Nope - it's illegal. I called about it after last weekend's crotch parade. The cop that I spoke with said it absolutely drives them crazy, and it's in fact illegal, but that they rarely cite them because the bikers take off and they can't exactly chase them through downtown neighborhoods for something so relatively minor. Loathe them.

When the bike is parked an officer can ascertain whether the muffler system has been illegally modified. The standard mufflers that came with the bike are required to be legal, but owners can easily get 3rd parties to modify the exhaust system to make the sound lower and louder.

This is a simple issue of enforcement. Many police officers are motorcycle riders or enthusiasts themselves, including our own Raleigh City Manager.

There are regulations regarding noise from vehicles, but catching the perpetrators in the act is very difficult. If you can get a tag number often our officers can at least contact the owner and try to get them to pay attention to what they are doing in a residential area. The post below is also correct, but often the case is not an illegally modified muffler, but simply improper operation. Please try to stay in touch with your local district police station and they will do what they can to reduce this problem.

Sorry, I don't buy the City's "improper operation" statement. We're talking about a handful of motorcycles that you can hear 3-4 blocks away. These illegal exhaust systems don't have a quiet mode, if the bike is accelerating at any speed it is any annoyance for everyone around.

I understand the difficulty in pulling a bike, if it decides to evade, but can officers just mail tickets, if they get a license plate? I would think that it would/should be like a red light camera. A duly appointed City official observes the infraction, and that's it--ticket mailed to license plate. Why can't this happen?

Because I think this problem can be solved and the City of Raleigh seems to want to avoid addressing the issue.

Yesterday about 15 of these vehicles made a trip through my neighborhood. I know Mr. Allen by sight and did not see him in this group. These motorcycles have been altered to be noisy plus they are usually in violation of speed limits. The noisiest of them can be heard far away; then they do their revving up thing then do a few popping backfires. Maybe the chief could set up a detail using some police motorcycles. To me, they are more of a nuisance than the prostitutes. The night I called the police, the noise levels went way down when the police car entered the area. In fact that was my first clue that the officer was nearby. Thanks for everyone's comments.

Pat - I am in TOTAL agreement with you!! It's a city, we're downtown, there's noise, sometimes there's a LOT of noise - no one needs to explain anything to me - I get it. But when these yokels are drag-racing down New Bern, Person, Blount - repeatedly - that's a problem. When I called last weekend - after listening to them the entire day and well into the night - they were pooled along all the fast food restaurant parking lots on New Bern - many of them drag-racing down Tarboro, New Bern, Edenton...and nary a police car in sight.

I have asked Capt. Craghead and Capt. Niemann what can be done here. Please understand that though it is clearly a problem, this particular crime will always be a lower priority than other, more serious offenses, so often when an officer is dispatched to respond to an armed robbery, assault, rape, or some other potentially violent crime, they will not be available to respond here. We cannot station a police officer in a cruiser in the areas affected. There are simply not enough officers on duty at any one time to do this without affecting our response to other, more serious crimes. There is no attempt to avoid the issue here and I believe it is unfair to our officers to characterize it in that way. Our Police Department is aware of this issue, and they are aware that it is an increasing problem. The solution however, is neither simple nor easy nor quick. This is a difficult crime to respond to effectively, and there are a number of legal issues (equipment violation, noise violation, felony elude, rider vs. owner, etc.) that come into play. Our Police Attorney is considering these issues and will advise our District Captains what can be done here within the limits of our laws and the limits of our ability to catch these perpetrators in the act. I will update this post when there is more to report. For now, I will leave this issue open until this information is available.

I keep hearing how understaffed RPD and other City offices are on issues of lesser immediate importance. What I don't get is this--wouldn't ticket revenue from increased enforcement of them (noise, bikes, trash, speeding, signs, etc.) pay for additional salaries? Let's say RPD has an entirely new branch devoted solely to quality of life issues. I certainly think each officer would write enough money's worth of tickets a day to cover himself. Heck, just do a pilot program to see. I see a lot of frustrated citizens on here and not many solutions. Sounds like a legitimate idea to me.

I think Tarboro is the newest drag racing strip for these guys... they like to race from New Bern to Milk.

The reason they like doing it that way is because if the cops try to pull them over, they shoot down to 40 and take off.

It doesn't really work like that. Civil citations result in fines that, by state law, go to the local school district, not to the City to pay for police salaries. For every criminal citation there is a court proceeding, which involves substantial cost both to Wake County to fund the courts and requires the officer to be present in court. Any fines we now impose, even if they were to all come back to the City (which they don't) only cover a portion of the cost of investigating, issuing and following up in court on each citation. It is also our job to prevent crime, not simply cite people for committing it, so a system by which the Police would be funded by fines would be counter-productive and turn that prevention emphasis on its ear. The City has already instituted a Community Policing system, wherein every District has a Community Policing officer whose job is to handle most of the quality of life issues in the district and work with citizens one-to-one to solve problems. The Southwest District actually has a second officer working on little more than nuisance party and noise ordinance violations. But, there are so many things - noise, loud vehicles, bar and restaurant issues, abandoned cars, homeless issues, illegal parking, disruptive rooming houses, etc. etc. etc. in each district that there is no way that only one issue can demand the full attention of the district staff. We do special projects, and this may end up being one, where resources are diverted from other people's problems (to their dismay) to concentrate on one like this. It is always a balancing act and citizens are never willing to pay, in the form of property taxes, for enough police officers to provide instant response on every issue at every time. The District Captains have a very tough job deciding how to allocate their officers every day. Public Safety (Police and Fire and 911 Center) now account for 100% of your property taxes. The entirety of the remainder of the City's budget is paid for via fees, sales taxes, and interlocal funding coming from the State or Federal governments. So you as citizens have already made a huge commitment to keeping the City safe, but, unfortunately, it is not enough for us to have officers on duty who can concentrate on one issue without sacrificing someone else's priority in the process. Please understand they are working hard to figure out a way to solve this problem and are doing their best to balance everyone's needs in the entire district. Thanks for the information on where the problem is concentrated. That will help us develop a plan.

