Thursday, September 21, 2006

Lord Tunderin' - Ban The Loud Exhausts!

Just got back from a week of meetings in Québec City. Unfortunately, my employer no longer allows us to use our personal vehicles for company travel - so I had to hop on a plane rather than ride my trusty V-Strom. Boring? Yes. However, I was surprised that the security personnel at the airport were at least pleasant to deal with (contrary to their usual demeanor). But I digress, this is a motorcycle blog after all!

For those of you who've never been to Québec City, I highly recommend it. It's about as close to Europe as you can get without leaving the continent (of course, St-Pierre and Miquelon islands are an exception). The Old City is among North America's only fortified cities (it's enclosed within a stone wall), and it's listed on UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. A word of advice however: take the plane, or the car, or even a horse. Ain't no use in going on two wheels, because you won't be able to visit some of the city's best assets with that particular mode of transportation. Wondering why? Read on.

I was lucky enough to be staying at the beautiful Château Laurier, just a few steps from the Old City and its European flair. While walking along the streets that line one of the gates into the Old City, a number of street signs caught my eye. The first was posted on all the parking meters along the Grande Allée, which is a busy street lined with restaurants, terraces, hotels and various nightclubs. These small stick-on signs were on the posts for the parking meters and had the international icon for "No Parking" with a depiction of a motorcycle underneath. Yup, you guessed it! Motorcycles are not allowed to park along this street. Not only that, most of the metered and drive-in parking lots within a three block radius of this area are off limits to motorcycles! Care to ponder why? Simple, the local business owners and residents were fed-up with the excessive noise of straight-pipes and sport exhausts; so they lobbied city hall and had the restrictions put in place. So if you're in this particular area in Québec City, you can drive through but don't stop, 'cause you'll have no place to park.


Of course, if you are driving through, be sure to take the detour before you get to the gates of the Old City. As is clearly marked on street signs along Grande Allée, all motorcycles must exit before the gates, as they are not allowed within the narrow streets of the Old City. Again, you can thank the Loud Pipes crowd for that one. Since these streets are narrow, mostly made of cobblestones, and most of the small historical buildings are made of brick, stone and mortar; the sound from loud exhausts would reverberate throughout these streets and be a nuisance to all within earshot.

Now I read that Edmonton's Chief of Police is lobbying for similar rules in certain parts of that city. Once again, motorcyclists everywhere will be made to pay for other's need for attention.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

i'm not a huge fan of loud pipes either, but it sounds like they aren't fighting back hard enough up there. banning motorcycles in certain areas of the city?! that's just retarded.

Lucky said...

Retarded? Maybe...

I'd prefer to think of it as a perfect example of democracy in action. Non-motorcyclists (the majority) got annoyed with what a few bikers (the minority) were doing. The politicians, who rely on the majority to keep them in their job, came up with some rules to appease.

Let's face it; as long as loud pipes are out there, our rights (or privileges) as motorcyclists are at risk.

Cheers,
Lucky

Anonymous said...

I live in a typically quiet part of Edmonton that happens to be near a road that all the attention-craving riders like to hit for its curves. It's a nuisance and i'm not far from sitting on my balcony with a rifle. Are their penises so small they have make this much noise to compensate? I have the solution: confiscate and destroy them all.

Lucky said...

There's a much simpler solution: give cops the training and tools they need to ticket the few without banning the rest. Truth is, many loud exhausts aren't even street legal - if cops just took the time to check them they could charge the offending party.

I think laws could be changed so that cops could more easily charge offenders, without having to go to an outright ban.

Cheers,
Lucky

Anonymous said...

In an ideal world, giving cops the right tools and training might work. I found out that the EPS had 2 decibel meters that were used for noise violations - both of which have been "misplaced". The fact is that many of the young small-penis-compensating male cops ride said offending bikes.

I know many rider that abide by the rules. Their objective is to ride - not attract attention. Rather than forbidding bikes in certain areas altogether, it seems more reasonable to confiscate and destroy the offending bikes (granted, after one warning to remedy the noise), leaving normal bikes free to ride anywhere.

Lucky said...

You make a good point, as confiscation would appear to be a good deterrent. I remember reading an article last year when NYPD officers had confiscated over 350 motorcycles from unlicensed riders. Not sure if it had any long term effects though...

The problem with your proposal seems to be the same problem that is present with mine. The "small-penis-compensating cops" that you say won't hand out fines for loud pipes would be the same officers we'd rely on to confiscate bikes for the same offence. Logic tells me that if they don't want to go through the trouble of writing-up a ticket, they most likely will shy away from confiscating a bike!

That's precisely the reason why I expect we'll see more and more outright bans in certain areas of our cities and towns. With a ban in place, there's no grey area for the cops to hide in, they don't have the luxury of discretion. It's quick, simple, and it keeps the majority happy... which in turn keeps the elected officials in a job.

Cheers,
Lucky

Anonymous said...

I guess my tax money and registration fees are good enough for those roads. The highway safety act in Alberta doesn't allow discrimination by vehicle type for just that reason. They do allow for weight and size restrictions though, a loophole for Edmonton?