Maine Councilman hints at motorcycle ban, riders propose boycott
By: Dodsfall
June 28th, 2012
2:25 pm
On June 19, Belfast, Maine city Councilor Roger Lee asked if there might be a way to keep motorcycles off of the downtown streets in the city. Several residents attended the city council meeting and pleaded with city officials to do something about loud motorcycle noise downtown. The issue was not taken up for a vote and no action was taken.
Some local motorcyclists felt the city was snubbing them and proposed a boycott on downtown businesses. More than 200 supporters signed up to a Facebook page proposing a boycott.
Downtown businessman Ryan Otis, who owns Rollie's Bar and Grill, ordered a new sign he hopes to help quell the angry riders. The sign says, “Two wheels, four wheels or no wheels, welcome to Belfast.”
“We want everybody,” Otis said Wednesday afternoon. “There is no witch hunt for motorcycles. It’s business as usual in Belfast — aside from one boneheaded comment.”
Later the city council agreed to purchase about 6 signs that say “Please Drive Quietly” to be placed around the town.
“[Lee] made a comment, not knowing that a lot of people in Belfast grew up hearing bikes rumbling through this town,” Tony Runci of Belfast said Wednesday while waiting for a sandwich at Bowen’s Tavern on Route 137. “The poultry plants closed down, and this town was pretty much crushed.”
Runci was speaking of motorcyclists from out of town in the 1980's who helped ease some of the economic pain by patronizing local businesses.
Several businesses have contacted City Manager Joe Slocum to let him know that they do not support any anti-motorcycle legislation. In a press release, Slocum wrote, “The city of Belfast is concerned about loud noise emanating from illegally modified motorcycle exhaust pipes that occasionally operate inside the city. The City hopes that public education and discussion will make working, living and visiting the city a great experience for everyone. The city has NOT issued any bans on any type of vehicle in the city and to the best of my knowledge we have no intention of doing so.”
Elaine Tucker, who works and lives in downtown Belfast, was one of the people who complained about the noise at the city council meeting. “I don’t think you sound like that unless you really want to annoy people,” she said. “It’s a terrible thing to listen to. In the summertime, on a Sunday afternoon, I can’t sit on my own deck because of the noise. It’s absolutely terrible. I feel like it lowers our property values. It destroys our peace. I don’t know why anybody would want to do that.”
Buzz Stultz, a local rider, doesn't think all riders should be lumped into a single group with those disturbing the peace. “Most bikers who come in are considerate and quiet,” he said. “Just because a few people get rowdy, you can’t ban them from the city.”
[Bangor Daily News]
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19 comments on "Maine Councilman hints at motorcycle ban, riders propose boycott"
June 28, 2012 at 8:18 pm
I guess the councilman would be a confirmed "No" in the discussion of "Do loud pipes save lives?".
June 29, 2012 at 6:03 am
Well of course a real estate agent is going to complain about the noise....but bikes are no louder than some cars....Next they will want to ban the moose and bear from Maine because they poop in the woods! Oh please with so many other issues in the world that is the only thing they can complain about? I cannot see that the pipes would be any louder there than any other state. Personally I would prefer to have them louder there, they do have larger animals around the roads there...
June 29, 2012 at 6:14 am
Well of course a real estate agent is going to complain about the noise....but bikes are no louder than some cars....Next they will want to ban the moose and bear from Maine because they poop in the woods! Oh please with so many other issues in the world that is the only thing they can complain about? I cannot see that the pipes would be any louder there than any other state. Personally I would prefer to have them louder there, they do have larger animals around the roads there...
If it isn't clear to you that it isn't ALL bikes, but rather the "LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES" and "LOOK AT ME, HEAR MY THUNDER, BE INTIMIDATED" group, you are either from another planet or just plain ignorant.
This is the kind of crap that excessively loud sport/cruiser/naked bikes will bring down on all riders. It's not aftermarket exhausts as the problem it is gutted aftermarket exhausts. It is just plain annoying when you can not carry on a conversation, being drowned out by some straight pipe cruiser or competition baffled sportbike going by a quarter block away. Then you talk about when there are several of them...
What should be done is they start enforcing a disturbing the peace law that is highly likely to be on the books already. If a rider has reasonable pipes they won't suffer, but the open pipe crowd will help pay some city bills as a cost of their "THUNDER". I'd support that too, whole heartedly. Just as I would citing drivers for speeding in school zones and rolling stops at 10-20 mph and maybe even what my friend called "the Columbus creep" where drivers edge out into the intersection long before the light changes or it is their turn at a 4 way stop. I think you know what I'm talking about since you live there too.
A ban is not an answer, law enforcement of noise restrictions are. If the noise restrictions need definition and measurement then so be it. The fines for the straight pipe idiots should pay for it in the long run.
