Riders: Ganaraska Forest has been having issues with loud motorized users. I was contacted about doing some sound testing in the forest. I am looking for 2 more people to help me out for 3-4 hours, Sunday June 2 at 9:00 am at P4 (Wilcox Rd parking area.) We may move to P3 if things are not busy at P4. I have the equipment; just need some people to help. If interested could you PM here, and I will get back to ya. Thanks, Paul Mooney
I'd like to help you out Paul. Not sure yet if I can do it on the 2nd though...... Can we do multiple dates? I'd also suggest P6 as well. There have been a lot of noisy machines up there this year & it's quite a busy parking area since it was upgraded.
We were there on Saturday and there was a lot of loud quads and a few loud bikes . Talking to them is useless . They don't seem to get the idea that loud machines are what is closing the forests to us
Thanks to Wudzryder and Ontario GS I have enough help for Sunday. I also have another person coming, so we will have a crew of 4. That should work out quite well. I can set up another date and we can test again, with some other people helping. The complaints right now are from Wilcox Rd area neighbours, thats why we are going there first. P6 is quite busy these days, and a sound check as people enter the forest would be ideal. I have sound level charts for ATV's as well as the bikes.
I was in there this past Sunday and parked at p6. I'm slow unloading and getting my gear on so lets say 15 minutes I was in the lot and heard 3 different noisemakers, all quads. A group of two wheelers made some comments about the noise but more needs to be done then comments across a lot. I'm not available on the 2nd but definitely will give some time for sound testing on other dates. Any chance some signage could be posted in other lots informing people of the sound testing taking place. I normally park in the south end of the forest and do very little riding near where I park other then to and fro. Hitting the busiest lot might be the best way to get the word out to the masses. Please PM me and let me know of any other dates being considered.
Ok, so you find a group of loud quads/bikes, they stop long enough and agree to you sound testing them, they register 100+db. Now what??? Will you have forest staff with you? What is your plan? What is your effectiveness other than telling a group that purchased louder than stock pipes for their machines and maybe purchased the day pass fee, that they should stay out of the forest? Make sure you have the right resources available!
Is it practical to have a "sound level checking" team working with police patrols? Do police have any sound level laws that can be enforced? What actual sound level enforcement power does the forest authority have?
My Thanks to Ontario GS and Wudzrydr from ODSC for giving up a day of riding and assisting with the sound tests in the Ganny today. It was an interesting day with a lot of constructive discussions. Thanks guys! Paul Mooney
Joe Considering the weather, it was pretty quiet (pun not intended) at P2 so, at 11:00 am we moved over to P6. I believe we tested 19 bikes & ATV's for memberships, spark arrestor's and sound levels of their machines. The 3 of us were volunteers so; we looked at our presence as education and awareness. In regards to the testing, we tested 19 machines and approximately 52% were in compliance, the ATV's were about 71% compliant while the motorcycles averaged around 42%. Riders were receptive to buying a decibel dog, spark arrestor or repacking their exhausts to meet compliance Everyone except 1 person already had a membership or a day pass with most flashing an annual Ganaraska Membership. It was interesting to realize that most riders weren’t aware of the sound level or spark arrestor requirements. A number of riders, young & old thought it was excellent that we had a presence. Paul plans to do it again in June. In response to the inquiries regarding enforcement, the only thing we can all do is educate our fellow riders in hopes of future compliance to keep the forest open for all to enjoy. As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, you can’t make it drink! Incidentally, no horses were tested in our sound level campaign.
Thats great there was so many compliant . Normally when riding we run into a bunch that are way to loud . Is there any way of adding a handout with the offroad passes informing everyone of the sound and spark arrestor rules?
A notice was included in the membership renewal but, I doubt many read it. We talked about different ways of trying to get this knowledge out to the masses!
