Loud Pipes, and the Bikers Who Love Them

AMBI 69/:24 revving in shop
It's hard to capture exactly how loud these custom exhaust pipes can get. Here at the Manchester Harley Davidson dealership, the sound echoes off the repair shop walls, rumbles in your belly, and cleans the wax out of your ears.
AMBI 69 revving in shop
This 2003 Roadking with glistening chrome tail pipes cost $28-thousand dollars. That deafening sound is music to the ears of Walter Drown. He goes by his nickname Grimm, and he's been working on bikes since 1969.
AMBI 73? Shop
GRIMM :13 we have everything from performance-type pipes to what they call drag pipes with no baffles or anything. That's kinda macho type thing.

The shop sells and installs loud exhaust pipes. State law says pipes can't be louder than 106 decibels. Technically, if the pipes are too loud, the shop won't inspect the vehicle. But Department of Transportation inspectors have been cracking down on repair shops.
Another mechanic, Sean Gatchell, say earlier this week the shop got slapped with a violation.
GATCHELL :20 The warning was a $2000 fine to dealership and $2000 to service technician.
RMD How much did those pipes cost?
GATCHELL That system right there is $900. For $4900 we'll put em on and inspect them for you. Hehehe!

He's just joking of course. Gatchell says his shop tries to stay on the up and up with the law. Manchester Harley Davidson maintains the patrol bikes for several local police departments.
Police in Laconia pulled over more than 60 bikers in Laconia a couple weeks ago. And that has Grimm worried. He says serious bikers will stay away from Laconia's annual Bike Week next year if it means getting a ticket for their loud pipes.
GRIMM 68/:50 I don't like the idea of NH becoming a police state.

Enforcing local noise ordinances falls to local police departments…
AMBI ? patrol car
Hampton Beach was very quiet this past weekend. A morning rainstorm had kept the crowds away. And the puddles and wet roads kept bikes off the main drag through town.
ROACH :08 I know some of the guys who hang around here. Only one motorcycle there – usually it's packed. That’s motorcycle parking there…

Officer Al Roach was patrolling in the police cruiser. Like several other Seacoast towns, Hampton received a state grant to crack down on summertime violations of town ordinances, especially noise complaints.
ROACH :13 everybody says Harley Davidsons, but it's not only Harleys. All kinds. They have a right to drive motorcycles also like everyone else and we want them to come up here we just don't want excessive noise they might bring with them.

A few years ago, he says, most noise complaints were about loud car stereos. Increasingly, town residents and visitors complain about loud motorcycles. Roach says he understands their concerns. He himself loves to ride his 2004 Roadglide Harley.
ROACH :15 I'm one of these guys who believes you should buy American. Just how I feel. I'll be honest with you: I changed the pipes, but it does meet standards for noise. That’s all I'm concerned with. I couldn't give someone a ticket if I violated it.

He says loud motorcycles are like loud music – a question of taste. That makes it even more difficult to enforce noise ordinances. It's not just how many decibels come out of a tailpipe, it's where and when. Loud bikes are sure to be a continuing issue (especially in beautiful vacation spots like Hampton Beach and the Lakes Region) because motorcycles are part of New Hampshire life. And noise is an inescapable part of motorcycling.
For NHPR News, I'm RMD.