Fun and Games at the testing station

[riffer]

Took my bike to Vehicle Testing at lunchtime for its 6-monthly warrant check.

I'd been worried about the steering head but sorted it out recently.

So there was no real problems but you know what its like when you have a 17 year old bike.

Just my luck. LTSA are doing an audit of VT Tory Street today, so they inform me that as I'm the only bike thats comes in today they'll give me the deluxe test.

Well okay thats cool, but I only have a certain amount of time for lunch so don't take too long... :shifty:

Suffice to say the bike passed but there were a few anxious moments:

1. checking the steering head - "It's a bit stiff mate, you need to get that seen too - its warrantable though..."
2. "what's happened to your footpegs." Um. Hero blobs broken off by the previous owner.
3. "Your brake lines are soft". Yup my brakes lines are 17 years old. Take it for a ride mate - they work fine.
4. "Why did you modify your muffler?" It's not too loud is it? Phew, not too loud. I ask them about the two brothers I want to put on. The LTSA man chirps in and tells me the laws are changing next year to make it difficult to put aftermarkets on. "They will have to be no louder than the original new muffler was." I mention how much of a can of worms that will be - he agrees and says "However, we need to reduce the noise from motorcycle exhausts as it is too distracting to other road users. It's a safety issue, Sir."

Huh. Go figure.

Never mind - I got my warrant. :ride:

[Cajun]

i have a stock exhust so no louder than that, means i can get away with pretty much anything hahahaha

[dhunt]

4. "Why did you modify your muffler?" It's not too loud is it? Phew, not too loud. I ask them about the two brothers I want to put on. The LTSA man chirps in and tells me the laws are changing next year to make it difficult to put aftermarkets on. "They will have to be no louder than the original new muffler was." I mention how much of a can of worms that will be - he agrees and says "However, we need to reduce the noise from motorcycle exhausts as it is too distracting to other road users. It's a safety issue, Sir."

I totally agree it's safety issue, people might actually "see" you if they can hear you. So less likely to "accidently" hit you.

[manuboy]

How will they enforce the aftermarket noise level thing????? Will they have a DB level chart for every bike in existence, and then measure the DB of the replacement cans?

Distracting to other road users? Can i then go down there and watch while they test every W&*NKER with a blow off valve and an exhaust you could stick your head into? Cos those things are distracting to other road users, home owners, etc

FARRRRK! There'll be a peice of legislation for farking everything one day, if not sooner. I just dropped one, it was distracting for the guy beside me. WTF???? :mad:

[Cajun]

I totally agree it's safety issue, people might actually "see" you if they can hear you. So less likely to "accidently" hit you.

i had people not see me, i mean i don't know how bright yellow helmet and bike and then normal wear a bright fluro yellow jacket. so at least they can here me, if not they hear me kicking there car if they get to close

[Blakamin]

:mellow: but mine is a stock can!!!! :whistle:
it says Ducati anyway... not my fault you can hear it 2 blocks away!

[vifferman]

Hero blobs broken off by the previous owner.Rendering the bike potentially unsafe? If you end up leaning it too far? :eek:


"Your brake lines are soft". So what's his point? Are they acceptable or not? Quantify "soft"....

"However, we need to reduce the noise from motorcycle exhausts as it is too distracting to other road users. It's a safety issue, Sir."Rrrriiiight....
Yes, that's a very good justification for a new rule.
And are they also going to pick on car drivers with dangly 'good luck' charms on their rear-vision mirrors, or mobile shrines on the dashboard, or working radios fitted, or kids in the back seat, for the same reason?? :spudwhat: :wacko:

[Cajun]

:mellow: but mine is a stock can!!!! :whistle:
it says Ducati anyway... not my fault you can hear it 2 blocks away!

you know twins not meant to rev that high as that 400

[rodgerd]

I mention how much of a can of worms that will be - he agrees and says "However, we need to reduce the noise from motorcycle exhausts as it is too distracting to other road users. It's a safety issue, Sir."


That's just fucking stupid. Almost worth dropping Harry D a note with that quote in it, to see the reaction.

