Who remembers the bad old days of muffler tickets?

These days, nine out of ten Harleys are running straight pipes. At the GoodGuys show this weekend, half the cars driving in were running right out of the headers.

Back in the bad old days, I got tickets any time I tried to run megs on my Triumph Bonneville. A flatmotor running out of lakes pipes was no way as loud as today's Harleys, but got a ticket every time. Even the '65 Vette factory side pipes would get you a ticket coming through most towns.

What changed? Are there any muffler tickets in your locale?

jack vines

 

I can't remember the last time I knew of someone getting an "excessive noise" ticket. I do remember receiving not a ticket, but a warning from one of the locals many years ago for the glasspacks on my '64 GTO. I must say that he wasn't lying---all of the 'glass had long since burned out of them, and they were nothing more than empty cans.

 

Did I mention steel wool stuffed tail pipes held in with a nail.

 

I noticed the same thing in Connecticut. Speeding seems to be the focus today and for good reason with the way the kids are flying down the road with their rice burners. Having said that I will probably get stopped for loud exhaust.

 

Got two in WI in the last 5 years.-----> drill hole in tail pipe, stuff in steel wool, put bolt in new hole to keep steel wool in place. have it checked out by five-0 get signature, drive down road, pull bolt, rev motor to blow out steel wool...repeat

 

I've heard some modern-day stories about guys getting tickets for excessive loudness. The tickets given were "fix-it" tickets. I don't know if that means broken equipment or illegal modification?

 

I think what has changed is the age of the offenders. Mostly older people like the loud pipes. Young guys like loud stereos. Cops go after the kids with boomers, not the older guys on Harleys and classic/antique cars.

FWIW, I'm only 25. I got a bike with straight pipes and an old caddy with true duals and glasspacks. Bike has NO radio, the car as AM only with a single 4x10 in the dash no tickets (so far), knock on wood.

 

Back in the '50's,...I had 3 cards, single spaced, front and back for "excessive NOISE" tickets. My finest moment was when they set up a road-block on west highway 166, and north highway 77. The complaints were from Drive-In Theatres claiming that their sound was being interferred with. I knew it was wrong, but it was fun anyway. When my '47 chevy business coupe hits the road with fenton headers this time around, the only change will be.............Drive-In theatres around here no longer exist.

firstnomad
www.angelfire.com/jazz/flatlandstudio

 

No, now I get tickets for just idling instead. $250

 

When first married (47 years ago) my wife was driving my 62 Ford 406. She got stopped for having oud mufflers. Being nieve on the subject she said "officer, thats not possible, my husband just put brand new glass packs on it yesterday". She had her first ticket. Boy was she pissed at me

 

I think these days they are much more likely to be handing out tickets
for loud music than for loud pipes,and that works for me.
When I pulled the 70's JC Whitney headliner out of my high school
57 Chevy a couple years ago I found a half-dozen postcard size
"equipment defect notifications" that had been dutifully "filed" in the
roof above the drivers door and never sent in. Every one had "exhaust"
checked and noted "loud" or "exit to rear" or both.

 

"File this under "CS""

 

As a kid in the early 60's, I had a fairly loud flatty powered '34 pick up. I had to turn the key off, coasting thru the center of W. Bridgewater, MA. There was always a fat cop sitting there, just waiting for a "kid" to make too much noise. When I finally got a ticket for loud pipes, I had to take the PU to an insp station. I had shoved stainless Brillo pads up the pipe, held in place with bent coat hangars. After the inspector signed off my ticket, he told me to be sure and take the steel wool out when I got home. And I thought I was fooling him. I went back there for my regular inspection sticker for then on. He knew the score.

Now, as a mid 60's hot rodder, reliving my youth, I run straight pipes on my AV8 and no cop gives me a second look. No more turning the engine off coasting thru town.

 

Yeah, it was a big thing around Eugene back in the 1960's. I was with a friend and the cop made him rev the hell out of his motor and then wrote him up. I had the double whammy going. Got the ticket and the judge knew my dad. He said he would call him to make sure I got new mufflers. I would use the Harley defense if ever stopped now.

