Aftermarket Exhaust and New Rules

[Marmoot]

Hi everybody. This is the new rules. Anybody has read this?
Land Transport (Unauthorised Street and Illegal Drag Racing) Amendment Act 2003

Basically, it looks like ALL aftermarket exhaust are illegal now (correct me please if I'm wrong. And I bloody hope I'm wrong).
What do you think of it? I think it's a load of $%^#*.

[SpankMe]

I don't suspect it will be strictly enforced on everybody but just used to hassle the trouble makers and extreme noise makers. That doesn't mean that the odd cop or WOF guy can't be an asshole and do you for having an after market exhaust.

I am getting sick of the constant introduction of new laws. On their own they may seem to be doing the wright thing, but on the whole they just take away more of our freedom and turn this country into a nanny state.

[SPman]

What a crock of *#$@ Shit!

Yet more friggin regulations to make everyones life a misery.

I see trouble ahead with this one (also my bike wouldnt pass under this new reg - so, do I have to pay $1500 for a standard muffler, and also lose 4hp and gain about 10Kg!!)

Bastards

[merv]

Yep its all bad news. I was in getting a WOF for the car yesterday and my friendly garage guy was telling me all about the exhaust thing and you guys have heard me spouting off about bureaucracy before regarding speed cameras and the like. The LTSA are now trying to act like our guardian angels and control us totally. Whoever voted for that to happen?

The new rule is quite specific that modified exhausts aren't allowed but the WOF guy will have to show some discretion because, take a car for instance, like our humble Honda. If it finally did rot its exhaust and I went to somehwere like Pitstop to get it replaced, they would I am sure not have a Honda genuine part to put on it. Would it then be illegal? If so what future is there for aftermarket shops at all. So the same applies to bikes, we could be in for a tough ride here. I would have thought some sort of db meter test would be the only fair way to do this as surely the actual output of noise is the issue and they are really targetting the super loud mega blow-pipes on the back of the boy racer cars.

As for the other new regs that came into effect this year they mainly pissed me off in relation to the cars and trailer. I had to replace all the suspension and steering ball joints on our classic Mitsubishi Celeste because you can no longer have any sort of worn or damage rubber boot cover on them even if they are oozing grease and are never likely to get damaged in the joint. One little knick and they are done for in the eyes of the bureaucrats. That cost me about $300 and a days work on Easter Monday to put right. The trailer now has to have tyres to the same tread standard as the car, so nor more using old car tyres on the trailer. Since when did a trailer wipe out because of this? I have been towing mine for 20 years now without a problem. The other one is safety chains welded on are no longer allowed unless you can produce a welders certificate for it. So I cut off the old chain and bought a new one at Repco and used shackles at both ends. All good stuff for us that also tow dirt bikes around eh!

Where will it end? I see them driving the regs as hard as Japan so that in the end we won't be importing Jap cast-offs that have got close to their comprehensive check requirements so maybe bang goes the cheap price of vehicles in New Zealand relatively speaking.

The US intrigues me because I understand they have no equivalent of the WOF test, just rely on the cops to give you a citation if they see something wrong with your vehicle. I can't see them in uniform crawling underneath to check ball joints or exhaust systems. May be the land of the free has it right!

So OK guys better dig your original mufflers out of the garage if you still have them.

[boris]

i sort of think it a good thing,Some cars and bikes make to much noise.SO harley riders will be pissed off.YOU can have an after market system as long as its not louder than it was standard.Hell my SV is louder than std so i will live and see what happens.

 

BoRis 

[Slim]

Originally posted by merv
I would have thought some sort of db meter test would be the only fair way to do this as surely the actual output of noise is the issue and they are really targetting the super loud mega blow-pipes on the back of the boy racer cars.

My thought exactly.

Any law that requires subjective rather than scientific measurement is going to cause all sorts of problems for all sorts of people.

My car exhaust (less than a year old & not a standard Toyota part) was louder at install than the faulty one that was removed. Go figure.

What about people who have high performance cars and motorcycles, but are not "boy racers"?
The LTSA’s advice to them is to drive responsibly so that you are not stopped and given a green sticker.

I'm gonna go with this approach & see what happens, since I don't have the original Honda exhaust anymore.

[Slim]

One more thought:

What about classic bikes & cars with standard (for their original manufacture) exhaust systems?




Oh. And it kinda pisses me off that the LTSA can't be bothered to spell check their articles.

[SPman]

Once again a rushed, poorly thought out piece of legislative crap, that is going to make life more miserable than it should be, because some faceless beauracrats have got not enough to do except respond to half baked,knee jerk, reactionaries!

[Stormer]

Yeah, this could be a major headache IF they decide to get serious about it.

I read in that stupid "Indicator" thing they kindly give you with your reg. bill that with cars, you`re not allowed tyres 25mm wider than standard, and the diameter cannot change as well. No more wide low-profiles for the boy racers.

At this rate, we`ll soon all be riding / driving carbon copy vehicles.

So much for bloody individuality!!

[bluninja]

So what do you need to do to become a vehicle manufacturer?????

After all think of all the cars and bikes that share components.....engines, wheels, switchgear, suspension. Yet the resulting vehicle is to manufacturers specs. So I reckon I will setup myself up as a manufacturer of bikes based on Aprilia RSVR but with lighter freeer flowing exhausts, bigger air box, and different engine mapping.

Wonder how this will affect custom cars and bikes, which are nothing like the donor parts?

TTFN

[Motu]

Actually,all those regs are old,they are just being enforced - thanks to the boy racers who have pushed LTSA into action.

As a WOF inspector I'm really looking forward to this one - all my friends with non standard exhausts will think I'm an arsehole,so they won't bring their vehicles in to me.Owners of bussineses who I do work for will have to get complete new systems on their Commodores,so I won't have to service their fleet vehicles anymore.And the vindictive little shits who drive the likes of Subbies will probably burn my workshop down,no more worries!

I'm on the front line here,failing cars I've passed doz of times before,taking huge flack from angry customers,I'm not happy at all - and nor is the MTA,action is being taken but in the meantime - you fail buddy.

We can't cut you any slack,because the LTSA won't cut us any.If they find you have a new WOF with a noisy non standard exhaust - guess where the first stop is? My door - and there goes my wof authority.Sorry,I'm not losing half my income just because you can't find a complete new system for your CBX.

[twistymover]

Aftermarket exhaust or standard exhaust it should be based entirely on whether or not we exceed a certain decibel level. If someone does exceed this level, then rather than throw away a whole expensive aftermarket system, some aftermarket Guru perhaps could invent/provide baffles of all different shapes, sizes and lengths for people to install themselves and pass the wof without becoming bankrupt. Years ago Dunstalls were all the rage. I bought a pair for my 1975 Benelli 650 Tornado, even though there was nothing wrong with the originals.But I loved the sound they made.They made any 360 twin sound great. Those were fun days.

[wari]

Relevant Thread

[Slim]

I've just read The Cold Ones very informative posts in the "Relevant Thread" and now I'm wondering whether the government's done their homework properly regarding the old regs being fully superceded by the new regs.

Anyone care to comment?

[Motu]

The wof inspection is a visual test only,we aren't allowd to remove anything for a closer look,we can only make jugdments on howwe see it.A driveby decible test is way out of line - like do you guys want a $100 wof test?