Micky from Rimini Lambretta Centre knows how to cut noise down
Loud pipes may well save lives but apparently, not everybody is a fan. New noise detecting ‘acoustic cameras’ are to be trialled at a number of locations across the UK in a bid to cut down on nuisance cars, bikes and scooters. They’ll work in a similar way to speed cameras by capturing a photo of any vehicle that exceeds the as yet undisclosed decibel limit. The rider/driver will then receive a fine through the post, although it’s unclear what the decibel limit will be or whether the fine will also gain you three points on your licence as well.
VIDEO | A crackdown on noise will certainly affect where we can ride things like this…
The Government will be trialling the cameras at mostly rural locations after pressure from campaigners, according to Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling who referred to the problem of noise pollution as “absolute misery.” He claims the cameras will help overstretched police officers by “clamping down on boy racers in souped-up vehicles.” As with speed cameras, this new initiative will be a great revenue stream for the Government.
Rural revolt
In the area where I live, loud car exhausts are a common topic of conversation on local ‘Spotted’ pages, one particular Ford Focus ST is currently being hunted down by pitchfork-wielding villagers after his regular nocturnal rev limiter bouncing shenanigans wakes children and scares old people. We can also hear the local ‘circuit’ from three miles away. Every Sunday night illegal street races take place on a section of road linked by dual carriageway and three roundabouts, despite the police using their powers to try and stop it. Even so, it’s a regular spectator sport that is busy enough to warrant burger vans for the crowds and it sounds just like an actual racetrack from miles away.
PM Tuning Vespa GTS exhaust
PM Tuning has their say
We asked aftermarket exhaust manufacturer, Paul Melici of PM Tuning what he thought about this new technology,
“Interesting issue and I’m not quite sure how this will work out. Unlike a speed camera how do you identify the exact source of the noise? for example two bikes side by side one with a noisy exhaust one without, who will end up getting the ticket? It could get very messy leaving the issue open to greater challenges”.
“As a performance exhaust manufacturer this obviously concerns us, can we produce quieter exhausts? yes.. will this reduce performance most likely yes, will we continue with our current product line up? yes, demand will always be there for the consumer wanting to have that choice”.
Paul went on to say “Many car and motorcycle exhaust manufacturers get around the Euro exhaust noise emission rules by using variable exhaust valve flaps in the exhaust pipes cars are usually close to the tailpipes, these valves are activated by throttle load and, or RPM input. Does this mean the end of an era for this method too? Most likely not for the same reason most superbikes/cars are still capable of 200mph+ despite current restricted speed limits. At the end of the day people that want to run a noisy exhaust will no doubt adapt their driving styles to suit by backing off the throttle at any of the targeted locations no different to any speed camera site”.
Police ourselves
Nuisance riders and of course drivers don’t help our cause, most of us love the crackle of a tasty two-stroke expansion pipe (many of which emit illegal levels of noise), or the sound of a four-stroke exhaust with the DB killer removed but maybe it’s time we started to police ourselves. Stick those DB killers back in, replace those GTS exhaust gaskets, make sure your exhaust muffler is working properly to make it as quiet as possible.
We can’t be responsible for everybody but we can all do our bit to keep people happy. You can be sure that if this trial is successful it’ll be rolled out nationwide and we’ll soon fall foul of it.
Check out our Scorpion, Akrapovic and Remus scooter exhausts..
Loud pipes may well save lives but apparently, not everybody is a fan. New noise detecting \’acoustic cameras\’ are to be trialled at a number of locations across the UK in a bid to cut down on nuisance cars, bikes and scooters. They\’ll work in a similar way to speed cameras by capturing a photo of any vehicle that exceeds the as yet undisclosed decibel limit. The rider/driver will then receive a fine through the post, although it\’s unclear what the decibel limit will be or whether the fine will also gain you three points on your licence as well.
The Government will be trialling the cameras at mostly rural locations after pressure from campaigners, according to Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling who referred to the problem of noise pollution as \”absolute misery.\” He claims the cameras will help overstretched police officers by \”clamping down on boy racers in souped-up vehicles.\” As with speed cameras, this new initiative will be a great revenue stream for the Government.
Rural revolt
In the area where I live, loud car exhausts are a common topic of conversation on local \’Spotted\’ pages, one particular Ford Focus ST is currently being hunted down by pitchfork-wielding villagers after his regular nocturnal rev limiter bouncing shenanigans wakes children and scares old people. We can also hear the local \’circuit\’ from three miles away. Every Sunday night illegal street races take place on a section of road linked by dual carriageway and three roundabouts, despite the police using their powers to try and stop it. Even so, it\’s a regular spectator sport that is busy enough to warrant burger vans for the crowds and it sounds just like an actual racetrack from miles away.
PM Tuning has their say
We asked aftermarket exhaust manufacturer, Paul Melici of PM Tuning what he thought about this new technology,
\”Interesting issue and I\’m not quite sure how this will work out. Unlike a speed camera how do you identify the exact source of the noise? for example two bikes side by side one with a noisy exhaust one without, who will end up getting the ticket? It could get very messy leaving the issue open to greater challenges\”.
\”As a performance exhaust manufacturer this obviously concerns us, can we produce quieter exhausts? yes.. will this reduce performance most likely yes, will we continue with our current product line up? yes, demand will always be there for the consumer wanting to have that choice\”.
Paul went on to say \”Many car and motorcycle exhaust manufacturers get around the Euro exhaust noise emission rules by using variable exhaust valve flaps in the exhaust pipes cars are usually close to the tailpipes, these valves are activated by throttle load and, or RPM input. Does this mean the end of an era for this method too? Most likely not for the same reason most superbikes/cars are still capable of 200mph+ despite current restricted speed limits. At the end of the day people that want to run a noisy exhaust will no doubt adapt their driving styles to suit by backing off the throttle at any of the targeted locations no different to any speed camera site\”.
Police ourselves
Nuisance riders and of course drivers don\’t help our cause, most of us love the crackle of a tasty two-stroke expansion pipe (many of which emit illegal levels of noise), or the sound of a four-stroke exhaust with the DB killer removed but maybe it\’s time we started to police ourselves. Stick those DB killers back in, replace those GTS exhaust gaskets, make sure your exhaust muffler is working properly to make it as quiet as possible.
We can\’t be responsible for everybody but we can all do our bit to keep people happy. You can be sure that if this trial is successful it\’ll be rolled out nationwide and we\’ll soon fall foul of it.
Check out our Scorpion, Akrapovic and Remus scooter exhausts..
Why on earth aren’t all the Lambretta & Vespa clubs, national & regional organised into a special lobby group to lobby politicians & policy makers in the interests of classic scooter owner/riders. God knows there are enough of us.
That’s how the game is played. The current average age of a classic scooterist in the UK & Ireland is a key voter age group in the eyes of politicians with a vote-lust. There are tens of thousands of votes which could be combined into a single voice on a particular issue relating to curbing classic scootering.
That’s how they do it, politicians themselves and all these other interest groups who virtually harass politicians with communication on a given issue until they get their way.
Throw the boy racers under the bus I say, and lobby only for an exclusion of ‘scooters’ up to 400cc from any and all legislation.
Because the reality is lads that if nothing is said about it, it will come into being and as the article says; it will only be a matter of time before scooters are targeted to the point (I believe) where scootering as we know it now may no longer be possible in the coming years.