Well it was bound to happen sooner or later (Rectification notice)

[Davies]

Well,

Got pulled on the A29 yesterday just outside BoxHill (police were there only pulling bikes because of local resident's complaints) and I got a retification notice because the copper thought that my cans on the M900 were too loud (although he said they sounded good :rolleyes: ). So, within the next 14 days I need to get the little pink slip of paper stamped by an MOT station and present it at a police station along with the rest of my documents as I got a producer as well. Now, the cans on the bike are not stamped "not for road use", but don't have the EU stamp on there either, yet they were the cans on the bike when it had its MOT done when I bought the bike.

The question is, as the copper's opinion was that the cans were too loud (my bike's engine is loud anyway) and the MOT station thought otherwise, does the legality of cans rest on the opinion of the tester in terms of loudness, or do I need an EU stamp?

Good job you didn't come with us eh Jester666? BTW, the copper let me off for the small plate and dark visor :smt035

Cheers,

Paul


PS: I know this topic has been covered before in the sticky thread, but I don't want to wade though tons of pages to get to what may be a simple answer.

[jambo]

There's a split in law between the police and the MOT people. If you can get your bike MOT'd with those cans you're fine. You are then allowed to present that as evidence that the bike has conformed to VOSPA guidelines. You may still get another rectification notice while to / from the MOT station....


Jambo

[haggis]

Hmmmm, do you need to swap the number plate over again to pass an MOT and get that vital stamped slip? Or do they just check the can is legit?

If so, would they (cops) take a dim view of you swapping the plate back afterwards. Kind of taking the pi$$, lol. :D

[MiniMatt]

Ok, digging would *suggest* (huge emphasis on the word *suggest* here) that the legal limit for bikes over 175cc is 99db, measured at 0.5 metres from the exhaust outlet with the bike held at S/2 revs where S is peak power revs.

Does it have to be an MOT mechanic that can test this or could it be a professional sound engineer who's prepared to swear under penalty of perjury that the tests performed were accurate? Don't mess around with that one obviously, perjury is waaay more serious than a loud exhaust and will land you in jail quick time.

I suspect that if you take it to an MOT tester and the MOT says "that's fine" then that's all that needs doing. I'd also suspect that a pre-existing MOT certificate (unless it was issued the same day as the pull or something) will not suffice. It puts the police in a bit of a difficult situation really but if you consider the rectification notice more along the lines of "I think that's a bit loud, go get it checked by an expert and if he says it's fine then we'll call it a draw".

EDIT: Ref for MSVA where I pulled the noise limits (page 20 is where the good stuff starts - http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2003/uksi_20031959_en.pdf

[Jester666]

Good job you didn't come with us eh Jester666? BTW, the copper let me off for the small plate and dark visor :smt035


Very glad. Naughty can, paper number plate, mot issues, tax issues!! :shock:

[Davies]

Thanks for the advice guys. I took the bike down to the bike shop this evening and they couldn't believe that I got a notice for the cans as they didn't think they were overly loud, and they pretty much confirmed what Jambo (and Sid Squid by phone) said in that there is a grey area between the law and what MOT stations think.

So it's off to get the little pink slip stamped tomorrow, drop it into the police station and that'll hopefully be the end of it.........

Cheers,

Paul

[Davies]

Very glad. Naughty can, paper number plate, mot issues, tax issues!! :shock:

OOOOOhhhhhh yeeesss :smt045 :D

[jambo]

All good advice is available in the sticky at the top of this section:
http://forums.sv650.org/images/misc/sticky.gif Exhaust and Number Plates - Police view (http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=58936)

[Stu]

All good advice is available in the sticky at the top of this section:
http://forums.sv650.org/images/misc/sticky.gif Exhaust and Number Plates - Police view (http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=58936)
130 posts! I'm not surprised Paul wanted the quick answer.