Fun with neighbors v2.0 WWGRM do?

I have a neighbor that's annoying. In retrospect, I made the unfortunate choice to live somewhere that is:

A) Fairly Dense
B) Just outside the city limits
C) Does not have an HOA

My neighbor only does 1 thing that really pisses me off, and surprisingly it stems from him being a car guy. He has like 7 - 10 ish trucks, a motorcycle and an ATV. All of them have basically zero mufflers. He likes to rev his motorcycle and blast up and down the driveway/street for no reason. Same with his trucks. And his ATV (which is not legal to ride on the street here). He also blasts around his back yard where he created an ATV course in the woods. Again, not dense woods with houses all around.

I would like to point out that:

1) The house spacing in our neighborhood is pretty tight for this type of activity. Plots are around 1/2 acre, and houses are fairly close to the road. His property is actually 2 houses down, but less than 150ft from my house. The road is less than 50ft from my house.

2) This isn't just a guy with a couple of noisy cars. This is like straight piped Harley @ full throttle noise. Like shakes the house when this bike goes by. The trucks are basically like working the start at a ProSolo when CP is running. Staggeringly loud. Actually louder... I'm confident they would pretty much violate any competition noise limit present on an autocross course.

Its generally just obnoxious, annoying behaviour. But the frequency of it is annoying as well. My dog runs and cowers after he drives by. My ears hurt. I won't go in the front yard with my 10 month old when I know he's up to his shenanigans. It doesn't happen super late, but it does happen after my kid has gone to bed.

I haven't taken any action regarding this. I want to talk to him about it, but my fear is that anyone who is this offensive to neighbors with seemingly no consideration for them must not be a reasonable person to begin with.

Recommendations?

Someone like that is probably going to require intervention from law enforcement.

Think Carefully before doing so. I think your last paragraph hit the key issue. Someone that disrespectful of their neighbours will not react well to the police being contacted.

Or you could get a paper bag full of dog E36 M3, put it on his step and light it on fire!

In reply to NGTD:

"He called the e36m3 poop!"

You probably still have County ordinances that may be relevant.

It's pretty likely that he is in violation of noise ordinances, as well as abandoned vehicle ordinances.

So, you may be able to have a man-to-man with him..."Listen, I'm a car guy, you're a car guy. You've got more cars than the local ordinances allow, and your cars are loud. I'd like to propose that I will not call code enforcement if you will avoid revving your engines in the neighborhood. This is not an appropriate place for that."

Or, there's always the poop thing...

I would look into noise ordinances first. Remain anonymous after that.

I'm looking into noise ordinances, but not sure they apply during daylight hours.

None of his cars are abandoned. Sure, there are a bunch haphazardly scattered about his yard, but as far as I know, they work and are registered.

I've had this sort of situation recently. Group of teenagers with very loud trucks gather at the home on 1 on them 4 doors down the street. They cruise around the block at random times doing whatever they can to make the trucks as loud as they can. One of my cars is too loud but I drive it as quietly as possible in residential areas.

I called the city police & complained. Explained that there are 7 children under 12 years old living between my house & the house down the street & I was concerned "for the children", also that the new across the street neighbor werks nites as a nerse. First time I called, last Sunday, the cops came out & just parked on the street for 30 minutes or so. I called again yesterday. I saw the police ride by, don't know what they said or did but this afternoon there has been less cruising the block & the drivers have shown very reasonable restraint so far as the noise goes.

Worked well for me. Good luck to you.

It might be good idea to start gathering evidence of his shenanigans. Video(discrete), written logs noting time and activity. Just in case the situation goes sideways, you have more than just your word vs. the neighbor.

Or the flaming poop... but be sure to post that video.

Why bother with discreet?

Stand right in your front yard with a video camera. Just seeing you may be a deterrent.

SVreX wrote: Why bother with discreet? Stand right in your front yard with a video camera. Just seeing you may be a deterrent.

He's seen me holding my hands over my son's ears as he blasts by...

In reply to ProDarwin:

I didn't mean to suggest he would stop out of respect or the kindness of his heart.

But a very open direct effort to shoot video might make him wonder who you would be turning the video over to.

Heck, maybe a big sign, "Video in use. Offenders will be turned over to law enforcement".

10 mph speed limit sign and "children at play" sign. Maybe your more reasonable neighbors would sign the petition? Have you tried to talk to him?

Do you have communication? Have you walked over with two beers in hand and talked about his stuff? (people love bragging on their stuff)

Be a neighbor, then be a doink.

914Driver wrote: Do you have communication? Have you walked over with two beers in hand and talked about his stuff? (people love bragging on their stuff) Be a neighbor, then be a doink.

X2. I got a nasty letter from the township about 2 cars being parted out in my driveway due to a complaint from a neighbor. It made me angry and my wife suggested buying every sub $400 car on CL and stacking them up in the driveway with current plates just to spite the complainer, because as you know, snitches get stitches. It would have gone a long way with me for the person to come over, introduce themselves, and talk about things at which point they'd have found out both vehicles were leaving within a few days anyway. I found out from the guy across the street that it was the old lady next to him, she's so far away that we can't see each other's houses or yards. I finally met her last year and she said "when did you move in?" And "I thought it was a group of rowdy young guys with all those loud fast cars". She was a B in person. Don't be a B. Just go BS with the dude on a car guy level before you drop the "maybe you could stop blasting around the hood" on him. Then if he blows you off use other methods.

Saying things man to man doesn't get done nearly enough anymore, people are Bob Costas and if they cant text or email they try to get someone else to say it for them.

In reply to 914Driver and patgizz:

I agree with these guys. It's easier to catch flies with honey than vinegar.

There was a time when I used to bitch on here about the Harley dude who lives up the street from me, always leaving his house at full throttle at all hours with straight pipes on his bike.

I finally saw him out one day while walking the dogs, and remarked how nice his "Hardley" (still not a fan ) was and that struck up a conversation. Turns out, the guy showed me his hearing aids and talked about how he suffered a lot of damage to his hearing in Desert Storm, and it didn't occur to him that his bike was THAT loud.

Him and his friends mostly idle by and coast down our street now, and he couldn't have been nicer about it.

+1 for diplomacy

I would rather live in a community than a just a place with the houses too close together.

Just start off small and tell him you have a screwdriver...and if he ever needs to borrow it... Let him talk himself up, sounds like hes the type

aw hell as soon as I saw Svrex posted I knew I didnt have to say anything on the matter :) And as expected, he nailed it.

Grab a beer, walk over, have a conversation. Explain you have a kid, etc etc. And you yourself have a bit of leniency in your own world and let him play with his toys during hours when it doesnt interrupt your kid.

Never know...he might be a reasonable dude. Or he might be an a-hole, but how about you go figure it out before resorting to letting the government solve your problems? :) (eliminated the loong rant that should follow because it's not relevant and meh...ranting is boring)

and if somewhere in all of the above I missed the "I had a conversation with the neighbor" bit I apologize. But I didnt' see that.

edit but I did read back through your original post where you said you haven't done anything yet and are looking for advice...apologies...my advice is have a talk with him, but keep it relaxed, use the kid angle. Even a-holes respect kids usually.

There is nothing quite as horrible as an uncorked wankel left in front of someone's house with the throttle pinned to 7k rpms. It's even worse that one of them Stugis air pumps.

In reply to Huckleberry:

Aren't Wankels capable of WAY more than 7k rpms?

Be sure the boom hole is pointed at the target so he notices the apex seals shooting by his head.