[manson]

As per the article, Mumbai police seems to have acted on residents' complaints. Here's a link to the Mumbai Mirror article from last weekend.

Too fast, too noisy: Fancy bikes on police radar now, News - Cover Story - Mumbai Mirror

Whilst the Cops are probably taking a learned route by taking an effort to procure decibel recording units, its worthy to note that most of the nuisance in the residential areas reported in the article comes from the single pot riders with their buzzy havoc creating pipes. Infact, again being specific to the above mentioned areas, if you do draw numbers, you'd find 1 or two out of 100 superbike / imported steed dangerous riders compared to a possible 20 for the single pots.

Mumbai Mirrors has further reported riders' reactions this morning coming in from a few popular guys in the circle.

[v12]

Agree with you on this Manson - and on the article too. Superbikes are itself very flashy and their riders with those riding gears are more flashier and noticeable. People fail to notice or understand that with this gear - they are not getting ready for a race - but a safe ride. I also agree with the part where the residents have complained of loud bikes. Superbike riders should be responsible and not rev high in residential areas - especially in the night.

The sound coming out of the aftermarket silencers is not very noisy - yes at very high rpms it is. But not as irritating as the 2-stroke ported bikes you see on Bandra Reclamation.

There was an instance where my brother was caught on Worli seaface (for noise pollution) riding our Enfield with a Goldstar silencer. The cop said that the bike was too loud at high rpm. I told him that I just saw 2 cop Bullets pass by sounding as loud as my bike. So we kept his Bullet next to mine and told him "We rev both of them and see which is loud". The standard Bullet was louder and more irritating than our Bullet. It was an embarassment for him and he let us go.

With regards to ISI branded helmets - whats the criteria for it? And I do not understand the importance of ISI helmets!! I can buy a Rs 200 helmet from the guys selling on the highway, go to a number plate shop and stick an I S I sticker on it.

I guess with the popularity of superbikes increasing - the Transport authorities should take a note of the good foreign brands and exclude them from the ISI branding. Else the best option is to show a live demo of a ISI v/s an imported helmet. Hit both of them with a huge hammer and show which has minimal damage.

[FasterPhene]

I cannot agree more. Just because one owns a superbike, it doesnt give them a license to rob other people of their peace of mind. If they want to show off let them participate in international competitions and bring back some racing cups. Also having bought these bikes its natural that they want to rev them. They should try this on racing circuits meant for this purpose and definitely not in residential areas and that too not at all in the middle of the night.

[pgsagar]

What about loud quarry trucks and beat-up auto-ricks? These vehicles make very very irritating sound compared to that of SBKs'. I'm sure cops won't even look at those. This overzealousness on part of the cops is born out of jealousy they seem to have towards well-endowed citizenry. BTW, an SBK and loud sound? It is single cylinder bikes with tin cans which make all the racket. I don't think anyone will find an inline-4's sound irritating. It may be loud (aftremarket can) but it will have deep-throaty growl and certainly not irritating.

If traffic cops are so concerned about public welfare, then they would do well to tackle the menacing driving pracitced on our roads by most commercial drivers.

[v12]

I guess we are not talking about the way the vehicle sounds - whether its an irritating sound or whether its pure music. The decibel meeter will only check the sound / noise level. If its above the permissible limits - then agreed its wrong.

However - there can be various solutions to counter this.

The rules for permissible noise / sound levels should vary on the engine size. You cannot expect a truck and a bike to have the same limit.

People who know that their vehicles are loud (aftermarket silencers or supercars owners) can restrain their palms or feet when riding / driving in residential areas. I remember sometimes I used to drag my bike inside my building cos the Goldie silencer was too loud. I agree its fun to hear the sound of high revving engine - but remember they are people (especially old) who get disturbed in the night.

A device which could reduce the sound at the press of a switch - keeping the performance the same.

There could be a lot of suggestions to this - but the most important one is all in the hands and feet of the rider / driver.

[bigron]

Well it had to happen one day. With the amount of super bikes sold increasing every year it was a ticking time bomb before the excessive noise law under the MVA is put into exercise. The fact that alot of people with very less brain and alot of money have access to super bikes and dont mind opening throttle in residential areas and at odd hours will finally take its toll. Having said all this , i do see a superbike owner having trouble explaining the cops that his bike was below the decibel level as compared to a rickety old truck or lorry.

[FasterPhene]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

What about loud quarry trucks and beat-up auto-ricks? These vehicles make very very irritating sound compared to that of SBKs'. I'm sure cops won't even look at those. This overzealousness on part of the cops is born out of jealousy they seem to have towards well-endowed citizenry. BTW, an SBK and loud sound? It is single cylinder bikes with tin cans which make all the racket. I don't think anyone will find an inline-4's sound irritating. It may be loud (aftremarket can) but it will have deep-throaty growl and certainly not irritating.

If traffic cops are so concerned about public welfare, then they would do well to tackle the menacing driving pracitced on our roads by most commercial drivers.

To be very frank the traffic cops in India do not have any say or control on the traffic situation at all. They only will try and control things which are easily possible with the least effort. So superbike owners are easy prey for the cops to extort money (legally or otherwise) since they already have the moolah. Trucker drivers and autowallahs are not that well-to-do a group and also have unions which can get their way if it comes to that. Cant think of superbike owners coming together (except maybe on this forum) and trying to get their demands met.

[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by v12

Superbikes are itself very flashy and their riders with those riding gears are more flashier and noticeable. People fail to notice or understand that with this gear - they are not getting ready for a race - but a safe ride.

with you completely. Every time we ride out we're asked if we are going for a race. The point is if the SBK riders were rash riders, their numbers would be depleting quickly. Its not easy to ride these machines like there's no tomorrow and then live to tell the tale.