 

The number of Harleys in Canada has mushroomed in recent years. They have also been growing noiseier each year. The law enforcement people now use a decibel meter and if your pipes exceed the decibel limit, you get a hefty ticket. I like the sound. I live in the country not far from a highway. I can hear super loud stereos long before the car goes by. The tickets should go to these soon to be deaf drivers.

 

It's probably because most cops ride a Harley and have illegal pipes as well. However, around here, these same cops will write a noise ticket to a kid with a Honda Civic with a modified exhaust.

 

The best one I`ve heard lately. " Harleys come from the factory with straight pipes,can`t ticket them unless they abuse the noise ordinance" Thus sayeth Patrolman Pohlman,local police dept.I think they are afraid to confront them in a group. Wise move on his part ,if you know what I mean.

 

being on the younger side(30 next year) in my high school days i had many a car running glass packs exiting below the floor boards. never had any trouble with the cops but i ride motorcycles too and have seen a few touristy towns were the cops just walk around with decible(sorry i cant spell) meters stopping harleys left and right.

 

A sign of the times is included in a lot of ads under cars for sale. The ad will tell you almost nothing about the car itself. There will be a lot of information about the stereo though. I am old enough to remember radios being thought of as needless and lots of cars being radio delete when brand new.

 

The Law has other ways of stealing Your money now!

 

there are days that I'd like to see them start enforcing those laws again.

we have a loud stereo law as well but it seems they don't enforce that either. I really don't want to hear your crappy music or exhaust over my stereo with my windows up. Or you riding by my house at 2am.

 

Growing up in the early 50s,The cops of the day had not grown up with duals or even glass or steel packs...Therefore many tickets were written,,just seeing two tail pipes would get you pulled over...They would instruct you to rev it up.then write the excessive noise ticket....

 

I run glass packs that dump under the bed of my 460 powered F250. Kinda noisy, but more than once they've been drowned out by some tuner with a real loud stereo. Haven't had a ticket for the glass packs, but did get one for being an old fart.

 

Since Japan has strict noise regs, their engineers have gotten creative and use a flapper valve to pipe intake tract noise into the interior to increase the perceived power sound at full throttle. Loud inside, quiet outside.

jack vines

 

I had a Nova with a couple of Dynamaxes hanging in front of the rear axle with no rear exhaust and tailpipes. I drove the car all over the west coast and never got pulled over. But when back in Wisconsin, I got nailed and the cop took my driver's license away. He told me I would get it back when the pipes went all the way through the ass end.
Guy seemed like a small town cop on a power trip (Barney Fife)
I got the car's pipes correct and went to the station to get my license back. The officer on duty told me that I shouldn't have had my license pulled in the first place for a small infraction; instead he should've given me a warning ticket. I'm thinking WTF, some people shouldn't have the privilege to wear a badge.

 

Back in the sixties I accumulated 14 points for excessive noise violations, Followed by a letter from the secretary of state, stating " can you afford to lose your license?" Needless to say, I've been a good boy ever since!

 

1965 Mustang 2+2 in the summer of 1970. Got the duals for $5 at the wrecking yard. Got one ticket in Denver, a half hour later got stopped in Aurora ,CO. Talked him out of that one. Tickets were $10.

 

Spokane has a modified exhaust law, but it seems to be only be enforced when it applies to punk kids. One of the kids that use to work for me, a modified exhaust tickets and a speeding ticket. At the same time, because of two tickets he lost his license for 60 or 90 days. And I have a friend that got warned for the same infraction. It is just that hot rods are not driven by punk kids anymore, now it seems they are drive rice burners. And I know that there is exception to that but the seems to be the norm.

 

didnt happen to be Rosendale, did it? five-0 there does that alot

 

I remember back around 1970 riding with my buddy in his '63 Impala SS, 327/four speed, very loud. A cop pulls us over and tell my buddy "Kinda loud isn't it? do you have mufflers on this thing?" "yeah" my buddy replies "they're right here on the backseat" and we got away with a warning.....