Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the House on March 12, 2003

Click here to view bill details.

The EPA has set standards for noise levels and all M/C manufactures meet this standard. What happens if Michigan sets there own standards is the manufactors would have to make a special bike to sell in Michigan and that would increase the cost beyound what most people would pay for a bike. Which means less bikes sold, less jobs and a big loss for the people of Michigan which we can not afford at this time.The real problem is not bikes but trucks. Lets take care of them first. I think once thats done most people will not even notice that bikes are out there.

Bikes produce enough noise at it is. How does one determine if a motorcycle produces 80 dB of noise? I hasten to point out that many motorcycle dealerships sell bikes with performance muffler or full exhaust systems installed. Over time the lining of all mufflers will wear out, increasing noise level of any motorcycle. Such a law would prohibit many dealers from selling used motorcycles where this has happened. In addition to the above, the law would be all but impossible to enforce. Is an officer of the law going to go into a harley dealership with a meter and request the proprietors to start each motorcycle while revving them to X RPM to test motorcycle noise? No. Can a bike be tested after purchase with the assumption that no deterioration of muffler sound deadening material has occurred? No. Why are we wasting the time of our legislature with this issue? Is everyone bored? Perhaps the time and resources of our government should be diverted to a more productive channel.

As for the previous comment about the trucks on michigan roads. Deal with it. Everything you see around you has been on a truck at some point. If not directly, then in components. EVERYTHING. I challenge you or anyone else to look around his or her surroundings in a house, and even in most backyards and find a significant number of things NOT transported at some point in time by a truck. The list is VERY short, let me assure you. If you can give up everything in your house, and most everything else, then you should line up and stop the trucks from being on our roads. Even better, once the trucks are gone, the car parts that make your car won't be delivered to the factories to build it, so you won't be driving on the road. If you could fashion your own car, you would probably have to make your own gasoline to drive it... because it wouldn't be shipped BY TRUCK to your local gas station. Trucks are the lifeblood of almost any city here in the u.s. 'nuff said

"I didn't see him." That is the most popular excuse given when a car driver hits a motorcycle. If car drivers don't see us they better damn well hear us. I understand this may be a nusance so enforce quiter exaust systems on cars rather than bikes.

Last year, a motorcycle driving down my street early in the morning was so loud that it set off the alarm systems on parked cars! Go ahead, alienate the public by irritating them with too-loud bikes. Then be prepared for a hostile reception whenever you want something, like non-discriminatory treatment at restaurants and inns, or helmet law repeal. Frankly, I would discriminate like crazy against purveyors of such rudeness - and that kind of discrimination is entirely legal.

Would you like some cheese with that wine? Like it or not loud pipes save lives. I didn't see him is the oldest excuse for why car drivers hit bikers. A friend of mine was getting over on the freeway and did not see the bike in the lane next to him, good thing he heard him! It may have been catastrophic.

There should not be any state law about motorcycle noise. Ohio has the right idea. In Ohio there is no state law about how loud a bike can or cannot be, however certain townships have ordinances on noise. Truck drivers cannot use their jake-brakes in city limits, you cannot mow your lawn before 9am, etc. Having a state law limiting motorcycle noise is not the right answer. It is unfair to those in rural areas and loud pipes save lives. If you are annoyed by motorcycle noise you should contact your mayor not your state representative.

Oh, puh-lease! What are we going to have, decibel limits posted on every speed limit sign at a township boundary? Are bikers going to pull over to change mufflers every six miles? Here's a radical thought: Get a muffler! No one wants the quiet enjoyment of their property disturbed by some overgrown adolescent cruising down the street with his (yes, HIS) motor screaming out "Look at me! Look at me!" at 100 decibels. This is exactly the kind of thing that merits a uniform statewide regulation. Hey - why not apply your argument to helmets? "Entering Goering Township - helmets ON."

I've heard the 'loud bikes save lives' nonsense before. Most bikes other than Harleys have reasonable sound levels. Can anyone point to any statistics that show greater accidents in Honda, etc with normal muffling? The alleged and incorrect 'safety' issue is just an excuse for rude, discourteous riders to make enormous amounts of noise. I have nothing against any type of motorcycle, but keep them reasonably quiet.

I totally agree. I have ridden tens of thousands of miles over the last 30+ years, and have never once had a situation were loud pipes would have made a difference. Alert, defensive riding is the key to motorcycle safety. To my point; Why was the bike in his example not aware of the merging car?

What an unbelievable crybaby. Do you want your mommy to give you a tissue and hold your hand? Don't you have anything better to do while your husband is at work?

Loud pipes do not save lives. The noise is directed to the rear and not to traffic in front of the bike, namely those drivers waiting to pull out in front of the motorcyclist. Loud pipes are illegal in many states, yet local law enforcement refuse to enforce the laws. As more and more riders illegally modify their exhaust pipes, you can bet that municipalities will once again start enacting and enforcing the laws against the noise. And....if loud pipes really save lives, then Goldwing riders should be dying in droves.

Why should loud noise ber permitted anywhere, rural or urban? Peace and quiet is a right everyone is entitled to! That comment comes off as another excuse to shove obnoxious behavior on the general public!

So why don't you take your brand new shiny, LOUD motorcycle to the middle of nowhere where no living souls are, and rev your bike's engine to your hearts content! Do you honestly believe that being loud and offensive impresses anybody? Do you really believe you've accomplished anything in life by showing off a motorcycle? Why not try winning a Nobel Peace Prize, or finding a cure for cancer, oh but I forgot! Neaderthals have more important things to do like annoying people!

Did any of you "noise right advocates" think about attaching horns to your bikes just as the four wheelers do. Or would that be to expensive and just simply a time and energy waster? And just because you all don't care about your hearing, I'd sure like to keep as much of mine as I can by the age of 75.

Seems to me motorcyclists like you are being the big babies! You guys are going around toting how the 4 and 18 wheelers should be treating you guys with kit-gloves. I simply don't accept the idea that the general driving public wishes ill-will on motorcyclists. I for one try to be as accomodating to them as possible. It's like that highway patrolman from Massachusetts wrote on his website. Cyclists are smaller and are more difficult to see. Plus they are smaller and can travel faster, and as a result don't have enough time to find they're way out of a accident. Need I also mention by a cyclist not having the kind of outer protection like a vehicle does, the odds of injury and death increase greatly. They are simply laws of physics that cannot be denied! Many of you cyclists are probably aware of these things already, but I think an overwhelming majority are ignorant to the above facts. I acknowledge the vulnerability of the cyclist, but that does not give them a license to be careless!