Zug,22.07.2015

What is music to the ears of many motorcyclists

Just as the blackbirds begin to sing and the swallows return, another sure feature of early summer is the return of motorcycles to the canton’s roads. It must be exhilarating for riders as they negotiate the curves on alpine roads, but the noise some of them make, one after another, is a disturbance and an unwelcome intrusion to others.
 
Some 8,300 motorcycles were registered in the canton of Zug in 2014 and, as police spokeswoman Judith Aklin explained, checks on these are made in conjunction with the cantonal road traffic licensing department. In addition to checks on the speed, the technical condition of the machines is examined, too, and on the exhausts in particular, to ensure they meet with the requirements in relation to noise. Police can take action if they notice a motorcyclist sticking to a low gear, accelerating excessively or revving up the motor. Indeed causing unnecessary noise can lead to a fine of up to several hundred francs or the confiscation of a driving licence.
 
For many motorcyclists, the roar of their engines is part of the fun, though according to the law, machines up to 175 cubic centimetres should not exceed 80 decibels (the equivalent of a pneumatic drill).
 
These days a device is built into some motorcycle exhausts which means that, by pressing a button, drivers can control how loud they are. Indeed these are a standard feature on machines over 500 cubic centimetres and totally legal if they conform to EU standards, which Switzerland adopts in this regard. These devices  automatically remain off when the machines travel between 50 and 70 kph but kick in automatically at higher speeds, considerably increasing the level of noise. As from 2016, when new EU noise levels come into force, this will no longer be allowed.
 
Some motorcyclists, not least those with Harley-Davidson models, modify their exhausts illegally, but keep the original damping device on them so it can re-inserted if they are stopped in a road check.
 
Not all motorcyclists feel the need to make as much noise as possible, one owner of a BMW machine from Oberägeri said this aspect or motorcycling was not important to him and Franz Truttmann, a motorbike dealer in Steinhausen, said he did not modify exhausts at all. “This does nothing to improve performance and I do not like this excessive noise myself,” he confessed. As to the Harley-Davidson dealers for central Switzerland in Hünenberg themselves, they said they only sold legal parts.