Are there no choppers or Harleys in your state? Those are a ton louder than most aftermarket exhaust systems.
I don't buy the "We need it louder for protection so other vehicles know that we're there" crap either.
Sorry, but a STi with an aftermarket loud exhaust is smaller than a Peterbilt...so...the Subaru driver could say it's for protection too :lol:
Somebody is cracking down. I'm not sure exactly what regulatory body it is, but things are changing.
Production cars and motorcycles have to pass EPA emissions and noise tests before they can be offered to sale for the public. A couple years ago, you could buy a Buell, and, before you even picked it up, you could ask the dealer to install a "race-kit". The race kit included an ECM and new exhaust that would never pass the EPA testing.
Those are no longer available for either Buells or Harleys. There are still aftermarket pipes and ECM's available, but not from Harley/Buell, and you can't get them at the dealer. I don't know if Harley and Buell were just responding to more strict local regulations or the EPA did something to make them stop skirting the law, but those kind of after-market add-ons are going more underground.
And I have a feeling Harley isn't all that upset about it, because while it seems to limit them, it's really only a minor inconvenience to them and their customers, but it really puts the pressure on the custom chopper builders who can't begin to meet noise or pollution regulations, and Harley is starting to become concerned with that market eating into their sales.
I remember back in the '70s there were restrictions. I remember an older brother of a friend of mine talking about how the headers on his car were illegal etc., so even back then, there were issues.
The thing is, back then, everybody was doing things themselves out of their garages, now things are being done more by "tuners" and it's probably a lot easier for the government to restrict those shops than people doing things out of their garages.
I have a feeling "hot rods" will soon be a thing of the past (if they aren't already).
