NY's New Exhaust Law

[squid101]

How are people handling this new NYS law. Basically they are saying all after market exhaust are now illegal. https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-signs-legislation-cracking-down-noisy-illegal-mufflers-and-exhaust-systems

 

[playfair]

Pretty sure the law wasn't geared toward the ST crowd!

 

[squid101]

I have a modified exhaust on mine. It is not loud but I guess I would have failed inspection? This will affect hundreds of thousands of bikes in my opinion.

 

[pmatulew]

The quotes in the article are priceless. Shame on you bad bikers for scaring people!

 

[Andrew Shadow]

It seems to basically boil down to no exhaust system that has less restriction, i.e. straight pipes, and no exhaust that allows the sound level that is emitted to be louder than the exhaust system that the vehicle came from the factory with. As long as the exhaust that a person is installing does that, it should be fine. This means that any legal aftermarket exhaust systems will affect appearance and not noise levels other than tone, unless they make the exhaust quieter than stock.

This has actually been the law in Canada for years, albeit rarely enforced. It is more likely to be a pile-on charge that a police officer will add to the infraction you were originally stopped for if he is in a bad mood, or if the driver is being a dick, and if he even knows about the law.
It is also why so many aftermarket exhaust systems are stamped with a FOR OFF-ROAD USE statement on them as well, because they can't sell them for on the road use.

It is not loud but I guess I would have failed inspection?

The debate about whether you would be illegal or not has already begun from what I have read.
The debate centres around the way that this law is written. It makes it illegal to sell or install a higher flow or louder exhaust system in N.Y. state. However, it does not make it illegal to have or use one of these exhaust systems on your vehicle. If you purchased the vehicle with the exhaust system already on it, you didn't change the vehicle by purchasing or installing a modified exhaust system, so you seem to be good.
Also, the way that the law is written, if you take your vehicle outside of N.Y state, purchase an aftermarket exhaust system of your choice there and have it installed outside of N.Y. state, you seem to be legal because it wasn't sold or installed in N.Y. by a N.Y. resident.

Seems like a very sloppily written law from what I am reading. The problem for drivers is that the police will issue tickets to people with what they determine is loud exhaust systems, regardless of whether it is justified or not, and it will be up to the owner to go to court to deal with it. The result is the same either way, the owner looses even if they win in court, simply because they had to go to court.


31-b. No person shall, in the state, sell, offer for sale or install a motorcycle exhaust device that is intentionally designed to allow for the internal baffling to be fully or partially removed or interchangeable or that has been modified in a manner that will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the motor of a motorcycle above that emitted by the exhaust system originally installed on such motorcycle.

 

[Igofar]

This has been coming for many years, and the writing has been on the walls, but folks just kept thinking that it would not happen to them etc.
Harley Davidson dealerships started getting hammered in the past few years by EPA folks.
For years Harley Davidson sold "screaming eagle" performance parts in their catalog. Next to each part was a small asterisk, stating that it was for "race track, or off road use only" etc.
For years it worked for them, however, recently several dealerships got tagged with hefty fines when the inspectors found dealerships installing/working on bikes with aftermarket pipes and race tuners etc.
Dealerships tried to fight it by saying that they couldn't control what the customer did, or use the "asterisk" warning, however, the inspectors would simply walk to the back of the bike and point to the license plate and laugh, then present them with fines for every bike in the shop that they were working on with aftermarket stuff on etc.
It was getting to the point (at least in California) that several dealerships got hit so hard, that they went under, while others would refuse to accept bikes in their service bays with aftermarket accessories for fear of getting fined.
Why didn't folks realize when all the JAP bikes started using mufflers underneath the engines like Buell did, that they were doing that so they could not accept aftermarket exhaust systems.
There are several states that already won't give you a "noise violation" ticket as in the past, but will issue you a ticket (fine) for operating on their roads, period!
Some states will pull you over, and not allow the bike to be ridden on the road, and the only option is a tow truck etc.
Even Arizona has signs on some of the highways waring folks of "no open pipes/mufflers" etc.
Now if they could just do something about all those mini coopers with loud exhausts in my neighborhood

 

[Catmandu2]

I recall a tv news segment, from this past summer,, about a protest gathering in New Brunswick (I think),,, because the existing noise limits were now being enforced on bikes. Not sure if it was 96db or not. Anyway,,, supposedly,, the police showed up at the protest and ticketed some attendee's. Perhaps someone from NB can confirm that. They also interviewed the transportation minister,,, who said the law would be enforced. Then he got on his relatively quiet and stock looking motorcycle,,, and rode away !! Quite frankly,, a lot of bikes in my area (and we have a lot of bikes) are ridiculously loud. Many trucks and cars as well,,, even the occasionally loud atv. All my bikes pass the tests. I say,,, bring on the enforcement,,,, cheers,, CAt'

 

[ReSTored]

I have no issue with noise laws, in principle, as long as they're fairly enforced.

I listen to modified pipes on bikes all summer long going late into the night / early morning. A 24 hour Timmies about 3 km from my house is a gathering point for riders and you can hear them coming and going at virtually full throttle until 3 AM. An industrial area 2 km away, with empty streets at nights, is a local drifters paradise at 1 - 2 in the morning all summer long. So we're forced to listen to screaming engines and shrieking tires for 15 - 20 minutes until they move to a new location before the cops arrive.

