Exhaust and the law

[adamdaniels]

Evening all,

First post, recently bought my first ever curvy as a commuter bike, unfortunately my new shift pattern is too early to get into London to use the trains (good excuse to get another bike)

My question is what is the current law/regulations with regards to loud exhausts what can the plod do roadside fines points etc

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/16/01/03/905cfd0edfb12117f1b5fa99c647a05f.jpg

The culprit, cheers all


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[Mickle]

Don't know about the law on that one, but your neighbours are going to love you starting that bike up in the morning before the trains start lol

Nice looking bike

[adamdaniels]

Hahaha 0430hrs! Pay back for the late night parties aye! Yeah bit of a change from my zx12r but horses for causes! Got a few bits ordered up for it but got to remember it is a commuter winter hack and not spend too much on it!

I've looked over Dvla etc so far all I can see is a FPN of £60 which will go well with the £30 for the smaller plate :/ lol see how I go for the time being if I start getting tugged and fined I'll revert back to baffles and full size plate!


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[garynortheast]

Save the yourself the grief and everyone else's ears and fit a baffle in there!

[adamdaniels]

I appreciate the advise but London is a mad city to ride in and I've been knocked off once before and would rather be heard! It's not stupid loud just wanted to know the law, cheers


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[JM2]

Legally - it'll be a design & construction issue. Plus, (strictly) it isn't permissible to modify an exhaust to be louder than the manufactures/vin specified level (on v5).
Don't know about the penalties - more down to the local plod etc. and their mission (could be okay with it - could find a hard-backed copy of the book to throw).


But another thought, apart from not making new friends locally, that sound is mostly behind you. Yes it may 'alert' or 'tell-off' a few once you're along side, but may not help with any dozy b****ers much in front of you. But they may wish you hadn't got in front when you do.


Me, I don't ride in the smoke so may be irrelevant.

[Fen Tiger]

This site has some useful information;

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vca/additional/files/vehicle-type-approval/vehicle-type-approval-for-motorcycles/vca039.pdf

[timwilky]

yes, that site does give noise limits. But you need to read the whole directive to understand how the noise should be measured. (I used to conduct type approval testing) and in my worthless opinion it is impossible to conduct a legally valid noise test at the roadside. You would need a specialist area with suitable clearance and a rider/equipment set up to enable ride past testing with the correct environmental criteria in place.

Therefore, even with a meter, you can only provide a subjective opinion that the motorcycle is breaching the type approval exhaust noise limits. I understand this does not warrant a prohibition notice and an inspection notice should be issued. Continuing to use a vehicle with a inspection notice without resolving the advisory information could then lead to prosecution under the construction and use regs resulting in points/fine.

You could then argue my first point above before the bench. But it would be very expensive.

[Red Herring]

Lots of the old arguments and perceptions being bought out here.....

From the legal point of view anything that is significantly louder than standard is going to be illegal. Practically however you're only going to get pulled for it if you're riding like an idiot or as part of an organised road check that they sometimes run on popular biker routes or haunts in the summer.... Expect grief if it has "Not for Road Use", "Race use only" and such like all over it or the officer can check your valve clearances by looking down the end of the can...., (ticket with no points or rectification if lucky).

Socially if you are in the habit of warming it up on the rev limiter then expect grief, either directly from your neighbours or as a result of the complaints they will make further up the ladder. Ride away on minimum revs and keep it that way whilst in any built up area and you will get away with a lot. Given most built up areas have a 30mph limit do you really need to be at 9k rpm?

Safety. You have a horn for warning another driver of your presence. If you rely on the sound from your exhaust to let someone know you are coming you are either delusional or riding like a ****, in which case you deserve all you get.

Quiet efficiency is the hallmark of an expert, or a professional which you should be if you're riding to work. Think along those lines and you're be fine.

[adamdaniels]

Thanks for that, I poodle into town as I've experience the average driver capabilities in London the hard way! Just nice to know what the plod can do if they were to pull me over. Thanks all and safe riding


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[Markos_46]

I wouldnt worry too much about it - I've had loud exahusts on all my bikes and when I've been stopped by the police, the exhausts never get a look in.

I've ridden around London for the last 5 years no probs

[Biker Biggles]

If you ride like a knob and draw attention to yourself it stands to reason that you would be more likely to get pulled.A loud exhaust might contribute to that,but I think the small plate could be the "easy nick" that actually gets you done.Id put the standard plate back on and not give them the opportunity.

[RPM]

That reminds me I need to put my proper number plate on :D
In London it doesn't really matter a jot, there are hardly any coppers and those that are around are too busy doing other things.
When I see a checkpoint I pull over and ask aggressively "you're pulling drivers who are using their phones, yeah?"
Round my way most drivers are on mobiles, plus I see kids with no lids wheelying nicked scooters in broad daylight. Da 5/O ain't do nuffink blud!

Trying my baffle out tomorrow (scorpion) don't honestly think it's very loud, just sounds nicer/deeper on tick and low revs.

[adamdaniels]

Yeah mine just sounds a little louder but a very nice note!


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[Adam Ef]

@RPM ^^^ Which Scorpion is it? Carbine?

[RPM]

@RPM ^^^ Which Scorpion is it? Carbine?

No, something quite old and pretty standard length. Came on the bike, an SK1

[RPM]

And it was very loud. Bit naughty tbh.
And the irony of my comment about there being no coppers here. As soon as I pulled out onto the main road I was behind a police van following a police car. I had to stay behind them all the way to my turning for work (there weren't really any overtaking or filtering opportunities which would have been legal so I just plodded along behind them).
Would have been a great chance to go blasting past them over the speed limit, through a small gap and then they would have been able to really hear the exhaust, whilst looking at my 'too small' numberplate.
I think I'll put baffle back tomorrow, when I'm doing the plate haha