After Market Exhausts

[Acorn1]

As a soon to be ( I hope) new rider, just my Mod 2 to go.

What's the deal on after market exhausts, are they road legal and will it increase your insurance premium?

[KTMsm]

Some are, most technically aren't legal but generally no one cares

Depends on the bike and the insurance company. I think Bennett's allow end cans with no additional premium (check before buying)

[Baldy881]

Dubious area. Absolutely check with your insurance (I have declared on both bikes, end cans only), some are OK with that as a no increase in premium mod, others may charge extra. The ones marked road legal often come with removable baffles which means they aren't road legal when baffles removed, so keep them to put back in for your MOT. I still get ticked off as having "exhaust noisy" on my MOT's whether I have baffles in or out!

Edited by Baldy881 on Monday 14th July 13:04

[Acorn1]

Thanks for the replies, every bike I look at has one of some kind.

I don't want to invalidate my insurance.

[Krikkit]

Good insurers won't care one fig, just make sure to mention it. As you've already noted, it's so common that they rarely make any extra charge.

The only thing I've found is that some say they won't cover them in the event of an accident, they'd just pay for a standard can.

[OutInTheShed]

Insurance is not the only potential problem.

There is talk of tightening the MOT.
There are noise-triggered cameras popping up in places.
Anything with a cat removed is illegal on emissions grounds

I think with more cars being hybrid or EV, noisy bikes stand out more and loud pipes are much less acceptable to the general public than they used to be.

Personally, I'd be wary of a non-standard bike that could be expensive to put back to standard, because when you come to sell it or trade it in, you may find
nobody's buying your illegal bike. When bikes get to a certain age, buyers start to be originality anoraks anyway.

You might also enquire whether any remaining manufacturer's warranty will be honoured if the engine goes bang and the bike is modified.

If you buy a one owner bike privately, you should try to get all the genuine original bits which the first owner put in their loft!

Personally, I'd suggest buying an unmodified bike with adequate performance in the first place.