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Exhaust Legal / Motorcycle Exhaust noise?

Basics:

All Councils in the UK have the power under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to take action in respect of a noise nuisance caused by unreasonable use of motor vehicles used off road.  Following the service of a legal notice (an Abatement Notice) councils have the power to seize the offender's vehicle and take prosecution proceedings.

If you have an exhaust silencer that is an after market type which has no markings such as OEM No's, E marks or race only it's not illegal.  Even if it is slightly louder than the OEM silencer.

The recent change in regulations in essence say that 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.  You might get an "adviser", the Tester might fail it!

The regulations have been relaxed on non standard systems, the Tester now decides if the exhaust is too loud.  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 it's unclear what the rules the police apply.  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.

Lost Your Motorcycle Exhaust Identification?  Have your exhaust pipe markings disappeared, are they obscured by age,
wear and tear, crash damage or simply polished off?

The new MOT legislation requires that the vehicle tester is able to see the standard (original makers stamp) or aftermarket exhaust fitted to the bike is marked with the obligitory BSAU 193a and the European "E" mark.  If your Exhaust can does not carry these markings, it could lead to a failed MOT and if you are stopped by the Police it can lead to a fine and points on your licence.

The law says that your bike will fail the MOT if:-
a. Any part of the exhaust system is missing or excessively deteriorated.
b. A leak in an exhaust system which causes excessive noise to be emitted.
c. An exhaust system mounting missing or one which is in such a condition that it does not fully support the exhaust system.
d. silencer which is in such a condition or is of such a type that the noise emitted is clearly in excess of that which would be produced by a similar machine fitted with a standard silencer in average condition.
e. A silencer fitted to a motorcycle first used on or after 1 January 1985 which is not marked with either:-
* The make and type specified by the motorcycle manufacturer.
* British Standard classification BSAU 193 or BSAU 193a or an EEC approval number prefixed by a small 'e' marking or an ECE approval number prefixed by a capital E.
* A silencer marked 'NOT FOR ROAD USE', TRACK USE ONLY' or similar words.

There are businesses around which will sell you stickers and or plates which could be used to cover-up/hide unwanted graphics and wording on the exhaust pipes.  However, these tag/s should not be fitted to a non standard can or exhaust to try and break the law or pass it off as legal for an MOT.