Jerry
I think they have been making their own rules as they go. Heard 10 tickets have been tossed already due to unreliable test methods.
Rob
That is usually what trips up most of the genius types that come up with these local laws, poor test methods that tend to be very hard to defend in a court of law. That's one reason some places in the US tried to require stock mufflers with the EPA compliance info stamped into the muffler; no testing required, just a small mirror to check for the labeling. Of course, there are still a lot of legal issues with that one as well, and so far I don't know of any that have been upheld.
There definitely needs to be a way to control the obnoxious folks (that includes bikes, cars, trucks, big thumping stereo's, etc.), but very few noise ordinances I've ever seen are actually enforced. As long as the various purveyors of aftermarket equipment are allowed to just put a "Racing or Off-Road Use Only" disclaimer on their stuff that they know damned well is being put on street machines, nothing will change. We have widespread tampering with emission systems, including sound emissions, and no one seems to care until it's their neighbor out there keeping the neighborhood awake at 3:00 am with his unmuffled bike or car, his 1000 watt stereo, or his fireworks for example. Since the law frowns on us regular folks shooting jackasses, even with undeniably compelling reasons, what's next?
Jerry