Homeowner tormented by antics of motorcycle-owning neighbors: ‘It doesn’t seem like [the cops] can do anything…’
A loud neighbor can be very annoying, but at least these noisy bikers didn’t escalate to dangerous behavior.
A Redditor recently provided an update after they asked for advice about how to deal with a neighbor who “liked to rev his engine at odd hours during the night.”
“Apparently it’s not one guy with a loud motorcycle, but a biker gang that rents out rooms,” the poster wrote of the “excessively loud” modified bike. “Three motorcycles, but only one of them is ridiculously loud. I can be asleep with earplugs in and it will wake me up at odd hours in the morning.”
They noted a police officer spoke with the neighbor and said he “understood why I didn’t feel comfortable talking to them,” as “they were acting very sketchy and evasive.” The cop also talked to multiple people who said they were renting rooms in the house.
Noisy motorcycles are a common enough problem, as many bikers and gearheads enjoy tinkering with their vehicles.
They may not be interested in switching to an electric motorcycle, but that would help the environment. Idling wastes fuel, damages engine parts, and aggravates respiratory issues.
One company in particular, Roam, is dedicated to producing eco-conscious motorbikes for Kenyans. Others, such as Verge Motorcycles and Zero Motorcycles, offer fast bikes that can travel great distances after short charges.
These developments are especially important since the two-wheeled vehicles emit significantly more pollution than cars.
Among the toxins they discharge, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons are polluting gases, and carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides can interact with other gases to form tropospheric ozone, a contributor to rising global temperatures. Particulate matter and volatile organic compounds play a part in acid rain and smog, which harm ecosystems.
To get rid of such damage-inducers in their neighborhood, not to mention noise pollution, homeowners may need to take circuitous routes.
“Call the town and find out if it’s a legal rental (usually code or construction office),” one commenter wrote. “There needs to be occupancy inspections and a certificate of occupancy in a lot of areas before it can be a rental. There’s also limits on the number of people who can be living there based off of the number of bedrooms. If they’re in violation of these things, then report it to the code official.”
In response to another user’s suggestion to keep reporting and documenting the nuisance, the poster said: “I asked [the police about the decibel limit for vehicles and for disturbing the peace in a neighborhood]. Music is a bit different, the officer explained to me decibel readings have to be taken by an officer to have any weight and they do not even have a decibel meter in their department (I have my own but it’s moot). That and they cannot really ticket for them revving it in their driveway. If it is on the road, an officer can ticket at their discretion.”
They continued, “I will ask about a misdemeanor, but from the officer’s explanation it doesn’t seem like they can do anything other than talk to them.”
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