Have you ever gotten a ticket for the loud pipes on your Harley? I did.?

Question

I can't believe it. Given, my bike has been known to set off a few car alarms, but people understand that loud pipes save lives. Sometimes I feel a little bad about waking people up at night, but its a small price to pay for my safety. And the cop that gave me the ticket said that if he were the dictator of the city, he would impound my bike and then send it to the crusher if I didn't put the stock pipes back on. Can you believe that commie crap? Whats this country coming to?

Answer 1

there's alot of cities now that's crackin down on the pipes. it's becoming more and more common. hmm, could it be from all the squids and posuers crackin on the straight pipes for no reason? nahhhhhhhhhhhh.
main reason for this is, the majority that doesnt ride is starting to put more and more pressure on city hall and other elected yahoo's to do something about this 'problem'. instead of enforcing existing laws, they come up with others.

problem is, alot of the ordanences is vague enough that a realitively compenant mc attorney can shoot a cite full of holes to the point of dismissal. but that service aint free either.

i suggest to stay off the pipes untill they're really needed. there's gonna come a day where changing the pipes will be illegal, and the aftermarket exhausts will be told to shut it down. existing bikes will be made to put the oem parts back on also.

Answer 2

If you want to fight this ticket then what you need to do is find out what decibel level is the law and have your bike legally recorded from a certified shop. Take the print out to court and give it to the judge and also ask the judge politely for an apology from the officer for disrespecting you while he was giving you a ticket.

I use to have a huge problem with this subject in a car I owned. I did this every time the same cop gave me a ticket after the 3rd time I filed suit against the city and got the cop fired for harassment.

Answer 3

did the cop have a decibel meter? did he use it correctly? is he certified to operate it properly? if one was used, get the manufacturers name and contact info, then contact them and get operating procedures, then make the cop prove he used it in the right way. what is the legal decibel level in your town/state? find out. if the officer used his personal judgment on the sound level, it cannot hold up in court. it's like looking at a person and determining they are drunk. without positive proof it will not hold up in court.
now, if you don't ride like a butt-head, you can enjoy loud pipes and not bother the public too much. we do not have to repeatedly rev our engines while stopped at red lights, or when starting the bike. use common sense and courtesy when riding.
for all you Harley haters, and if the sound only can be heard behind the bike, why can you hear something approaching?

Answer 4

The old adage of "loud pipes save lives" is kinda of outdated.

Having said that I have loud pipes on my bike, because I like them. I personally don't give a fu@k what other people, "bikers" or non-bikers think, that includes the po po.

I ride a rigid chop with straight drags, and my 07 RK Custom has V&H duals.

Been riding, and wrenching HD's for over 40 years....now call me a wanna be.

Answer 5

Loud pipes save lives? Yeah...right...
I was a cop for twenty years and spent ten of those on police motorcycles. I know for a fact that the electronic siren on the police bike I rode was producing over 120 decibels OUT THE FRONT (not the back) and there were thousands of times I couldn't wake up a cage driver with THAT. What makes you think your obnoxious pipes are gonna do any better?
"Loud pipes save lives" is just an excuse you fair-weather wimps use because you want everyone to notice you and be impressed with how "bad" you are (doctor, lawyer, Indian Chief, biker wanna-be) I'll bet a shiny new quarter you put your bike up at least five months of the year.
Anyway, my personal criteria when I was a cop for "loud" was, if it had any kind of muffling device AT ALL, even one baffle, I left it alone. Straight pipes and "ground pounders", etc. got nailed with a "sign off" ticket, so they could fix it and not be fined or accumulate points. I never wrote "loud and unusual" to bikers, because that was a moving violation...I saved those for the cage-driving squids with open headers on the Mustang or whatever...K ;o)

Answer 6

i personally dont have my harley yet but my dad has a 99 dyna super glide with vance and hines short shot pipes and he sets his share of car alarms. he was once pullin out of our driveway and barely shiftin into 2nd and he gets pulled over for excessive noise. he bough the bike with the pipes already on it and he contested the ticket and won the case because of the fact that he didnt put the pipes on himself

Answer 7

Getting a ticket for loud pipes could only mean your bike sounds like Crap, Go have some professionally sounding pipes put on your scoot ,There is a big difference in having your bike make noise and a bike that sounds like the owner has his act together, A cop would never tell me he would like to send my bike to the crusher lol/ Either your bike looks and sounds like sh it or you have a fine looking ride Which one is it

Answer 8

You can always fight it in court. However, you even said it yourself, you set car alarms off, and that's not cool. That is being to loud.
However, as a fellow rider I do understand the need for louder pipes. But they truly don't need to be screaming loud. And if they are, have consideration for others.
The cop may have been a tad rough with you but, get over it. You could have scared the crap out of him with your loud pipes. Or in the least, made his ears ring... which is not good.

Answer 9

that sucks....as for my bike, I drilled out the baffles and saved myself 600-$1000 over buying new and I get plenty of loud but not TOO loud. Email me for instructions on how to debaffle.

Answer 10

Never got a ticket.
Here, max is 80 decibels.
I'm runnin' 79.5 decibels.
Also, I'm smart enough to lug the engine goin' by a cop.