The future of Lommel MX track is in danger - NOISE

It would be dangerous without noise, how would you know when another rider is going to send it up the inside

Sigh. Gonna miss that joint. Had a lot of fun times raging there….. oh well. 

Looks like the same old story, build near an existing facility then complain about it…..

However it’s often complacency on the track owners/ managers part that leaves them with no defence. They need be proactive from the start by reducing every opportunity to complain, but by also having a legally written letter that is submitted to the local authority every time there’s a development application nearby.
The authority may still ignore the track’s concerns, but at least when it comes to crunch time, you have a legal paper trail and something to argue. The authority then has an obligation to resolve the matter to the satisfaction of all parties, not just a list of complaints about the track.

Lommel is the Glen Helen of European motocross.  Hopefully it will never close, it's near an industrial park and just about every factory motocross team is located near or across from the track.

BUT there are other tracks just as brutal with deep sand, Arnhem comes to mind as well as a place like Heerde.

Let's hope that it stays open - in the meantime, remember to re pack your mufflers  to prevent excessive four stroke noise. 

If your muffler is way too loud we all suffer at the hand of people to want to shut all off road racing down...

How about we send everyone who doesn’t like the noise some earplugs, that tracks been there how long ? What is it about noise that’s  sooo...... goddamn offensive ?  The problem isn’t noise the problem is people that are convinced motorcycle noise is somehow destroying their quality of life, and even worse are those in charge that have the power to shut tracks down all based on some noise complaints. How many thousands of people enjoy the track vs how many people are complaining ? Everyone wants to blame “loud motorcycles” , I blame the the people who are crying about it,  the silence loving minority who seem to have more power over the decision makers than a thousand times as many motor sports enthusiasts, and those in charge. It’s so backwards it drives me nuts. Guess this nonsense isn’t just a Ca. thing.  Sorry you guys over there news like this SUCKS 

I agree.  Why are we still giving the whiny people what they want? What happened to people being told "No"?  What happened to people standing up for their sport and not running away and giving in to the globalist agenda and buying electric bikes

Noise is a big problem. The globalists are not

E bikes provide a possible solution to the problem of noise, not the only solution 

He was going to t-bone Canard no mather what bike they were racing. 

The only reason "Noise is a big problem" is because people are complaining about it. Never mind if the track has been operating for years with no problems, if someone moves within earshot and complains, suddenly it's an issue. The whole concept makes me want to punch someone in the face.  Move next to an airport and guess what, you're going to hear airplanes. Move next to a train track and you're going to hear trains. Move into a beach house and you're going to hear waves, and you're stuff is going to rust and corrode three times as fast. Those scenarios happen all the time. I don't see airports shutting down or trains getting cancelled. But move near a racetrack and the racetrack has to go ? Fuck that, and Fuck them. Not sorry if I sound pissed, this new breed of humans that seem to think their owed some sort of peace and quiet when they move next to something that's been there for years can suck my left nut. If I ran the zoo they'd all be told to sell their houses and move because the track was there before them. The fucking balls on these entitled pussies, "I'm here now this horrible motorcross noise has to stop"  Fuck em all. Yeah no shit you can hear motorcycles, you moved next to a motorcycle racetrack brainiac.  Oh wait that's right the whole goddamn universe revolves around you and your right to quiet. Shut up with that shit I'm so fucking tired of it. I live right next to Camp Pendleton, we hear bombs and helicopters and ospreys and jets all damn day and night, no ones talking about moving or shutting the base down, but if it was a racetrack oh fuck no that shit needs to be shut down right the fuck now. It's horseshit. 

 And yes I realize there's no turning back, the new generation of softies is here to stay, but no one will ever convince me that loud motorcycles, dragsters, and race cars are the problem. The problem is the assholes who are whining about it and think the whole world needs to change to cater to their petty wants and desires.  What happens when they can hear 100 generators running all day to charge the new quiet (ie: boring) motorcycles ? You think they won't complain about that ? If not that it'll be the dust or the traffic.  High density housing, public transportation, golf courses and shopping malls, that's the mecca for the new generation, how sad.  Enjoy racing while we can you guys, in 50 years motorsports will be dead. We'll still be listening to helicopters and airplanes and traffic and sirens all day and night, but at least that pesky motorcycle noise (1 or 2 times a week and only in the daytime by the way) will be gone.  Fuck quiet, the world isn't quiet, get over it.   

ICE bikes are dangerous, they should be banned!

Same as what's going on in the UK. Developers buy land next to a track as it's cheaper. They then build houses and start complaining about the noise, and encouraging new home owners to do the same. Track gets shut, and the land & houses go up in value.

Brands Hatch had houses built right near the track, then they had their permit slashed to a few races per year on the full circuit because of complaints from residents about the noise from the track they moved next to..

Rockingham Raceway got closed for the same reasons.

That "sense of national pride in Belgium" about mx doesn't extend to their politicians. The local MP erected a statue to Stefan Everts in his home town, then the same guy shut down his home track. Ask Everts how he feels about the country being down to their last few tracks despite it being their national sport; he's very bitter and rightfully so. It's the equivalent of the UK government shutting down all the football grounds or the US shutting all their baseball or football stadiums. Money beats history every time..

