Muffle that motorcycle

Ahh, spring. The sun is shining, the air is fresh and filled with the sound of - motorcycles?

Once again, when the weather turned from winter gray to glorious spring this month, it didn't take long for a few showoff Eastern Iowa motorcyclists to fire up their overly loud choppers.

As problems go, exceptionally loud motorcycles might not be up there with health care, the global economy or world peace. But they sure can be annoying.

And even though it violates state law to operate a motor vehicle without a working muffler, even though the obnoxious, unmuffled noise from those vehicles violates local nuisance ordinances, it's largely up to cyclists to be good neighbors and put a damper on their decibels.

Which they should.

Noise ordinances in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids make it illegal, as Iowa City's code phrases it, to engage in “loud, raucous, disagreeable noises” that disturb neighborhoods or people in public places.

“It can be an annoyance,” Iowa City Police Sgt. Kevin Heick told us this week.

But because the noise is here-and-gone, police don't get many noise complaints about loud motorcycles, Heick said.

When they do, it can be difficult for police to investigate, even though there's little doubt the loud noise disturbs the peace.

By the time police arrive on scene, the offender usually is gone.

That makes this particular violation difficult to enforce, Cedar Rapids police Sgt. Cristy Hamblin agreed.

Hamblin told us unless the offender lives in the neighborhood or travels the same route every day, it can be hard for police to catch up to them.

We suspect but don't pretend to know all the reasons that compel some motorcycle riders to subject others to their purposefully loud machines.

Hamblin told us she didn't want to stereotype, but “you don't see a lot of older people doing it.”

“A lot of times, if you've got a cool bike, you want everyone to know you've got a cool bike,” she said.

OK, we know already.

According to the anti-noise advocacy group NoiseOFF, illegal exhaust systems on motorcycles are some of the most common sources of noise pollution in this country.

And, the group points out, that unwelcome sound can be more than annoying or distracting. Under the right circumstances, it can be downright painful, even physically harmful.

People continuously exposed to excessive noise can suffer hearing loss, mood swings, hypertension and depression. They may experience elevated stress levels, loss of sleep or productivity. Noise pollution is a serious public health issue, according to that group.

But if your neighbors' nerves and well-being aren't reason enough to muffle that sound, consider: It's against state law to bypass or cut out a muffler, or to operate a motor vehicle without a working muffler at all. If police do find you, your unmuffled or improperly muffled vehicle gives them probable cause to stop you.

But why wait for that to happen? Just stop it, already.