Proposed changes to the law that would render many aftermarket motorcycle parts and modifications illegal will be debated in Parliament on Monday, April 25.

The controversial proposals were revealed in a 2021 consultation called 'The Future of Transport Regulatory Review – Modernising Vehicle Standards' and sparked a petition which was signed by more than 100,000 people – the threshold for triggering a debate.

Ahead of the debate, the National Motorcyclists Council want bikers to fill out an anonymous survey here. A summary of the responses will be published on the Petitions Committee website and will inform April’s debate.

“[The proposal] was worded in such a way that suggests that all types of modifications of motorcycles will be outlawed,” said a statement from the NMC. “It also went further by proposing to outlaw the marketing, promotion and sale of ‘tampering services or products’.

“This appears to be an extraordinary and socially repressive approach to perceived problems which were not well defined in the consultation.”

The Department for Transport (DfT) has clarified its position on the anti tampering proposals it revealed recently in a meeting with the National Motorcyclists Council (NMC).

The wording of the original document made it seem that any modification from a motorbike’s OEM parts would become illegal, sparking uproar in the biking community. And while the DfT has now made it clear that this is not the case for all parts of your bike, exhaust systems remain firmly in the crosshairs.

The proposals are aimed at ensuring the motorcycles can no longer be legally modified to generate more pollution, which would rule out many performance exhaust systems and power commanders. The proposals have also been designed to stamp out the practice of modifying electric bicycles and e-scooters to make them faster and more powerful.

"Although we are pleased to learn that riders will not be banned from modifying their bikes if this does not reduce environmental performance or increase speeds beyond a particular motorcycle’s design specification, this leaves several areas where legitimate reasons to modify could still be denied," said Craig Carey-Clinch from the NMC. "There is also a large question mark about how the proposals will affect older motorcycles.

"We welcome the DfT’s willingness to discuss these matters in more detail and to include the NMC and its members in work to design regulations that are proportionate, but we remain strongly concerned that the proposals have been inspired by issues that do not apply to the majority of motorcycling, but to a much narrower range of mainly electric products.

"Engine modifications often improve how a bike runs and the freedom to be able to make these changes must remain. But it does seem clear that in the drive to reduce vehicle emissions and to decarbonise all vehicle types, it seems that at the very least, modifications that lead to increased emissions from petrol motorcycles and cars are likely to be outlawed."

Sourse: motorcyclenews