I am most certainly not a SL supporter, I am jsut stating my OPINION on how I FEEL about the sound of exhaust whether it pertains to any of the vehicles mentioned. I do not own a loud boat (Four Winns 220 Horizon). But yes, my bike is rather loud (along with 1000's of others in this state), my snowmobile has been loud in the past, one of my jet skis (stand up jet ski) has an aftermarket exhaust system that is a completely different tone, however no louder than any other jet ski, etc. It's all personal preference. As I mentioned there aren't too many of the younger crowd against loud exhausts from my experience. Generally speaking, it is always the older crowd that gets upset with the issue.
I don't go out with a state of mind to annoy people. I don't go through the center of town in first gear so my rpm's are at 7500 on my bike. I barely ever get on it after dark out of respect of home owners and people as well as safety. Same goes with everything else I own. There are times and places where some things are acceptable. It takes experience to start to understand that (when I was younger I didn't think twice about being annoying with my sled). Eventually, I'll be older and b*itching and moaning over some young buck who has a loud boat or loud bike (probably not, but maybe).
My point is, this has come to be an unenforceable law. LEO's do not have the proper training, nor equipment, to enforce a sound regulation. Attempting to take a reading in the field is next to impossible to enforce as there are so many factors to consider. I know this first hand as I received a ticket on my snowmobile for an aftermarket exhaust. I knew exactly what the law stated and knew it was basically unenforceable so I pleaded not guilty and won. Needless to say, I don't ride with an aftermarket exhaust anymore on my snowmobile because I don't want to go through the hassle, plus trails are always in danger of being closed because they are on private land. So who won in this instance? I didn't have to pay a fine, but it kind of forced me no to ride with a loud exhaust anymore? On the other hand, the lake nor the roads will never be shut down.
As said in the first place, it all comes down to personal preference and to each their own. Loud exhausts do not bother me so long as they sound nice. Simply my $.02
