Muscle car owners and bikers beware, Fredericton police are giving city cruisers six weeks to muffle their engines or face a $168 fine.

Police say they are receiving far too many complaints about loud and unnecessary noises emanating from motorcycles and souped-up cars in New Brunswick's normally quiet capital.

Fredericton resident Judith MacFadzen is one of the complainers. She says it's getting to the point where she can't walk downtown or sit at an outdoor café without being startled by a noisy motorcycle or car.

Her frustration boiled over this spring, as an increasing number of cars with deafening engines rumbled past her house, ruining her train of thought.

"If it's a broken muffler and they have to get it fixed, you can understand that. But some of them you know, it's just for the, the sheer pleasure of [making noise] that's not pleasant," she said.

Fredericton police Cst. Andrew Miller says a section of the Motor Vehicle Act prohibits excessive or unusual car exhaust noise.

He says officers will warn noisy drivers for the next six weeks, but after that, the ticket books will come out. He says there is no set decibel level motorists will need to obey.

"You have to go by what's excessive. What our officers are being explained to do is just go sit somewhere for five minutes. And as you sit there, you'll hear one of those cars come screaming by," Miller said.

235(1) The driver of a motor vehicle that is being operated on a highway shall ensure that the motor vehicle is equipped with a muffler and exhaust pipe or pipes in good working order and in constant operation so as to prevent excessive or unusual noise, and no person shall operate a motor vehicle equipped with a muffler cut-out, by-pass or similar device.