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Looks like noise could be the downfall of Europe's current center of MX.
From Gatedrop.com: The future of Lommel MX track is in danger.
Gee, if only there was a solution for noisy MX bikes. Perhaps a system to drive motorcycles forward that doesn't rely on thousands of controlled explosions per minute. Maybe electrically driven, and comparatively silent...? Nah never mind. That's crazy talk.
Well, duh, just make the track electric bikes only. Problem solved, right ?
I don't want to be that guy because people these days will moan about everything, but 4 strokes didn't help the situation with their sound characteristics and the sonic boom every time they fire.
Another electric vs. anti electric thread
Oh boy. I’m dreading coming back to this thread.
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
quick before the trolls arrive!
Yep, Lommel will cash in the entries of the 5 Starks already delivered in Belgium and file for bankruptcy before Valentine's day.
Funny how 4 stroke street bikes don't make much noise.
Could it be possible that motocross riders and teams don't give a crap about that issue?
Haa, yeah, wait, if the bike loses a few db, it'll be harder to jump the triple.
Some people will cut off their noise to spite their own face.
If you're not smart enough to figure it out....it's not about the noise.
Agree! Why are 4-stroke engines so loud? My Honda CB650R is not loud at all, well yes, 650cc and not a highly strung but for sure, if it's matter of keeping tracks open or not, it must be better with 5hp less and a much quieter bike.
I rather have motorcross with 10hp less and all the fun it brings than closed tracks due to some fetish for loud pipes.
The problem is miserable people. Nobody that complained about noise ever stopped there. That may be the problem today but dont worry, they'll find another.
Looks to be surrounded by industrial buildings. Wonder if the houses to the north east of the track are newer developments ?
If I’m not mistaken. the track…which is for the most part in an industrial area…applies for an annual permit/waiver for sound that allows them to have events that are louder than the allowed noise stds. It looks like they may not be getting that permit/waiver anymore.
Some have implied that it’s not really about sound. Well, that’s possible. In that part of the world they’re very into the new environmental agendas and green thinking. On the other hand, there’s a sense of national pride in Belgium when it comes to their Motocross history.
Edit: I HATE SIRI! 😂
What is it about then? they say that the permit for running the track needs to have some restrictions changed and they said they need a few years to get the sound levels down. And that current manufacturers are" Working on the problem". Not sure if they mean electric bikes as the solution. But the article says that sound is the problem.
Even if somebody is using sound as an excuse to try and shut them down, reducing sound levels just gives those people 1 less thing to use against the track. And without the sound bothering people , I bet that they would get less support to shut down a track. If its not making a lot of noise, or dust, or runoff. Less people will be bothered by it, less people will think that having a track is an issue and then support can be swayed from against to for a track. You will always have people who just want to stop others from having fun. But if you remove as many of the reasons they try to use to shut You down, it makes it harder for them to gain the support.
It's really an odd place for a motocross track when you look at it from that perspective, but a historic track . The US won the Trophee Des Nations there in 81 . I hope they can figure something out .
A very fuzzy sat image from 2003 vs 2023. Safe to say the increased development in the area has simply brought more people and therefore more noise complaints.
That amazing looking facility to the southeast is Ford's Lommel Proving Grounds.
2003
2023
Wow
Wait so now the ice guys are saying quiet the bikes like electric? I thought they needed the noise cause their so core and need the noise for the experience. I’m fucking confused.
Pit Row
I was just looking at the Ford place on Google Earth. Its 850 or so acres or bigger! I would love to buy a place like that and make it into a motorsports paradise. But I spend too much time on here, and not enough time making $$ so its a dream for now. But imagine the fun that could be had with a place like that! Gas , Electric, whatever.
I've seen several tracks around the metro ATL and n. GA area close because of literally noise. My favorite childhood track X-Track was closed because of noise. I was at the courthouse when the owners met to defend their case. It was frustrating. Not many people came to support the track owner.
The first thing most people do with their bikes is to trash the OEM muffler and get a $1000 pipe/muffler system that has a lot more noise. Do they really need that extra couple of HP on their 450 which they rarely ever ride WFO? not really.
In the 90s and 00s there was a big push to get quieter bikes. Smart people innovated ways to drastically cut exhaust tone, such as with the DbSnorkel. It caught on for a while. Then 4-strokes took over and we forgot about noise.
I had to ride my bone stock 2016 KTM 500 EXC from Athens to Atlanta earlier this week. BIke still has the stock muffler with the perforated end cap in place. After about 20 minutes I was over it. I had earbuds in to block the noise, but the constant loud drone was tiring.
So even dual sport bikes are loud. It's no surprise tracks are getting shut down when people insist on running straight pipes on their 450s.
Single family residential is less than half a mile away. The track is clearly audible at that distance, and probably loud enough to generate complaints. Not complying with the law is a fast way to lose everything.
Less sound = more ground.
You can hear a stock litre bike on the pipe about two miles away.
Probably the most historic track in the world, one I've always wanted to ride, it will be a sad day when its gone.
Coolum in Australia just shut its doors. They had an investor who wanted them there but were shut down by the council as they want to use the land for industrial purposes. I'd bet my bottom dollar that this is the same for Lommel. Satellite pictures look the same of both venues except Coolum was as stones throw from hundreds of miles of great beaches.
Worry about not letting this happen in your own country and not appeasing the ever changing mob.
By the looks of those images its more about the owner of the land wants to make some real money.
It's not just MX, off topic but a friend's farther in law had a dairy farm just outside a posh small village. Been in the family for generations, some developers came along and built 50ish new houses. I'll let you guess the rest......people are #@&#@'s
If you or anyone here thinks this has anything to do with sound, I don't really know how to help. Right now millions of acres of land is being purchased across most countries for development and various other reasons. (off topic but you should be alarmed by some of it.)
The track may close because they cannot renew a permit or have noise issues, but the reason that the permit didn't get renewed will have nothing to do with sound. That'll just be the excuse.
Those of you who think noise isn't a reason for tracks & riding areas closing are either new to the sport or purposely have your head in the sand.
I know of at least 4 private tracks that have been shut down due to neighbors being pissed about the noise, not a single one has turned into some high dollar development or industrial area....the land is just sitting vacant now.
Yes...I know that the "no fun police" will always want to find a way to shut us down from riding but bikes being so god damn loud sure isn't doing us any favors.
https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/ihp9yf/land_owner_i…
This kind of thing is happening constantly right now. Buy all the surrounding land, rezone it, make the smaller owners go bankrupt, land for cheap. repeat. When 200 acres of cows doesnt produce as much as 200 acres of development, they'll seek to choke the landowner to death.
I have never seen it but someone told me thats what is going on in the TV Show "Yellowstone" or something similar.
Sound is an issue...honestly, its one of the biggest benefits of electric. But, noise is just the lowest hanging fruit for the NIMBY fun haters...take away the noise, it will be traffic, or dust, or crowds, or whatever else is the next lowest hanging fruit to complain about.
Really, the only way to fight closures (of private and public land and tracks) is for the moto community to come together, speak up, pay up and volunteer their time...without that, nothing we do will stop the closures. The moto community just doesn't care though...so we will keep losing riding areas (no matter how quiet our bikes are).
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