Engine noise and early starts
Discussion
I was in a similar situation a few years back, a car with marginally legal exhaust and 5:30am starts.
What I did was make a small restrictor / silencer. Basically a small tube filled with foam/sponge with a much smaller outlet than my exhaust. I would put it in my tailpipe (a snug fit) each morning, start the car, drive it out the garage, lockup then drive round the corner, where I would take restrictor out and then drive to work.
Something similar may help you. It doesnt have to be pretty, just some sort of insert you can quickly put in the tailpipe and remove once you have the bike a bit further away from your neighbour's house.
Somebody else might have a better idea, but this was something that worked for me.
What I did was make a small restrictor / silencer. Basically a small tube filled with foam/sponge with a much smaller outlet than my exhaust. I would put it in my tailpipe (a snug fit) each morning, start the car, drive it out the garage, lockup then drive round the corner, where I would take restrictor out and then drive to work.
Something similar may help you. It doesnt have to be pretty, just some sort of insert you can quickly put in the tailpipe and remove once you have the bike a bit further away from your neighbour's house.
Somebody else might have a better idea, but this was something that worked for me.
R8Steve said:
otolith said:
If a person wishes not to be aware of the normal activities of daily life going on around, he should go and live somewhere remote. At an old house, I had a neighbour who moaned constantly about noise. She told me that she had moved twice before to get away from noise - perhaps she should have considered who the problem belonged to and whether a modern terraced house with paper thin walls was the right place for her.
Exactly this, where do you draw the line. We live in a world where this kind of thing is just a fact of life. The milk man/bin man/person that washes the bin/fish van/someone next door doing diy/hoovering/etc all make noise at various different times. It's unavoidable and something you just need to deal with. If you can't, move to somewhere secluded where none of that happens.
As opposed to your solution which appears to be if somebody complains, make even more noise (at 5:45 AM)...
R8Steve said:
I think he is being unreasonable for complaining to be honest. You need to get to work for your start time and have every right to do so.
I leave the house about 5.45am every morning and would be pretty miffed if one of my neighbours complained about me doing so. My neighbours are extremely petty at the best of times so it would probably only encourage me to make more noise doing so!
I leave the house about 5.45am every morning and would be pretty miffed if one of my neighbours complained about me doing so. My neighbours are extremely petty at the best of times so it would probably only encourage me to make more noise doing so!
otolith said:
If a person wishes not to be aware of the normal activities of daily life going on around, he should go and live somewhere remote. At an old house, I had a neighbour who moaned constantly about noise. She told me that she had moved twice before to get away from noise - perhaps she should have considered who the problem belonged to and whether a modern terraced house with paper thin walls was the right place for her.
It's not 'normal' to have to put up with a car/bike idling outside for extended periods of time. If the OP is saying 'a minute' this probably means 5!Rewind back to several years ago when I had an LC with Swarbrick's I used to push the bike down the road, bump it and off I went. That absolutely wouldn't idle when it was cold and I wouldn't have dreamt of cheering everyone's morning up by filling the air with the sound and smoke, it was only fit for the paddock. Coming home I would cut the engine and roll in, seemed to make sense to me.
As for the comment about people choosing where to live does spending 'x' amount of money and living in an area which might be most suitable for the commute/family etc not afford them a bit of courtesy? It's hardly rocket science.
HertsBiker said:
Hi all. Question for you, a neighbour who knew I had bikes before moving in is now complain about my 6:30 to 6:45 start up.. The bike has a standard road legal exhaust, and is parked on my front garden. It is too heavy to move without the engine on as the path is sloped and awkward, am I being unreasonable starting it at this time and riding off a minute or so later? If I don't idle it, it stalls unless revved a lot higher, so I feel a bit trapped. Taking the car is a nightmare. Any suggestions please. If I'm really being out of order id like to know. Cheers all.
Explain the situation as you have here. You're being perfectly reasonable, have no other option and are a good enough neighbour to actually care. If I was the neighbour I'd buy some earplugs/fit double glazing rather than whining about your perfectly normal behaviour. It isn't as if you're holding wild parties till the early hours or pissing on his petunias.budgie smuggler said:
R8Steve said:
otolith said:
If a person wishes not to be aware of the normal activities of daily life going on around, he should go and live somewhere remote. At an old house, I had a neighbour who moaned constantly about noise. She told me that she had moved twice before to get away from noise - perhaps she should have considered who the problem belonged to and whether a modern terraced house with paper thin walls was the right place for her.
Exactly this, where do you draw the line. We live in a world where this kind of thing is just a fact of life. The milk man/bin man/person that washes the bin/fish van/someone next door doing diy/hoovering/etc all make noise at various different times. It's unavoidable and something you just need to deal with. If you can't, move to somewhere secluded where none of that happens.
As opposed to your solution which appears to be if somebody complains, make even more noise (at 5:45 AM)...
R8Steve said:
I think he is being unreasonable for complaining to be honest. You need to get to work for your start time and have every right to do so.
I leave the house about 5.45am every morning and would be pretty miffed if one of my neighbours complained about me doing so. My neighbours are extremely petty at the best of times so it would probably only encourage me to make more noise doing so!
I leave the house about 5.45am every morning and would be pretty miffed if one of my neighbours complained about me doing so. My neighbours are extremely petty at the best of times so it would probably only encourage me to make more noise doing so!
I don't complain about the bin men shouting and making a racket at 8am on a Sunday, it's just something you need to live with.
bestinshow said:
I'm with your neighbour on this one, especially if he has kids. I think starting it and then letting it idle for a while isn't helping.
Just because you have an early start doesn't mean he has to.
Agree with this, if the OP just started the bike and drove off then that is fair enough but letting it idle would be annoying (especially if it is a very quiet neighbourhood with little other background / traffic noise)Just because you have an early start doesn't mean he has to.
