Motorcycle Man

I'm a fairly quiet person.   I prefer sweeping a floor to vacuuming it.  I prefer electric yard tools to gasoline ones (but love my gas-riding-mower for speed).   When I bring my portable stereo out to the garden to listen to music or a baseball game, I walk 50' away to make sure I can''t hear it from that far (so as not to bother the neighbors.

Not that they have the same concern, of course.  One plays music in their car so loud I can hear it indoors with all the windows shut.  Another neighbor 2 houses away plays loud music that does the same.  Another mows the lawn at 8AM every Saturday.  I get it, I'm SUPPOSED to enjoy hearing what they like (coff, coff).  

And it isn't that I'm getting older; I've always been that way.  I tend to think neighbors' rights end at the property line.  And it isn't that I have especially good hearing, it's average.  Noise intrusion here is better than when I lived in apartments.  There was always SOMEONE who needed 120 decibels to enjoy their music.  One time, I tracked down the source of loud noise and it was 3 stories above me.

So it "was" better than it used to be.

But then Motorcycle Man arrived somewhere down the street...  OK, let me say I'm not a great fan of motorcycle noise.  In fact, I understand that for some motorcyclists, part of the pleasure is the deep rumbling noise they make.  I worked in a department store auto-aftermarket section for a couple of years.  Guys would buy motorcycle exhaust pipes and return them because "they were too quiet".  Sure, who doesn't want insufficient and unnecessary noise?  😕

So Motorcycle Man drives back and forth on the street endlessly.  Over and over and over and over again (consider there be many more "over agains").  Almost all day with some brief breaks (meals, I assume).  All perfectly legal AFAIK.  But it is maddeningly repetitive.  He is like the neighbors' dog who barks and snarls endlessly every time I work in my garden.  Never-ending...

And recently, I noticed he was driving several different motorcycles.  I wonder if he has an unlicensed repair shop going?  I may just take a walk down the street when he is most active to see where he lives and see if he has set up a repair shop in the garage or something.  

I have a long history with motorcycle noise here.  For years, my next door neighbor would go to work on his motorcycle.  That's OK, of course.  But he would start it up in his driveway and spend 15 minutes doing stuff (cleaning and tuning?) before he drove off.  At 6 AM!

I asked him one time if he would do that IN his garage to reduce the noise slightly, and he did for a week.  But his wife complained about the increased noise, so he resumed doing it outside.  I fully understand that I ranked WAY below his wife.  Fortunately, he got divorced and moved a year later.

But apparently, every neighborhood needs a motorcyclist.  When my neighbor moved out, another 4 people moved in across the street and 2 of them were motorcyclists.  At least they just got their's going and drove away.

So, I've seen Motorcycle Man a lot.  He looks about college age.  If I am very lucky, he will be leaving soon.  If not, I am going to have to check County noise restrictions.  The noise is loud, but the repetitiveness is driving me nuts.  If he just WENT somewhere, it would be a normal part of neighborhood existence.  

If I could choose, I would prefer the snarling barking dog.  At least I have a fence between us.  And I escape that when I go inside...