Do cops ever check your bike's LAMS compliance?

[SMOKEU]

Is this correct? Doesn't seem right to me - bikes hardly ever seem to get stopped. I've never been stopped on my bike, and been stopped many times in my cars.

You're MUCH more likely to get stopped by police late at night, in the early hours of the morning, or riding a bike on a popular road for bikers in the summer when the cops are out on a mission to bust heaps of riders for shit, like SH75.

[Erelyes]

Never been checked over to my knowledge and I've never been pulled over.

If my bike WAS modded I would put it back to standard for any tests, though. Would be dumb to fail a licence test without leaving the gate, just cos of a slipon. Though I believe a workmate recently did his L>R test with a slipon on his 08+ Ninja 250.

[f2dz]

Never been checked over to my knowledge and I've never been pulled over.

If my bike WAS modded I would put it back to standard for any tests, though. Would be dumb to fail a licence test without leaving the gate, just cos of a slipon. Though I believe a workmate recently did his L>R test with a slipon on his 08+ Ninja 250.

As far as I know, a slip on exhaust is fine on a 250 as it wouldn't drastically change the power/weight ratio enough. You can't modify anything higher than a 250 at all though for it to be legal.

[Tazz]

As far as I know, a slip on exhaust is fine on a 250 as it wouldn't drastically change the power/weight ratio enough. You can't modify anything higher than a 250 at all though for it to be legal.

The NO performance mods part of the rules was pretty clear I thought, and includes tufiddys. Unless I missed some fine print.

[f2dz]

The NO performance mods part of the rules was pretty clear I thought, and includes tufiddys. Unless I missed some fine print.

From the NZTA website:

The following list of motorcycles with engine capacities between 251cc and 660cc - these motorcycles must be in standard form as produced by the manufacturer. They cannot be modified in any way to increase the power-to-weight ratio.

They don't specifically mention 250s having to be in standard form. I remember emailing the NZTA about it before the LAMS list came out and they told me it was fine to add a slip on exhaust to a 250 so long as it didn't increase the power/weight above the legal limit. None of the 250s come close to that as far as I'm aware except for the ones already on the prohibited list.

[Tazz]

From the NZTA website:



They don't specifically mention 250s having to be in standard form. I remember emailing the NZTA about it before the LAMS list came out and they told me it was fine to add a slip on exhaust to a 250 so long as it didn't increase the power/weight above the legal limit. None of the 250s come close to that as far as I'm aware except for the ones already on the prohibited list.

"Any motorcycle modified in a way that increases its power-to-weight ratio is no longer LAMS-compliant, regardless of whether it appears on the list."

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/licence/gett...torcycles.html

250's aren't on the list (unless they're banned), so that last bit is directed at them I would have thought.

[f2dz]

"Any motorcycle modified in a way that increases its power-to-weight ratio is no longer LAMS-compliant, regardless of whether it appears on the list."

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/licence/gett...torcycles.html

250's aren't on the list (unless they're banned), so that last bit is directed at them I would have thought.

You're right. That's pretty clear cut.

I just dug out my email from when I asked about my old 250 and the person from NZTA told me it had to remain standard to be legal also. Dunno why I thought it said the opposite..

So legally you're not allowed one but I've seen plenty of learners/restricted riders with em and have heard of cops not knowing about this rule either though. Especially strange that a guy can do his Ls to Restricted test with an aftermarket zorst.

Seeing as it's illegal, I'd be mainly concerned about the insurance company not paying out if they find out you have an illegal mod if you happen to bin your bike.

[GTRMAN]

A cbta assessor will check for any obvious signs the bike has been modified in a way that would make it non LAMS compliant.

[Pound]

So does this mean I can't ride around on a 636 on my Ls?

[Tazz]

You're right. That's pretty clear cut.

I just dug out my email from when I asked about my old 250 and the person from NZTA told me it had to remain standard to be legal also. Dunno why I thought it said the opposite..

So legally you're not allowed one but I've seen plenty of learners/restricted riders with em and have heard of cops not knowing about this rule either though. Especially strange that a guy can do his Ls to Restricted test with an aftermarket zorst.

Seeing as it's illegal, I'd be mainly concerned about the insurance company not paying out if they find out you have an illegal mod if you happen to bin your bike.

They just were either lazy, didn't care or (I'd like to think) were just not paper pushing, power tripping bureaucratic Nazis as some people can be.
At the end of the day you crashing and not getting insurance isn't going to make a difference to them, and they can just say you had a standard exhaust when you took the test if for some real random reason it ever came up.

However if you rocked up with a turbo bolted on.....

At the end of the day a lot of the law is interpretive and only a guideline. You just have to pick and choose your battles/risks.

So does this mean I can't ride around on a 636 on my Ls?

It's not on the list but a 659 is

[Erelyes]

They just were either lazy, didn't care or (I'd like to think) were just not paper pushing, power tripping bureaucratic Nazis as some people can be.

AFAIK they were correct. Before the LAMS rules there was just straight up '250s and under' and I don't think there were any restrictions on mods. Could be wrong there though.

The Pre-LAMS legislation only talks about it being 250cc and under, doesn't talk about mods.

[gammaguy]

Apparently the police commissioner sent an email to all police stations nationwide advising them not to talk about it

the email subject was
The silence of the LAMS

[FJRider]

Not licensed to operate the vehicle, therefore no insurance. Try get insured to drive a truck and trailer without a truck licence.

I think it's actually "Riding outside the conditions of License" ...

You can buy a non-LAM's legal motorcycle ... register/WOF in your name. You can even insure it in your name (choose policy options carefully)... but they may not pay out if you are/were in breach of your license conditions ...

[ELectronicFlesh]

Thanks for all the replies guys. When taking insurance into account, I think I'll wait for my full until upgrading to something a bit more powerful.

Apparently the police commissioner sent an email to all police stations nationwide advising them not to talk about it

the email subject was
The silence of the LAMS

Fuckin lol.

[Drew]

Waaaaaaaay back in the day, any modification resulting in something like 15% increase in power above standard required a low volume engineers certificate. These days, it's pretty much any modification to a vehicle needs it.

Bikes not mentioned specifically in the LAM list that are under 250cc, are subject to the rules before the list existed.

Whether a cop can be fucked looking over a bike, is luck of the draw. Anyone who cannot figure this shit out themselves, shouldn't be allowed on the fucken road!