Originally Posted by v12

The standard Bullet was louder and more irritating than our Bullet. It was an embarassment for him and he let us go.

That was an amusing incident. The look on the cops face must have been priceless.

Originally Posted by v12

With regards to ISI branded helmets - whats the criteria for it? And I do not understand the importance of ISI helmets!! I can buy a Rs 200 helmet from the guys selling on the highway, go to a number plate shop and stick an I S I sticker on it.

Forget pasting a sticker, how do we know if the helmet that carries this ISI sticker has actually been tested and certified? I'd rather pay the 100 bucks fine for my DOT certified lid than wear an ISI marked lid.

Originally Posted by v12

Else the best option is to show a live demo of a ISI v/s an imported helmet. Hit both of them with a huge hammer and show which has minimal damage.

+1. Subject both specimens to a test that confirms to international safety standards. But this won't happen anytime soon since it will risk the very existence of many helmet brands in our country. It would be great if some private player took the initiative to test these lids and publish the results for the public to see.

Originally Posted by pgsagar

It is single cylinder bikes with tin cans which make all the racket. I don't think anyone will find an inline-4's sound irritating. It may be loud (aftremarket can) but it will have deep-throaty growl and certainly not irritating.

In addition to these single pot activa's and pulsars which run with free flow air filters and noisy locally made exhausts, its the auto's and other commercial vehicles that are poorly maintained which cause most irritation. Noise, dust, smoke and many other contaminants are spewed into the air leading not just to irritation but sickness as well.

[GTO]

This is definitely discrimination against bikers. Heck, at most nakabandis I cross, the focus is purely on motorcycles. The ratio of bikes : cars checked would be 8 : 2.

I'd like the same Police to catch the big industrialist driving his loud, fast Ferrari, Lamborghini or Mercedes AMG. If there are 1 - 2% rash riders on motorcycles, there are an equal amount on 4-wheels too.

[ariendj]

this very topic brings to my mind the cops in my town that sound real loud.
they all sound the same and real loud and deep and a total menace for pedestrians and drivers as well!

apart from the pipes,i strongly am against the loud horns,the so called minister horns!!when do those get a check on?

i believe if this practice of banning loud pipes or horns are to be implemented then there must be sound/decibel checks and its certification along with smoke/pollution certification!

OT:there was a time when the Kerala SRTC especially long distance buses had real irritating horns and was replaced with milder ones!!

[pgsagar]

How do cops ,measure the decibels? At idling? Or at certain RPM? My Honda CBX750 ( now sold ) was very quite at idle but open throttle and it would get loud exponentially. Clolse throttle and roll past and it won't even be audible. I'm sure it would be acceptable. Then it goes same for most inline-4s unless one has fitted a loud baffle-less can. Also, most modern inline-4s with stock set-up hardly make any sound.

[speedy]

This is just a farce by the cops to extract more money from the Superbike owners. If you do show a cop a full racing suit or gear he would not have a clue about it. The thing i have seen with my own eyes at carter road in Mumbai is that two rx100 or similar bikes went round the block several times at high revs causing a disturbing racket and after a while 3 superbike owners who were parked besides me all this while got caught for loud exhaust noise and rash driving next to otters club. They were not speeding and had stock exhausts. I spoke to the cops and told them these were not the ones disturbing the peace they were the rx100 riders. The cop replies complain has come and i have to catch someone. This just goes to show they find the superbike owners easy targets and people to blame.
The cops dont follow the rules themselves, ride without helmets, break signals and use the road as it suits them..heck they even ride on the sealink to cut time. The first thing they should be doing is following the law themselves.

[gthang]

Originally Posted by speedy

The cops dont follow the rules themselves, ride without helmets, break signals and use the road as it suits them..heck they even ride on the sealink to cut time. The first thing they should be doing is following the law themselves.

And who's going to enforce that? The Politicians?

The only good thing going is that enforcement is not uniform throughout India, and differs from city to city. End result is always the same, though. Need some money.

Part of essential riding gear in India: A folded 100 rupee note easily accessible without having to remove gloves.

Cheers

Ride Safe.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by GTO

I'd like the same Police to catch the big industrialist driving his loud, fast Ferrari, Lamborghini or Mercedes AMG. If there are 1 - 2% rash riders on motorcycles, there are an equal amount on 4-wheels too.

This full thing was started because someone complained about noise on Marine Drive. I'm sure you must've seen Marine Drive at any night of the week, Friday-Sunday being much worse. There are huge groups of RX100s, Pulsars and whatever the other small bikes are with free flows and all just whizzing around irritating other road users. So for this specific complaint I disagree with what you say above, and also in general I find bike riders much more rash. Riders of bigger bikes, even a Ninja 250 are much more responsible.

[speedy]

Originally Posted by gthang

And who's going to enforce that? The Politicians?

The only good thing going is that enforcement is not uniform throughout India, and differs from city to city. End result is always the same, though. Need some money.

Part of essential riding gear in India: A folded 100 rupee note easily accessible without having to remove gloves.

Cheers

Ride Safe.

Sir the RTO has a FB page and what i do is take pictures and post it there. I have also sent a couple of pictures with a letter to the police head office for action to be taken and have had a couple of cops suspended from duty.
If the Citizen finds paying under the table a better option then doing something about the injustice then the country would only suffer and we have no right then to have threads like these to discuss bikers being blammed. We should just advice to keep alot of RS 100 notes when riding and forget about it. I do not encourage under hand dealings and prefer to rectify things to my limitations.