The city of Royal Oak has the longest frontage on America’s signature cruising highway — nearly six miles of curbs on Woodward Avenue.

Royal Oak also happens to have the strictest noise ordinance of any city in the Woodward Dream Cruise, and one of the toughest in metro Detroit. So what's that rumbling sound you hear in the distance?

It’s the rising clash of opinions about whether to tell Dream Cruise drivers, well, "Gentlemen, shush your engines."  

Cruisers are bitter about about the costly tickets given to many in their ranks on visits to Royal Oak, where they point to the money they spend at restaurants, bars and gas stations. Some hired a lawyer who this week challenged the city's noise ordinance.

But Royal Oak's leaders said the ordinance works and that police have no intention of backing off — except for this week, during the days just before and during Saturday’s Dream Cruise, when officers are told to be lenient, Royal Oak City Manager Don Johnson said.