NH Bill to effect 2013 and newer motorcycle exhausts noise

[JohnnyV]

my racebike is stupid loud. i was tested at calabogie. 97Db.....at 30ft......at 4k rpms. i was supposed to rev it 6k. the limit a calabogie is 98Db

whats the phrase? one bad apple to spoil the whole dam bunch? i pass bikes here at work knowing dam well that they are gonna go home and pull the baffles. they are all too stupid to realize that they are actually losing power with straight pipes.nothing i can do about it though, because when they were here for a sticker it passed. you cant legislate just HDs even though they are the problem in 9.5 out of 10 cases. what about the guy up the street from me with the 69 camaro with (what seems to be) no mufflers? hes on the gas off the gas all the way up the street.
we had a guy move in up the street with bikes. his buddies rode bikes. unfortunately they rode bikes either on 1 wheel or smoking one wheel at 11pm on a tuesday. i went down one day and chatted him up a bit, then i threw in "you know this is a pretty tight knit neighborhood. everybody on this street knows who you are already. now, i dont care that youre out stunting where ever you want. i HIGHLY suggest when you and your friends get to this street that you ride like law abiding citizens. no wheelies, burnouts, high revs, or anything that draws attention. fly under the radar here. do wheelies and burnouts across the bridge, i dont care. but not here." he was cool with that and apparently told his friends because it abruptly stopped. i would be outside smoking and hear them come over the bridge. then there would be 6 of them riding down the street at 35mph in 3rd gear. i still get the occasional guy here and there, which is fine, it was better than 15 times a week.

NH's enforcement of their MC-specific laws has boggled my mind on a number of occasions, but my favorite first hand experience....

I took a ride up to Hampton Beach one weekend to meet up with some friends. Sitting in traffic, roughly 90 degrees, wearing boots, gloves, leather riding jacket, full face helmet, GSX-R with stock pipe, I was pulled over for having my visor half up(therefore no eye protection). While being reprimanded by the officer about how dangerous it is to not have eye protection, all I could think of was the number of Harley riders I was surrounded by with straight pipes, no helmets, shirtless, revving the piss out of their bikes on the main drag and cruising down the breakdown lane.

And I shit you not, 5 minutes later, while standing still in traffic(literally, foot down not moving) I popped my visor up(still 90* out) for a minute and wouldn't you know, ANOTHER officer standing next to his cruiser in the adjacent parking lot pointed me over to the side and began the same tirade I had just endured from his colleague.

[SRTie4k]

NH's enforcement of their MC-specific laws has boggled my mind on a number of occasions, but my favorite first hand experience....

I took a ride up to Hampton Beach one weekend to meet up with some friends. Sitting in traffic, roughly 90 degrees, wearing boots, gloves, leather riding jacket, full face helmet, GSX-R with stock pipe, I was pulled over for having my visor half up(therefore no eye protection). While being reprimanded by the officer about how dangerous it is to not have eye protection, all I could think of was the number of Harley riders I was surrounded by with straight pipes, no helmets, shirtless, revving the piss out of their bikes on the main drag and cruising down the breakdown lane.

And I shit you not, 5 minutes later, while standing still in traffic(literally, foot down not moving) I popped my visor up(still 90* out) for a minute and wouldn't you know, ANOTHER officer standing next to his cruiser in the adjacent parking lot pointed me over to the side and began the same tirade I had just endured from his colleague.

Not surprised at all, it is Hampton after all. Hampton is nothing but vacation property for out-of-staters, and thus the city laws reflect the wishes of those vacationers, as stupid as they may be. It's no different for any vacation towns in NH and VT.

[nhbubba]

Yeah, Hampton beach in the summer.. found yer problem.

That is silly though.

I remember I forgot to bring eye protection to my state test when I was 17. I had to take the entire test with my full-face on and the visor down. Everyone else took the test helmet-less with shades on.

