harley riders. As to it changing the experience, surely it would help the riders ears as I have noticed the couple of Harley riders I know are deaf as posts.

To not like the burr of a Harley is akin to not having a soul. It's a shame though by what characters most Harleys are ridden. But then again one just has to look at the characters who visit the houses of God on weekends. This in some way excuses some of the Harley owners.

<< Ludwig, I get where your coming from...one rule for them, one for everyone else. >>

Yes Bec, that’s the essence of it. Even if the noise of a Harley didn’t bother me, it would still offend my sensibilities by being so blatantly excluded from laws and norms that cover this sort of extreme noise.

If there was some reason for excluding it, then maybe it could be acceptable. But there just isn’t any reason!

I understand what OTB is saying about the sound being a selling point and the manner in which noisy Harleys have managed to remain outside of this sort of law, but it doesn’t amount to a good reason for them to continue to do so.

The ‘big four’ Japanese motorcycle manufactures of the very popular road bikes; Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Suzuki make very powerful, hi-tech efficient machines that do not make excessive noise. Even the red Italian stallion the Ducati, while noisy, is considerably quieter than Harleys.

Sure, some people like Indi don’t mind the noise, and could even say that they love it. I can understand that. But there are plenty of people – I’d say the vast majority – who would find it to be of high irritation and really quite offensive.

There is NO good reason why unmuffled Harleys should be allowed to remain unmuffled!

Ludwig,
One has to agree with your last post. Yes I don't mind the sound of a Harley but when it goes on & on I too get pi$$ed off. I like watching the occasional race on TV but when they go on for hours it puts me off. Why does everything have to be done in such saturation ? By all means have a ride or a race but be done with it in an hour. No need to leave a Harley running in front of a house just for the sake of running it. Same with dumbthump music. Why does a motor race need to go on all day ? Surely someone can win after an hour or two ? All this endurance hype is nothing but hype. It's of no point whatsoever. In these days of bleating about polution & global warming we still have those mindless 24 hour races to amuse the mindless.

I feel my reply here will no doubt raise the ire of a few. Owned and ridden motorcycles for over 30 yrs now and while the saying "Loud pipes saves lives" may be true, it is the riders attitude and that of other road users that saves lives. Is the loud Harley any different to the large F350 'pickup trucks' - are they trying to tell us something that Freud already knew about their insignificant appendages? The majority appear to ride their bikes no more than a few dozen kays, and not even wearing ear plugs under their helmets. Those who actually ride any distances will attest to the hearing damage that loud unmuffled pipes can do. Sure, a Harley being cranked over, a Ducati bevel, or an old Manx Norton sounds great...so does a Rolls Royce Merlin flying overhead, or the 3801 Pacific class steam loco pulling up a steep cutting from the Hawkesbury. Boys n girls will always have their toys. I recall a guy with a really loud Harley that lived in the row of villas here in The Gardens who would always switch off the ignition and coast into his carport so as not to wake the neighbours. I wish there were more people like him, considerate of others but still thoughtful enough to push his bike out onto the cul de sac before he cranked it up.

Indy just as there are 6 furlong & 3 mile horse races, for different horses, so goes motor racing. Motor racing is a reflection of what it once was.

The Le-Mans 24 hours race was to demonstrate some cars ability to be driven quickly for a reasonably long period, & still be in one piece. This was a good way for the public to evaluate the cars available. The Bathurst 500 [miles] was a race for stock standard production cars, & served the same purpose, as well as being fun. The Bathurst 100 [miles] was the serious race for serious drives, in proper racing cars.

However times change. Do you think there would be many boys from Penrith in the Penrith football team? Not many Morris Minis in the Bathurst race these days either. Gone are the days when the boys of the town donned a football jersey on Saturday, then went back to work on Monday. I find todays professional sport less interesting than the days of old, but as an old bloke that is to be expected.

Why do you want stop racing drivers spending all day on a road WITHOUT SPEEDLIMITS? After all, that is really what half the field, the back half, is doing.

Ludwig,
You may also be pleased to note that in QLD the noise levels are being reviewed to place restriction on bike exhaust noise as a means of curbing bikie intimidation with confiscation as the penalty.

Ludwig, why don't you come out with the rest of it, while you are on the subject.

You don't like "that modern music" either, do you.

I can hear you now (or was it my grandad) chuntering away in the corner... "I don't know how they can call this music. It's just... noise, that's all it is. Just noise".

Chuckle.

<< You may also be pleased to note that in QLD the noise levels are being reviewed to place restriction on bike exhaust noise as a means of curbing bikie intimidation with confiscation as the penalty. >>

Good to hear, Chris.

I hope it results in significant changes.

My dear Pericles, I detest the doof-doof that you hear when you can only hear the base pounding through and nothing else. Especially when it’s coming from a neighbour’s party at 1 or 2am!

But a lot of that sort of music, when you hear it properly, and do so when you wish to and not when someone else imposes it upon you, is actually good stuff.

However, I’m sure it will make you chuckle to know that my favourite music is indeed grand-dad type of stuff, from the 40s, 50s and 60s.

Hehehe! ( :>) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I85ApzR43jU

Nothing wrong with that, Ludwig.

>>However, I’m sure it will make you chuckle to know that my favourite music is indeed grand-dad type of stuff, from the 40s, 50s and 60s<<

I am listening to this stream, even as I write...

http://radiobop60s.com/

It is easiest to get at through TuneIn Radio, by the way.

http://tunein.com/

Which you can also reach on your phone/tablet.

Have a great day.

Thanks Pericles.

Great stuFF!

I just heard this on Radiobops60s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84yCL_KDrpY

Wow, this thread has taken an interesting turn.

This is MUCH better than talking about those godawful noisy Harleys!

Good to see you're having fun, Ludwig.

Here's one that is right on topic...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM_99DtI0tE

Enjoy

Yep, that’s a good one Pericles.

Speaking of Harleys, and good music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpJ0cyXbMbI

I saw a Harley today. Well, I presume it was a Harley. The rider was wearing a Harley-emblazened jacket, so I presume his bike was a Harley.

But it started up and moved off very quietly.

One of the new breed of muffled Harleys??

[I had noted earlier that 2014 Harleys are all going to have mufflers as standard quip.]