Exhaust status in UK and Europe ?
 

I am after some info on the legal requirements of exhaust systems in the UK and Europe.

I hope to ship my bike from Australia to the UK in May or June 2022, if the current Covid-19 rules don’t change.

My bike is a 2014 DR 650 with a stain tune full system with the baffle fitted, it is not excessively loud but a lot louder than standard, which would not be hard as the standard muffler is super quiet.

Question being is it better to refit the standard exhaust or are the authorities a little lenient when it comes to such matters ?

My plan is to spend some time in the UK and do a bit in Europe the head to Eastern Europe and store the bike in Eastern Europe for return visits.

Any help or advice will be gratefully accepted.

Generally speaking, unless you try to run straight-through pipes, you are unlikely in the extreme to run into any problems anywhere in UK or EU.
They sell many different after-market silencers everywhere in Europe, it's just Germany that is a bit anal about some brands, I believe. The Swiss may be a bit odd, too.

If you are pulled over by the old Bill for riding like a twat in other respects, they may just choose to hit you up for a noisy pipe too, though.

Don't go loopy in towns, ride with respect and, if pulled over by cops, never, ever admit to speaking any of their lingo.
Play the stupid tourist and point at the silencer and say 'normal in Australia'.
Chances are they will tell to to just go away.

It's 10 years gone since I lived in UK, so things may have changed a bit.
But having visited the Isle of Man for the TT races six times in those intervening 10 years, I don't think things have changed that much.

As a bit of a side-issue, whenever I have gone on extended trips, I prefer the stock exhaust.
You will be living on the bike for several weeks at a time, for several hours a day.
Do you want to get off the bike at the end of every day with your ears ringing?

I would be tempted to fit the standard system back on and not give some over zealous plod an excuse to fine you or worse particularly if you plan to visit Austria or Switzerland where I understand they can be very strict about them.

Add Spain to that list, although they're less likely to pull over a foreign bike all fitted exhausts on local bikes have to be EU homologated ... and some places have people who are sensitive to the noise made by motorbikes.

(also of note, there's a few old signs from the '70s near my house that say motorcycles are illegal to ride between 10pm and 7am, though that's no longer enforceable, lol)

This.

Especially in the souther parts of Germany, many mountain roads in Austria, Switzerland and parts of the french Alps and Vogeses have massisve protests from locals, due to bikes beeing too loud. The problem became even bigger throughout C19, as biking was one of the few activities, people were able to do. Bike traffic and noise pollution skyrocketted. Now there are lots of places where bikes are temporarily not allowed to drive (mostly weekends), entire regions where noise limits are implemented and where bikes are constantly controlled for noise violations. Cops test your bike with a calibrated microphone to check, whether the sound aligns to what is written in the bike´s documents. Not passing that test will at best end up in a hefty fine. If violation is too high, your bike can be declared not road worthy/illigal in that area and may be trailered out of that zone (seen a news report on that topic, where a local needed to tow his totally legal bike from his house out of the no bike/noise limit zone, to be allowed to use is.)

Check the legal noise emmissions requirements in Germany, Switzerland or Austria (I believe, these are the most restrictive) for your bike and try to match that with an OEM exhaust. Fines are very high for violations.

Not sure, how about this noise pollution reduction movement is proceeding in skandinavia, but if they are going the same route, their fining system can be much more expensive, as they calculate your fine by your income.

Enjoy your trip.

Edit:

https://www.dr-big-shop.de/46_Auspuff.html

This german shop offers so called "decibel eater" for your DR 650.

With a silent bike, a foreign plate and a polite attitude you´ll be most likely waved through all over Europe.

Edit2:
find a list of roads closed or with limited access a for bikes in Germany and Austria here:

https://www.motorradundreisen.de/motorradfahrverbot/

I think it would be in your best interest to refit the standard "super-quiet" muffler.

As others have noted in their responses above, residents (and enforcement authorities) have zero tolerance for excessive motorcycle noise in some parts of Europe, in particular, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.

Last summer, I was stopped at a "sound check" checkpoint entering one of the Swiss passes. The authorities were stopping all motorcycles to check noise emission. As soon as the officer recognized that my moto was a Honda ST 1100, and he heard it idling, he waved me through (the ST 1100 is a very quiet motorcycle). But his colleagues were busy setting up microphones behind a line of sport bikes, testing them one by one and comparing results to a list.

Better to be safe than sorry.

Technically, in the UK all exhausts should be CE or BS marked to be road legal. In practice, many aren't, but as long as it's not obnoxiously loud nobody will check. The same is not true elsewhere in Europe and certainly I know of cases in Germany where the cops have pulled bikes over to check for the legal markings on their exhausts.

This list is certainly incomplete and driven open source by this website. On it´s lower end you can take part in a petition, to vote against the new restrictions.

The leaving gov of Germany has signed a new law , which allows regional or local authorities to limit or shut down traffic temporarily or total in order to reduce any sort of air or noise pollution.

I´m sure, local authorities will make use of this new law, once the next season starts.

Thanks for the input.

I think the standard exhaust will be the go then, better to safe than sorry such a long way from home, last thing I want is to have hassle from the old bill.

Cheers

All the bike I've owned over the past 20 or so years, ridden several 100k km and travelled on world wide, as well as mainland Europe and UK, have had louder than standard pipes. On my triple (Triumph) and V Twins (old Af Twins and Transalp) they have had a certain roar :scooter: On 650 and 400 cc singles loud too. An old 250 single dirtbike that I commuted on in England had an very offensively loud pipe :innocent:.

I have never been stopped anywhere (UK or abroad) because of the pipe. Never really stopped for any reason by any plod. I also don't ride like a nutter. When travelling I try to avoid large urban areas: Less people, less cage drivers, less plod, more interesting scenery, roads and trails.

In the UK there have been so many police cuts, that you'll struggle to see any plod while riding. They seem to rely on cameras to catch people breaking "laws" on the road. I don't believe they record sound.

I think the OP is overthinking things too much. Leave the usual pipe on.

PS. If you want to park you bike in eastern Europe, I recommend Motocamp Bulgaria = Welcome to motosapiens.org | motosapiens.org