I live in a small apartment building with six units. I’m on the top floor. I’m a 28 year old woman and while I’m generally friendly and keep to myself, I do have a limit. This morning I hit it.
The man who lives directly below me is around 50 years old and owns a large motorbike. I struggle with insomnia and regularly fall asleep very late, although not always as late as 3am. Unfortunately last night was one of those nights where I didn’t fall asleep until around that time.
What has also become a regular occurrence is this man revving his motorbike repeatedly in the parking area at the back of the building, which is directly below my bedroom window.
He has been doing this for months. I have never said anything to him before. This morning he woke me up again by revving the bike somewhere between fifteen and twenty five times. It jolted me awake and I finally decided enough was enough.
I opened my balcony door and looked down at him. He looked me directly in the eyes. I then said loudly, “Is there any chance you could do that not directly outside my bedroom window at 7.30 in the morning?” He maintained eye contact and then completely ignored me. No acknowledgement. No apology. Nothing.
What makes it worse is that he was not even wearing riding gear. He was standing next to the bike and did not end up riding it. So I genuinely do not understand why it was necessary to rev it that many times at all, especially that early in the morning.
Now I’m lying here thinking some not very charitable thoughts about him. The audacity to wake someone up repeatedly, including on weekends, and then ignore them when they finally speak up really got to me.
At the same time, I’m second guessing myself. Did I handle that correctly? I don’t feel like I was rude or aggressive. If anything, I feel like I have been overly patient by putting up with this for months. Part of me thinks I should have said more, maybe asked why he does this so often. It feels incredibly inconsiderate.
And then there’s the people pleasing, self doubting voice asking if I’m the asshole. So I’m genuinely asking. Am I overreacting here?
For context, this is not a couple of revs to warm up the bike. It is consistently twenty or more revs, and likely more than that before it actually wakes me up.
Edit for clarification: A few people asked about the bike. Based on the model and year, it appears to be a Honda VTR1000F FireStorm, which is a fuel injected motorcycle, not carbureted. It also appears to have an aftermarket exhaust fitted, which likely increases the noise level. I’m not objecting to normal startup noise, but to repeated high revving while the bike is stationary directly under my bedroom window.
NTA, but he sure is one! You were polite and direct and he *ignored you*, what an asshole.
You do not have to loudly rev your bike at 7:30 am. He’s making a *choice.*
NTA. You were polite and non-aggressive about it. If he was doing what was required to ride off on the bike that would be different but it seems like he’s just causing excessive noise really early in the morning for no reason.
NTA. Since this is a complex it may be in your lease you won’t be disruptive to other tenants. If it is, then I would complain to your landlord.
NTA. Absolutely NTA. What you said to him was perfectly reasonable, fair, and non-offensive. You addressed what he was doing, not who he is. Sometimes we feel like we’ve acted aggressively when all we’ve really done is assert ourselves. I say well done!
NTA. He lives directly below you you say? So his ceiling is your floor? Wouldn’t it be a shame if you were having trouble sleeping one night, or all the nights, and you decided to drag some furniture across the floor. Alternatively I hear tap dancing is an amazing way to burn some calories, hours and hours of tap dancing right above his head.
Don’t know if this relates to the full story, but I’ve heard if you have insomnia a good way to get to sleep is to do jumping jacks at 3am. Or run the vacuum. Or move large furniture.
NTA
When I was in high school, one neighbor would start his truck around 4am and not leave until 7am during the winter. After weeks of both myself and my mom asking him to stop doing this, I finally had it. I walked across the street, opened the driver’s door, turned the truck off, and threw his keys in the snowbank in his front yard. I’m sure he assumed it was someone in our house, but he never confronted us and stopped leaving his truck run.
NTA.
NTA. You really should check your lease and contact your landlord. The apartments I lived in banned motorcycles and loud vehicles.
NTA— his midlife crisis is not your issue. If he’s just standing there revving his bike and not even writing it then he needs some therapy to address what he’s lacking in his life that he thinks revving his bike will make up for.
NTA
Check city code. The noise ordinance will specify what hours constitute a violation. It varies widely by jurisdiction… so what he’s doing may or may not be citeable.
But there’s also generally the “quiet enjoyment” principle. Under US law, tenants have a legal right to use and enjoy their rental property peacefully, free from significant disturbances, even if not written in the lease. You could contact the landlord and ask him to have a word with the guy.
NTA. Neighbor knows he’s being the AH.
1) Take a video of the noise while in your bed
2) Make a formal complaint to the landlord. E-mail/letter/text
3) Wait until landlord does nothing
4) Call police the next time, when asked if this is a common occurrence- show proof of complaints + video
5) Enjoy peace
NTA. Like too many motorcycle owners, he’s seeking attention, wants everyone to know he has a motorcycle (and is totally not deficient in other physical ways) so vroom vroom for no reason. Normal motorcyclists get the joy out of actually riding it, and don’t need the extra noise that gets engineered in for the losers.
The fact that he immediately met your eyes kind of implies to me that he is intentionally doing this to aggravate you. You are NTA.