[dorr]

So, I had my saturday all planned out. Wait for my buddy to show up, then head out to Long Beach for the International Motorcycle Show, then after that off to Mooneyes to watch some drags and look at some cars and bikes. So off we go, get to long beach with no problems, pull up the the motorcycle entrance at the convention center and see there is cops on bikes sitting at the entrance. I don't think anything of it and as I pull up they pull me over.. I get a ticket for "modified exhaust" not that it was too loud or anything, it was explaned to me by the cop that if it is not the pipes it came with out of the dealer then they are illegal. The city saw a chance to make a lot of money that day and took advantage, all around the show people kept saying, I can't believe I got a ticket for my pipes. Total bullshit I think. I was looking online, and can't find what the cut off year would be for this law, my Dad says he thinks its for any year after the law was passed, but I'm not sure. I plan on fighting this in court and not paying for this fine. Anybody else have this happen or know more about this law??

 

[bungle]

sorry that happened to you. i met a guy once(in texas) during court that lugged in a muffler for his car. he said he got a ticked for modified exhaust and had to show the court he changed his car back to stock to get the ticked taken care of. don't know if that will work for you, but maybe you could humor them on your court date and show you put the org back on. then swap it back after court. anyway, what kind of bike do you have? do you have a pic of the pipes so we can have a heads up?

 

["LOUIE"]

whats the section he cited you for? 27150.3a?

 

[dfauerbach]

if a decible meter wasnt used and your bike was not in fact too loud i dont think he has a leg to stand on, of course i could be wrong and usually am when pulled over did he take pics of the bike i'm sure not so go to court plead not guilty and say they are OEM pipes and ask the court to prove they are not the officers HD mehcanic certification should be good LOL By this time of course you put the stock pipes back on. Guess he moonlights as a dealer mechanic so he would know every bike and its complete stock OEM parts list I would say I took the "heat shields" off so they do not look like stock pipes but they are and thats that

 

[Charles]

There is no law saying you can't change your pipes to something other than stock, as long as the aftermarket pipes are not louder than the stock pipes. Given that he specifically said it didn't have anything to do with noise, I'm not sure how he has a case.

http://www.cent-21.com/laws/exhaust-us.htm

 

[skajaquada]

well if it's your 77 ironhead you're talking about, then it makes perfect sense. ALL bikes after 1974 sold in the US had to be regulated and standardized to a degree. This is when exhaust regs came into play. Not saying I agree with any of it, I'd be pissed as well, just that by the letter, he's got something.

I'd go for the heat shield explanation, nice and convenient and almost impossible for them to prove otherwise.

 

[Crazy Cats]

I could be wrong here, but I believe that no matter how loud or quiet, they are illegal if they are not the EPA compliant and approved pipes that came with the motor.

 

[dorr]

whats the section he cited you for? 27150.3a?

no section 27151 vc

 

[takehikes]

doesn't matter what exhaust is on there so long as it is not louder than what came on it originally.
However, let's be real here, most of us are on trouble on that point. No doubt the cop was being a dick and it most certainly is correctable. I'd fight the hell out of it (after I put some big ass temporary mufflers on my scoot). Also check CHP bulletin 98-100, gives a good synopsis of the law and how it should be applied.

 

[Tman]

Blanket statements about cops will get deleted. Play nice.

 

[Mrjack55]

I'm always amazed that CA, the birthplace of the hot rod and chopper culture, has the most laws against modifying your ride. There are so many aftermarket companies that call CA home, yet you can't use their products if you live there. That's pretty F'ed up!

 

[Hoofhearted]

It is amazing as there seems to be millions of Harleys here and not one of them have a stock exhaust set up.

 

[BigNick1959]

Thats total BULLSHIT! Long Beach must be broke ass so there out sticking it to the people that come to spend money in there town. Nice!

I hope you win your case.

 

[Tman]

As I said.

 

[Ironsled77]

different deal but might work ..in IL you couldnt have your windows tinted at all in the front. I got a ticket 2 days after I tinted my windows (12Years ago) I had a pic of the car with out tint on it brought it to court and it got thrown out. fast forward on the same car got a ticket for loud exhaust, yes its loud but it had 40 series flowmasters on it. Brought a pic to court of the exhaust system and it got throw out.

maybe you will get lucky and get a weekend warrior for a judge and he will throw it out for shits and giggles

 

[bruno desmartass]

To all interested, here's the text of the Vehicle code, straight from Ca DMV:
http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc27151.htm

 

[Santa2]

I could be wrong here, but I believe that no matter how loud or quiet, they are illegal if they are not the EPA compliant and approved pipes that came with the motor.

And where would you find OEM exhaust for a HD older that 10 years.

 

[Loffer]

And where would you find OEM exhaust for a HD older that 10 years.

All over the place... People feel the need to keep them in the box and periodiclly try to sell them for like $200 or something rediculous...

 

[lost50pan]

If it helps. I was cited with Illegal Mufflers/Pipes. I got to court and told the Judge " If they are illegal, how do stores sell them". He dropped the case.

 

[Dr. Benway]

He must've not known about that "Not for road use" disclaimer they usually have.