Thread: Denver restricts loud pipes

(CBS4) DENVER The Denver City Council voted 8-2 Monday night to enact stricter regulations on the noise motorcycles can make staring July 1.

Council members Charlie Brown and Jeanne Faatz voted against the measure.

The ordinance will require all motorcycle pipes to have a stamp to show they are in compliance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency noise standards.

Councilman Rick Garcia voted for the ordinance.

"Hopefully they will stay out of Denver," Garcia said about the motorcyclists with loud exhaust pipes.

Two years ago, CBS4 reported on how many motorcycles were violating Denver's 80 decibel limit. Police from several agencies conducted a brief crackdown, but using a noise meter to catch a moving motorcycle was not an easy task.

City Council members were given a demonstration of both motorcycles in compliance with noise laws, and those that are not.

"There are a lot of one way streets in my district and late at night they're wide open," Councilwoman Jeannie Robb said. "These things take off and if they're not EPA certified, you heard the difference."

But from those who make a living installing the loud pipes there is another side to the story.

"Loud pipes will save lives because I see people not even paying attention until they hear the pipes and then they look over and see you," a motorcycle mechanic said.

First time violators of the ordinance would get a $500 fine. For repeat offenders, it could go up to $999.

Damn- 500 dollar fine for a guy just tryin' to save his own...........................

Yep these boys better write to their congress men.

Originally Posted by HEAVYbusa

Yep these boys better write to their congress men.

That's more of a waste of time that being compliant!

They are the ones who stuff their pockets with the collected 500.00 fines!

Originally Posted by brendanp

That's more of a waste of time that being compliant!

They are the ones who stuff their pockets with the collected 500.00 fines!

No arguement here.

I hope they treat the harley and cruiser riders with loud pipes just like they treat us with sport bikes.

Have you joined the AMA yet?

What are you waiting for?

This kind of stupid legislation is spreading, because you have no voice.

If you want to fight this stuff, the AMA is our best hope.

I'm a member, I'm doing something.

Are you?

Fuaaaaack, that is steep. 500 bones could even get ya a good used system. Or one helluva rearset.

I'm gonna take the flip side here guys. It is my opinion that the "loud pipes" on many bikes do nothing but annoy the general public. It's no different than a car stereo blasting noise at levels that do nothing to enhance the quality of the music. Bikers who run straight pipes and then blast through residential districts, past churches, and down what would otherwise be a peaceful country lane do more to hurt the image of bikes than anything else I can imagine.

We have a run here we call "Racers Road". It's a nice set of sweepers out in the country that can be taken at an aggressive rate and provide that "lean angle" many of us enjoy. But the overly aggressive nature of many bikers in the area with loud pipes and gonzo speeds have killed the area for the rest of us. It's now patrolled so heavily as to make it useless for fun. When we first started going there we kept the speeds and noise in check - and it wasn't "legal" by the book speeds, no - we were faster than that. But then word got around, the loud pipes showed up, and the speeds went balistic. The folks who lived there complained and the police took note. The road now has a "zero tolerance" policy.

Point is this, is it really necessary to make noise to have fun? Does my "right" to a peaceful morning have to be lost in order for someone else to enjoy theirs? What gives us the right to ignore speed and noise limits when those limits impact the safety and privacy of others?

There are times when it is necessary to acknowledge the rights of others and to examine our actions from their perspective. While I do not believe "they" have the right to prevent me from participating in motorcycling as a sport, I also believe I have a responsibility to practice my "sport" in a fashion that doesn't have a negative impact on anothers "quality of life".

Just food for thought...

Originally Posted by CodeRed

I'm gonna take the flip side here guys. It is my opinion that the "loud pipes" on many bikes do nothing but annoy the general public. It's no different than a car stereo blasting noise at levels that do nothing to enhance the quality of the music. Bikers who run straight pipes and then blast through residential districts, past churches, and down what would otherwise be a peaceful country lane do more to hurt the image of bikes than anything else I can imagine.

We have a run here we call "Racers Road". It's a nice set of sweepers out in the country that can be taken at an aggressive rate and provide that "lean angle" many of us enjoy. But the overly aggressive nature of many bikers in the area with loud pipes and gonzo speeds have killed the area for the rest of us. It's now patrolled so heavily as to make it useless for fun. When we first started going there we kept the speeds and noise in check - and it wasn't "legal" by the book speeds, no - we were faster than that. But then word got around, the loud pipes showed up, and the speeds went balistic. The folks who lived there complained and the police took note. The road now has a "zero tolerance" policy.

Point is this, is it really necessary to make noise to have fun? Does my "right" to a peaceful morning have to be lost in order for someone else to enjoy theirs? What gives us the right to ignore speed and noise limits when those limits impact the safety and privacy of others?