@ Traythug,

They are also drag racing on Saturday nights along the long straightway on West Morgan Street from the Charlie Goodnights to Glenwood Avenue. I was woke up last weekend to revving motorcycle engines with motorcycles side by side going at least 80-90 mph. I'm waiting to turn on the news one morning to hear someone has been killed. We get the same info from the police about them being understaffed. A neighbor of mine told me this has been going on for a couple of years, and they just quit calling the police because it would take an hour or more for them just to come out. I do think citizens need to keep posting this problem here though, as the Raleigh City Council also gets to see the SeeClickFix issues.

Are there really that many violent crimes, rapes, and assaults happening in the CIty of Raleigh? The City response is making it sound dangerous. Where can we find the list of all these rapes, assaults, and violent crimes that are apparently happening? The only time I see cops in my area of town is weekday mornings around 7am when there are 5 or 6 cop cars around Brueggers Bagels.

Information on major crime statistics in Raleigh is available here:

http://www.raleighnc.gov/home/content/Police/Articles/CrimeStats.html

This does not include the times when police respond and either find no crime has been committed or prevent a crime from being committed, when they meet with community groups to promote safety, go to schools for educational events to reduce drug crimes or handle accidents. Raleigh Police responded to 265,801 dispatches last year. This is an average of 728 calls per day or on average one every two minutes.

Okay, think about this.

1st Physics...there is no car in the world that can accelerate and turn as quickly as a motorcycle. Something to do with power/weight ration. So, police with Crown Vics are pretty much stuck trying to get a license plate in a second or two. If the bikes want to get away, they are gone....

2nd, what about police motorcycles? Do you really want chases of up to 100 miles an hour through our city streets for what is, essentially an improper equipment charge? Is trying to reduce noise in the downtown worth the injury, death and destruction that could ensue?

3rd, the only way the police can figure out if motorcycles have altered exhaust systems is to get them to stop on their own volition. See #1.

Last...ncsugrad09's remark about the police and bagels. Way to get the RPD on your side. Smart...

Apparently DTR Rocks thinks the drag racing motorcycles in Raleigh is cool and is way smarter than the rest of us. The insult after the lecture is really mature. I commend these citizens for reporting there experience and wanting to make Raleigh safe.

All I know is the motorcycle rally weekend before last in downtown Raleigh was OUT OF CONTROL with the noise. I have never heard a rally that loud. I live out Glenwood and could hear it! I have seen other motorcycle events downtown, none were like this last one.

Cool, so we should do nothing and ignore the problem, DTR Rocks? Brilliant.

Wow, so my opinion is 'lecturing' because I try to point out some of the practical roadblocks to this, and happen to believe this is an extraordinarily tough nut to crack?

My issue with the line that most of the posters have here is that there is a lot of complaining with little to no practical ideas to take care of the problem. I am not wild about the motorcyle noise...I live right on Dawson Street and our issue is the Cruisers downshifting for the stoplights . (Especially at 2AM :))

BUT that is part of living downtown and I am not bothered enough to believe that it is worth dragging away police from other issues. For example, if there is a mugging outside my door, I would hate to think that they are off fruitlessly chasing down a motorcyclist in a dangerous high speed pursuit over an exhaust modification.

So, how about some practical/cost-effective suggestions? Is it worth setting up road blocks on a summer weekend in downtown Raleigh to check equipment on vehicles? Would have to shut down side streets too. And, can't just check Motorcycles, cause that would be profiling. Would back up traffic for quite awhile too. Are we willing to put up with the inconvenience and/or re-allocation of resources?

Simply put, which is more important?

And, maybe more cost-effectively, has anyone thought about reaching out to the biking community? Most motorcyclists are law-abiding,and really hate the few who give them a bad name. Not to mention the Ray Price Harleyfest in September is one of the more fun events to take place on Fayetteville Street.

So, are those who complain about the noise willing to make a personal connection, face to face with the police and the biking community? Spend a large part of your own personal free time to solve this, instead of just taking potshots at the RPD?

Every time I have had requested assistance, the RPD has always been willing to help. But I know where I am in the level of importance. For example, I request assistance in moving an abandoned vehicle in the street, I know it is not at the top of their list. But, eventually it gets taken care of.

And I am NOT going to apologize for believing that you have a much better chance of getting assistance if you build bridges and approach things politely. Not by insulting those who would help you by making a crack about only seeing the police crowded around the bagel shop.

Pretty sad the RPD officers dont know the cty's own laws..

The bikes violate EVERY noise ordinance in the city of raleigh.

Pull out those SPL meters you all bought with our tax dollars and find out!

(any noises exceeding 55dBa after 11pm violate the city noise ordinances.)

Downtown District and SW District officers have been operating a special project around this issue. No violations have been observed by the DTD Officers in regards to the loud motorcycle complaints on Bloodworth, nor have they observed any drag racing on West Morgan Street . The officers will continue to look for these specific violations. If they catch anyone in the act there is a specific subsection of the Prohibited Noises City Ordinance that may actually be enforced with these specific complaints so we will attempt to issue a citation if we can (Sec. 12-5007(c)).

I think you mean section D.

Actually C is relevant. It is the ability to cite for nighttime disturbance that will give officers the ability to issue a citation using the complaints that have already been filed on SCF.