RIDIN' STEEL

Noise Ordinance 7-09-2010 Monday, July 12, 2010 at 9:30pm Meeting with Maine State Police

Eric Fuller (MMPAC Chairman), Darrell Spears (UBM President) Josh Herndon (UBM Legislative Affairs, Piscataquis County), Phil White (UBM Kennebec County) and Jim Reis (UBM Legislative Affairs) met with Lt. Brian Scott and Sgt. Bruce Scott of the ...Maine State Police on July 9, 2010.

The discussion centered around what appears to be profiling of motorcyclists in the press and various e-mails concerning excessive noise.

Our group wanted to ensure that it was understood that there were two bills in the legislation this past session. LD 1675, a concept bill which turned out to be titled “An Act to Reduce Noise Caused by Motorcycles and Improve Public Health, and LD 1642, “An Act Relating to Road Noise”.

Lt. Scott assured us that there was no intent to single out motorcycles. The newspaper article, although slanted, did not reflect “all” of his statement which said he believed most motorcyclists were law abiding citizens and that extremely noisy motorcycles were the problem as well as riding discipline.

He also said he has advised his officers and state inspection stations that there is no change in the inspection laws on the dreaded July 12th. Inspection stations will continue to inspect motorcycles as usual. Stock exhaust is NOT required, although after market exhaust systems must meet current inspection criteria. A sticker will be required to be issued and displayed after January 1, 2012.

Lt. Scott also stated that antique motorcycles were NOT EXEMPT FROM STATE INSPECTION, only antique automobiles that met certain criteria. We talked about the upcoming study groups. There will be a study group convened on July 28, 2010 in accordance with LD1675 to witness sound meter demonstration of the SAE J2825 exhaust sound testing wit a decibel meter. North Country Harley will provide a couple motorcycles for the demo. The demo will be conducted by Harley Davidson representatives. After the demo, there will be a Q&A session and meeting. Our group will be in attendance as well as folks from affected citizens groups, local municipalities, the motorcycle industry, motorcycle enthusiast groups and local law enforcement agencies.

We were informed that law enforcement will determine the design, size etc. of the inspection sticker. There will be a second study group for LD1642 that will be scheduled for a later date and that one UBM and one MMPAC representative are invited to attend.

LD1675 and LD1642 information is provided below

In accordance with public law, LD1675 will take effect on January 1, 2012 and will require all motorcycles to display an official inspection sticker as follows: “The certificate of inspection must be kept with the registration certificate of the motorcycle and the official inspection sticker must be affixed to the rear of the motorcycle” either “On a mounting plate that must be securely fastened to the motorcycle frame or similar integral component of the motorcycle; or On the rear fender or similar frame or integral body part of the motorcycle”. “The official inspection sticker must be located so that it is completely and clearly visible from the rear of the motorcycle and may not be affixed to the registration plate”.

In accordance with public law, LD1642 will take effect on July 12, 2010 and states “A person may not operate a motor vehicle unless that vehicle is equipped with an adequate muffler properly maintained to prevent excessive or unusual noise. For purposes of this subsection, “excessive or unusual noise” includes motor noise emitted by a motor vehicle that is noticeably louder than similar vehicles in the environment.

It also states “A person may not operate a motor vehicle with an exhaust system that has been modified when the result of that modification is the amplification or increase of noise emitted by the motor above that emitted by the muffler originally installed on the vehicle.