Oakville muffling motorcycles
Motorcycle enthusiasts will have to quiet down their rides while driving around Oakville or face some steep fines in the near future.
Town Council voted Monday, to approve a bylaw, which seeks to muffle excessive motorcycle noise by limiting exactly how much sound a motorcycle in Oakville is allowed to make.
Under the bylaw, a motorcycle cannot be operated in Oakville if it emits any sound exceeding 92 dBA (decibels) from the exhaust outlet as measured at 50 centimetres by means of a sound level meter while the motorcycle is idling.
The bylaw also says a one, two, five or six-cylinder motorcycle cannot be driven in Oakville if its noise exceeds 96 dBA (at 2,000 RPM). A three or four-cylinder motorcycle cannot be driven if its noise exceeds 100 dBA (at 5,000 RPM).
The bylaw will not be enforced until July 1, 2012 to allow for a public education/awareness campaign.
A call for a bylaw to deal with excessive motorcycle noise came from residents near Tim Hortons at 49 Lakeshore Rd. W., where a group of motorcyclists gather on a regular basis in the summer.
Other residents have also voiced concern about motorcycles along Lakeshore Road.
“The Kensington Retirement Residence is located at 25 Lakeshore Rd. W., and the concern we have there is regarding the unnecessary and excessive noise, which is produced by a small number of inconsiderate motorcyclists who are travelling both west and east on Lakeshore Road,” said A.H. McCallum, a Kensington resident.
“The noise problems we have result from some of the guys, and ladies, too, who sit at the traffic lights, slip their clutches, rev their engines and produce an excessive (amount of) noise.”
The problem, McCallum said, is magnified when multiple motorcyclists are at the light.
He said the motorcycle clubs are not the problem, and called them considerate. At issue are those who modify their bikes to make them louder.
Motorcycle enthusiast Robert Treasure said if bikers making noise at the Tim Hortons is the problem, the owner should be required to act.
The Town, he said, does not need to punish all motorcyclists for the actions of a few.
Ward 2 Town and Regional Councillor Cathy Duddeck pointed out the section near the Tim Hortons where the motorcyclists gather is actually a public roadway meaning the Tim Hortons owner has no authority over them.
Treasure said it is not so much the modifications the bikers make to their motorcycles, but what they do with those modifications that can cause problems.
“I think the bikes of a lot of these guys will pass the test. It’s what they are doing when they are revving it, and you can’t really catch them doing that,” he said.
“Also, there has been a lot of development at the lakeshore and all those buildings are going to amplify that noise. Even doing a test down there I think the results could be skewed by the wind noise around those buildings, the echo and things of that nature.”
Treasure said some motorcyclists believe having a very loud motorcycle is a safety issue as the noise alerts motorists they are near and therefore gets people to drive more carefully around these vulnerable vehicles.
In a report to council, Robert Ramsay, president of the Motorcycle and Moped Industry Council, said there is no evidence to back the safety argument.
Treasure said he’s concerned his club and friends are going to be subjected to the noise test.
“I think a lot of them don’t realize this is going on and I think there is going to be quite a bit of outrage when they find out. These are not young kids, these are people in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s. They are well-intentioned people who are going to be very disappointed they are being singled out here in Oakville.”
In a delegation to council, Luc Fournier, director of Policy and Government Relations for the Motorcycle and Moped Industry Council, said he supported the proposed bylaw.
He said the excessively noisy motorcycles being targeted by this bylaw generate noise similar in intensity to a jackhammer or a rock concert.
Individuals convicted for violating the Town’s noise bylaw, which the motorcycle bylaw is a part of, could face a minimum fine of $400 and a maximum fine of $25,000 for the first offense.
The maximum fine for any subsequent offence is $50,000.
This bylaw will be in effect all over Ontario by the end of 2012.
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