A slightly less silly question

[Devilish Matt]

Are straight through pipes legal? Have been offered some custom made stainless in return for a website? :confused:

[ForestFred]

Not sure,I think it might have something to do with age of the bike.Was talking to a guy at the CW who had his pipes marked up with EC mark.But somehow I dont think with straight thrus you would get away with it :(

[Bosun]

not for an MOT, but obviously you wouldn't do such a thing as change pipes for a MOT would you ;)

[Devilish Matt]

I know my MOT guy quite well, i do work for him (and his bos lol), am more bothered about the fuzz ;) can u fake the markings? :confused:

[ForestFred]

Yeah you can however plod would take a very dim view I would suspect. :(

[Bosun]

I know my MOT guy quite well, i do work for him (and his bos lol), am more bothered about the fuzz ;) can u fake the markings? :confused:

i believe on ebay you can purchase a plate with correct markings, to replace any that may have fallen off due to over zealous polishing etc etc ;)

[Devilish Matt]

what can plod do ? just a fine?

[Bosun]

what can plod do ? just a fine?

really not sure, but it gives them a chance to scrutinise the rest of the bike.
for any other discrepencies they may like to find
also they could go back to MOT guy etc

no doubt someone is more up on the law than me

[ForestFred]

what can plod do ? just a fine?
They would give you one of them dockets to take to yer local mot testing station to get it stamped to say that yer pipes is legal.and then ya take to the local nick to prove that you've fixed 'em.But if ya get caught out too often.they can shut down the mot station that keeps giving you the ok.

[Devilish Matt]

i might take the risk, see what happens... :o

[ForestFred]

Remember LOUD PIPES SAVES LIVES!! :D

[Devilish Matt]

yeah, stop me gettin beaten up for crap sounding bike ;)

[Jim]

Remember LOUD PIPES SAVES LIVES!! :D

Not if my neighbours get hold of me they won't !

[Trikerboab]

Keep you eyes peeled for plod and youll be fine, my XS11 trike runs straight throughs and i have never been pulled, unless you count out of a field the first time i tried to corner on it. :cool:

[Devilish Matt]

See Mr Plod, drop revvs, wait till he's gone....keep on ridin'

I dont think I'tll be too loud anyhow its only a VN800, I just want to hear the exhaust over the engine lol

[Mad Dog]

Here's the Law:-


If your bike is registered before 1 May 1985 your silencer does not need a BS stamp.
After that date the exhaust must be either an original fitment type for the motorcycle or carry a BS kite mark.

IN DETAIL:

Regulation 57(A)(1or4) of Road vehicles (Construction & Use) Regs 1986 and Section 42 of the Road traffic Act 1988 (amended 1991)

Silencer of a motorcycle (or moped) first used on or after 1/1/85 shall be either

1. the original as fitted by the manufacturer

2. a replacement marked with an approved British standard (e.g. BS AU193/T2 or similar)

A motorcycle shall not be used on a road if fitted with an exhaust/silencer marked not for road use.


Any vehicle registered before 1985 may have pipes that were not the original, but must not produce an excessive level of noise. This is subjective, so if the Plod catch you with drag pipes and no baffles then it is a VDR (Vehicle Defect Rectification) notice or you.

I run straight thru drags on my Harley, sound great for about 20 mins, then the headache begins - best with 6" baffles fitted.

Considering a set of these costs £120 (HD aftermarket price) - I would consider that a poor swop for a Website which should net at least £500 in income.

[Devilish Matt]

k. i see your point, well see what happens, do those fake tags fool the police then or not?

[Scottie]

Are straight through pipes legal? :

No

1 banana
2 banana (tries again)

[Smudge]

Somthing ive never bin pulled for so i suppose they dont mind

[Devilish Matt]

id rather cutom exhausts than 'off the shelf' items. just down to tast i spose, but i dont have the required skills... sometimes things are worth doing irrelevant of what profit you could be making out of someone...

http://www.devilishdesign.co.uk/gallery/ickledevilb.gif

[pale rider]

if you get pulled buy the old bill and thay want to give you a ticket for the pipes ask for a defferd test.thay will have to let you go away and will write to you telling you when and were to go with the bike to have the pipes checked.and when you take it thay will be legal wont thay,just like you told em when thay pulled you.

