Is it my imagination or has this problem got much worse?

Every morning at 04.30 hours my partner and I are being woken by a moped being furiously driven past our house at excessive speed!

It has one of those damn expansion cans fitted and makes the most annoying noise - like a HUGE Bumble Bee... We hear the thing coming from a mile away...

That idiot must be waking thousands of others including small children in their beds.

This kind of exhaust fitment is without doubt UNLAWFUL yet the local plod around here seem to not to care. The police do possess considerable powers in these cases.

I'd like to know why these expansion chambers (cans) are being lawfully imported and sold in the first place to all these little twats.

Nearly all these automatic scooters / mopeds are ridden by youngsters. They fly around the streets taking enormous risks taking into account their riding ability etc.

I consider ALL motorcyclists who fit unlawfully loud exhausts to be ruining the good name of the majority decent, responsible, law abiding riders.

Most importantly, why would anyone wish to wake & upset people they have never even met let alone know?

It's becoming the bane of our lives around here.

The police (Toy Town) are bloody useless.

__________________
Triumph Bonneville 800 (2004), Yamaha XT600E (1999), Honda XBR500 (1986).

Alas- one of the answers could be " because they can and don't care"

Youth is often wasted on the young just as wisdom is wasted on the old!
Noise pollution, alas, is the bane of the modern world. Not just scooters, parties, arguments, trampolines, leaf blowers, sunday lawnmowers...the list is long...
Blessed be the noise cancelling Bose earplugs, your own choice of music (or none at all) and the open road.

Sounds like you need to go for a long ride Neil!

Buy an MV Augusta and join him/her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJUaSKz8R3I

I had a loud exhaust on my moped when I was a teen and still like loud exhausts.......... "Loud pipes save lives"
I do sympathize with you being woken at 4.30 though

it's not just the mopeds unfortunately. Some wee scrote (the mate of the boy that parked across the end of my drive blocking me in one night!) goes up the hill past our house in his crappy little hatchback at excessive speed making excessive noise through the ridiculous 'performance' exhaust he's fitted (which probably does little more than stop the exhaust gasses being efficiently ejected!!)

but then, when I was that age I didn't give a shit either, it's only now I'm a grumpy old man that I do!

Understand just how you feel - I never needed an alarm as a guy used to go down the road about half a mile from my place (a nice twisty one) on a Ducati with loud pipes - regular as clockwork, Monday to Friday at 7am on the dot !

Best bet might be to get up early and pull him over for a 'chat' one morning. Perhaps see if any other neighbours fancy getting up and being there with you ! Being young he probably does not realise how he is upsetting people and thinks the sound of the bike is 'cool' whatever the time of day.

Perhaps explaining to him that he can repack the silencer might help as well ! But, like others have said, we were all young and offensive once, so don't be too hard on him .........

well, to my knowledge ,there is no real limit, except for common sense !! the government backtracked on noise limit as deaths went up !!
I have to say, as a young person !! how many of us did have common sense !! lol but I do understand ! ear plugs !

Ah the noisy scooter problem, we have just the same thing. I doubt you'll get any help from the police, if they're like our local force they've been scuppered by health and safety regulations that say they cannot pursue youths on motorbikes in built up areas for risk of the youth having an accident.

Crazy I know, the local scrotes all know this so go belting round residential areas on their stolen 50s with no helmets on safe in the knowledge that there's very little chance of them being pulled over.

Earplugs are your only answer.

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An interesting post as, to a small extent, I've been seeing it from the other side. Last year, via a circuitous route, someone gave me a mid 70's Suzuki B120 two stroke which I've now done something like 5000 miles on. For those of you that don't remember / know them the B120 was designed to be a low powered inoffensive commuter bike intended to take you a few miles to work / to the station etc and most certainly not to stand out in any crowd. The problem is that these days it does stand out.

I've noticed on many occasions when riding it sedately through town that I get looks of annoyance from people walking nearby - something that doesn't happen when I'm riding one of my other (four stroke) bikes, even those with louder exhausts. The bike is completely standard and the exhaust exactly as Mr Suzuki intended it to be yet it does seem to annoy a certain number of people. My guess is that there is something about the timbre of a two stroke exhaust note that is intrinsically annoying and that as two stroke use has declined the few that have survived stand out more.