There are times when it is necessary to acknowledge the rights of others and to examine our actions from their perspective. While I do not believe "they" have the right to prevent me from participating in motorcycling as a sport, I also believe I have a responsibility to practice my "sport" in a fashion that doesn't have a negative impact on anothers "quality of life".

Just food for thought...

That's some good food right there.

Also consider what's loud to you may not be loud to me. What you consider a negative impact may not be considered a negative impact by me.

I agree w/ your thoughts outside of the loud pipes not being any different than the loud car stereo. I believe they serve two different purposes regardless of how equally annoying they are.

Myrtle Beach has a noise ordnance. It's enforced strongly during Bike Week. My observation has seen pilots w/ loud pipes given citations when revving high making noise versus when actually moving in traffic and making noise. There's a big difference, one of which helps to decrease your bank account.

Well written Keith and I agree with you on most of your Post. The only difference is I do Have a set of yoshi's on my bike and would not get rid of them for the world they have in fact saved me a couple of time by just reving them and the cager took notice of me instead of running me over while he/she had that Cell phone Jammed in there ear not paying attention or even looking over before getting over into the next lane. I do not try and make a scene with the pipes every where I go or do I try and ruin any ones morning with them I have them there as a saftey Item. Once you have been down because some guy did not see you or hear you it make you want them even more. They give me a little extra add security to know that some one might hear me and that could be the difference between life or death.

Originally Posted by guido4512

Damn- 500 dollar fine for a guy just tryin' to save his own...........................

WOW I can see it now.. get pulled over for doing 20 MPH over the speed limit and they give you a warning for speed but hit you with the exhaust ticket and end up costing you 3 times as much. $500 is just to much for a 1st time offense.

Originally Posted by BiG-T

That's some good food right there.

Also consider what's loud to you may not be loud to me. What you consider a negative impact may not be considered a negative impact by me.

I agree w/ your thoughts outside of the loud pipes not being any different than the loud car stereo. I believe they serve two different purposes regardless of how equally annoying they are.

Myrtle Beach has a noise ordnance. It's enforced strongly during Bike Week. My observation has seen pilots w/ loud pipes given citations when revving high making noise versus when actually moving in traffic and making noise. There's a big difference, one of which helps to decrease your bank account.

I agree. The standards are not enforced across the board which serves to make the "laws" subjective to the officers level of annoyance. And that annoys me more than the law to begin with. ;-)

We have a Harley rider that runs with us on our SMR. The dude can ride - I'll give him that. But his bike has the screaming eagle kit and straight pipes. Everytime we go down this one section of road I cringe because we're riding on Sunday morning - doing "our" thing - and going right by a church where others are doing their thing. Here again, why should "our" thing disturb others doing "their" thing? Answer - it shouldn't. We can both do what we want and enjoy our Sunday mornings. All we need to do is pull in the clutch and coast past the church. But how many would consider doing that? My guess is not many. As such, we've "angered" the general public to the point that they are complaining in sufficent numbers to get the attention of law enforcement and our elected officials. In the end, if noise laws restrict our freedoms it will be our own fault because we didn't know when to "pull it back".

Excellent example Red.

I don't buy the safety aspect guys. I've been riding for 35 years and I always ride in a defensive posture. In other words, I expect the other drivers do not see me and make decisions on lanes, lane changes, and speeds based on that perspective. I don't make a move unless I know for a fact that the other driver sees me.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good set of performance exhausts. But there is a level of sound that is reasonable and should not be crossed. Straight pipes cross that line. In the end we will all get lumped in with the aforementioned Harley rider and we'll lose our ability to add a performance pipe to our bikes. In my opinion we're gonna get tossed out with all of the bad apples, but I can certainly understand the general publics viewpoint. I'm just not so sure we haven't angered them to the point that they will not listen to our concerns (they're deaf from listening to our pipes no doubt).

Having said this - I don't feel 80 dB is a reasonable number, nor do I feel $500 is a just fine. Both are unreasonable. Heck, my lawn mower is over 80 dB.

Let me say that I almost posted similar thoughts myself. I completely agree, and research has pretty much proved that loud pipes do NOTHING to make you safer.

My reason for protesting these kinds of stupidly crafted laws is this:

The law described would make all aftermarket pipes illegal-you need an exhaust- you buy it from the manufacturer, period. Check your aftermarket cans- does it say anything like what this law requires? I thought not.

The issue SHOULD be does the bike/car/truck (notice they ONLY targeted bikes) meet the legal noise requirement? It should not matter what is or is not stamped on the exhaust. This type of legislation is arbitrary and discriminatory, and only the AMA can/will effectively fight this kind of stuff.

If we don't fight this stuff, and I mean EVERY time we see it, they will whittle away at our rights until we have none. I won't live long enough to see it, some of you younger guys might. Think about it. If you care, join the AMA. Ask me if you have questions, I'll be around.

Guess I wont be going to Denver anytime soon. Dont think my exhaust would cut it.

