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[103RKyeehah]

Hey Guys, I'm leaving next Tuesday with two other buddies for a RT to NYC.  I was talking to my Harley tech and he told me to be carefull riding in the city because the cops are really cracking down on the noise from our bikes.  He told me they will stop you and then actually check your emissions right there along the road.

Can anyone validate this or share another story?

Thanks

[Twolanerider]

Hey Guys, I'm leaving next Tuesday with two other buddies for a RT to NYC.

[103RKyeehah]

Bike noise or emissions in NYC?

[MYCVO]

Well thats a pretty quite city with only a few cars running around at any given point in time and the police there dont have alot to do, so maybe there picking up on some noisey biker types to offset their on duty boredom hours. [smiley=stop.gif]

[Tonys]

Well I could be wrong..but they don't test emissions with portable units...at least not in Cal.
The Cops will write excessive noise and modified exhaust...depending on wether they like Harleys or the riders attitude. The only meter I am aware of is a decibal meter that some jurisdictions use. Anybody else have experience with this?

[Slick]

I've never seen a cop checking emissions in NYC. I don't even think they carry the equipment.
Same with noise pollution but there are neighborhoods making a hard push on this issue.
Greenwich Village complains the most. Streets are narrow and always crowded so traffic moves very slow. Bars and clubs are open till 4:00am so when they let out street noise is pretty bad. A guy on a bike with loud pipes wacking the throttle at a stop light can wake up the whole block. Not to mention the ones going open throttle for half a block. This goes for both Harleys and Jap bikes.
Residence are trying to restict motorcyles from the area after dark, not sure what the status is on that. I think the AMA jumped in to fight that ordinance.

[crazybastid83]

I am retired from NYPD for 2 years. They do not do roadside emissions tests. They generally do not bother bikes unless you draw attention to yourself. No one will bother you, just like anywhere else, don't crack your pipes unnecessarily.

[Jock]

My experience is limited in the city, however I have been riding through there on a noisy bike for the past several years.

No problems to date so far, knock on wood.

Good Luck,

Jock

[Jock]

While there during Christmas, I asked a NYC Police Officer if he had ever heard of a fellow officer issuing a citation for the noise ordinance.  He looked at me and laughed...said, "Are you kidding?"..."With all the s#!t happening in this city!"

Needless to say, it would appear that anyone should be safe here...

[fatboyse2]

NYC noise laws can be found here: http://www.nonoise.org/lawlib/cities/newyork.htm#232

Basically, they account for 78db below 35MPH and 82db above 35MPH.  A stock Harley is 64-68db from the factory.  Change those pipes to a Thunderheader and you're talking 104db+.

So, it's safe to say if you have a good sounding pipe chances are it makes a bunch more noise than the legal limit.  So avoid gunning it near schools and police, if you're in a crowd of riders It's shouldn't matter.

[Ceej]

What about those d@$#m stereos that bounce the whole car at a stoplight? - I mean their stereo bouncing my car with both of us windowed up

[HARLEYBILL]

I was at the International Motorcycle Show today in NYC and I can assure you that the NYCPD that were there love the bikes. Unless you make a real effort to be loud and piss them off there's a lot more going on to occupy their attention. Whenever I've been in Manhattan on a bike it seems to me that the officers are all eager to "talk bikes".
Speaking of that, the streets around the Javits were lined with bikes seeing how it was a 60 degree day. Pretty good crowd for a Friday and they'll really pack them in on Sat and Sun when the boys from Orange County Choppers are there. (forget about it-not my cup of tea).