The one thing that Bengaluru super bike enthusiasts were dreading has come true. On Saturday bikes with modified silencers that showed a reading of more than 100 were seized in raids reported News9.
According to the report, Road Transport Officers in Bengaluru conducted raids on Saturday over bikes with an engine of 350 cc and above were siezed for crossing the permissible limit of producing sound from silencers.
Speaking on behalf of other superbike owners, Rohit Giri a racer from Superbikes Racers in Bengaluru said, "We don't think this is going to materialize. We aren't taking it seriously as of now."
"The first thing you have to ban is honking. The auto rickshaws and the government run buses are also adding to the noise pollution. Compared to them, we are hardly there." he added.
Ajit Daniels another superbike owner said "It is not the owner's fault if the manufacturer installs a stock silencer in the bikes which makes so much noise. The officers can't expect us to stop riding the bike.The latest update I got was that the police are slapping fines upto Rs 5000."
"The Harley Davidson riders and the bullet riders have started a mass movement on Facebook. The bullet owners club, Java and Yezdi owners club and the Harley riders club are teaming together for a ride from Cubbon park to the Secretariat soon in protest against the transport department's raid." Daniels told The News Minute.
An Economic times report of August 17, quoted KV Dhananjay, Supreme Court advocate saying according to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, geared and non-geared bikes generating sound cannot be registered and RTOs must revoke the registration and not disturb the bike owners with fines.
According to the ET report Lavelle Road's Tusker Harley-Davidson showroom spokesperson that they were unsure of the reason for the step taken by transport department. "We sell all our bikes that statutory approvals."
However, Joint Commissioner of Transport, Narendra Holkar told ET "We don't have time for legal battles. Issuing notices to bike manufacturers is not want we do, but we will act with the strong weapon called enforcement."
Watch this video of the raid released by News9