Council May Muffle Motorcycles, Calls Noise 'Source of Nuisance'

The City Concil moved to crack down on noisy motorcycles and motor scooters.

It asked the Chief of Police to confer with the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles and representatives of Harvard and M.I.T. in an attempt to curtail the noise, which it termed "a source of nuisance and severe discomfort."

The state registry is already conducting an intensive anti-motorcycle campaign in the Back Bay area of Boston. Over the past three weekends, nearly 300 citations have been issued, Richard E. McLaughlin, registrar, said yesterday.

Offenders were fined for faulty mufflers, McLaughlin said. The fine for the first violation is $25, for the second, $25 to $50; and for subsequent offenses, $50 to $100.

If the City Council so requests, the Registry will survey the motorcycle situation in Cambridge, McLaughlin said.

However, he noted that "I live in Cambridge and from my own observation, I haven't seen anything to put the city in the same league with the Back Bay."

City Councillor Bernard Goldberg, who introduced the Council order asking for police action, said yesterday "I'm not trying to cut out the use of motorcycles or motor scooters. I'm ust trying to cut down on their abuse."

Early In the Morning

He said that he had received a number of complaints about noise from cycles and that he himself had been "awakoned early in the morning and late at night by their exhaust sounds.