Loud bikers pay price in Port Dover

[speed]

Police say a crackdown on thunderingly loud motorcycles coming into Port Dover will continue now that the weather has improved.

Previous attempts this summer to set up spot checks outside the lakeside town to measure the noise coming from bikes' mufflers, and hand out fines if need be, failed due to pouring rain.

On the weekend, police and Ministry of Environment officials took advantage of the sunny conditions and took up on the eastern entrance to the town on Saturday and the western entrance on Sunday.

"The public really saw it as something that is needed," said Staff Sergeant Rick Tout, operations manager at the Simcoe detachment.

Twenty-four vehicles were tested, said Tout, and four people were charged with either having no muffler or creating unnecessary noise and fined.

Residents of the town have complained for years about the constant roar of motorcycles coming to town during spring, summer and fall -- a spinoff from the annual Friday the 13th biker rallies held in Port Dover that attract up to 25,000 motorcycles in a single day.

The problem stems largely from bikers who modify their bikes to deliberately make them louder.

As well, excessive noise is created when motorcycles accelerate to get up Brant Hill on their way out of town, said Tout.

Port Dover Coun. John Wells, who sits on the town's community policing committee, said motorcycle noise issue is "the number one topic being discussed almost every meeting" of the group.

"It's not one day, one weekend. It's a continuum that happens in our community . . . There isn't any end (to it) that you can see," said Wells.

Police used as their guideline 85 decibels, a standard commonly used in health and safety practices.

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One motorcycle, said Tout, measured 122 decibels.

Spot checks used in the past to curtail noisy bikes have divided the town. Some merchants say the bikers represent significant tourist dollars to the town and should be left alone.

Police will continue to do the roadside tests, said Phil Carter, interim inspector of the Norfolk OPP detachment.

"It's an ongoing program throughout the community," said Carter, who has been filling in for Inspector Zvonko Horvat while he participates in a nine-week training session in the U. S.

"Motorcyclists will get the message that if you go into Port Dover, you better have the right equipment or you might get into trouble," said Roger Vermeulen, a member of Norfolk's Police Services Board.

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Cheers,
Speed

[Blackpearlultra]

"Motorcyclists will get the message that if you go into Port Dover, you better have the right equipment or you might get into trouble," said Roger Vermeulen, a member of Norfolk's Police Services Board.

Sounds like a challenge to me