[me109g4]

They tried that "open visor " crap on me,, the law is vague at best, and as long as you have a windshield on the bike u can tell them to go away. They stopped me at bike week, i wrote a letter to the Concord Monitor which they published and the state Police actually got in contact with me,, we had a good talk and it was all good, since i researched before i spoke to them,, knowing the law can take the wind out of thier sails pretty quick.

[RandyO]

d as long as you have a windshield on the bike u can tell them to go away.

not all windscreens meet the states definition of eye protection, I believe they have to be taller than your face when sitting erect l, most sportbike windscreens don't qualify as a "windshield" in NH

265:123 Eye and Face Protection. – If a motorcycle is not equipped with a windshield or screen which protects the driver's eyes and face when the driver is sitting erect, the driver shall wear either eyeglasses, goggles or a protective face shield when driving the motorcycle while the motorcycle is in motion.

[me109g4]

"When the bike is in motion",,,, so when stopped the officer has no case. OP stated he was stopped,, as was I.

[mzdagrl]

"When the bike is in motion",,,, so when stopped the officer has no case. OP stated he was stopped,, as was I.

Yup, you can flip your visor up if you are at a full and complete stop, but it has to be down (or sunglasses on) before you put your bike in motion.

[me109g4]

I got grabbed at bike week for this very thing,, never been stopped on a bike until this crap. My bike was at a complete stop when the cop got me to the side of the road.No citation but all my info was taken. I am sure it is in some database somewhere,,,, it was a stop for the sake of a stop.

[sdog30]

Couple points:

Couple guys crashed on a ride a couple years ago in VT and one of the guys was from NH with no insurance and he was given a ticket.

Bike has been known for there cop presence for some time now. You cant piss without getting stopped. The ratio of normal joes to guys wearing colors is pretty high, too. Bike week there is a joke.

I got stopped there once for not having eye protection on. I had stopped at a restaurant and my helmet was locked to the bike (on my yzf600) and was just going down the road to weirs beach, so decided to go without it. I was pretty surprised when I got pulled over. Tried to claim my windscreen was a windshield, but the cop wouldn't go for it. She was nice, though and just gave a written warning. I always think it's interesting how you can have a no helmet law, no insurance law and an eye protection mandate in the same state.

I have baffles on my vance on the Harley, but don't like the idea of the government regulating how I can or can't customize my bike. I'm surprised the aftermarket exhaust companies aren't doing more angainst the regulation bills that have been coming up everywhere.

[SRTie4k]

I have baffles on my vance on the Harley, but don't like the idea of the government regulating how I can or can't customize my bike. I'm surprised the aftermarket exhaust companies aren't doing more angainst the regulation bills that have been coming up everywhere.

Because when you have no regulation, you get the assholes that install straight pipes on their Harley's and ride WOT through town at 2AM.

[mzdagrl]

Because when you have no regulation, you get the assholes that install straight pipes on their Harley's and ride WOT through town at 2AM.

You get that even when there is regulation. What we need is enforcement.

[me109g4]

for the most part LE is pretty lax about enforcement unless its bike week, then they become raging assholes! for the other 51 weeks of the yr. it has to be fairly outrageous behaviour to get their attention. I keep all my bikes in beyond average condition, they need nothing, so LE has nothing on me there, my biggest problem is i like to speed. this crap of getting pulled over for having my visor open 4" while stopped is harrassment, plain and simple.

[Slyder]

Because when you have no regulation, you get the assholes that install straight pipes on their Harley's and ride WOT through town at 2AM.

You'd be surprised at how many people have complained about you yourself on your bike at 2pm while you're just cruising along...not just the afore mentioned straight piped HD assholes WOT at 2am.

I know we're all mostly biased, but the elderly couple sitting on their porch enjoying the day don't care what you're riding. They, among many others, don't want to hear it.

[SRTie4k]

You get that even when there is regulation. What we need is enforcement.

If there is no regulation at all, there can be no enforcement. You need an initial regulation to enforce anything.

You'd be surprised at how many people have complained about you yourself on your bike at 2pm while you're just cruising along...not just the afore mentioned straight piped HD assholes WOT at 2am.

