Noise complaints sees motorcycles banned on several German roads, prompting protest by German bike groups.

• Noise complaints by residents in Germany’s Feldberg region leads to motorcycles being banned on its roads.

• The ban will be enforced every second weekend of the month to serve as a “noise break” for Feldberg residents.

• In response, German biker group BVDM has put a call out to bikers to attend demonstration against the ban next month.

Motorcycles have been banned on several roads by authorities in Germany’s Feldberg region. This ban reportedly stems from numerous noise complaints by residents in said German region, and the restriction is set to last from this month until at least October this year.

The local authorities are said to be treating this restriction as a test of sorts, where they will study if an outright ban on motorcycles in certain roads is sustainable over the long term. What isn’t clear here are the exact parameters of the restrictions, including its application to electric motorcycles or not.

According to an article published by the Federation of European Motorcyclists’ Associations, motorcycles will be banned on certain roads in the region “every second weekend of the month, from April up to and including October.”

The implemented bans on motorcycles every other weekend aims to serve as a “noise break” for residents in said region, who seem fed up with the noise of two-wheelers zipping by. This decision wasn’t unanimous as some residents in the region rely on motorcycles to both commute and treated as valuable recreational activity.

Aptly, a number of motorcycle groups in the region are irked by this move, and reports indicate a demonstration is being organised on May 14 in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe. Leading this is a German motorcyclists’ organisation called BVDM, and you can read their rally call posted online here.

Whether this planned protest will lift the Feldberg authorities to lift its ban on motorcycles through its roads remains to be seen, though this should serve as an example that sometimes an outright ban on things may not be the right solution…