The Stillwater Gazette, out of Stillwater, MN, reports that loud motorcycles are such a big problem in its town, that it caused a bride-to-be and her mother to cry during their courthouse ceremony...

During a wedding last summer at the Washington County Historic Courthouse, motorcyclists with unmuffled exhaust pipes roared along Third Street, interrupting a soloist's performance. The loud motorcade caused the singer to well up with tears.

"Then the bride started to cry and then the mother of the bride started to cry," said Judge Howard Albertson, who was performing the ceremony.

I suppose if I were getting married (again), and a group of bikers rode by and showed their support by revving their engines it would make me cry too.

Read the full article here...
http://www.stillwatergazette.com/.../news420.txt

Labels: Loud Pipes, Minnesota

Charles M. Denny, who describes himself as a retired corporate executive, wrote a letter to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, asking lawmakers in Minneapolis to ban motorcycles from "parkways"...

Because of the difficulty and cost of monitoring motorcycle noise, I urge that we adopt a policy to limit the use of parkways by motorcyclists -- as we have for trucks -- and thereby distribute their noise over a larger area. Further, as is done is some cities today, an ordinance should be established prohibiting the modification of original-equipment mufflers through modification or replacement if the result is to increase the level of emitted noise.

If you take the time to read his entire letter, you can easily tell he REALLY hates motorcycles, going on to say that they're totally unnecessary as a form of transportation.

http://www.startribune.com/562/story/1090927.html

I thik the noise issue will eventually become moot. As the nation's emissions requirements tighten up over the next several years, more riders are going to leave their stock exhaust systems in place. Eventually states will extend their periodic smog test requirements to motorcycles, and the issue will be over.

Labels: Loud Pipes, Minnesota