Man Shot Over Loud Motorcycle Exhaust
If you've ever been on the receiving end of an annoyingly loud motorcycle, you know how aggravating noisy pipes can be. But according to a recent news item, 53 year-old John Moore took his anger one step too far when he shot 20 year-old Jamil Roberts in the face because of his bike's loud exhaust.
No motorcycle brand was identified in the story, and the victim-- now in stable condition-- was fired at in his car following several altercations over the noise. "Apparently, the suspect, Mr. Moore, was aggravated with him for driving the motorcycle and being too loud with it," said police detective Brian Miller.
The issue of noisy motorcycle exhausts appears to be bigger than ever, with laws tightening in order to quiet the loudest offenders. The Oakland P.D.'s motorcycle division has even stirred up more controversy by going with the "loud pipes save lives" mantra... but somewhere amidst the cacophonous debate we've got to meet halfway, right?
Photo © Basem Wasef
Click to enlarge
Comments
a loud motorcycle was not the reason the man got shot….he was in a pick up truck when he was shot. the two had been fighting back and forth for a few weeks. he does have a motorcycle, and the shooter did bring up the fact that he was annoyed by the loud exhaust, but that was not the reason he was shot!
just setting the story straight.
Basem,
Thank you for the article. You are exactly right in the suggestion of meeting halfway. Rick makes an interesting point but is off the mark a bit. There are people out there who are completely inconsiderate and live life as though no one else matters. It by no means justifies shooting someone, but I can understand getting to the point of complete and utter frustration with someone who is unreasonable. If you had two people who were reasonable and respectful and treated other people like they would like to be treated then there would be no such incidents.
And thusly the best approach is somewhere in between. Just because you like loud pipes does not mean that is everyone’s cup of tea.
AJ, what an ignorant comment. Comments like yours make people want to shoot you in the face (tongue in cheek).
Seriously though, Nanny-ism is what needs to be compromised. Unfortunately for us all, what upsets a minor few tends to draw the attention of a majority who then get to be the subject of stupid and annoying laws.
Keep whining so we can all get in line and be a part of your perfect world.
Thank goodness the shooter didn’t do that in my state, we carry legally here and we shoot back at morons.
Oh well, people get shot all the time for a lot less. My life goes on…
wow ……thats crazy usually loud pipes come in handy but i guess this is a prime example when it did’t.
AJ, What world do you live in.
You know, I had LOUD PIPES at one time on my bike. Bought a touring bike and kept the stock pipes, didn`t feel like spending all that money on new loud pipes—you know I can hear myself think now.—TO EACH THEIR OWN. I don`t want to get a ticket for loud pipes–NEED THE MONEY TO BUY Gas
My nerves have always been jangled by noise. I live across the street from a small pub. On warm nights, there’s often one or more obnoxiously loud bike going there. As they roll out of the lot, and up past our place it is deafening, especially when then they all sit and potato-potato until they all can roar together at a million decibels. I don’t agree with killing folks at all, but have fanatised about the old rope across the road in the dark, ala WWII movies.
you folks must not of read my first comment.
Read how our newspaper reports this very same incident!
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080812/NEWS02/80812015/
not trying to take away from the loud pipe debate…..But, this headline of “Man shot over loud exhaust” is plumb ridiculous. These two cats had it out for the other…..
just sayin
I just taken the mfs course and passed with flying colors. We were taught by the instructors that we don’t need loud pipes to be cool. This artical is more proof of the pudding that the mfs course is worth its weight in gold…
I don’t have drag pipes on my Harley, but I did upgrade the stock pipes for a little deeper rumble. It’s nice to have that extra sound sometimes to wake up the cager that gets too close. As for the debate, as someone recently wrote “I’d love to see the statistic that loud pipes DON’T save lives”. Bottom line is that we all need to be more aware when riding and expect the unexpected.
Ah Basem….Didja havta start the ‘loud pipes’ thing again?
Hey I agree with Peter but I think a small wire stretched across the street would make for a cleaner cut at just about the neck level.Then let the street sweepers clean up the mess.
I find loud, yapping dogs much more annoying than loud pipes. Usually, the bikes roar away after a few minutes at the most, but neighborhood dogs often keep barking ALL NIGHT. Dog owners hate when anyone questions the ‘rights’ of their pooch to make noise all night, “He’s just a dog. Deal with it!” but then they complain about a few loud bike that drive by and are gone. Get real!
Actually, any motorcycle not using mufflers with the EPA label is probably illegal, depending on state and local laws.
There are long standing federal regulations that all motorcycles and mufflers which are street legal will have an EPA label.
Police just need to look for the label on the muffler if they are interested in enforcement.