 

[red one]

Well as some has said it is already a Federal noise law already but there is nothing wrong with a nice mellow low noise tone on a car or motorcycle exhaust system. But there are a few idiots who believe it is their right to install what ever they want on their vehicles noise be dammed. It's these baffoons that have made it bad for the rest of us...so yeah I don't have any feeling for them when the local law enforcement write the for an equipment violation. Now don't get me started about the loud bass in the boomer cars

 

[dduelin]

If I'm not mistaken, vehicles certified for sale in the USA must meet some standard dB test during the process of certification for sale in the USA so the noise limit and how to measure it is probably already codified in the Code of Federal Regulations for every vehicle type sold from new in the USA. This is where jurisdictions that enact local noise restriction laws run into enforcement trouble. It's hard to measure noise in the field in the exact same way as the DOT standard does in a test environment. The test equipment, training or equipment that operators or enforcement officers receive, and measuring environment conspire to send most locally enacted noise ordinances into the dust bin after someone challenges the law in court. New York state will have to somehow find a path to enforcement that differs from the past or the enforcers will have trouble with this one just like many that went before. Tread lightly and don't cut off the pipes below the foot pegs and you are probably good.

There are Federal EPA certifications for emission requirements too but they are separate from noise. Harley lost their case because dealers were selling and/or installing equipment that altered fuel mapping thus emissions and so violated EPA law, not specifically DOT law though it probably goes hand in hand that noisy modified pipes and mufflers remove or gut catalytic converters that also circumvent EPA law. This EPA enforcement is the hill that the feds have chosen to take because it's easy to document dealer sales and dealer installation of aftermarket non-EPA approved fueling software and hardware. It's a different animal to tame noise levels with random roadside checks or a once a year inspection prior to license renewal.

 

[red one]

If I'm not mistaken, vehicles certified for sale in the USA must meet some standard dB test during the process of certification for sale in the USA so the noise limit and how to measure it is probably already codified in the Code of Federal Regulations for every vehicle type sold from new in the USA. This is where jurisdictions that enact local noise restriction laws run into enforcement trouble. It's hard to measure noise in the field in the exact same way as the DOT standard does in a test environment. The test equipment, training or equipment that operators or enforcement officers receive, and measuring environment conspire to send most locally enacted noise ordinances into the dust bin after someone challenges the law in court. New York state will have to somehow find a path to enforcement that differs from the past or the enforcers will have trouble with this one just like many that went before. Tread lightly and don't cut off the pipes below the foot pegs and you are probably good.

There are Federal EPA certifications for emission requirements too but they are separate from noise. Harley lost their case because dealers were selling and/or installing equipment that altered fuel mapping thus emissions and so violated EPA law, not specifically DOT law though it probably goes hand in hand that noisy modified pipes and mufflers remove or gut catalytic converters that also circumvent EPA law. This EPA enforcement is the hill that the feds have chosen to take because it's easy to document dealer sales and dealer installation of aftermarket non-EPA approved fueling software and hardware. It's a different animal to tame noise levels with random roadside checks or a once a year inspection prior to license renewal.

Down where I live its at the officers option whether to give a ticket or ignore it or issue a warning. Very very few get cited. Down here they are more concerned about the check engine light that is on you car that will fail inspection and get you off the road quick. I have told the story of when i was getting my car smogged checked and an idiot in a pick up truck with the mufflers so loud it shook the smog stations windows and he passed and they sent him on his way. So no most aren't worried about noise.

 

[Sadlsor]

Lots of variables, at least 50 states, and of course ensuing confusion.
I'm all about liberty, but let's face it -- loud pipes lose rights.
(And if loud pipes actually DO save lives, just imagine what learning how to ride that thing could do for ya!)

 

[red one]

Lots of variables, at least 50 states, and of course ensuing confusion.
I all about liberty, but let's face it -- loud pipes lose rights.
(And if loud pipes actually DO save lives, just imagine what learning how to ride that thing could do for ya!)

Another thing is have you noticed mainly on the Harley Davidson crowd the pipes are so loud that the radio has to be at max volume in order to hear it. How stupid is that?

 

[Oldbikefixr]

'Mellow' rumbling exhaust notes have never bothered me. Loud for loud's sake does unless it's on the track. On nice mornings I can hear a neighbor start his Harley early on those mornings and hear it idle while warming up. Problem is he lives two streets over.

 

[Al st1100]

don't worry about the crime and murder rate that will get solved when those damn bikers quit making so much noise... oh, no not really but they have money we can take. And this is the problem most New Yorkers have ?? let that sink in

 

[squid101]

Don't get me wrong, there is a huge difference between after market pipes and someone removing the baffles and/or straight pipes.

 

[Nexus]

Wait! Does this mean I can't roll coal on my ST?

 

[red one]

Don't get me wrong, there is a huge difference between after market pipes and someone removing the baffles and/or straight pipes.

Me I just never got the loud pipe thing. Is it because its percieved as cool? Saves lives? to fool you into thinking your bike has more power or to get attention. If its the latter for me I don't want that attention when I'm coming home from bike night after a few adult beverages.

 

[squid101]

I have 2 bothers pipes on my ST. The were not put on for the noise but the performance. So now in NY they would be deemed illegal. That is just nonsense. And as I stated, straight pipes is obnoxious and rude, but wanting better performance is not something that should be illegal.

 

[Uncle Phil]

I often think some humans equate volume of sound with 'power' - the louder it is, the more powerful it is.
And straight pipes let the engine 'breathe freely' in their mind - but doubtfully in reality.