Kent Poised To Crack Down On Loud Pipes

KENT, CT – Friends Neil Tolhurst, Dean Mojon and I were seated on a wood bench across the street from Kent Coffee & Chocolate in downtown Kent on a recent Sunday around midday when a bright yellow Honda Gold Wing pulled to a stop in front of us. As we chatted in our normal voices, the rider of the Gold Wing backed up the big bike so that its rear tire touched the curb and then shut it off.

With a 1,832cc, six-cylinder engine and loads of luggage space, the Gold Wing is one of the largest bikes on the road – non-riders who are unaware of the model should maybe conjure up an image of a Buick Electra from the mid-1960s – but it also among the quietest. That’s why our conversation wasn’t bothered, unlike a few minutes earlier when the roar of motorcycle exhausts filled the air.

From the bench, we witnessed a man cover his ears and shout a brief objection to two riders who were seated on cruisers in front of the shop. The engines of the riders’ bikes were running as they prepared to leave. For a moment, I thought they might dismount and go after the guy, despite the fact his gripe was warranted. Instead, they gestured back in what from a distance appeared to be a menacing manner. The man had simply been walking on the sidewalk when he was assaulted by unnecessary motorcycle noise.

Kent First Selectman Bruce Adams eyes bikes with loud exhausts

Motorcycle noise is a problem that Kent’s first selectman, Bruce Adams, has been hearing about frequently of late. “It’s been simmering for a number of years. It boiled over this summer to the point where I’m getting more complaints,” he said last Sunday morning.

Residents are unhappy and so too are some merchants. Kent Wine & Spirit owner Ira D. Smith said there’s “no question” that the plethora of bikes has hurt his sales. A 30-year rider, Smith isn’t a fan of loud exhausts and wishes they’d vanish. “This is about noise and quality of life,” he said. “It’s not about bikers. It’s about noise.”

While a few businesses benefit from the bikers, “most do not,” said Adams, explaining that the many bikers usurp parking spaces that could go to potential customers. He cited the House of Books, which is next door to Kent Coffee & Chocolate, as example of another business hurt by bikers. “All of her parking is gone every Sunday,” he said.

RIDE-CT first wrote about the noise issue in Kent back in 2010, recalling in a column a memorable and somewhat controversial episode of the TV series “South Park” in which the cartoon kids fought noise pollution from motorcycles by tagging noisy riders with the pejorative “fag.” The episode was titled “The F Word” and it skewered riders who operated with non-baffled exhausts.

Adams said that if the annoyance level four years ago was a “three” on a one-to-10 scale, it has escalated to “probably an eight.” Kent now appears poised to crack down on loud exhausts and behavior that accentuates them, such a blipping the throttle and fast takeoffs. “At some point, there will be increased enforcement,” said Adams. “I’m not convinced it will make a lasting difference, but you’ve got to try.”

State trooper Andrew Fisher talks to riders about loud exhausts 

Joining Adams at a table outside Kent Coffee & Chocolate was the town’s resident state trooper, Andrew Fisher, who has been talking to noisy riders in recent weeks about “respecting your neighbors as you’re riding through.” Rather than getting lip in return from offending riders, he reported that he’s been receiving understanding. “Most of them acknowledge that they’re too loud,” he said.

Predictably, our conversation was interrupted by passing motorcycles with loud pipes. That’s the norm in Kent on weekends – unrelenting and obnoxious motorcycle noise. “If we can’t talk, it’s unnecessary noise,” said Fisher in explaining how he plans to clear the air. Rather than hand out a ticket for violating the state “maximum noise level” statute that effectively places a decibel limit on exhausts, Fisher plans to ticket offenders for the broader offense of disturbing the peace.

Motorcyclists who have loud pipes inevitably invoke a laughable claim that “loud pipes save lives.” The only real accomplishments of these disrespectful, narcissistic riders are to tick people off and make the entire riding community look bad. Invariably, these inconsiderate types don’t engage in proven practices that could actually make them safer, such as wearing full-face helmets and armored gear, investing in bright reflective vests, adding more lights and headlight modulators to their bikes, upgrading their horns, and taking Experienced Rider Course to improve their skills.

Here’s hoping that Kent goes forward with a high-profile, aggressive crackdown. Here’s hoping Adams finds money to pay overtime for some extra state troopers on motorcycles to hand out so many tickets that Kent becomes so known for noise enforcement that the raucous riders avoid the town altogether. “I think we’re going to have to,” said Adams. “I don’t know when or how many (troopers).”

Not only do Kent residents deserve some peace and quiet, especially on Sunday, but so do the “quiet riders” who don’t offend. Many of us are just as fed up.

Riding out to Kent to meet with Adams and Fisher, I came up behind three guys whose bikes had straight pipes. The trailing rider’s bike was so loud that I could no longer hear the sound of my own bike’s engine if I got close. It’s no fun being bombarded by noise. It’s just rude.

(Originally published in “The Republican-American” on July 19, 2014.)