RIDE magazine Removing exhaust baffle is legal?

[sure2ride]

Not sure where to put this as the new site doesn’t have a “Zorst section” and now I have a Fazer8 no-one seems to visit there, so here goes.

According to RIDE Feb 2013 issue, page 82, as long as an exhaust has the E mark stamped on it then “Removing the baffle doesn’t make the exhaust illegal because the E mark is on the exhaust”

I always thought it was illegal to remove the baffle whilst using the bike on the road. Have I been wrong all this time ? 

[locksmith]

I think it's down to the testers ears nowdays?

[sure2ride]

Cheers Locksmith, but I was thinking more about what would happen if I was stopped by Plod ?

[Dead Eye]

I guess it depends on whether they deem it to be excessively noisy and therefore "disturbing the peace" / "causing excess noise pollution" etc etc...

[Chris]

As they correctly say, the E mark or other marks it has are on the actual pipe not on the baffles. My blueflame exhaust is the same, it also came with a letter saying that by removing the baffle it was considered not road legal. As the others have said, it's kind of about who the tester is, they might care, they might not. If the police stop you and prosecute for how loud it is, either by saying it's excessive and disturbing the peace or is illegal because of the lack of baffle then i'd hate to try and argue in court that the e mark is on the actual can so it's ok on the road... I imagine you'd still walk away with the fine etc...
 
It's your choice, but if you get caught then just put it down to the fact you really should have kept the baffle in and you probably got stopped by a police officer who doesn't like bikes/just doing his job at the end of the day or the MOT guy is doing what he's supposed to do and stop excessively loud pipes on the road.... Having said all that we're bikers and most of us probably because it's nice to bend the rules sometimes 
 
It's a grey area in the exhaust laws and I for one wouldn't like to try and convince a court I'm right and Mr PC is wrong...

[Motorbreath]

It is illegal in Spain, and it is an EU rule, so it has to be illegal everywhere. Cops usually do not care about it unless certain town/region's politicians hate bikes or they need to reach a certain amount of fines to earn more money. Then it is the first thing they check. I have a fake one.

[stevierst]

I think Chris has pretty much hit the nail on the head there. If you don't want to be pulled for something which might be breaking the law, then don't break the law. Simples. Most e marked cans with baffles are road legal only with them in. Some are spot welded in for that reason.

Either that, or run with no baffles and lay off the throttle near plod, and have a bit of respect in residential areas.

[BBROWN1664]

Some zorsrts have the emark on the baffle part. Remove the baffle and you remove the mark.

[Chris]

Thanks Stevierst,
 
I know my post was a bit long but it's a big topic. haha.
 
Another thing to note is that the police will usually turn a blind eye to one or maybe two "grey area items"... for example a number plate that is slightly too small, an exhaust with no baffle, a tinted race visor. but if you get stopped with too many then you are kind of forcing their hand, they have a duty to do their job properly. Plus if you've been riding like an arse then they will be looking for everything they can! Ride safe and don't go crazy with they illegal/grey area mods and you'll be fine.

[Deefer666]

"now I have a Fazer8 "

Why?

[sure2ride]

"now I have a Fazer8 "

Why?

 
 
Simples,  I have had a 600 Foxeye and two Gen 1 Fazer Thou's. I loved them all, but now I love my Fazer 8, and for me personally, it's the best 
 
Now, back on topic... I take everyone's point, and I am a pretty sensible rider with a healthy respect for the law.  I only raise the issue because of Ride Mags comment, and I guess I will have to take it up with them. It's interesting that this seems to be a grey area when I thought it was pretty certain that no baffle meant you were automatically committing an offence. According to Ride Mag, it seems not. I will ask for their clarification, but any forum members views / experiences are also interesting.

[Motorbreath]

Is it true it drinks fuel almost like a 1000 but is barely faster than a 600?

[stevierst]

Its not worth asking them, as they probably won't have a clue. Also if your stopped by a traffic cop, the last thing you want to say to them is "Ride magazine said its ok".

Personally, if you really want/need a mega loud exhaust, your going to eventually get pulled. Is it really worth it?? :-\

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

[JoeRock]

I've never had a baffle in any of my exhausts, and never had a problem with it. My hornet and the fzs 1000 aren't actually too noisy providing you're not ragging it, both of those got through an MOT without the baffle fitted. The ZX9R I had previously had a SPE engineering tri-oval stubby, and that was a fair bit louder - had to put the baffle in to get it through the MOT, but it comes straight back out afterwards and I never had any issues (in either Leicestershire, Kent, or London) with the plod. Think as long as you don't rev the tits off it past a police car or in residential areas you should be ok, unless as said you live in an area where they really don't like bikes!
FWIW I also ride around with a black visor, I've spoken to a few cops about this now and because I always have my clear visor with me too, they never have a problem with it - they have all warned me though that if I were wearing it after dark with it down then I would probably end up in a fair bit of trouble should I be caught!
License plates is the one thing I don't muck around with though, my plates are generally a tad smaller than the norm, but the actual spacing and letter sizing is all fine so it's not a problem

[sure2ride]

Is it true it drinks fuel almost like a 1000 but is barely faster than a 600?

 
Errrrrrr.........No 

[Phil]

Is it true it drinks fuel almost like a 1000 but is barely faster than a 600?

50-55mpg usually and 140mph is fast enough for me.

[Phil]

Not sure where to put this as the new site doesn’t have a “Zorst section” and now I have a Fazer8 no-one seems to visit there, so here goes.

According to RIDE Feb 2013 issue, page 82, as long as an exhaust has the E mark stamped on it then “Removing the baffle doesn’t make the exhaust illegal because the E mark is on the exhaust”

I always thought it was illegal to remove the baffle whilst using the bike on the road. Have I been wrong all this time ? 

I guess it depends upon how quiet it is without the baffle.  Sounds like Ride are talking bollox, the E Mark is given for the exhaust passing noise tests and if you remove the baffle it will fail the test.