[tiescher]

Hello,

I'm from Germany and very surprised what modifications you can do to your Ninja legally in the US. Are there any limits at all ?

For us folks over here most of the things need to be officially approved via a technical control board which in some instances is just not possible because of federal laws. A couple of examples :
- Exhaust - There is a limit on the noise level. Whatever goes beyond (roundabout) 86 decibel is just not allowed. Most of us Ninja fans over here would love to put a Yoshimura onto the Ninja however the exhaust is just to noisy.
- Manifold - No chance at all to get this legally onto the bike.
- Tuning - The Ninja is shipped in Germany with a fuel injection system which you can only tune with a replacement chip (performance increase approx. 3 hp). You do that ... you loose the permission to drive the bike on an official road and much more important your insurance.
- LED rear light - The manufacturer of the light need to get an approval from the technical control board. In case you buy that light without a granted permission ... you run into trouble with the cops in case they spot that issue during a traffic control. In a worst case scenario they don't let you drive unless you can replace it with the eg. the original one.

So I'm very surprised on the things you guys can do ... thats just awesome.

tiescher

 

[CoinSlot]

It's the same in Australia I guess. Any modification from standard is technically illegal unless it meets the Australian Design Rules.

The police (mostly) have more important things to be doing then harassing motorists for minor mods.

 

[spooph]

Tiescher, first, welcome!

Second, many laws concerning vehicle modifications are state-dependent. For instance, any and all exhaust modifications are illegal in California. In Colorado, where I live, exhaust modifications are illegal in two counties of the state. The same goes for head-lights, turns signals, mirrors, even helmet laws.

However, as Coinslot said, the police are usually busy with something else, and unless you're caught speeding, will not get stopped for minor technical infractions, such as mods, unless you're being stupid, obnoxious or otherwise idiotic. If in case a person does something to attract the attention of our fine officers of the law, then the infractions can be compounded on a ticket for a much worse sentence.

In Colorado, we work on a points systems, and each infraction is worth a certain number of points. So, if a rider is stupid, and has all kinds of illegal mods on his/her bike, a small speeding ticket can turn into a massive ticket very quickly. So if we behave ourselves in the presence of the law, we generally get away with a lot....

 

[tiescher]

Well .... german police sometimes trend to be very fussy. Some month ago I was following a scene where they had spotted a Ninja with a replacement exhaust however the db-eater was removed. They didn't allow the driver to leave without remounting the db-eater. Unfortunately the db-eater was at home about 15 miles away ... the driver had to get the db-eater first before they allowed him to leave with the bike. I'm not joking when saying the police was more or less about 2 hours around to wait until this poor guy returned with the db-eater.

tie

 

[spooph]

oh wow, ridiculous!

 

[Racer X]

I could hang a bicycle light on my race bike.As long as I don't speed or do a wheelie the cops will not even look at mne twice.