WOW!! That really sucks! Sorry to hear you got a ticket.

 

I think a lack of verified RPM's is problematic for them.....

 

Got a ticket today for "Altered Exhaust". State Police waving over bikes to check sound level. They wave me over and a civilian dude comes over with a sound meter. Asks me if my bike has a tach. (No.) Tells me to start it up and run it up to 2500 RPM. I crank it up and he puts the meter by the exhaust. The officer keeps motioning me to give it more throttle. He looks at the guy with the meter then tells me to cut it off. The tell me that max allowed is 99 db and my pipes are 104 db. $50.00 ticket. I didn't think my SEII's were THAT loud.

Anybody ever fight one of these and win? I think I was way over 2500 RPM. Seems like a bogus way to check.

You will win if you fight it based on the 2500 rpm thing. If you find the code that specifies what rpm the 99 db has to be at you have an easy case. I am guessing there is no specified rpm and all you have to do is tell the court that they had you rev it higher than you ever do.

 

Sounds to me like they have too much time on their hands. If they are pulling people over only to check your sound instead of taking care of the "real" problems they could be handling. What a bunch of crap.

 

Sounds to me like they have too much time on their hands. If they are pulling people over only to check your sound instead of taking care of the "real" problems they could be handling. What a bunch of crap.

amen!
as he was writing you a ticket for loud pipes, a carload of crackheads was passing by, operated by a convicted child molester, heading for the local playground to pass out the 'candy'.............

 

Got a ticket today for "Altered Exhaust". State Police waving over bikes to check sound level. They wave me over and a civilian dude comes over with a sound meter. Asks me if my bike has a tach. (No.) Tells me to start it up and run it up to 2500 RPM. I crank it up and he puts the meter by the exhaust. The officer keeps motioning me to give it more throttle. He looks at the guy with the meter then tells me to cut it off. The tell me that max allowed is 99 db and my pipes are 104 db. $50.00 ticket. I didn't think my SEII's were THAT loud.

Anybody ever fight one of these and win? I think I was way over 2500 RPM. Seems like a bogus way to check.

Laws like that are very specific about rpm, distance from the muffler, angle, etc. Get a copy of the specific law and fight the citation. While in court ask to see the certification document from the sound meter manufacturer stating the accuracy of the meter, how often it needs to be checked for accuracy, and question when was the last time it was checked. Ask for the documentation from the officer who issued the citation. State your case as far as how the test was performed, and ask how the officer determined the exact rpm without the use of a tachometer. State all the obvious deviations in how the test was administered and how the law states the test has to be conducted. This is an easy win if you do your homework and don’t act cocky in court. Be prepared, but not an a-hole.

 

correct

Laws like that are very specific about rpm, distance from the muffler, angle, etc. Get a copy of the specific law and fight the citation. While in court ask to see the certification document from the sound meter manufacturer stating the accuracy of the meter, how often it needs to be checked for accuracy, and question when was the last time it was checked. Ask for the documentation from the officer who issued the citation. State your case as far as how the test was performed, and ask how the officer determined the exact rpm without the use of a tachometer. State all the obvious deviations in how the test was administered and how the law states the test has to be conducted. This is an easy win if you do your homework and don’t act cocky in court. Be prepared, but not an a-hole.

in nyc they use a 10 foot rule.the mayor is a pr!ck.

 

pacsman, please post the specs you find about distance, rpm, angle from pipe, etc:

i have a very good db meter from when we had to meet db requirements to race national off road. the forestry service guys sometimes had a vibrating tach to check rpm, and if i remember right, measurement was at 90 degree from pipe end at 20 inches away.

at any rate, if you can post specs, i will try and get you some comparisons of other bikes/ vehicles that may help you in courrt.

 

Look at the other side of the coin....Don't your SE pipes say "For offroad use only" on them. They could have written you ticket and then seized your mufflers as evidence.:laugh:

 

Got a ticket today for "Altered Exhaust". State Police waving over bikes to check sound level. They wave me over and a civilian dude comes over with a sound meter. Asks me if my bike has a tach. (No.) Tells me to start it up and run it up to 2500 RPM. I crank it up and he puts the meter by the exhaust. The officer keeps motioning me to give it more throttle. He looks at the guy with the meter then tells me to cut it off. The tell me that max allowed is 99 db and my pipes are 104 db. $50.00 ticket. I didn't think my SEII's were THAT loud.

Anybody ever fight one of these and win? I think I was way over 2500 RPM. Seems like a bogus way to check.

At Seacost HD in Hampton, NH they have the NH state police come by and do free/no penalty Db testing at their open houses. The NH state law is very specific about rpm, distance, and angle. But one of the biggest things is to make sure you are in an open area when they are testing. Don't be around any walls, buildings, jersey beariers or anything in back of the bike. There were 5 of us last year, and the loudest ones were the Wild Pig Slip-ons at 101 db. At the time I had Rinehart True Duals, and I was at 99 db.

They have a tachometer kit that they clip to your spark plug wire to see what RPM you are at, and they had a jig made up with the SPL meter mounted to it that they use out back to be consistant.

I would fight that ticket for sure........sounds like an easy win to me. You can bring up when the last time the SPL meter was calibrated, you could bring up what training those officers actually have for that task, you could bring up the RPM issue, you could bring up where the meter was in relation to the mufflers , and also what was around the back of your bike during the testing that would amplify the sound and distort the readings.

Good Luck,

Steve

 

What MA vehi8cle code did the officer cite on your ticket? just cross referance that with you local coades/statues for the specific evaluation process.


