As the drag pipe crowd pisses off more and more citizens, voters are writing their lawmakers and police agencies demanding these loud bikes be stopped. New ordinances are being passed all around the country.

Most small towns can’t afford decibel meters for every cop, so many of them simply ticket anyone without EPA-stamped mufflers. Of course that puts all motorcyclists in a bad position, especially Harley riders.

It’s even worse for those (like me) who ride an older Harley, since OEM mufflers havent been made or sold by the factory for many years. Bike mufflers wear out just like car mufflers.

The irony of the loud pipe thing is that the worst offenders are almost all relatively new riders – “fadsters” if you will – who’ll abandon their newfound biker hobby the instant something cooler or trendier comes along (I’m betting on street snowmobiles), leaving serious lifelong riders to deal with the mess they’ve created.

http://bub.com/images/BUB-EPA-Stealth-Muffler-Stamp.jpg

*The EPA test is a drive-by test, so it would be very difficult for the average police officer to test an individual. So your right, having the muffler stamped makes the most sense for all.

A lot of cities across the U.S. are now using that (instead of a decibel test) as the only legal proof of compliance.

In other words, no stamp and you get a ticket, regardless of how quiet your bike is.