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[greglyon]

Article from the Chicago Tribune

Lake Geneva cracking down on motorcycles without mufflers

By Emily S. Achenbaum | Tribune reporter
    10:28 PM CDT, May 16, 2008

Motorcycle outlaws—the kind who ride without a muffler—may want to stay away from Lake Geneva, Wis.

Police plan to crack down on the noisy practice beginning this weekend. The law barring bikes without mufflers has been on the books for years but hasn't been heavily enforced.

As the popularity of motorcycles has surged in recent years, more bikers have come rolling through the tourist city near the Wisconsin-Illinois border, and more residents have complained, said Lake Geneva Mayor Bill Chesen. The mayor, 54, has been riding motorcycles since he was 18, so he doesn't mind the bikes. He says the problem is the noise coming from modified bikes without legally required mufflers.

"I'm one of the people annoyed by it," said Chesen, who in 2005 sold his home near downtown and moved eight blocks away because of the noise.

"We were running the air conditioning in September just to keep the windows closed," he said.

Lake Geneva Police Chief Michael Rasmussen said about 15 officers are added to the police force every summer, when the city's weekend population swells from 8,000 to 40,000. This year, those officers will be placed downtown to focus on ticketing motorists (yes, this goes for drivers of cars and trucks, too) who don't have mufflers, he said.

He said the department is paying more attention to enforcing the law because of the noise problems.

"Downtown is stop and go, choking traffic," Rasmussen said, and that raises the noise level. "The standard muffler that comes from the dealer is sufficient."

Rasmussen said fewer than 20 motorcyclists without mufflers were ticketed last summer, though he believes the number of offenders is far higher.

The fine is $84. Resident Tim Johnson said he's one of those who complained.

"I'm just a guy whose ears hurt," he said. "The problem is not the bike, it's the rider breaking the law by modifying the bike. Everyone's been turning away [from the problem] because Harley is in Wisconsin."

Harley-Davidson of Milwaukee sells bikes that meet the laws, he said, but bikers change the bikes and create the noise.

"It used to be that only people in biker gangs had a motorcycle," Johnson said. "Now your dentist has one."

Chesen said some bikers believe the modified muffler helps with safety because it makes bikes more apparent to car and truck drivers.

He disagrees. "Helmets save lives, loud pipes don't save lives," he said.

[JCZ]

I don't understand the problem.......we've had our windows closed and the A/C on in Sept. every year since A/C came out.  What's the problem            

[FLYNDYNA]

Who told them to buy homes near the Harley plant? If I lived near an airport, I wouldn't ask the police to interfere with air traffic noise! By their comparison, I guess we are outlaws since we like to have our Harley's sound like they should? And I guess Dentist's don't modify?