After market exhausts (again)
Discussion
I was looking at an mot testing web page and came across some information that suggests that exhausts no longer need e-marks or anything like that in order to pass an mot... it still must not have anything along the lines of "not for road use" and so on or be "excessively loud" but it seems the rules have been relaxed a bit. This also means that if your bike can get through the mot with the silencer on and you've told your insurance co about it then they can't pull the rug from under your feet with a "unable to pass an mot clause".
From the website www.motester.co.uk/mot-qanda2.html...
MOTORCYCLE EXHAUST NOISE 1.
My bike exhaust silencer is an after market type which has no markings such as OEM No`s, E marks or race only. Admittedly it is slightly louder than the OEM silencer. Is this an MOT failure? John Martin
The regulations here have changed. Now, the only issue regarding the type of exhaust is that it should not contain any notice on it which indicates that it is not for road use. As far as the noise is concerned the regulations are quite wordy but boil down to the Tester being able to fail the exhaust if the noise emitted is “clearly in excess”, of what would normally be expected. MOTT.
MOTORCYCLE EXHAUST NOISE 2.
Is it correct that the regulations have been relaxed on non standard systems, I read that the Tester now decides if the exhaust is too loud, how would this stand in a police check? thanks
Yes, you are correct. As far as the exhaust is concerned the Tester can now decide whether or not the exhaust is acceptable. As far as a police check is concerned I am not in a position to assist as I do not know the rules the police apply. What I do know is that generally if the police believe a vehicle is not roadworthy they issue their own certificate and ask that the vehicle is checked for whatever items they think are of concern at an MOT Testing station. It should be noted that this is very much a police issue and actually has nothing to do with the MOT Testing Scheme and Testing Stations are not obliged to carry out the checks and understandably charge if they do indeed check the items. The police have simply decided of their own volition to use MOT Testing Stations as the best way of checking that a vehicle’s ‘roadworthiness’ items are in acceptable condition.
Anyone got any first hand experience of these changes?
Thanks,
Mark
From the website www.motester.co.uk/mot-qanda2.html...
MOTORCYCLE EXHAUST NOISE 1.
My bike exhaust silencer is an after market type which has no markings such as OEM No`s, E marks or race only. Admittedly it is slightly louder than the OEM silencer. Is this an MOT failure? John Martin
The regulations here have changed. Now, the only issue regarding the type of exhaust is that it should not contain any notice on it which indicates that it is not for road use. As far as the noise is concerned the regulations are quite wordy but boil down to the Tester being able to fail the exhaust if the noise emitted is “clearly in excess”, of what would normally be expected. MOTT.
MOTORCYCLE EXHAUST NOISE 2.
Is it correct that the regulations have been relaxed on non standard systems, I read that the Tester now decides if the exhaust is too loud, how would this stand in a police check? thanks
Yes, you are correct. As far as the exhaust is concerned the Tester can now decide whether or not the exhaust is acceptable. As far as a police check is concerned I am not in a position to assist as I do not know the rules the police apply. What I do know is that generally if the police believe a vehicle is not roadworthy they issue their own certificate and ask that the vehicle is checked for whatever items they think are of concern at an MOT Testing station. It should be noted that this is very much a police issue and actually has nothing to do with the MOT Testing Scheme and Testing Stations are not obliged to carry out the checks and understandably charge if they do indeed check the items. The police have simply decided of their own volition to use MOT Testing Stations as the best way of checking that a vehicle’s ‘roadworthiness’ items are in acceptable condition.
Anyone got any first hand experience of these changes?
Thanks,
Mark
When I was getting my last MoT the tester commented on the high level cans I had on the Firestorm and said that now it was down to the tester to use his/her own judgement as to the exhaust being ‘excessively loud’. This was because too many people were either faking the approval stamps or giving a road legal system a ‘bafflectomy’.
Edited by black-k1 on Wednesday 28th February 11:42
catso said:
I don't know about any rule changes but my Ducati has passed numerous MOT's with Termi cans fitted and during 'a few' incidents where I have had words with BiB, or rather they've had words with me 
the exhaust has never been mentioned.
the exhaust has never been mentioned. I had a Silmotor high level carbon 105dBa race system on my Monster 750 and even had a bike BiB at a meet say 'That sounds lovely'.......
About 2 years ago a relative of mine took his SV in for an MOT. The bike was fitted with a Scorpion can, fully marked as road legal, with the baffle fitted.
The packing had deteriorated slightly over the preceeding 12 months and was louder.
The MOT tester failed the bike, suggesting that it was too loud, even though it was marked as road legal. It's down to the descretion of the tester on the day. Same could theoretically happen with a bog standard exhaust also.
The packing had deteriorated slightly over the preceeding 12 months and was louder.
The MOT tester failed the bike, suggesting that it was too loud, even though it was marked as road legal. It's down to the descretion of the tester on the day. Same could theoretically happen with a bog standard exhaust also.
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