EPA Title 40, Part 205, Subpart D (motorcycles) and Subpart E (motorcycle exhaust systems)
“Rick” in the above post is simply making excuses for noise makers.
I have no pity for noise makers. So these two were having a row. Noise is a good way to make someone hate you enough to blow your f***ing head off. Your argument is not good rick. He got what was coming.
‘Really’ talks out off his ass, loud pipes are deliberate – a dog barking is not
no one likes being woken up at night whether its by loud pipes or loud dogs…
I choose to ride a motorcycle, I choose to take the risks. I don’t ask other Americans to suffer obnoxiously loud noise just because maybe loud pipes will save MY life.
I am the one choosing the risks of two wheels, then I want to make others suffer so I can reduce those risks for myself? Whatever.
Buy a 139dB Stebel horn. LOUD HORNS SAVE LIVES!
Loud pipes do not save lives, but they DO inflate the ego of idiots. I have a stock exhaust one one bike, and an aftermarket on another. The after market is louder than the stock, but one question I have is this; Why is it NOT an issue when a car has a modified exhaust, but a bike does. True, the cruiser crowd tends to be the worst offenders (I ride sportbikes), but it should be enforced the same way on both sides. As far as the rope and wire idea, go ahead and do it. I’m sure the a*** ****** you’ll get in prison for attempted murder will be more than worth it. This story ISN’T about the loud pipes, it’s about one lunatic shooting someone else. If he was following taxi’s and video taping them, he sounds like an A1 nutjob who was only slightly hinged before he shot that kid.
It’s time to put a stop to the loud motorcycles. A small minority are allowed to disrupt the lives and nerves of the majority. Noise ordinances should be strictly enforced. Civilized cities stopped the redneck morons from polluting our air with poisonous cigarette smoke, now it’s time to start on the motorcycles.
We’ll always ride loud mark my words !!
So I just have to say that I ride a cruiser with cobra dragsters. They sound amazing and they have a nice loud deep rumble… As for loud pipes save lives? I dont know, it has not done anything but help me thus far and I like the sound. I would however like to point out one thing. If someone can have a little rice burner honda with a tin can exhaust that is almost 2 times as loud as mine and someone can have their dog barking all night cool more power to them. They are expressing something. I think the tin can exhaust is retarded and I dont like yappy dogs but those other people do. If someone can burn an american flag and not go to prison for treason because its a freedom of expression being enacted then dammnit I should be able to express myself with loud pipes per the bill of rights. that whole thing about this nation being founded for the persuit of happiness??????? just my 2 cents.
Trashy Bikers
As a person who doesn’t seem to like the current motorcycle craze I have found myself wondering why. Is it the noise? Well, that doesn’t help. These days it seems a majority of people have obnoxiously loud exhaust on their bikes. But the same can be said for many trucks in the Northwest Arkansas area. Although they bother me I don’t feel the same animosity towards them as I do the bikes, so that may not be it totally.
Is it the people themselves? I have spoken to many people who ride bikes and although there are groups of them that are just really foul people, a large number of them seem quite normal and some quite educated and successful, really quite likeable people. No, I don’t really think it’s so much that.
Is it the appearance of the bikes? Obviously not, some of them are quite beautiful, amazing really, so that’s not it.
So what is it? After careful thought and consideration I have concluded the following.
It’s not so much the people or the bike themselves that create my anxiety it’s what they become when they come together and what they historically represent.
It seems that when people get on their bikes, the “cruisers” specifically, they transform into an outlaw biker “want to be.” That is very perplexing to me. Why would anyone want to emulate a murdering, raping, lying, thieving, drug dealer? They dress up in their black leather with all their patches, bandanas and all their gangster apparel and set out to appear to be something they are not, or at least I hope they are not.
They behave differently then they normally would too, again or at least I hope. They reeve their motors in a desperate attempt for attention. They drive and park their bikes in places they normally would not dream of just because they are small and can fit. When large groups of them get together they get a mob mentality, doing and saying things they normally wouldn’t.
Really it’s the fact that they are imitating a criminal element that bothers me. Is that really what they aspire to be? Come on you can enjoy a motor bike ride without all gangster accoutrements. Actually if you want to feel the wind in your hair, smell the smells and be closer to nature without all the trappings of a car or truck you can do it without all the noise and funny clothes. Actually with quieter exhaust you won’t scare the animals away and you might be able to see and hear a little more nature. There seem to be many appropriate clothing options that are safe and don’t make you look like a criminal. I hear the arguments; “well people shouldn’t judge a book by its cover” or “assume a person is bad just by the clothes they wear or how they look.” That all sounds great but, that’s just the way people are wired. It’s a defense mechanism we all have hard wired into us. If it looks like a shark and swims like a shark it’s probably a shark.
