Arnold Signs SB 435 - No Surprise

The Quiet Warrior was disappointed (but not surprised) yesterday when The Governator signed SB 435 into law.
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PHOTO: The Quiet Warrior

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LA Times Article on Signing of SB 435
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/09/motorcycle-noise-bill.html

Over the years, HQ and QWR have seen his administration embrace too many far-left proposals and programs. There for awhile, every time the Obama administration would propose a new EPA regulation the Governor’s Office within 5 minutes would issue a news release praising that job-killing regulation or law.

As much as I am critical of the Governor regarding his passion for environmental over-regulation, QWR is even more critical of the street-riding community for digging their own grave on the street-sound issue.

I remember doing an OHV Sound Day at Malcolm Smith’s shop back in 2003 to help educate riders about the new CA 96 dBA law.

Article on Malcolm Smith Sound Day
http://www.sharetrails.org/releases/?filter=media&story=243

What is not in that story is that the loudest bike at the event was not a dirt-bike going through the SAE J-1287 sound check but a v-twin about 50 feet away in the street blowing a 105 dBA on my sound meter (remember the dBAs from dirt-bikes in the article were taken from 20 inches).

No this time, obnoxiously loud street bike owners are to blame for Arnold signing SB 435. Just as in my interview with Chris Daniels on KMJ radio who is a strong conservative and generally against government over-regulation… when it came to SB 435 he (and many others) have become desperate for ANY measure (no matter how ineffective that bill might be) that gave even the slightest hint of addressing excessively loud street bikes. Also another industry person who is a life long motorcyclist told me last week that he was in favor of the bill for many of the same reasons.

Blog with KMJ Radio Interview (a good case study of to why Arnold signed the bill)
http://thegeneralsrecreationden.blogspot.com/2010/09/radio-talk-show-on-sb-435-with-quiet.html

Let’s hope Arnold’s signing of this bill sounds a clarion call for both OHV and street riders to respect the rights of others when it comes to being grossly obnoxious on either the road or trail.

New QWR "Less dBA = More Trails" T-Shirt Up for Bid

The Quiet Warrior wants to thank all of you who have given him a warm welcome and offered support for Quiet Warrior Racing. As an earlier blog noted, QWR is a private consulting company that will be, among other things, promoting a “sound” land-use ethic on public roads and trails.
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PHOTO: New QWR "Less dBA = More Trails" logo on back of T-Shirt

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Blog/announcement of QWR
http://thegeneralsrecreationden.blogspot.com/2010/08/quiet-warrior-racing-announces-official.html

QWR looks forward to continuing its work as a contractor to BRC as well as branching out into other venues and issues such as SB 435. As some of you know, QWR took an early position on SB 435 and was recently featured on Fresno’s KMJ Radio in an interview and was quoted in an AP article on the bill. QWR urges you to listen to the entire show (interview and post interview phone calls from listeners) as it is very enlightening and is a good case study of the issue with all sides being presented.

Link to KMJ Radio Interview and AP Story
http://thegeneralsrecreationden.blogspot.com/2010/09/radio-talk-show-on-sb-435-with-quiet.html

One way QWR supports itself is by offering official T-shirts for auction. This is an easy way for riders to help QWR’s efforts - in Sacramento and elsewhere - to champion access to public roads and trails.

Recently, QWR developed a new “Less dBA = More Trails” T-shirt and the 1st one of the batch (in Large) is being offered on eBay.

New Less dBA = More Trails T-Shirt
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120625324688&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:MOTORS:1123

QWR again thanks all of you who are supporting its efforts to promote and protect responsible off-road and street motorcycle access to public roads and trails. Watch for QWR website and other new stuff coming in the near future.

Radio Talk Show on SB 435 with The Quiet Warrior

Many followers of this blog ride both on and off road motorcycles. As some of you know, Quiet Warrior Racing is opposing SB 435 because it really does nothing to address excessively loud street bikes but rather sets up a discriminatory fee/ticket schedule and bureaucracy designed to single out motorcyclists for unfair punishment.

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PHOTO: The Quiet Warrior on his 2001 Intruder this summer

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See Blog with QWR Alert on SB 435 with letter to the Gov.
http://thegeneralsrecreationden.blogspot.com/2010/09/action-alert-send-letter-today-to-ca.html

Yesterday, the Quiet Warrior was invited on the Chris Daniel’s show on the powerhouse radio station KMJ in Fresno to talk about SB 435. I think Chris is, for the most part, a conservative who supports freedom and less government, but the excessively loud bikes in his area was pushing him to possibly support SB 435 out of sheer desperation.

The Recreation HQ invites you to listen to the show and send in your comments. The SB 435 interview with The Quiet Warrior starts about 9:00 into the show and goes to about 17:00. After the interview, Chris takes calls from listeners who ride. I think the caller section is very interesting as it covers the entire spectrum on this issue from folks who champion the “loud pipes save lives” concept to riders who think that we should respect the rights of others.

Link to “Pipe Down!” Segment (click on “listen” icon)
http://www.kmjnow.com/pages/archive?app=podcast&podcastID=774

AP Article with Quote from Don Amador and others
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hnKFh-vuy12ogTY81-4MOc6dMSAQD9I6VPMO0

I think the interview explains to Chris and the audience that SB 435 unfairly discriminates against the rider and really does not address or offer any substantive way for law enforcement or educators/advocates to deal with excessively loud exhaust.

HQ believes that riders should be given the choice to purchase either OEM or aftermarket mufflers and that any legislation should come as the result of a collaborative process (similar to what OHV did regarding the 96dBA sound limit for public land use) and is based on SAE J2825.

Here is a recent news article on SB 435 for your review
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/bill-99080-state-riders.html

As the article suggests, the bill awaits a veto or approval by the Governor who is also a motorcyclist. HQ hopes that common sense will prevail and SB 435 is vetoed.

HQ encourages you to listen to the whole show and feel free to comment on the blog or send the Quiet Warrior a PM at: damador@quietwarriorracing.com