From the AMA site :Maximum allowable A-weighted sound levels as measured from 50 feet (Chapter 90, Sec. 7T): 82dBA at 45mph or less; 86dBA over 45mph. Stationary noise levels: Motorcycles required to be registered for operation on the ways of the commonwealth shall not exceed the following noise levels when operated at 1/2 redline speed--99dBA manufactured after 1/1/86--102dBA manufactured before 1/1/86 (540 CMR 3:00)

How would they be able to determine redline without a tach and determine 50% for testing?

 

Got a ticket today for "Altered Exhaust". State Police waving over bikes to check sound level. They wave me over and a civilian dude comes over with a sound meter. Asks me if my bike has a tach. (No.) Tells me to start it up and run it up to 2500 RPM. I crank it up and he puts the meter by the exhaust. The officer keeps motioning me to give it more throttle. He looks at the guy with the meter then tells me to cut it off. The tell me that max allowed is 99 db and my pipes are 104 db. $50.00 ticket. I didn't think my SEII's were THAT loud.

Anybody ever fight one of these and win? I think I was way over 2500 RPM. Seems like a bogus way to check.

PACS .... did this happen in Southwick? Last Summer I was coming out of Louie B's and had a similar experience. They stopped every bike coming out of the parking lot. I got the same ticket. I told a client of mine who is an attorney, and he said "Let me handle this". He made it go away ... so there must be an easy way to challenge these tickets. Although ... at $50 ... it probably wouldn't pay to hire an attorney. If you know one, ask him/her.

If I get a chance, Monday I'll call and ask him what he did. Maybe I will get some "Free" advice for you.

 

PACS .... did this happen in Southwick? Last Summer I was coming out of Louie B's and had a similar experience. They stopped every bike coming out of the parking lot. I got the same ticket. I told a client of mine who is an attorney, and he said "Let me handle this". He made it go away ... so there must be an easy way to challenge these tickets. Although ... at $50 ... it probably wouldn't pay to hire an attorney. If you know one, ask him/her.

If I get a chance, Monday I'll call and ask him what he did. Maybe I will get some "Free" advice for you.

That would be great. No it happened in Springfield at the Amory St. rotoary (next to the state police barracks). It's really not the $50, but it's more the way they tested it. It looked like the trooper was being trained to measure the sound, and they way he kept telling me to rev it higher while watching the guy measuring it sorta ticked me off. I didn't want to argue it there, as I know that would get me nowhere.

 

I think I better get rid of my tach

 

In california I got pulled over and got a warning. In the law there are no specifications stating the distance from the the end of the tailpipe however the leo had fishtails on his personal bike so he was pretty cool~!Awesome!, that does seem loud for SE pipes as my baffleless samson cannons are 100 db at idle and arount 104 at an estimated 1500 rpm. I think the max in california is 88db but don't quote me on that

 

If they use the owners tach wouldn't it have to be certified, or for that matter their tach would have to be certified also, or any other device they would be using?

 

I think the proper terminology we're looking for here is "calibrated."

Was/is the state's meter calibrated by an outside agency that is certified to do so. If not, I'm thinking it's tossed in court. In this case, you could say you tested your bike with a tin can and string and it read 52 db. If it's not certified, it won't hold water.

 

Would the calibration have to be certified?

 

I hoping they say everything has to be calibrated and certified. This "test" was done on a busy street with all kinds of traffic (trucks, etc) going by. If the law says 99 db and they say my exhaust was 104, that's only a 5% variance. Considering the conditions, I'm thinking there was at least a +/- 5% variance in the RPM, road noise, meter placement, etc.

 

Further, as I understand it, all of the evidence (certifications, calibrations) has to be in the courtroom, they cannot leave to go get this info.

 

I'm an officer for a suburb of Milwaukee, WI and I've NEVER pulled a bike over for loud pipes. Personally, I think that it's part of what makes a bike, a bike! And, I have much better things to do...

 

I'm an officer for a suburb of Milwaukee, WI and I've NEVER pulled a bike over for loud pipes. Personally, I think that it's part of what makes a bike, a bike! And, I have much better things to do...

would you be so kind as to explain the distance, angle, rpm and db allowance for the noise test?

 

Would the calibration have to be certified?

Yes it does.

I work for a manufacturing company that is ISO 9002 compliant. Almost every employee is issued a new tape measure. Before the employee gets a new tape measure, our certified person takes it out of the package and verifies it to be within tolerance. He puts a sticker on it that it is certified and what date the tape measure needs recalibrated. I think the date is every 6 months. This is supposed to ensure that the employee is making the same material after an extended period of time.

 

Yes it does.

I work for a manufacturing company that is ISO 9002 compliant. Almost every employee is issued a new tape measure. Before the employee gets a new tape measure, our certified person takes it out of the package and verifies it to be within tolerance. He puts a sticker on it that it is certified and what date the tape measure needs recalibrated. I think the date is every 6 months. This is supposed to ensure that the employee is making the same material after an extended period of time.

Do the lines move? or the tape stretch?

 

Yes it does.

I work for a manufacturing company that is ISO 9002 compliant. Almost every employee is issued a new tape measure. Before the employee gets a new tape measure, our certified person takes it out of the package and verifies it to be within tolerance. He puts a sticker on it that it is certified and what date the tape measure needs recalibrated. I think the date is every 6 months. This is supposed to ensure that the employee is making the same material after an extended period of time.

:hystria: :hystria: :hystria: :hystria: :hystria: :hystria: now thats funny