Also if your concerns are fuel economy, I’m sure the there are a lot better options then a Harley Davidson or some of those other hopped up customized bike. Lots of times when people alter their exhaust systems to make the bike louder their fuel economy goes down and if they don’t do it right and don’t change their injectors in some applications it can even affect the overall performance of the bike. That’s why you hear so many of them back firing, popping and basically sounding like poop.
So there it is, my argument in a nut shell, don’t try to be something you’re not and don’t glamorize and glorify the underbelly of our society. There are so many other worth while things you can aspire to be.
If its too loud your too old, and should shoot your self you whinny bitch. Anyone who justifies murdering a person just because their annoyed should be shoot for intolerance.
(24) Earth, i am in total agreement with you! and i ride a motorcycle!!! there is this f**k you mentality ie: “i have every right to do as i please. there is an arrogant disregard for others rights. all you have to do is go to a Mainstreet anywhere USA on any weekend, the kind of street with quaint little shops and cafes and watch these idiots with their open piped chromed machines riding up and down the street looking for a parking place. apparently these bikes dont idle very well either, because its mandatory blip the throttle incessantly. what ever happened to a little consideration??? im mainly put off by the open piped jobs that are ear splitting, there is just no purpose for that at all!!!
Earth, nice post, but you think too much. I don’t think everyone who saddles a Harley is a wannabe outlaw 1%er. It’s more like “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” mentality that prevails. Leather is essencial protective gear.
As for the obnoxiously loud pipes, what else is new? Seems these days, EVERYONE has a mentality that whatever they want to do, it’s their right regardless of their action’s or decisive impact on the rest of society around them. Look at the stereo systems kids put into cars & trucks these days, where you can hear the bass from a 1/2 mile away. And to add insult to injury, they listen to heavy bass “rap” which they might not even like, but it makes their system boom more.
“Extreme” everything is the direction we’re heading in- in every aspect of life. Everyone pushing the envelope more and more is a desperate attempt to stand apart from and impress as many people as possible.
Why are new homes 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and have 3-story foyers with 50 bulb chandilers? WOW factor. We’re all having FEWER kids these days! But to many, this is progress, an improvement. A better life.
Why is every car and truck sold today (despite the recent push towards smaller and more efficient) boasting MORE horsepower, BETTER handling, and faster and faster 0-50 MPH stats? Have motor vehicles been too slow?
Hello all,
I like to thank you all, out of all the forums, blougs and other sites I have been to you guys for the most part were very civil. I truly liked Earths response. It was very insightful and real. One thing though Earth, if we don’t have loud pipes to scare away the animals we may have a different situation altogether, keep in mind we only have two wheel so it’s easier to be come unstable if your tire is slipping in guts also remeber we are on the outside of our vehicles and unlike a car that can survive a antler to the windsheild I don’t think many of us can survive one to the chest.
Here is my concern with all this in a nut shell.
I don’t like the look of OEM stock pipes. I prefer the look of short stubby straight pipes, I can live with out the noise but not with out the look.
The problem I have is this ” EPA fed law and the new 416-a bill” reason being is they don’t allow ne the choice to keep the style of pipes I have as long as I lower the sound. If the noise is the real issue why are they not giving me that choice?
It’s like someone mentioned were is my civil freedom? According to the constitution bill of rights, I have the right to own property and do with it as I please. Of course this doesn’t mean I can make noise and disturbe everyone but it should mean that if I don’t like big long pipes with clunky mufflers at the end I should have the right to change them to something of my choice as long as it is not going to disturbe others civil liberty. That is my issue with this motorcycle noise thing.
I do think people should pay close attention to this and if they agree with loud pipes or not pay close attention to the underlying affects you just might be giving your civil rights away, then you won’t be able to comb your hair a certian way or wear your jeans, over the top, think about it public schools now have uniforms, it is not mandatory yer but it is encouraged.
Earth, far be it from me to judge your opinions or to belittle you for them. However, it seems to me from reading your “nut shell” post, that you’re not quite sure what you think. You say bikers are trying to look like something they aren’t, then you turn around and start talking about them like they are what you fear.
The “funny cloths” you speak of are protective gear. If anyone has laid his/her bike down, they can tell you the value of leathers. Anyone who has had a bad sun burn on his/her head, will tell you why they wear bandanas. Golves? I’ve seen the skin on a ladies hand fileted wide open because she didn’t wear any gloves the day her husband crashed with her on the bike.
In a “nut shell” Earth, you don’t know what you think.
