Loud exhaust legal things question

Originally Posted by Daimo

Actually, the opposite.

If its NOT E marked, then theres a high chance its an illegal exhaust.

Generally though, its either E marked, or marked "not for road use" unless its been rubbed away. Not having the E mark is asking for trouble though, unless its cheap nasty exhausts, in which case change them anyway :P

Mine's got "for competition use only" so can be used on road only if I'm riding competitively

Reading this with interest - picked up my bike last friday, removed all stickers to find 'not for road use', so have i got this right - i could be stopped from riding if its found, but realistically im just looking at £30, because tbh it sounds great and i dont think its much noisier than my last Fuel can, just a different type of sound, and i really want to keep it!

Best method to remove 'not for road use'? I was going to try and find some thin sheet metal and just cover it over because i dont have any fancy tools to remove it.

Originally Posted by Lucas

Mine's got "for competition use only" so can be used on road only if I'm riding competitively

Sounds like a fair argument to me.

@ Lucas

Kellyjo, yeah thats an illegal exhaust. But they give £30 fixed fines for them now. (this was given in an area they were trying to get bikes away from as well so were not the most polite of coppers either, they simply didn't want us there, made it a red route etc just to stop bikers congregating (Locals, A2 Ebbsfleet))

Same with things like wheelies, I think they offer training/fines instead of gaining points and dangerous driving charges.

It sucks, and I disagree with the silly laws, but its not like we dont have a choice so we can't complain when were given a fine.

There are dB meters used by police for testing vehicle exhause noise levels, though they are not used for motorbikes because of how close the exhaust is to the engine, compared to a car, ie is the microphone actually picking up engine noise as well as/instead of exhause noise - total cobblers but in the name of fairness and to avoid legal arguments bikes aren't tested in this way. The kits themselves are perfectly mobile and do not require a NASA space station or honours degree to use it. The tests are done stationary at the roadside and takes about 5-10 minutes. It does not take a genius to remember a couple of measurements and angles and use a tape measure to set up the microphone in the right place then press the big green button!

But whoever mentioned it is quite correct, that as well as the specific dB limits there is also legislation that makes modifying your exhaust to increase the noise created by the escape of exhaust gasses from when it was manufactured illegal. That includes replacing the entire system. Lets face it, that one isn't difficult to prove but like most of these more minor issues, so long as you're not really taking the p1ss then there's bigger fish to fry.

Speed guns, window tint meters, weighbridges, tachographs etc etc etc all require knowledge of the relevant law/s and how the kit/equipment works. Granted, your average bobby isn't likely to have time for/any interest in your noisy exhaust but we have traffic police don't forget, so to suggest 'Plod won't know how to use the kit' is a bit off the mark!

[Dave20046]

I thought only a bobby who'd taken the relevant course could use any kit they have to use as evidence. It'd have to be an operation or mass badluck to be stopped by one of those or one who can be bothered to call him/her in

Dave, pretty much spot on what you say, but there are other suggestions in this thread that police do not have access to the equipment (wrong) and won't know the law (frankly a ridiculous suggestion ).

In reality this stuff's only likely to crop up if there's been loads of complaints about noise caused by vehicles or, as you say, a specific op. I'm pretty sure most .orgers aren't the type to be doing **** laps round their local town centre though so chill, it's normally reserved for the likes of 1litre Saxos/Corsas with exhausts that have to be checked for burrowing wildlife every morning.

Thats whats wrong with Quiffs mums car the "Burrowing wildlife" as it seems this 74 year old mums car spits feathers--------and its a Corsa

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by ryanh1418

Dave, pretty much spot on what you say, but there are other suggestions in this thread that police do not have access to the equipment (wrong) and won't know the law (frankly a ridiculous suggestion ).

In reality this stuff's only likely to crop up if there's been loads of complaints about noise caused by vehicles or, as you say, a specific op. I'm pretty sure most .orgers aren't the type to be doing **** laps round their local town centre though so chill, it's normally reserved for the likes of 1litre Saxos/Corsas with exhausts that have to be checked for burrowing wildlife every morning.

Agreed.
Although, I've actually been stopped in one of these operations and the police didn't even have a meter with them. The bike I was with (which they heard from several miles away) had no baffle and 'not for road use' but was deemed okay. My bike had a baffleless 'de vinci ' can which I'd retrofitted a baffle to to quieten it down a bit, particularly for visiting this venue...problem was I'd forgotten to fit it that day and copped for having a 'defective exhaust'

Bastids!

That was badluck, but the copper really did seem like he didn't have a clue what he was looking at, they seemed to be just checking for missing baffle bolts. I think it's so unlikely for anyone to get caught it's not worth worrying about, the benefit certainly out weighs the slim chance of a £30 fine.

Again I agree, it's such a small problem in the grand scheme of things it really isn't worth worrying about so some/most police officers don't ever have to bother with it, along with the many other hundreds of obscure offences. But there are those who will know eg bikers or police vehicle examiners. The problem is if you get pulled in on one of those ops there's rarely any discretion afforded because they're generally about "sending a message out". As for the meter I can only speak about round here, but they do exist, though are relatively new because the home office only signed them off in the last year or two. And they prob won't be used with bikes anyway.

To be honest I can't see what all the fuss is about having a loud exhaust at all! Especially some of the ridiculous 'systems' you see/hear on some cruisers. But each to their own!