Reaction Fierce to Loud Exhaust Amendment

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com

An unexpected effort in the General Assembly to crack down on noisy motorcycles is being met by immediate opposition by the motorcycle industry. Under language added last week to a bill involving off-road ATVs, the sale, registration or operation of a street motorcycle having most after-market exhaust pipes would become a fineable offense. The new provisions, if approved, would require federal Environmental Protection Agency noise emission control labels to be displayed on all motorcycles and would institute fines of up to $250 per offense for non-compliance.

Opposition to what the Connecticut Motorcycle Riders Association calls a “very sneaky” and anti-business move by the Finance, Bonding and Revenue Committee comes not only from that group but also from dealers, stores that sell motorcycle accessories and repair shops. “It needs to be eliminated. It was a very sneaky, bad act,” said Sandra Clark, legislative committee chairman of the CMRA. “It should not have been linked up to ATVs. Unfortunately, that might possibly kill a good ATV bill.”

The ATV bill, introduced by Rep. DebraLee Hovey (R-Newtown) and rewritten in the Transportation Committee, would establish an all-terrain vehicle division within the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to create and maintain ATV trails in the state. Under the bill, ATV riders would be required to register their vehicles – $20 for a snowmobile and $40 for a quad or dirt bike. Half of the fee would go an “all-terrain account” the DEEP would use. ATV registrants would also be assessed a $5 “land purchase fee” to establish trails.

The ATV bill was introduced in January, but it wasn’t until Wednesday when it was voted out of the finance committee that the new provisions appeared that would make illegal any motorcycle that “does not have prominently displayed on such motorcycle an its exhaust system” EPA labels. The stock exhaust pipes that come on motorcycles from the factory have EPA stamps, but most after-market exhausts are not EPA-certified to meet noise emission standards.

Keith Bruno, owner of The Shop motorcycle repair business in Winsted, called the provisions “unbelievable. It’s an infringement on our rights, I don’t know how else to say it. It’s just one more restriction they’re putting on us that’s unnecessary. They’re going to make it to the point where nobody will want to ride a bike.”

Bruno estimates that 75 percent or more of motorcycle owners invest in after-market exhaust systems. The reasons why riders buy them vary – from a throatier sound to improved power and performance.

“That’s usually one of the first things people change (when buying a new bike) and it’s not necessarily to make your pipes louder.  It could be for looks, for styling,” said “Mike Doc” D’Occhio of Doc’s Motorcycle Parts in Waterbury. He added that many riders also operate under belief that loud exhausts help make drivers aware of their presence. “There’s a lot of people who truly believe loud pipes save lives,” he said.

D’Occhio said the move to stifle the sale and use of after-market motorcycle exhausts is anti-business. “It’s another way to handcuff businesses, or businesses in the motorcycle industry,” he said.

After-market exhausts provide a substantial revenue stream for dealers and shops. Bob Szymanowski, general manager of Gengras Harley-Davidson in East Hartford, estimates that 85 percent of his customers get rid of their stock exhausts, and pay anywhere from $300 to $3,000 for the often louder replacements.

A display wall in the dealership’s parts department shows off nearly a dozen examples of exhaust pipes made by Vance & Hines and Rinehart. He said with Gengras Harley-Davidson selling anywhere from 50 to 70 new bikes a month, the loss of sales tax revenue to the state if replacement pipes are outlawed could be sizable. “It’s a little disappointing and it’s going to hurt business,” said Szymanowski of potential impact if the new provisions in the ATV bill become law.

Just who inserted the language isn’t known, and messages left for the finance committee’s co-chairs, Sen. John W. Fonfara (D-Hartford) and Rep. Patricia M. Widlitz (D-Guildford), went unreturned. What’s puzzling is why two unrelated concerns – a lack of land set aside for off-road riders and the cacophony of exhausts from street riders – have been coupled. “The amendment and the bill are two different animals. I don’t know why they’re trying to mix them together,” said D’Occhio.

Clark said passage of the exhaust provisions won’t stop riders from customizing their bikes and that even EPA-approved exhaust pipes can be drilled out to make them sound louder. She said the CMRA plans to lobby to have the provision removed as the bill continues to go through the legislative process.