As for the “if it’s too loud, you’re too old” comment from B Random. That’s as ignorant as Earths rantings. Be sensable if you’re going to post an argument. I ride a very loud bike, and I know it’s loud. If anyone of my neighbors ever felt the need to talk to me about it, I would do anything I could to compromise with them. Until then, I will assume I ride my bike respectfully enough that they are not inconvenienced.
That being said, if anyone wants to try blowing my brains out for something so petty, I hope you have, or will, do the same for those losers who thump around neighborhoods at all hours without regard for anyones need for sleep and solitude. At least I fire up my bike during “normal” hours so as not to wake anyone or desterb there restful evening.
Doreen, I would like to comment you on being unbiased in your post. And what a well stated commentary on todays American society.
Bigger, better, faster, louder, flashier, more More MORE.
Glass houses.
Why are you people so starved for attention? What is it that is so lacking in your personality? Seriously, did your mother not hold you when you were a baby? Do you feel that the only way to get anybody to notice you is to be obnoxious and annoying and force your insecurities on the rest of the world? Grow up before you ruin it for all riders
………and you will!!!!
Fred I think the only insecure person is you, I think it is you that had problems when you were young. What was it did the other kids in school pick on you, were you ignored, did you become so affraid to be notice because of your insecurities that you have to pass them on to others?
We
shouldn’t have to be afraid to ride, no matter what or how. So I have to ask you what is wrong with you that your so afraid! did you live I’m another country where you were not allowed to live your life? What a shame that you buy something and your so afraid to enjoy it, do you conform to everything else as well!
Someone commented about dogs, they said that dogs don’t know any better. That’s true but their owners do! So if a dog is barking in the middle of the night all year long I would think it is just as bad as a biker ride past your house for a minute or two three or
four months out of the year! Why isn’t the EPA doing anything about that. Forcing owners to train their digs if they want to own them, why are they nit fining them or threating to confescate their pet. It’s the owners responsibility to make sure their dogs are not a disruptance to sociaty or does that only apply to bikers! Anyone or anything else can be a disturbance except bikers, bikers make some
noise, ticket them, kill them, run them out of town. Anyone else or anything else it’s ok.
It’s a predjudec against bikers either you fear us, hate us or want to be us. Does who want to be us but can’t hate us and does who hate us is because they fear us.
Seems like an aweful lot of hate wasted on something that is so “none of your business” and has no effect on you whatsoever.
It’s sad AND funny that some people think nothing of disturbing everyone around them with their barking dogs, loud motorcycles, and bumping stereos…because it’s what they want. What about what most of the rest of us want!!?? Peace and quiet, especially at home, is a right. Self-centered people’s need to disturb and disrupt the lives of everyone around them IS NOT A RIGHT!!! To each their own does not include disturbing the peace. There are reasons for noise disturbance laws. If people were considerate of other people around them, we would have no need for them, but unfortunately self-centered people who could care less about how they affect others create the need to rules and laws. Noise is a health issue. And the childish comments show what types of mentality the rest of us decent people are dealing with. It’s no wonder the guy got shot. People can only take so much, and those who are paid to deal with it need to do their jobs. The job is called being a peace officer for a reason.
Decant person I agree the right is not to disturbe others but to have the freedom of choice with out the disturbance of others. I would like one person to answer my question, without harasment or taking it personal, tell me if I was to lower the noise from my exhaust to 80 db would I and should I be able to keep my after market pipes?
The guy had it coming. Justice has been served.
The needless booming is ridiculous. The booming effects people on so many levels and it’s usually not positive, especially if it is forced upon us. There’s a place for that kind of loudness; like in the clubs or large designated areas for such noise, but to have to hear it in neighborhoods or apartment areas etc. it is absurd and should be against the law and as citizens we should be allowed to make a citizens arrest on folk who boom their speakers of which are really screaming that they are lifeless, womenless, worthless losers who want to disrespect the world in compensation for their plight due to their own laziness. What baffles me further is how often it’s usually silly white men who are trying to be down with ethnic folk by playing their bass so loud when we all really know that they would be somebody’s girl in the ghetto or in prison taking it up the booty and quite possibly being turned out in the process. I’m so glad I have found other people who also realize the how stupid these people are and are encouraging a stop to the wannabe gangsta generation of posers and never gonnabees. I could go on and on but I’m definately desiring and am willing to do whatever is necessary o put a stop to the needless noise and booming coming out of people’s vehicles & yes that includes that of some of those loud harley davidson motorcycles and the like. What a warped way to show machismo these days. These people don’t want to show how tough they are through hard work and focus but would rahter show it through laziness and loud noise. Count me in on the anti-noise, anti-boom, anti-punk wimp movement too. Lets do this thing and shut them sorry excuses for life down.