Of course, the LTSA will then point at the tossers whose exhaust mods consist of chopping the muffler off and running completely unbaffled or straight pipes in order to justify the move...

(And I'll echo the comments of others: a cellphone, radio, DVD player, SatNav system, aren't problems, but a bike exhaust is? GMAFB...)

[maybe]

Funny someone should mention dangly bits off mirrors a friend of mine was stopped not long ago and told to remove some dangly bits off her mirror, the cop said it was blocking her clear vision, no he nether sat in the car to check, any way she was told she would be fined if she did not remove it.

Any way must of been dangerous as it had only been there a couple of years or so.

[gav]

Right, wheres that "Noisy Pipes Saves Lives" sticker?

[aff-man]

:mellow: but mine is a stock can!!!! :whistle:
it says Ducati anyway... not my fault you can hear it 2 blocks away!

only 2 block sheesh you must have a really quiet bike mate. :shake:




Baffle whats a baffle :thud: :shit: :killingme :killingme :killingme

[LB]

3. "Your brake lines are soft". Yup my brakes lines are 17 years old. Take it for a ride mate - they work fine.


And they won't pass braided lines unless they're of one particular brand with the code stamped on them - doesn't make sense to me, when we all know that braided lines are more efficient than normal (rubber?) ones.

[vifferman]

Funny someone should mention dangly bits off mirrors a friend of mine was stopped not long ago and told to remove some dangly bits off her mirror, the cop said it was blocking her clear vision, no he nether sat in the car to check, any way she was told she would be fined if she did not remove it.

Any way must of been dangerous as it had only been there a couple of years or so.Of course it's dangerous, or at least potentially dangerous.
The thing that gets me is the amount of crap hanging from some people's mirrors and adorning their dashboards, when usually these are the very people who need as few distractions as possible. :ar15:
Look - if you can get failed for a stonechip on your windscreen because it might impede your clear vision of the road / other road users, then sundry bollix dangling from your mirror should certainly be removed. Except if they're the driver's, and he's been very naughty, then they are there as a salutory warning to other eedjits.

Despite what some people might think, driving a car on the road is a privilege, not a right, and your car doesn't need to be decorated like a Buddhist temple or Chinese Knockinge Shoppe™. It's a motor vehicle, not a home away from home or mobile brothel.

Usually.

[vifferman]

And they won't pass braided lines unless they're of one particular brand with the code stamped on them - doesn't make sense to me, when we all know that braided lines are more efficient than normal (rubber?) ones.It's actually any brand with DOTxyz stamped on 'em (or carefully written with indelible/inedible pen). The DoTxyz is actually an LTSA talisman that wards off Bad Mojo™, Black Darkie-Boogie Voodoo™ and EvilBikerGodz™. :crazy:

[NC]

If the pipe has "Not for road use" stamped into it, it's not quiet loud enough..
:love2:

[Stinger]

I mention how much of a can of worms that will be - he agrees

Have you seen the S.B.D Adjustable sound muffler systems ?

"Cable-operated 'sound valve' adjusts the volume even while riding".

:devil2:

[That Guy]

I went to an official LTSA WOF place a couple of years ago and had a good laf - nobody there knew how to check bikes so I showed 'em how to check headset bearnings, wheels etc - and they gave me a WOF! After I proclaimed my bike to be ok! hahahha. :laugh:

In hindsight I should've explained how all bikes must be wheelied at least 50 metres to ensure the rear wheel is strong enough......and that LoudPipesSaveLives®. Something like that anyway.

[vifferman]

Have you seen the S.B.D Adjustable sound muffler systems ?

"Cable-operated 'sound valve' adjusts the volume even while riding".

:devil2:The regs specifically state that mufflers aren't allowed to be adjustable. Which would rule out the cans that Motorcycle Exhaust Specialists in Hanmer made/make that have an allen-key adjustable baffle thingo (technical term) which adjusts from 'sport' to 'touring' or vice-versa.

[pete376403]

So how do trucks get away with jake brakes? Technically that would rate as an "adjustable exhaust". Or for that matter how do Wgtn city diesel buses get away with the noisemakers they have? Not too many bikes would be as loud as a stagecoach accelerating.