One kid on a sports 50 wouldn't have stood out 30 yrs ago and you'd probably have had a hoard of them buzzing / screeching their way past your window each morning; now you want to strangle the one remaining one. Probably won't help your sleep pattern but maybe you could think of him as an endangered species.

Morning,

a few years ago, when I worked in the bike trade, there was a fatality on the housing estate, near to our garage. The scooter was a 50cc Gilera and the rider was 16. We were asked to inspect the bike, to see if it had been modified at all, as witnesses said it was doing well in excess of the 30mph speed limit, when it crashed.

So we checked it out and found it had been fitted with an 80cc conversion, with a matching exhaust etc.

What hadn't been uprated were the brakes or suspension.

The rider was killed in the accident and no other vehicles were involved.

It appeared that the bike had been bought as a second hand 50cc model but the new owner, and his mates, bought the parts with his mums credit card (with her permission) and the rest is history.

Sad loss of a life and it show's that the parents were either ignorant of the motoring laws, or they ignored them.

Regards

Reggie

Wellllll
i seem to remember that Allspeed , Kerker and Winning exhausts were all avaliable in the era that the complainent policed in , they were EXTREMELY loud and the old bill did bugger all about them Moving forward we now have lots of middle aged guys whizzing around with loud cans on their bikes , upsetting all in sundary with the excuse " loud pipes save lives " ( dont make me laugh ) , i get another 5bhp ( oh really ) and the standard can looks rubbish ( no comment ) . Im pretty sure an unsilenced super duke will rattle your windows much more than a moped with some shite baked bean can on the end , yet people still buy these pipes .
In my area 50% of all complaints about bikes are about noise , the rest is divided between riding like a twXt and speed
If you think you can use another 5bhp on top of a S1000RR then you are either full of it or a contender for Wsb - most people i come across would struggle with 100bhp let alone double that .

All that will happen is legislation or even more mobile radar sites - which is exactly what started to occur in Sussex last summer due to all the twXts from elsewhere using our roads like a motogp track - problem is an awful lot didnt make it home as they lacked the road skills to keep them selves alive eg 145mph in a 60mph And if you ride like that and kill yourself then the only person i feel sorry for is your wife / parents / kids etc or the poor sod whose window screen is caved in when you obliterate your body across their car - personally me and the missus are sick and tired of dealing with whats left after something like that happens - Rant Over XX Oh and in case someone blames car drivers most of the accidents were down to the riders - full stop !!

Fact: loud pipes save lives!!!
Fact: Riding like a twat..... kills!!!

So when you are driving along in your Toyota Prius with the window down so you can feel the breeze on your face, spare a thought for the biker who loves the NOISE the smells and the look of his chosen motorcycle

Loud Exhausts do NOT save lives, they do piss people off! - How about taking the time to research the subject in more detail. There are plenty of reports carried out which prove exhaust noise levels have little or no bearing on bike accidents.

The ONLY effective thing that will save you from an accident is driving/riding in a defensive manner - Such as, taking a wide line at road junctions where a motorist is waiting to come out.... This is something I always do in town if it's safe to do so.

I will concede that being seen in the first place may improve your odds too - High Viz jackets, Helmets and strips of day-glow patches are a good idea. This is why the police have adopted the high-viz yellow jackets (although to be honest it's often daftly over-used in normal policing).

I always advise riders to get hold of a copy of the excellent "Motorcycle Roadcraft" published by the Police Foundation. It's the handbook which police riders use as their bible. Currently on sale in most larger W.H Smith's for £16. It's well worth the time to read up...

In my experience most rider injuries are down to ONE factor - excessive speed. This is also often the case when car drivers pull out and T bone riders. Second must come running out of road when cornering too fast.

I agree with everything Chris Gale says above.

Getting back to the dreaded "Bumble Bee cans" - I still think these things should not be sold in the first place. They are an anti-social nuisance and shouldn't be imported at all.

As far as older classic bikes go, in general I have no problem with these loud exhausts because their riders normally respect those around them and avoid upsetting people by closing the throttle where it can be a problem. The offence is committed when you change the OEM exhaust to a louder one.

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Triumph Bonneville 800 (2004), Yamaha XT600E (1999), Honda XBR500 (1986).

Here's what the law says about the matter of illegally loud exhausts -
Proof indeed that the authorities (police) already have ample powers to deal with the problem. Perhaps they are just unwilling to use it?????

