In response to letters from Hugo Rivas and Linda Wright (The Malibu Times June 23) regarding the riding of mufflerless motorcycles through Malibu and the surrounding Santa Monica mountains, I would like to point out that the defining issue is not motorcycles or motorcycle riders but excessive noise.
No one is claiming PCH or the surrounding canyons as their own private turf, these public rights of way are for everyone to use and enjoy. I feel certain if Hugo or Linda lived next door to a freedom loving person who wanted to exercise their right to play their 40,000 watt stereo at full volume all night while they were trying to sleep, they would see this issue of “rolling thunder” the way those of us who live, work and/or play along our canyons and highways do. Remember it is not just one loud bike passing by but an almost continuous caravan of hundreds if not thousands of mufflerless motorcycles creating waves of deafening intolerable explosive noise throughout the day.
Hugo made his point when he said in his letter, “The good old American way is getting away with all these new rules. I’m not changing my pipes.” If he wants to be an outlaw, that’s his decision and it is the sheriff’s job to chase the outlaws out of town.
To Linda, who thinks we are discriminating against motorcycle riders and that we should work with motorcycle rights organizations, I wish to inform her that virtually all of us working on this issue are motorcycle riders and enthusiasts. My committee and I have been working with the motorcycle rights organizations who themselves are concerned about this issue as it is hurting riders in populated areas all across the country. It’s not discrimination, Linda, if I took the muffler off my car and drove down PCH, I would get a ticket in the proverbial second. And as for notice, we are presently designing a poster and mail-out cards to inform the mufflerless community to “Ride Quiet.”
Dennis Torres
Committee for the Reduction of Noise Pollution