“Often motorcycles also rely on much smaller, higher-revving engines, sometimes leading to what is perceived to be a higher degree of noise. Quite often that is not the case, it’s just more high-pitched and noticeable,” he said.
Hancocks says bike manufacturers are doing their best to help out – most go to great lengths to ensure their bikes are as quiet as possible. “Unfortunately, that’s not to say they can’t be modified post-manufacture. All bikers have a responsibility to try and protect our hobby and way of life. It doesn’t take much effort to roll off the throttle a bit more than you approach a village.”
Edmund King, President of the AA, explained that it was illegal to modify a car or motorcycle exhaust system after it has been type approved – drivers who create too much noise are at risk of prosecution and invalidating their warranty. However, it is the job of the police and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to enforce.
“The DfT’s new technology is part of a drive to combat the nuisance of noise pollution from vehicles but more police on our roads would, in my opinion, be a more effective solution,” said King. “Thankfully, very loud vehicles will become less of an issue as we drive more EVs.”
Naturally, EV brands are already cooing the benefits of their whisper quiet cars. Polestar spokeswoman Beatrice Simonsson said: “Running silently on pure electric has so many environmental benefits. Not just zero emissions but sound pollution – the Polestar 2’s contribution is close to zero.
“This presents other challenges in terms of vehicle awareness for pedestrians, so we carefully engineer inobtrusive external sounds, alerting pedestrians that the vehicle is close. For reversing, we have created a bespoke pulsating sound while manoeuvring.”
