Another hello from Switzerland

[Obiratus]

My name's Simon and I'm from St. Gallen / Switzerland. I just stumbled across this forum and thought it would be great to share experiences and ideas with other FTR riders.

I saw the FTR for the first time in February at the Swiss-Moto Show in Zurich and immediately felt in love. Last week I finally got my Race Replica version and indeed it is true love! So far, I was only driving inline four-cylinder bikes but by now I don’t wanna miss the FTR's v-twin anymore!

I already started to change a lot of things and I’m happy to share my ideas as soon as I finished. Due to the actual situation I must wait long for all the parts I ordered. What I can tell now, I have a nice solution for turning signals and the license plate holder and all is street legal in Europe. Well here it must be street legal, Swiss fines are kinda horrible haha. Otherwise the cat would be removed by now 😉. I would also love to mount such a nice pipe I saw on some of your bikes but for now the Akras must do the job.

Nice to meet you all, stay healthy and enjoy your bikes!

 

[K9F]

Swiss rules regarding what you can and can’t do to vehicles are some of the strictest in the World. Welcome from England and I look forward to future postings about forthcoming modifications.

 

[marcus]

Swiss rules regarding what you can and can’t do to vehicles are some of the strictest in the World. Welcome from England and I look forward to future postings about forthcoming modifications.

This is the reason why companies like J&H build expensive exhaust systems.

 

[mark.lb]

Welcome from Pittsburg, PA, USA!

 

[Obiratus]

This is the reason why companies like J&H build expensive exhaust systems.

Actually I was thinking about an J&H exhaust but the price is a real pain in the ass. I'm wondering how the S&S slip on sounds with cat (real life, not on video), this one would be affordable...

 

[edgelett]

welcome to the forums!

 

[Max Kool]

welcome to the forums!

the asylum you meant....

 

[marcus]

Actually I was thinking about an J&H exhaust but the price is a real pain in the ass. I'm wondering how the S&S slip on sounds with cat (real life, not on video), this one would be affordable...

JdH has the monopol for exhaust with flap. And the main market is europe I think.
S&S is the cheapest. As long as the cat is in, you didn't get a good sound.
A possible variant could be a J&H with cat remove pipe.

 

[Obiratus]

Unfortunately cat remove is no option in Switzerland. If they catch you (they will quite soon) you get a horrible fine and you're not allowed to continue your ride. May you even loose your drivers licence for a while. So that's no option at all 😅

 

[marcus]

I know.. But it's possible tvat they didn't see it. As opposite to you havza race exhaust in use.

 

[Obiratus]

Did you never end up in a heavy control where they have an expert from motor vehicle control office? For me this happens at least once a year. Last time They blamed me for manipulating the original exhaust. In their opinion the weld looked like I did it myself

They did a sound level measurement for literally no reason. It was the quietest bike I ever had.

 

[marcus]

Yes twice. But the the found nothing.
I drive an HPE exthaus on my 1125 CR. At first the focused on that, because the think its to loud. But the 1125 ist aalowd to make 100dB!! After showing them the "Beiblatt" the are satisfired.
If I had the non-cat-pipe from the race HPE on it the didn't noticed it.
Second was the (original) single brake dics. As seeing this the where litle confused.
I think that they doesn't know something about Buell...

 

[Unruly Rider]

Did you never end up in a heavy control where they have an expert from motor vehicle control office? For me this happens at least once a year. Last time They blamed me for manipulating the original exhaust. In their opinion the weld looked like I did it myself

They did a sound level measurement for literally no reason. It was the quietest bike I ever had.

Ever think about moving away from that terrible situation to somewhere with more freedoms towards what YOU do with YOUR motorcycle?

 

[Max Kool]

Well, Switzerland (and Germany and Austria), may have strict emissions laws, they have about the best roads too...

 

[marcus]

Italy and france too. But the police is more "flexible" and don't want to fill out papers for such things. 🤣

 

[Murdock]

Yesterday in the news: Austria has implemented new regulations for Motorcycles: On a list of roads often used by motorcycles, they prohibit vom 10th June until 31st October (main season) all motorcycles that are louder then 95dB. Luck for me, the FTR has 92 dB in the papers. Bad luck for my brother: His BMW is registered with 98 dB. We will be there from the 20th June on and have now to plan some alternative Routes. After Corona, now the Austrian politicians kill the touristic business.

 

[Max Kool]

Poop it is...

 

[edgelett]

now that's a bummer....

 

[K9F]

Interesting! Wonder how they are going to police this? I also wonder if this will encompass visitors from other countries? I can ride either of my motorcycles with impunity to visit relatives in Germany. I am insured, have breakdown cover and an English MOT that states at the time of testing my motorcycle was roadworthy. Nevertheless my motorcycles would never pass the same test (TUV) in Germany and the authorities of the visiting country have no jurisdiction over how my motorcycle is configured in relation to their own populous.

They have however last Summer been carrying out trials on popular roads with noise cameras in the UK. Watch this space.

 

[Murdock]

In the EU registration papers the db values are documented. If you do changes to your bike - for example a less loud exhaust - you need a document from the manufacturer of the exhaust or you get a TÜV document that allows you to change you registration document. They probably will know the brands and models they have to look for. But of course I don't know how they do it in real life.

It is interesting to know that in Austria the police don't need an evidence when they stop you due to driving too fast. They are allowed to estimate your speed. When they say you are too fast, then you are too fast. No kidding. I could imagine they a similar creative with the noise.