Oh, I run an aftermarket exhaust on my dual sport with a 4" Supertrapp tip and 12 discs. I've asked friends/family/neighbors about the sound. I've also stood on the side as a friend/mechanic has ridden it by, not too loud so as to be obnoxious. Thing is on the seat it sounds louder and I happen to actually care. We lost acres and miles of land and trails back in the 70s due to loud off roaders and those who abused the riding around people. Too loud to those who could control it - they closed off the land and would have trespassers arrested. Now you see some towns and cities wanting to do the same. Less sound = more ground! a phrase that needs to come back before we DO lose ground in towns and parks across this country.
June 29, 2012 at 6:47 am
The area I live in is going through a major oil boom. As a result the roads are packed with diesel trucks and pickups. There is a huge aftermarket going on here in making your diesel pickup as lound and tall as possible. I have not heard a person complain about loud motorcycles in over a year as a result. They are all too busy complaining about the pickups and semis making too much noise and clogging the roads. If the city choose to block all of that traffic the roads would be almost empty.
June 29, 2012 at 3:59 pm
Ugh, nothing worse than guys with loud diesel pickups that like "roll coal". One of those fools drove by me as I was walking down the sidewalk with my daughter yesterday. A-hole.
Back on topic,
Agreed that the problem isn't motorcycles, it's the fools that put obnoxiously loud pipes on their bikes. Those dingbats cause blanket legislation that winds up punishing all of us.
June 29, 2012 at 8:02 pm
Now I am beginning to wonder if my aftermarket pipes are tooooo loud. If I am gentle on the throttle they seem quiet. I have known folks who absolutely hated the sound of a motorcyle but are ok with the sound of a child screaming which I have to listen to when I go to Wallyworld or pretty much anywhere else anymore. And yeah, some pipes are too loud on bikes, cars and trucks.
June 29, 2012 at 10:59 pm
Loud vehicles really are annoying, and motorcycles are extremely common perpetrators. When I tell my friends that I bought a motorcycle they roll their eyes and ask how loud it is.
I really think that the "loud pipes saves lives" is a selfish excuse to cause noise pollution. When I'm driving I don't tend to notice loud bikes until they have already passed me and annoyed me.
Banning bikes isn't going to fly, but the police can enforce noise ordinances with a DB meeter. Loud pipes can and probably should be regulated.
June 30, 2012 at 2:48 am
[B]Are you that deaf/blind or just plain ignorant![/B
If it isn't clear to you that it isn't ALL bikes, but rather the "LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES" and "LOOK AT ME, HEAR MY THUNDER, BE INTIMIDATED" group, you are either from another planet or just plain ignorant.]
Ugh, nothing worse than guys with loud diesel pickups that like "roll coal". One of those fools drove by me as I was walking down the sidewalk with my daughter yesterday. A-hole.
Back on topic,
Agreed that the problem isn't motorcycles, it's the fools that put obnoxiously loud pipes on their bikes. Those dingbats cause blanket legislation that winds up punishing all of us.
I have known folks who absolutely hated the sound of a motorcyle but are ok with the sound of a child screaming which I have to listen to when I go to Wallyworld or pretty much anywhere else anymore. And yeah, some pipes are too loud on bikes, cars and trucks.
Loud vehicles really are annoying, and motorcycles are extremely common perpetrators. When I tell my friends that I bought a motorcycle they roll their eyes and ask how loud it is.
I really think that the "loud pipes saves lives" is a selfish excuse to cause noise pollution.
June 30, 2012 at 4:00 am
Yes, it is absolutely true that motorcycles shouldn't specifically be singled out. This councilman is approaching this issue in a wildly inappropriate manner by specifically targeting motorcycles, even if motorcycles happen to be the sole source of the problem in this specific town.
The motorcycle community in this town should actively encourage their ranks to be respectful of the residents and show some empathy, it's basic public relations. The world is full of ****ty people, but you should still wipe your own ass.
July 2, 2012 at 5:53 pm
What of those in their hopped up Civics, Eclipses, and other sport compact cars with their own overly loud exhausts? Or some of these V-8 hotrods or trucks? How about the kids with their blinged out cars rolling down the road in Winslow rattling the effin ***** out of my windows (I live ACROSS the river in Waterville btw) with theit 16" subwoofers and 1200 watt amps blasting some zero-hit-wonder rap song?
Since the article was dealing with motorcycles in specific, once I got past griping about the A-hole in the hopped up diesel that crop dusted me, I responded to motorcycles specifically. I don't want my ability to go just about anywhere I want on my motorcycle to be taken away because of asshats that insist on running the loudest exhaust they can buy. Along the same lines as the article we're discussing in this thread... I've read some stuff at other internet places discussing the fact that some National Parks are thinking about imposing motorcycle specific rules-- thanks to the "Loud Pipes Save Lives" crowd.
When it comes to noise pollution in general, the problem is that local noise ordinances that are already in place don't get enforced strongly enough to make people care to abide by them. So the loud stereos, hot rods, motorcycles and tuner cars continue to make irritations out of themselves.