Very Loud Motorcycle Disturbance

[Petrushka]

We have a problem in the town with a number of very loud motorcycles which, by all accounts, are being ridden around at all hours seemingly with the sole purpose of disturbing local residents. They are so loud that they easily cut through the double glazing here and can be quite frightening with the noise being at hearing damage levels. I get constant disturbance when listening to music and when I say they can drown out the loudest climaxes in Shostakovich it might give an idea of the sheer volume coming from these wretched machines.

My understanding is that exhaust tampering is illegal but I wouldn't be holding my breath expecting any action from either the local council or police.

Has anyone here had to deal with this problem and achieved a positive outcome?

[DracoM]

Here, EVERY Sat / Sun up and out onto the moors. Hour later, the first ambulance. Not 17 yr olds, but 60+ year old wannabes almost every time.

[Serial_Apologist]

Surely this constitutes noise pollution if anything does? Have the police been approached? Can't the local council be dragged into taking action against the perpetrators through whatever environmental safeguarding department should be concerned?

[muzzer]

Does your council have an Anti Social Behaviour helpline? We have one that will send people round as soon as you call. Granted, if it’s kids on bikes they’d need to hang around to catch them and also need the police on hand, but certainly worth trying.

[Bryn]

Surely this constitutes noise pollution if anything does? Have the police been approached? Can't the local council be dragged into taking action against the perpetrators through whatever environmental safeguarding department should be concerned?

Frohttps://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2018/july/legal-advice-motorbike/m:

"82-86 decibels is the current maximum permitted noise level for a motorcycle, the bracket depending on engine size. Most police forces use 90 decibels as the limit to take account for the effects of any wear and tear."

[Quarky]

My understanding is that exhaust tampering is illegal but I wouldn't be holding my breath expecting any action from either the local council or police.

Has anyone here had to deal with this problem and achieved a positive outcome?

Yes I believe it is illegal in the sense that it takes the vehicle out of the terms of its registration with DVLA.

Of course it is ASB, and of course the Police and the Council are too thinly stretched to deal with the problem.

We had a similar problem here, but it was only a sustained press campaign (and I think local residents taking photographs) that the matter was solved.

[pastoralguy]

If these pests are consistent with the time they appear then It would be a real shame if someone dropped a bag of nails on the road...

[gradus]

There's quite a market in 'performance' exhausts for ,motorbikes, many of which seem very noisy. Presumably they are legal and conform to noise regulations but many motorcyclists like the sound of loud exhausts. As a motorcyclists I prefer quiet bikes eg BMWs, but people will try to get more noise especially from road racer type machines in the belief that straight -through and thus very noisy exhausts improve performance.
Good luck with getting anyone with the power to check noise pollution to take it seriously. In my experience the Highways Agency are a dead loss and Sir Humphrey is firmly in charge at the DoT and noise pollution is not on the agenda; I doubt that your local police will do anything at all.

[Petrushka]

Yes I believe it is illegal in the sense that it takes the vehicle out of the terms of its registration with DVLA.

Of course it is ASB, and of course the Police and the Council are too thinly stretched to deal with the problem.

We had a similar problem here, but it was only a sustained press campaign (and I think local residents taking photographs) that the matter was solved.

We have a Town Council and a District Council. The first would say it's a District Council matter while they in turn are nearly 20 miles away with little interest (to put it mildly) in what goes on here. There is no local Press to speak of now while police are nowhere to be seen though one does occasionally sight one of the 'community' variety.

The truth is that no-one cares any more about traffic infringements (pavement parking has to be seen to be believed here) as there is no-one to enforce the law. I'm sure it's a familiar tale up and down the country and the ordinary, law-abiding members of the public feel increasingly helpless while the culprits, who show no consideration for anybody, simply get away with it.

[Quarky]

You have my total sympathy, sir.

[ardcarp]

Going off at a tangent (as usual), and restraining myself from mentioning ear plugs, I recall a surreal event in Wells. Just outside the cathedral entrance is what can best be described as a market place. One Summer afternoon, several years ago, just before evensong with a visiting choir, we arrived to find this area jam-packed with vintage motorbikes, all parked, but surrounded by both spectators and superannuated bikers in their leathers. We discovered it was a tea stopover in a coast to coast rally (i.e. English Channel to Bristol Channel). When the hour struck, the bikes were all kicked into life, and there was the most almighty, and I have to say thrilling, roar of engines plus a heady smell of exhausts. The squadron moved off in an orderly fashion, some with swaying wives with headscarves in sidecars...all very 1950s. Two minutes later peace settled again, and we mused over the clash of cultures.....

[Nevilevelis]

We have a problem in the town with a number of very loud motorcycles which, by all accounts, are being ridden around at all hours seemingly with the sole purpose of disturbing local residents. They are so loud that they easily cut through the double glazing here and can be quite frightening with the noise being at hearing damage levels. I get constant disturbance when listening to music and when I say they can drown out the loudest climaxes in Shostakovich it might give an idea of the sheer volume coming from these wretched machines.

My understanding is that exhaust tampering is illegal but I wouldn't be holding my breath expecting any action from either the local council or police.

Has anyone here had to deal with this problem and achieved a positive outcome?

This almost exactly describes my experience on the outer part of a high street in Kent. I can add an (apparently) exhaust-modified quad bike to my own list of dementors. Thinking of getting extra glazing, but it's so expensive. I assume, cynically, that the council is uninterested.

NVV.

[Stanfordian]

This almost exactly describes my experience on the outer part of a high street in Kent. I can add an (apparently) exhaust-modified quad bike to my own list of dementors. Thinking of getting extra glazing, but it's so expensive. I assume, cynically, that the council is uninterested.

NVV.

Write to the elected Police and crime commissioner for the area with a copy to the chief constable. Mention in the letter that you are considering writing to the MP next.

[Nevilevelis]

Write to the elected Police and crime commissioner for the area with a copy to the chief constable. Mention in the letter that you are considering writing to the MP next.

Thank you! Will do.

NVV

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I once spent a night in a hotel in Firenze (Florence) and the problem was horrendous - all night long. The city was quieter during the day than at night.