OpulentBob said:
R8Steve said:
The law for starters?
Is it?http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/your-environment/noise/r...
1 A motor vehicle (except a vehicle moving in or out of premises), lawn mower or other grass cutting device and any equipment or appliance not falling within group 2 having an internal combustion engine.
Monday to Friday: before 7 am and after 8 pm.
Weekends and public holidays: before 9 am and after 8 pm.
*Al* said:
I have bikes and early starts, just get kitted up sit on the thing and start it and ride off. You really shouldn't have to let it idle for any amount of time.
Depends on the bike. My FI Blackbird is good to go the second it starts up. My carb'd ZX6 was a f
ker on cold mornings- if I didn't let it idle for a few minutes the fker would stall at the worst possible moment ie trying to pull out from a junction. The bike was nearly new and setup perfectly- they all do that sir.yonex said:
otolith said:
If a person wishes not to be aware of the normal activities of daily life going on around, he should go and live somewhere remote. At an old house, I had a neighbour who moaned constantly about noise. She told me that she had moved twice before to get away from noise - perhaps she should have considered who the problem belonged to and whether a modern terraced house with paper thin walls was the right place for her.
It's not 'normal' to have to put up with a car/bike idling outside for extended periods of time. If the OP is saying 'a minute' this probably means 5!yonex said:
As for the comment about people choosing where to live does spending 'x' amount of money and living in an area which might be most suitable for the commute/family etc not afford them a bit of courtesy? It's hardly rocket science.
It's live and let live. If you can't do that, move. If you can't move, accept that you live in proximity to other people doing normal things. In the case of my former neighbour, she could easily have chosen an older property with thicker walls - and given that she was a thirty year old hypochondriac with no family who didn't work, a little thought would have made it easy for her to avoid noise. The people on the opposite side never complained - normal family with a couple of kids, and we never found cause to complain about their noise.
R8Steve said:
Yes.
http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/your-environment/noise/r...
1 A motor vehicle (except a vehicle moving in or out of premises), lawn mower or other grass cutting device and any equipment or appliance not falling within group 2 having an internal combustion engine.
Monday to Friday: before 7 am and after 8 pm.
Weekends and public holidays: before 9 am and after 8 pm.
And how about in the UK?http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/your-environment/noise/r...
1 A motor vehicle (except a vehicle moving in or out of premises), lawn mower or other grass cutting device and any equipment or appliance not falling within group 2 having an internal combustion engine.
Monday to Friday: before 7 am and after 8 pm.
Weekends and public holidays: before 9 am and after 8 pm.
i don't think you are being unduly unreasonable, but you could certainly make the situation better.
As stated by others, fix the bike!!! i'd be amazed if it had to be idled like that straight out of the factory, so sort it out. I'd also consider parking it on the road or at least in such a way that you have a straight run off the drive and also i'd jerry rig up some sort of removable baffle that you could use for a couple of hundred yards.
your actions may well be legal, but if i was a neighbour, i'd not appreciate it as it stands. If you are truly looking at ways to mitigate the issue, you have answers now.
As stated by others, fix the bike!!! i'd be amazed if it had to be idled like that straight out of the factory, so sort it out. I'd also consider parking it on the road or at least in such a way that you have a straight run off the drive and also i'd jerry rig up some sort of removable baffle that you could use for a couple of hundred yards.
your actions may well be legal, but if i was a neighbour, i'd not appreciate it as it stands. If you are truly looking at ways to mitigate the issue, you have answers now.
OpulentBob said:
Or, fix the motorbike so it works as it should (i.e. no need to leave it to idle) and everyone's happy.
I'm assuming you don't have a factory spec ZX7R. From cold with the choke out you either get 3000rpm or stall. It is "working how it should".I've no idea what bike the OP is using, but if it it something running on carbs I'd be tempted to use the noise issue an excuse to upgrade to something more modern/Honda.
R8Steve said:
OpulentBob said:
R8Steve said:
The law for starters?
Is it?http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/your-environment/noise/r...
1 A motor vehicle (except a vehicle moving in or out of premises), lawn mower or other grass cutting device and any equipment or appliance not falling within group 2 having an internal combustion engine.
Monday to Friday: before 7 am and after 8 pm.
Weekends and public holidays: before 9 am and after 8 pm.
(And anyway, the OP's bike would fail according to these regs and timeframes...)
Edited by OpulentBob on Tuesday 8th April 11:55
Not totally relatedto this thread, but close.
Why do bikers idle their bikes for ages?
I noticed at work that a new (2010) bikles was idling and sometimes blipping the throttle for 3 or 4 mins.
Its very common-more do this than dont, so there must be a reason?
Surely they do not NEED to do this?
Why do bikers idle their bikes for ages?
I noticed at work that a new (2010) bikles was idling and sometimes blipping the throttle for 3 or 4 mins.
Its very common-more do this than dont, so there must be a reason?
Surely they do not NEED to do this?
otolith said:
In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, I think we have to accept the OP's account of what he does, and not fabricate a situation in which what he does is unreasonable in order to accuse him of being unreasonable.
OP said:
I'm getting tired of the akra. Too boomy in quiet villages and towns, too attention grabbing everywhere. Annoying my neighbours at 6:30am.... So anyone refitted standard and liked it? Will I miss the 6bhp and regret the extra weight? Standard looks bloody good though, so no regrets on that angle
The OP had an Akra can on the bike and by his own admission replaced it as it was annoyingm that'll be annoying with a lid on. I wonder how long it had been annoying for everyone else? The fueling on the FZ8 is, IIRC a bit naff. This can also probably be sorted out? However it would be easy enough to park the bike facing up the drive start it and ride off in the mornings...which would solve everything for everyone
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