Same as Mallory Park, absolute scum. 

I can't recall which track, but a (fair few?) years ago a track owner / promoter in Britain's wife became a prime opponent to the track he ran during their divorce / break up. 

Thus, really screwing over said circuit, and Motorcycle / Car Racing there.

So many tracks / riding areas / music venues etc are 'ended' by new residents / developments. I do wish that existing usage took precedence, though, things do change.

Noise at Lommel? - yes, it will be (one of the things) used to shut it down.

I'd be interested to know Who owns the land it's on, and the vacant property across the road - Marie Curriestraat - and , indeed the vacant block that was the BMX track, and the little Road Safety training area just above it.

Now those areas of (relatively) open ground, must be worth a bloody fortune, in an ever growing / land restricted Industrial / Light Industrial area.

Money Talks - Bloody Loudly!

If the Lommel Club / whatever it is, only has a lease on it, well, whoever the owner is, could surely make a shedload more money from a sale of said land, or even further development, for much better leasing $$$$$.

Looks like I'll have to try to get to Lommel next year, for what may be a final GP, or even a 'flail around' the track myself.

Cripes I hope that relatively nondescript, almost flat sandlot (that's what the average person would regard it as),  stays on as a MX Race and Training venue. It's an Iconic Place. 

My favorite sound in the world is a factory 4 stroke 

How much noise is created during an F1 race?  Asking for a friend.

Follow the money…

Most normal people reckon 450's have power to spare, can't we put 'proper' silencers on them?

4 stroke singles sound shit anyway so losing a good chunk of the noise is hardly a problem is it?

We're not helping ourselves given how the bunch of pussies making up the general public expect everything to be near silent.

Repacking a straight through muffler isn't gonna help the noise problem to the degree that you think it will.

Imagine if the powers that be put the same effort and money into making a quiet 4 stroke as they put into electric bikes. 

Remember these ? It can be done.

Lommel had a noise permit for 113 dB for practice days, bikes are already louder than that, then from January 1st 2024 the limit decreases to 112 dB. 

Unfortunately the manufacturers and the FIM seem to understand a little late that noise is a real issue for the future of the sport. They have just agreed last week for 114 dB limit for 2024 and 112 dB for 2025. This means than in only a couple years they can shed 3 dB, if only they had done this earlier they could have saved more tracks.

Tracks can apply for special permits for events like GP, the issue is not international competition once or twice a year, the issue is for practice days without which the tracks cannot survive.

I wish they still made them.

We need a little more context.  Are those limit numbers (113d at the muffler of any and every bike?   Or at the property line?  If we're talking individual bike testing, neutral gear sensor specific testing maps are great.

Only track owner I know of that has beat the system of developments eventually shutting down their track is Arizona Cycle Park out of Buckeye Arizona.  He built it within eyeshot of a state prison, and a half mile away from the city landfill.    

Ok bay of doom lets all fold like a house of cards and let the babies have their way    lol

Speaking of bandaids on a broken femur I got this repair 3 years ago today    

True... I was not thinking of road racing tracks.. of course, a stock litre bike on the pipe will be heard in the city for 2 miles but then again, it's not on the pipe constantly at the same place...going round in circles. 

I'm sure the 250/450 4strokes could be much quieter if you would be Ok with losing say (pure guesswork) 5hp.

I read somewhere that the Honda guys hear Yamahas closing in just based on the sound (think it was Hunter in some interview) and Brian Deegan saying that Haidens bike is 'extremely loud'.

Sounds very h*llb*lly tuning to me, do you really need that much noise. Can't FIM/AMA just regulate it MUCH harder?

If it were here, I'd say it's because of the fans. Trash everywhere, obnoxious people at every hotel and restaurant within a ten mile radius, and rolling coal burnouts leaving the track. We've always heard the fans are crazy over there, but are they tornadoes of chaos everywhere they go? I wouldn't have thought so, but I don't know. 

 This has been talked about forever, in the 1970's "less sound = more gorund" was the catch phrase of the era, nothing has ever been done about it. Tracks and riding areas have been closed because of it. The manufactures have done very little about it and when a quieter pipe came stock it was immediately chnaged by the consumer to something with more performance and substantillay louder. Hard to believe anything will change now.

I've never seen one of these...
What's the backstory?

Is it all rubber?

One of the benefits to quieter 4 stokes would be bringing the HP back down to pre-4 stroke numbers.  No need for this much HP for great racing.
If they regain that HP through tuning (while keeping the DB's down) then fine.  But lets start with more stringent levels to adhere to.  Back around 2006 sound mitigating was all the rage, it seems to have gone by the wayside....?

You guys are talking in circles I've seen Jack shit change in attitudes over this over the last few decades. Nothing will change until we as a group start. Showing up to support in mass. 

We're just a minority group that's disorganized. When someone like a track tries to stand up. Nobody shows up to support they always have excuses on why they didn't work kids etc. What kind of message you think that sends to our enemies.