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So...... “noisy” motorcycles are a bit of hot topic in the U.K. bike media at the moment, seemingly spurred on by lockdown last year. It appears lots of people, especially in rural communities, actually enjoyed the peace and quiet last year (can’t blame them for that). However, once lockdown started to be lifted, a portion of the biking community made a nuisance of itself by taking advantage of still-relatively quiet roads, and suddenly shattering the peace. No doubt the usual suspects: the race reps with full race systems, bouncing off the rev limiter, not slowing down for villages, and I'm sure a fair sprinkling of cruisers on open pipes too (and I’d lump ourselves into the latter group.....or, me anyway, with my Danmoto pipe......)
The problem is, this is getting us a lot of negative press, to the extent police are stepping up enforcement - loud pipes, illegal number plates (I’m currently guilty of both), dropping speed limits on otherwise good biking roads, more speed cameras, and even talk of German style bike bans in certain areas on the weekend (for example). I’ve certainly heard near me, in North Yorkshire/Cumbria etc, bikers are currently getting a lot more attention from the fuzz than is usual, due to pressure from local communities etc.
My question(s) really are - can we blame them? And, are we our own worse enemies?
I’ve attached a pic of a letter which appeared on the correspondence page of Bike magazine this month. It struck a cord with me - I have a young child, and he doesn’t like my ‘loud’ motorbike, so can completely understand what the corespondent is talking about re the upset children he witnessed. And, do we really want people tutting, and saying “dickhead” when we pass through their town. I don’t, really....... In addition, I think there’s also been a massive increase in loud cars in recent years, the blame for which I lay firmly at the feet of the Fast and the Furious films, and the fact that PCP (not the drug!) now allows young kids who could never afford such vehicles early on in life to now ape Vin Diesel and co every night, cruising round town..... Such antics really piss me off, but who am I to speak, really, when my bike is as loud as any of their cars.....?
So, the Danmotos’ coming off, this time for good, and the Akras going back on. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still louder than stock, but nothing like the shorty Danmoto. It’s a lot more mellow in comparison......
And, if I can contribute to more biking roads not having artificially low speed limits imposed on them, if it stops me getting hassle when the rozzers are parked up outside local bike night, or if it helps to stop us generally being demonised more than is warranted , then that can only be a good thing too.....
Thoughts......?
Ben
The problem is, this is getting us a lot of negative press, to the extent police are stepping up enforcement - loud pipes, illegal number plates (I’m currently guilty of both), dropping speed limits on otherwise good biking roads, more speed cameras, and even talk of German style bike bans in certain areas on the weekend (for example). I’ve certainly heard near me, in North Yorkshire/Cumbria etc, bikers are currently getting a lot more attention from the fuzz than is usual, due to pressure from local communities etc.
My question(s) really are - can we blame them? And, are we our own worse enemies?
I’ve attached a pic of a letter which appeared on the correspondence page of Bike magazine this month. It struck a cord with me - I have a young child, and he doesn’t like my ‘loud’ motorbike, so can completely understand what the corespondent is talking about re the upset children he witnessed. And, do we really want people tutting, and saying “dickhead” when we pass through their town. I don’t, really....... In addition, I think there’s also been a massive increase in loud cars in recent years, the blame for which I lay firmly at the feet of the Fast and the Furious films, and the fact that PCP (not the drug!) now allows young kids who could never afford such vehicles early on in life to now ape Vin Diesel and co every night, cruising round town..... Such antics really piss me off, but who am I to speak, really, when my bike is as loud as any of their cars.....?
So, the Danmotos’ coming off, this time for good, and the Akras going back on. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still louder than stock, but nothing like the shorty Danmoto. It’s a lot more mellow in comparison......
And, if I can contribute to more biking roads not having artificially low speed limits imposed on them, if it stops me getting hassle when the rozzers are parked up outside local bike night, or if it helps to stop us generally being demonised more than is warranted , then that can only be a good thing too.....
Thoughts......?
Ben