Ross: Enough of the broken muffler noise from motorcycles
Sep 23, 2024, 7:08 AM
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
A group of us were having a little birthday celebration along the beach in Edmonds – a beautiful evening with a nice dinner – and as we walked along the fishing pier, the MV Puyallup ferry was loading up and as we watched, a line of motorcycles rode on and, of course, some of them wanted everyone to know their mufflers are broken.
From several hundred feet away, we can hear the growling echoing through the car deck.
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It’s everywhere during the summer. Go into a tunnel or under a lid; there’s a good chance you’ll hear a rider who wants everyone to know the law doesn’t apply to him.
The problem is that it can really startle drivers who are already white-knuckling it because of the street racing, the road rage, the carjackings, the random gunshots and the confusing lane markings this area provides.
I know riders feel the need to bathe in their exhaust from time to time, especially in tunnels, to “drop a gear and let it sing,” as one rider put it on Reddit.
And I enjoy singing. I pay a fortune to hear trained tenors try to crack my reading glasses, but I do it inside a soundproof opera house. Whereas outside on Mercer Street, the evening motorcycle rally can completely drown out the brave busker at the exit trying to earn a few bucks from his saxophone.
And, full disclosure, I do know a little about generating noise. I have an electric wood chipper that can scare off crows and terrify small pets. But I don’t fire it up unless somebody goes first with their leafblower. And I certainly don’t go riding it up and down the street to show off.
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The RCW seems pretty clear to me: “No person shall modify the exhaust system of a motorcycle in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the engine of such vehicle.”
So if you need to wallow in the noise, rent Climate Pledge Arena and do it indoors the way nature intended. Instead of forcing your noise on people who just want to get home without feeling like they’re being buzzed by the Blue Angels.
Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.
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