I'll agree to disagree w/ the saftey factor of loud pipes simply because I want you to hear me before you see me.

If I'm loud an annoying (which my HMF's are not) you will know I'm there....annoying you.

My revving for attention takes place when I'm coming to a stop w/ cages in a position to cause harm.

At any rate, very few unmodified aftermarket pipes for sportbikes qualify in the "damn that's annoying" category for me. D&D and Muzzy are in the top 3.

BusaBrian, how about making a post in General Bike Discussion on AMA Membership, post a link on where to join and info.

I have mixed agreements with the replies and laws on this one.
- It should not target just bikes, but any vehicle. Obviously the residents in that area are more concerned about the bike pipes.


- The first time fine is crazy expensive. I could see $100 and a mandatory "fix-it" citation working just fine.

- Loud pipes for cager attention grabbing pisses me off personally. If your rolling into a busy intersection, and have something like D&D pipes and throttle thats one thing. Personally most the annoying piped bikes I hear are knowingly being a nuisance, meaning, the fly by like their riding on a track and being Joe-cool without care for other riders image, laws etc..self serving mostly. Even cruiser/HD guys do this. Now I didn't say all, just a good too many of them.

- Denver made it a city ordinance, great. Lots of other places have laws in effect covering the same thing..not only in CO either. Heard about the local areas where cop's actively seek, pursue and enforce the Db limits though before I moved to CO. So far that I know, its mostly Denver to include surrounding suburbs, and Colorado Springs. Pueblo is like the wild west

- 9 out of 10 sport bike riders with loud pipes do it for the sounds and performance gain, not the "safety factor" that most HD guys cite. Conversely, 7 of 10 HD guys do loud pipes primarily for the "safety factor", while the remaining few go for performance.

Originally Posted by CAT3

BusaBrian, how about making a post in General Bike Discussion on AMA Membership, post a link on where to join and info.

I have mixed agreements with the replies and laws on this one.
- It should not target just bikes, but any vehicle. Obviously the residents in that area are more concerned about the bike pipes.


- The first time fine is crazy expensive. I could see $100 and a mandatory "fix-it" citation working just fine.

- Loud pipes for cager attention grabbing pisses me off personally. If your rolling into a busy intersection, and have something like D&D pipes and throttle thats one thing. Personally most the annoying piped bikes I hear are knowingly being a nuisance, meaning, the fly by like their riding on a track and being Joe-cool without care for other riders image, laws etc..self serving mostly. Even cruiser/HD guys do this. Now I didn't say all, just a good too many of them.

- Denver made it a city ordinance, great. Lots of other places have laws in effect covering the same thing..not only in CO either. Heard about the local areas where cop's actively seek, pursue and enforce the Db limits though before I moved to CO. So far that I know, its mostly Denver to include surrounding suburbs, and Colorado Springs. Pueblo is like the wild west

- 9 out of 10 sport bike riders with loud pipes do it for the sounds and performance gain, not the "safety factor" that most HD guys cite. Conversely, 7 of 10 HD guys do loud pipes primarily for the "safety factor", while the remaining few go for performance.

I'll be happy to, I will get on it tonight from home.

Cool, then we can get it stickied and roust more support

loud pipes save lives? pffttt. right. look at the increase in deaths over the past 10 years and tell me they are making a difference.
loud pipes give people a sense of security. thats it. they provide no tangible, factual, evidentiary or supportable benefit, period.
the obsurd part of this whole thing is the fine is disproportionately out of whack in comparison to fines for killing a motorcyclist and/or providing a sensible benfit to the community asa whole. cave creek arizona passed the same law. the judicial, legal, law enforcement and property woners are all in bed with one anotehr. there is no way to enforce the law directly and no wya short of circuit court litigation to appeal these laws. I simply will never spend a dime in a city who has their priorities bass-ackwards. and trust me, this law is aimed at the v-twin community, not us.

I thought the HD guys' saying was loud clutches save lives

Jornic, there is a way to beat this kind of poop, one is through AMA. The other, all us old Busa riders start running for city council, and other positions in politics I have dibs on Mayor of Pueblo thank you....now cast yer votes!

Originally Posted by busabrian

The law described would make all aftermarket pipes illegal-you need an exhaust- you buy it from the manufacturer, period. Check your aftermarket cans- does it say anything like what this law requires? I thought not.

Well, let's not forget that "most" of the pipes we buy are marked "Not for on-road use" - or something to that effect. Point is, "most" aftermarket exhausts are already illegal for street use and are intended as a track exhaust. I would venture to say that the pipes we buy generally fail to meet "on-road" usage requirements from either a "it hasn't been tested in California" or a "it doesn't meet government polution standards" perspective. Not to mention that it is illegal to remove a CAT from an exhaust system in all 50 states.

Aftermarket pipes/mufflers could be made that duplicated the original mfgs. and federal standards for noise and emissions - but who would buy them? ;-)