What’s that noise?

Not my exhaust as we’ve been avoiding Mt Nebo and Glorious as much as possible due to ongoing exhaust defects by an officer at Indooroopilly Road Policing Unit.

Officer Wilkins, widely hated and blanket panned by motorcyclists for several years is coming up 60 years old (the retirement age for police) this year, you cannot fault a man for being extremely good at his job.

Exhibit A: rather than issue fines for noisy exhausts, he hands out defect notices for exhausts he deems “to have reasonable suspicion they are non compliant” thereby forcing the rider to have the bike cleared within 14 days or the vehicle can be deregisiered. This is in addition to regular reports that RE licence holders with anything other than a stock exhaust being pinged, primarily of an evening at Mt Coot-Tha lookout.

He knows how to stay on the right side of being found guilty of harassment of riders. He knows the laws pertaining to ADR and other laws relevant to motorcycle compliance. I don’t begrudge him that.

I don’t agree with one FB group printing out caricature stickers of Wilkins and even going so far as to deface public property by sticking them on poles at the aforementioned Mt Coot-Tha lookout. Is that really necessary??? Probz not.

Due to a large number of riders avoiding Nebo/Glorious, especially during the weekend boom time for the Mt Glorious cafe, the local police set up an information tent at the cafe and invited all riders to drop in for a defect notice free chat. Not surprisingly many declined, I can see why.

I do believe my exhaust would pass a decibel test but Mr definitely won’t 👀 so we avoid the area best we can. Motorcycle Advocacy Group Qld have started a petition and given assurances the targeted focus on bikes temporarily cease largely based on the level of complaints QPS is receiving not only from bikes but from the cafe owners. This now becomes an encroachment on the cafes livelihood and that is not ok.

The cafe is an innocent party, they have signs up asking bikes not to tear off out of respect for the neighbouring residents and this is generally adhered to. They know a significant amount of their weekend takings is bike related. They welcome bikes and other vehicles that stop there. Even the cop in question I dare say.

No one likes a fine and no one wants to spend $40-$100 getting a bullshit defect notice cleared either. If it passes, you don’t get reimbursed by the police and there is not much stopping the police from pulling you over and making you get tested again and again and again. You’re out pocket for literally nothing.

Bikers contribute to the local economy of businesses … small businesses, mum and dad businesses, country businesses, charitable businesses and struggling businesses. We eat, drink, refuel and stay all over the country. Any business that can capture motorcyclist interest is going to find the same people returning time and again, often bringing new customers with them. Such is the nature of the bike community.

So instead of buying a house on any motorcycle mecca mountain THEN whinging about the noise & wasting valuable police resources, consider your nearby cafe, souvenir shop, motel, towing company, mechanic or petrol station and the impact it has on them. If it’s our fave place for Sunday brunch eggs bene then it’s likely yours too. That closes, everyone loses, including you.

I know there are dickhead riders on every mountain, overtaking on double white line blind corners, booting it 40+ over the speed limit, crashing and just being a nuisance. That is not the majority. If we stop pointing fingers at noise instead of safety then what is the point of the police at all????

We will continue to ride the GC hinterlands until this stops. We are not alone on that, do what you will with that information. He’s a bike cop with no heart for bikes, that’s the saddest part of all.