I know we're all mostly biased, but the elderly couple sitting on their porch enjoying the day don't care what you're riding. They, among many others, don't want to hear it.

I'd love for you to do a poll that asked people what they found more annoying - a sport bike or a Harley, and I think you'd find more people that hate loud Harley's than loud sport bikes.

[drop]

I always think it's interesting how you can have a no helmet law, no insurance law and an eye protection mandate in the same state.

i think the reasoning is that getting something (bug, rock, sand, etc) in your eye while riding can cause an accident, while the helmet & insurance factors only come into play once an accident has occurred.

[Slyder]

I'd love for you to do a poll that asked people what they found more annoying - a sport bike or a Harley, and I think you'd find more people that hate loud Harley's than loud sport bikes.

The sport bike with the aftermarket exhaust can be heard well over a mile away, even in the hills of VT and NH. I've heard people complain about sport bikes just over an idle being ridden in parking lots. I've heard people whine and complain about snowmobiles, with OEM exhaust on designated trails. $300 fine for riding a snowmobile with modified exhaust on a trail in VT. Little California already has that law in the snow.

It doesn't matter which pisses people off the most, the fact is, they all piss people off. They complain, they call the local LEO's, they bring it up at town meetings. Some distinguish between the brands, but I doubt most care. It really doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the bike they heard from a mile away is NOT stock.

I know people who despise harley's with any kind of aftermarket exhaust...yet will put racefit growlers (130 decibels) on a sport bike.

If the majority of people saved the screwing off for out in the middle of no where, and didn't have to do the "look at me" shit in town, these threads, bills, potential laws, would be far less frequent. Unfortunately, that's asking for too much

[mzdagrl]

A lot of people also don't know the difference between a Harley with straight pipes and a sportbike. They just hear a loud bike and it pisses them off. They don't bother to distinguish because in the long run it doesn't matter.

[nhbubba]

Nor should they. Loud bikes are loud.

[SVRACER01]

like i said. you cant discriminate against just bikes. you would have to include cars/trucks as well

[timmyho414]

Here are the RSA's pertaining to exhaust systems and my argument for enforcement. Motorcycles must comply with them but were give an additional dbl level that cars were not. Meaning bike can be louder then stock, cars can't. Mzdagrl has it right. Enforce the current law.

I have my State Inspectors License for cars but not bike and ultimately, if you inspect and pass a vehicle, it is the licensed State Inspector's responsibility to make sure it passes all State regulations. The most expensive meter for 35-130dbls I found on Amazon was 199.00 dollars. They range from 26.58 up the 199.99 dollar model. Obviously the owner could change the exhaust once they get home, this is beyond the control of the inspector. As far as riding around and being seen/heard by LE and their ability to enforce the law on the side of the road...

“ 266:59 Muffler; Prevention of Noise. –
I. Every motor vehicle shall at all times be equipped with a muffler as defined in RSA 259:66, in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise, and no person shall use a muffler cutout, bypass or similar device upon a motor vehicle on a way.
II. The engine and power mechanism of every motor vehicle shall be so equipped and adjusted as to prevent the escape of excessive fumes, smoke, flame, gas, oil or fuel residue.
III. [Repealed.]
IV. No person shall operate a motor vehicle with a straight pipe exhaust system; "straight pipe exhaust system'' means any straight- through exhaust system that does not contain baffles or otherwise does not meet the definition of muffler in RSA 259:66. Any person who violates the provisions of this paragraph shall be guilty of a violation and shall be fined not less than $100 for a first offense, not less than $250 for a second offense in a calendar year, and not less than $500 for a third or subsequent offense in a calendar year.” [/I]

‘259:66 Muffler. – "Muffler'' shall mean a device consisting of a series of chambers or baffleplates or other mechanical design for the purpose of receiving exhaust gases and effectively reducing noise.”

I could train any one in about 5 minutes how to ID a muffler on a motorcycle. No muffler, you get a ticket. Police Officer takes a picture and brings to court. Done. No need to even test the bikes that are making everyone including me upset. No disrespect Law Enforcement but to the argument that Officers can't enforce the current law is bogus.

