How loud is too loud? What will get me in trouble?

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drumstyx

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It seems it's really difficult to get a solid answer on this; Toronto even has a page with some info stating that there *can't* legally be a bylaw that gives an actual decibel threshold (something about quantitative sound vs qualitative).

So, I've got Cobra speedster longs, thunder mfg intake, and a power commander III on my Vulcan 900. This makes the bike fairly loud. At idle/low RPM (enough to putter out of the neighbourhood), it's about as loud as my dad's Harley when he revs it.

First of all, has anyone gotten a noise citation here? When the cops test it, how are they testing? As far as I can tell, the only way to get a citation is "I don't like this noise, so therefore it's excessive". Decibel meters have no place here apparently??

Second, I imagine Forks of the Credit has sticky cops all over it, so that might be one place to avoid, but how's Dover? These aren't straight pipes, they do have baffles, but they're straight-through baffles. I imagine a 103ci Harley with straight pipes would be louder, and they definitely exist at Dover.

Lastly, what's the consequences of these tickets? Are they moving violations, will they count against insurance?

I don't want to be overly loud, I just wanted a few extra ponies (and boy, did I get em :D).
 
Look up SAE J2825 on this forum; there has been plenty of discussion about it in the past.

If the exhaust system doesn't have a baffle in it, that's going to be a problem, too.
 
Municiple bylaw, depends on where you're riding.

Noise, smoke, bells and horns
Muffler
75. (1) Every motor vehicle or motor assisted bicycle shall be equipped with a muffler in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise and excessive smoke, and no person shall use a muffler cut-out, straight exhaust, gutted muffler, hollywood muffler, by-pass or similar device upon a motor vehicle or motor assisted bicycle. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 75 (1)
 
Ok, fair enough, looks like Caledon has adopted SAE J2825. I'll probably be fine with that standard (I'll have to run some tests later...) but I think I'll stay off the forks anyway.

My pipes *do* have baffles. They're the ones that come with the cobra pipes. I imagine I could quiet them down with glass pack, but it probably won't be necessary.
 
drumstyx said:
Ok, fair enough, looks like Caledon has adopted SAE J2825. I'll probably be fine with that standard (I'll have to run some tests later...) but I think I'll stay off the forks anyway.

My pipes *do* have baffles. They're the ones that come with the cobra pipes. I imagine I could quiet them down with glass pack, but it probably won't be necessary.
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Dont worry about it to much. just keep your RPM down and don't ride to in away you will bring attention to yourself.
 
XenoVibe said:
Municiple bylaw, depends on where you're riding.

Noise, smoke, bells and horns
Muffler
75. (1) Every motor vehicle or motor assisted bicycle shall be equipped with a muffler in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise and excessive smoke, and no person shall use a muffler cut-out, straight exhaust, gutted muffler, hollywood muffler, by-pass or similar device upon a motor vehicle or motor assisted bicycle. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 75 (1)
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Huh. My 2 stroke smokes the heck out of my neighborhood whenever I start it. Stock exhaust. Wonder if I could get a ticket.
 
unL33T said:
Huh. My 2 stroke smokes the heck out of my neighborhood whenever I start it. Stock exhaust. Wonder if I could get a ticket.
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There was a story about someone that did. the judge threw it out due to it being just the way a street legal 2 stroke operates.
 
I wouldn't worry too much. I'm sure it's loud enough to annoy and even draw attention when revved up, but regular riding shouldn't bring enough attention to cause a ticket. Unless you roll pass a cop on a slow day who hasn't made his quota for the month. ;-) I know lots of Harley riders with ear splittingly loud exhausts and only one of them has ever gotten a ticket for it and that was in Quebec.

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I wouldn't worry too much about the noise laws in Halton. Insider info says cops did the one day to appease the cranky residents and haven't enforced it since unless you're being a twatwaffle.
 
Benny! said:
I wouldn't worry too much about the noise laws in Halton. Insider info says cops did the one day to appease the cranky residents and haven't enforced it since unless you're being a twatwaffle.
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Oakville I hear to still watch out. First hand I know Milton, Georgetown, Acton and surrounding areas don't bother with it unless you're talking wide open drag pipes or zero baffle.
 
I hope they impound and crush half the bikes that go to L&L beside my building on gardiner. DBs are audio tassels.
 
Morrissey said:
I know lots of Harley riders with ear splittingly loud exhausts and only one of them has ever gotten a ticket for it and that was in Quebec.
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Quebec is a province currently experimenting with noise testing. This won't be an isolated ticket in Quebec soon enough.
 
I was running an aftermarket exhaust with no baffles on my DL650 and it past the SAE J2825. Basically any well made aftermarket exhaust stands a good chance of passing. As Brain said there was several treads, one had bikes that pasted and ones that didn't and their exhaust configs.
 
It's just a noise by-law as said - has nothing to do with your license, points, or insurance.

If a cop ever hassles you for it, remind him about the harleys that drive around with straight pipes that like to ruin your sunday afternoon fishing trip at the pond.
 
Here's an idea: be a good person and quiet your fkin bike down anyway, regardless of the law. IMO if you're asking this question, and your bike is louder at idle than your dad's Harley revving, it's too loud. Am I gonna have to end my conversation and plug my ears if you drive by my house? Then it's too loud. It's not about you, and nobody thinks your bike is cool when it's piercing their ear-drums.

Cruisers with straight pipes deserve to be crushed for reals. :violent2:
 
My two cents, for whatever it's worth - if you've modified your exhaust system from stock, you run an increased risk of being charged with an excessive noise offence. That's the easy answer. Most municipalities haven't adopted a DB standard yet, but there are a few in the GTA and I think most are mentioned in this post above.

Of course if you are being overly exuberant you will attract 'attention' to yourself, and you will roll the dice with whatever officer is nearby.
 
Bike Cop said:
My two cents, for whatever it's worth - if you've modified your exhaust system from stock, you run an increased risk of being charged with an excessive noise offence. That's the easy answer. Most municipalities haven't adopted a DB standard yet, but there are a few in the GTA and I think most are mentioned in this post above.

Of course if you are being overly exuberant you will attract 'attention' to yourself, and you will roll the dice with whatever officer is nearby.
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Thanks for joining just so you could share your two cents on this matter Mr. Popo.

How do you and your buddies look at aftermarket exhausts on sportbikes meant for track use only??
 
mmmnaked said:
Cruisers with straight pipes deserve to be crushed for reals. :violent2:
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Yep. They're why there is now a noise bylaw in Caledon. Residents got sick of hearing that crap as they all had to leave the stop sign in Belfountain with the throttle wide open. Don't see much of that crap now. You do however get the looks or hauled into a parking lot by a cop now if you're even remotely loud.
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