[Shiftyrodent]

The law and the MoT guidelines are a bit different. Current MoT rules say that, irrespective of markings, if it's "significantly louder" than standard pipes then it's a fail.
On the other hand, I use an MoT tester who warns me (cos he's obliged to) that my Screamin Eagle pipes are a bit loud and then passes it anyway.

[PILRCGeff]

k. i see your point, well see what happens, do those fake tags fool the police then or not?

Not only will they probably not fool anyone but they also then render you liable for a further offence of, and Im not plod so I may not have the words right, attempting to pervert the cause of justice!

Those plates are best used on moderately illegal pipes when you might get away with them, not blatantly illegal straight throughs

[Santa]

There are no noise limits set for exhausts with regard to MOT's. There is no requirement to start the engine and listen to exhausts for MOT's. The only stipulation these days (as Mad Dog says) is that they can't be used (or,at least, pass an MOT) if they are marked 'Not for road use' or 'race use only'. To the best of my knowledge if there are no markings at all on your pipes even the plod can't stop you using them, there are no db levels set in any legislation i'm aware of, and plod don't carry db meters. However, i'm sure that if your pipes are excessively loud they'll find some way to get you off the road :eek: !

[Shiftyrodent]

Right about "Not for road use" Santa, but also see my last posting re "significantly louder" than stock. This phrase is in the MoT testers' guidelines and is of course open to interpretation.

[Sid]

I'm still waiting to get pulled for having straight through pipes on a R80 BMW (yep, you read right) have streetfightered it & it's great fun as well as 'kin loud! :D

[Shiftyrodent]

I'm still waiting to get pulled for having straight through pipes on a R80 BMW (yep, you read right) have streetfightered it & it's great fun as well as 'kin loud! :D

Similarly, I've never been stopped on the Harley with straight-throughs even though the rozzers round here are a bit keen. I think a twin's probably a bit less obtrusive/offensive than a four. Having said that the Bandit's on a race can and it's not too hard to keep it down when necessary.

[Sid]

Rather listen to that than a screaming scooter doing 25mph head down, arse up!

[Zeek]

IMO I dont think many coppers are too bothered as long as your not being an arse in front of em........... BUT I know certain areas are quite hot on em...... :)

[Dougie]

Remember GP100's on Allspeed or Micron spannies?Earsplitting! :eek: :mad:

[Pugwash]

yer better off with no markings full stop

those e*ay plates that u can rivvet on or the stickers are a big no no

basically as said before its classed as perverting the law (ooer) wrong end of that is Porridge for a long short period

also if the Copper decides to he can hold you and your bike until a ministry man turns up from the VSA he can then decide if the bike is roadworthy if not he can slap a prohobition order on the bike there and then

which then means gettin a man wiv a van to take u and the bike home and having the defects fixed followed by an inspection to get the notice cleared

most traffic cops know all the inns and outs of these rivett on plates

theres even a strong rumour that they hold a online database of nearly all aftermarket pipes avialable

basically no marking , keep the noise down near things with funny hats and blue lights

piss em off and learn the hard way

[Shiftyrodent]

theres even a strong rumour that they hold a online database of nearly all aftermarket pipes avialable



I think this is right; last time I got pulled on the Bandit they made a note of the make & model of me pipe.

[Sid]

Don't they just spoil ALL the fun!? wonder why people call them pigs?

[johnr]

running a moderately loud pipe on the road isnt really likely to get you a pull, unless you regularly ride to box hill, rivvy devils bridge etc, where plod enjoy regular sessions rightly pulling those who disturb the silence of the countyside in such an obvious and easy to nick way, in other words, if you runa race pipe on ours big sports bike, and so do your mates, and every sunday you ride the same roads at the same ridiculous speeds, then its inevitable that you will get a pull. but i digress, a moderately loud pipe, with even some small nod at legality isnt likely to get you a pull, but running straight throughs is asking for trouble, sure they sound great, but if you rode past my house every day at 6am with them on, i would be getting the bloody cheesewire out! excessive noise just winds people up, and it makes you a magnet for evey pedantic copper just looking for an excuse to take his tape measure over your number plate, tyres, check your docs, licence etc etc etc.

[Grav]

Remember GP100's on Allspeed or Micron spannies?Earsplitting! :eek: :mad:

Yep, had a micron on mine with a 125 top end on it too. Did 95!!!!! :D