australia is a BIG place ! but most of the popultion live where petrol stations are in most towns!

I know this (i live here) and currently doing my second lap.

I know this also, like i said "if you're going bush" like most of the 'population' doesn't do.

Mezo.

The German TUV model of modification passports is a key element of European policy. There is no point mandating teflon coated tyres to reduce dust pollution or diverter valves so no air goes through the engine when we are allowed to bin them as soon as we get the bike home. The European model also loves how easy it is to enforce when they basically ban anything that isn't on the manufacturers list (the massive price hikes that result are for your own good of course, although giving up personal transport all together would be better ). Chipping key components is coming, so you'd have to dig the chip out of the OE tank and fit it into the safari one. There is little sign of anyone trying to stop this direction within the EU.

It is too early to tell if the UK will avoid this. There is hope, we design many more components than we build vehicles and what we do build are often bespoke and for non-EU markets. There is risk because the importers are still generally grouped geographically and aren't ready to do their own work with VCA beyond rubber stamping what they are sent from European HQ's. If you want choice, buy from the grey importers and more flexible brand importers and hope they get the message.

Andy

What's driving this Andy? Is it simply a reflection of national stereotypes, a sort of Teutonic 'obay the rules' approach that, as the Germans are in the automotive sector driving seat, has now expanded out to become European policy? Or are there some other factors in play here - the foothills of a push to get us all into electric vehicles comes to mind?

Technical advances do seem to find their way into legislation via a combination of 'moral outrage' and behind the scenes lobbying - speed cameras for example. Are we talking about 'now that we've got the ability to chip everything and the logistics to track the chips, we'll get them made mandatory and that'll give us a competitive advantage. It'll shut out the cheap Chinese spares industry and we can sell it as a 'safety' advance.'

Euro 5, for all its 'save the planet' P.R complete with videos of coughing children playing in a fog of exhaust smoke, does seem to be almost unnecessary given how quickly the I.C. engine is being dumped. Looking at how many bikes are being withdrawn from sale because of its requirements it looks more like a motorcycle Covid crisis than anything. The few survivors we'll be left with will undoubtedly be packed to the gills with anti tamper technology to ensure the emission levels are kept to. Backed up with MOT checkable microchips no doubt. And that looks like where we came in.

I'm not aware of any movement to microchip wine bottles to stop you making lamps or anything out of them - the stereotypically French area of expertise.

That's pretty much it. The environmental, protectionist and safety lobbys are getting together to run a very technocratic process in a direction they want to go.

Andy

Okay, first of all - policies across the EU can be very different. There are things you can do in one EU country, that you can't do in another. Levels of modification on private vehicles, strictness of technical tests, etc. With cars for example, there are some EU countries where it is much easier to register an American-market or Japanese-market car than in others.

Second of all - for Germany, part of it is the "obey the rules" mindset, but it's not in isolation. Making sure everyone obeys the rules - and all the cars, and bits on those cars, are in provably good technical order - is what lets Germany have no-speed-limit autobahns.

You might look at an DR650 tank and see that it more or less fits an XL650 - and you can go ahead and fit it. But you can't know if there is some difference in the kinds of bolts or washers, or vibrations in the mounting points, that are different between the two, and make the fitment a risk at high speeds, or in extreme situations. Oh, and if the tank really does work well for both models? Then the manufacturer can just certify it for both models, in the same way that a single oil filter is certified to work on almost any car.

This is an extremely convenient talking point to espouse while you are *already* experiencing the benefits of Euro 5, a.k.a. being able to breathe in a town center.

But yes, of course, the rules should not apply *to you*, because you are special.

An oil filter is not a type approved item and manufacturers don't approve anything. Self certification is the US model.

The manufacturer makes the vehicle and must then present it to a technical authority. VCA in the UK, RDW in the Netherlands, one of the TUV's in Germany etc. They assess the vehicle for compliance against their interpretation of the EU and national standards. This allows for some variation, the Spanish for example being much faster and less picky and TUV Wolfsburg being the place to go for emissions checks

An oil filter would never be failed as a stand alone item. The vehicle might be failed if something risked cutting open the filter or the function caused emissions or noise problems.

A parts supplier mostly has no requirement to do any approval, you can fit a Chinese bean can stuffed with rags instead of that oil filter in most EU countries . A inspection might fail it for leaks or emissions, but if knock offs work you can use them . On some products like tyres and brake linings you have to do testing to show you meet the same criteria as the OE fit, a component approval . The component manufacturer does this, usually by back to back testing. Most vehicles are type approved with two or more of these in case a supplier burns down. Mostly the controls are on advertising descriptions , you can offer can-stuffed-with-rags legally but not Honda oil filter.

Where the EU is heading is stopping this and not letting you legally fit the Chinese rubbish oil filter regardless of if yours happens to work.

Why would BMW help you fit Michelin tyres at £60 a go when its then illegal to fit anything except the Conti's they or Continental themselves only have available at £200 each? The chip in the tyre is coded to the TPMS and that must work. Intellectual property rights reinforce their right to refuse to hand over the chip code to Michelin. A monopoly on spares is created. BMW isn't going to do the work to approve an extra knobbly set of tyres for a handful of buyers who want to go off road.

Andy

We've had this conversation before, and I will say it again: the EU is the one that's actually preventing monopolies like that.

My laser printer knows when I have a generic cartridge in but it still works. If they were allowed to switch off the printer I suspect that they would as they make their money from selling the replacement cartridges rather than the printer. I suspect that the same is true if automotive industry - the EU is stopping them exploiting their position.

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You will have to do without pocket handkerchiefs, and a great many other things, before we reach our journey's end, Bilbo Baggins. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you. The world is ahead.