We are frequently asked why this noise limitation applies, and we receive numerous phone calls and emails asking for exceptions and/or given justifications for why students should be allowed to use their bike, which has a modified exhaust system, in one of our classes. We have also had many students show up at the training site with a modified exhaust, even after we've told them that they must have a stock system at our training site.

The situation at Sand Point Magnuson Park is simply this: there are residences in the immediate vicinity of the Park, the owners of which will (and have in the past) call Seattle PD complaining about motorcycle noise in the Park. Naturally our training site is the first place SPD checks when responding to a complaint. We have been told that any student in one of our classes who is found to be in violation of RCW 46.37.537 (below), RCW 46.37.539, RCW 46.37.390, and/or WAC 173-62-010 through 060 will be cited. Further, if a violation is substantiated, Pacific NorthWest Motorcycle Safety, Inc. will lose the use of the Park's facilities as a training site.

The bottom line is that as far as we've been able to ascertain, all after-market exhaust systems increase the noise level above that of the original, manufacturer-installed exhaust system, and that increase in decibel level is a violation of WA state law.

We have personally contacted every major after-market exhaust system manufacturer (including: Screamin Eagle, Vance & Hines, Cobra, Two Brothers, Yoshimura, etc.) and inquired as to whether or not their product maintains the same noise level as the original factory-installed exhaust. Every one of them who responded stated that their product does increase the noise level of the bike from what it was when the factory-installed system was in place.

If we want to continue offering motorcycle safety courses at Sand Point, we have no choice but to require the use of factory-installed exhaust systems on any bike participating in one of our training classes.

Any student who shows up at our training site intending to use their bike in one of our classes (which is required in the Intermediate Rider Training courses), will have to submit their bike for an inspection prior to the start of the class. If the exhaust system is NOT a stock, factory-installed system the student will not be allowed to participate in the class and their registration fee will be forfeit.