Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what laws govern permissive noise of motorbikes and their exhaust systems.

Technical standards for noise from new motorcycles are set at an International level by both the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). These provisions were updated in 2014 and took effect for new machines from 2016.

Further independent research funded by the European Commission has established the potential for further noise limit reductions and the Commission is proposing that these should take effect in 2020.

The motorcycle industry is represented at the UNECE discussions and Department for Transport officials also hold routine discussions with it outside this forum.

Once in service, UK regulations require exhausts and silencers to be maintained in good working order and not altered so as to increase noise. In addition, replacement exhaust silencers are required to be marked to show compliance with relevant requirements, and silencers intended for off road use have to be marked to indicate this. Silencers that do not comply with these requirements, or are marked “not for road use”, may not be used on the road.

During the annual MOT test exhausts and silencers are checked, and a motorcycle should fail if it emits noise that is clearly unreasonably above the level expected from a similar motorcycle with a standard silencer in average condition.

Outside the MOT the police have powers to take action if they suspect the exhaust has been altered, or if the machine is making excessive noise which could be avoided through reasonable rider care.

The Department is commissioning research into other ways to support police and highway authorities in combating and enforcing against excessive noise.