“266:59-a Motorcycle Noise Levels. –
I. No person shall operate a motorcycle which has a measured noise level of more than 106 decibels on the decibel meter when measured 20 inches from the exhaust pipe at a 45 degree angle while the engine is operating at 2,800 revolutions per minute for one and 2 cylinder motorcycles and 3,500 revolutions per minute for any motorcycle with 3 or more cylinders.
II. No person shall pass for the purposes of the inspection required by RSA 266:1 any motorcycle which has a measured noise level of more than 106 decibels on the decibel meter when measured 20 inches from the exhaust pipe at a 45 degree angle while the engine is operating at 2,800 revolutions per minute for one and 2 cylinder motorcycles and 3,500 revolutions per minute for any motorcycle with 3 or more cylinders.
II-a. No person shall operate in this state any motorcycle which produces a sound level in excess of 106 decibels on the A scale, when measured in accordance with the provisions of the Society of Automotive Engineers Recommended Practice ANSI/SAE J-1287 annual report on "Measurement of Exhaust Sound Levels of Stationary Motorcycles.''
III. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a violation and shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $300.”

This means you must first have a muffler and it must test under the 106dbls. This allows people to modify their bike with a reasonable exhaust (good for business by the way, I'm wait on numbers for the Committee) to increase power and yes to make it louder. If you do not meet both of those criteria you do not pass. If you are riding around making noise you get a ticket. The big question is why does LE look the other way?

We need to speak up about enforcement. There is a lot of talk supporting this bill. The hearing is February 7, in Representatives Hall, 10:00.

[timmyho414]

After all the testimony it looks like the original bill will not pass, even the NHDOT, and State Police are against it. An amendment has been introduce by the Chair of the Transportation Committee which would completely change the original bill. The amendment would change the current test procedure to the J2825 test. J2825 was endorced by NHDOT, NH State Police, NHADA, AMA and others. J2825 was put together with input from A/M manufactures, OEM's, AMA, environmentalist etc. For more info on it go to AMA's website or just google j2825.

Simple put the test would be conducted in much the same way, 20inches away, 45deg angle, but at idle and 92dba. The State Police, are saying it will be much easier to enforce on the side of the road then the old test as it does not require a tachometer and the motorcycle does not need to be held at a set RPM.

here is a youtube video of the test... How to Perform a SAE J2825 Motorcycle Sound Test - YouTube


I'm trying to find out if a bike that tests at the 106dba will still pass the 92 at idle test.

[timmyho414]

NH Transportation Committee rejected the original version of the Bill and passed the amended version containing J2825 14-1. It will be going to the House for a vote on the Floor in the next couple weeks.

Weird things can happen on the Floor be sure to contact your Reps if you have an opinion about this.

I have tested a few bike and had one dealer out of 4 get back to me about testing a few of their bikes.

Monster 900 w/termi's 86 dbA
FJR1300 w/two brothers 88dbA
999R full termi's 94dbA
RSV4 89dbA
unknown 90dbA
unknown 89dbA
03 Mustang w/flowmaster 71dbA just for reference

It looks to me like this will be a good thing. If you have muffler you will very likely pass. Given the 999R was tested with a meter with a +/-of 2dbA that one may pass too. If you don't have a muffler you know your bike is loud and pisses people off and don't care, you will need to buy a new exhaust.

[snowborder]

this is up for a vote this week and is expected to pass.

[PhilB]

Last I heard it had been amended yet again, so that instead of having to fail the test to get a ticket, an officer can give you a ticket if he thinks you might be too loud, and then you have to go get tested, at your own expense, to show your innocence.

Back to a bad bill again. Speak up everyone.

PhilB

[timmyho414]

Philb. your information is incorrect.

The amendment includes J2825 with road side testing at idle. There was confusion about what Maine did. THEY send you to an inspection station to get tested. NH will not.

The Bill just passed the House and will move on to the Senate.

The State website has not updated the text of the amended Bill yet.