I often see police officers turn a blind eye to this kind of incident. In my day our section Inspector would expect us to attempt a stop and then issue guidance (friendly advice) or a ticket (summonse).

Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986

The Department currently has no plans to tighten the regulations referred to, although this position is kept under review. Regulation 54 already requires exhaust systems to be maintained in good and efficient working order and prohibits modification to increase the level of noise emissions. The regulations as they stand are therefore adequate for dealing with noisy vehicles.

Q. Whether they (Government) have a strategy to tackle the problem of the fitting of illegal noisy exhaust systems; and, if not, what plans they have to develop one.

A. Powers are available to tackle the problem of illegal noisy exhaust systems. Under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986,

Regulation 54 requires that
"every exhaust system and silencer must be maintained in good and efficient working order and shall not after the date of manufacture be altered so as to increase the noise made by the escape of exhaust gases".
Regulation 97

It is also an offence "to use a vehicle in such a manner as to cause any excessive noise which could have been avoided by the exercise of reasonable care by the driver".

Enforcement of these requirements is by the POLICE and in the case of maintenance, at approved MOT stations.

Powers are also available to local authorities to prevent or abate noise nuisance from any vehicle in the street. These powers are generally applied to stationary vehicles but there is no good reason why they can't be used upon moving traffic (with police help).

EC Diktats

Decibel Reductions
1970. 86 decibel noise limit introduced for motorcycles larger than 125cc (not implemented until 1982)
1980. 77 decibel limit on Mopeds first used after 1/10/80.
1982. EEC 86 decibel noise limit implemented.
1987. EC 87/56 stage one (82 decibel) noise limit becomes Euro law. Stage 2 (80 decibels) planned for 1993.
1993. EU proposes 'Multi Directive'. Contains 80 decibel upper noise limit, anti tampering and emission limits.
1995. UK implements stage one of EU directive 87/56 and reduces maximum noise limit to 82 decibels
1997. EU Multi Directive becomes European law. Maximum noise limit set at 80 decibels. Europe wide implementation July 1999.

MOT Requirement –

1. Examine the condition of the whole exhaust system, including the silencers and mountings, for security, deterioration and completeness. a. a part of the system missing or excessively deteriorated b. an exhaust system mounting missing, or in such condition that it does not fully support the exhaust system

Note: An alternative mounting deice is acceptable providing the system is secure and the system is not likely to fail prematurely. 2. with the engine running a. check the exhaust system for leaks

Note: A durable repair to an exhaust system which effectively prevents leaks is acceptable providing the system is structurally sound a. a major leak of exhaust gases from any part of the system

Note: A minor exhaust leak from, for example, a connection joint or a pin hole, is not a reason for rejection b. assess subjectively the effectiveness of the silencer in reducing exhaust noise to a level considered to be average for the vehicle b. a silencer in such a condition, or of such a type, that the noise emitted from the vehicle is clearly unreasonably above the level expected from a similar vehicle with a silencer in average condition.

Exhausts:
· The vast majority of large or big bore exhausts are illegal for use on public roads. The fact they may have passed an MOT test is irrelevant as this only checks for exhaust gasses and emission legislation compliance.

· Big bore and sports exhaust systems are usually fitted to increase the sound emitted and this contravenes the Type Approval of the vehicle, which is an offence.

There is no requirement for police to measure the sound level from the exhaust system, it only requires an opinion that the system is not standard and that it is noisier than a normal vehicle of the same specification.

THIS PROVES THE POLICE HAVE AMPLE POWERS TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM AT THE ROADSIDE. THE NEXT TIME THEY TELL YOU IT'S NOT POSSIBLE TO TAKE ACTION ON THE SPOT, JUST REMEMBER THE ABOVE QUOTE FROM A SENSIBLE CHAP AT NORFOLK POLICE.

· It is not an offence to sell these exhaust systems, but it is an offence to fit one to your vehicle and drive it on a public road. Motorists who do so would be reported to court and may face a fine and court costs.

__________________
Triumph Bonneville 800 (2004), Yamaha XT600E (1999), Honda XBR500 (1986).

kentfallen,

Bikes are my profession, Bikes are my life.

I know every rule of the road and every text book inside out. I train riders in advanced riding techniques on a daily basis..

I still like them loud!

at the end of the day it is a bike not a prius and i want people to hear me coming!!!