Are "OPEN" exhausts legal in Ontario?

[a_a_yu]

I'm about to buy an exhaust, but I don't know if I should buy an "open" or "street legal."

Apparently, open is louder, but how much louder? Will I get pulled over?

[Snobike Mike]

All you are looking for is to be pulled over.

Depending on the actual exhaust, open typically means REALLY LOUD when compared to a nice quiet OEM street legal setup.

Cheers.

[Brian P]

What do you mean by "open"?

If you mean a straight unmuffled exhaust, commonly seen on Harleys, they are most certainly illegal. The particular clause of the Highway Traffic Act concerning mufflers is poorly worded, but you would have a hard time defending a straight-thru unmuffled exhaust even with that poor wording. And you will attract every cop within 5 kilometers.

If you mean the usual aftermarket muffler, which is a straight-through core surrounded by fiberglass packing, it is in the grey area of that HTA clause.

It is in your interest to buy something reasonably quiet and non-attention-getting, and if the muffler manufacturer offers a noise-reducing baffle (many do), get that and put it in. If there is no direct path from one end to the other then it is not a "straight exhaust" as written in that HTA clause.

Be aware that there are some clowns with badges who think that anything that isn't original-equipment, is illegal. Depends on where you go. The whole province of Quebec is like that, from what I've been told, and I've heard Ottawa cops are like that.

[a_a_yu]

What do you mean by "open"?

If you mean a straight unmuffled exhaust, commonly seen on Harleys, they are most certainly illegal. The particular clause of the Highway Traffic Act concerning mufflers is poorly worded, but you would have a hard time defending a straight-thru unmuffled exhaust even with that poor wording. And you will attract every cop within 5 kilometers.

If you mean the usual aftermarket muffler, which is a straight-through core surrounded by fiberglass packing, it is in the grey area of that HTA clause.

It is in your interest to buy something reasonably quiet and non-attention-getting, and if the muffler manufacturer offers a noise-reducing baffle (many do), get that and put it in. If there is no direct path from one end to the other then it is not a "straight exhaust" as written in that HTA clause.

Be aware that there are some clowns with badges who think that anything that isn't original-equipment, is illegal. Depends on where you go. The whole province of Quebec is like that, from what I've been told, and I've heard Ottawa cops are like that.

I"m about to buy a Carbon Fibre Akrapovic exhaust for my Kawasaki ZX-6R. And Tony at Blue Streak Racing asked if I wanted Open or Street Legal.

[Snobike Mike]

I"m about to buy a Carbon Fibre Akrapovic exhaust for my Kawasaki ZX-6R. And Tony at Blue Streak Racing asked if I wanted Open or Street Legal.

So buy the street legal.

[adri]

I had my baffles taken out, some spacers thrown in, and then the baffles popped back in there. The couple of mm gap created gives the appearance of the baffles being in there, doesn't hurt backpressure (hopefully anyway...) and you let all the sound out. In my case I got a sound that wasn't amplified or anything (not like some of those straight pipes), and at the same time louder (and in my opinion, better) than stock. I get noticed, people hear me, but I don't wake up the neighbours... as long as they didn't put their **** in my recycle bin.

Hopefully this won't be another one of those loud pipes save lives vs. loud pipes are for ******** threads. Anyone who cares to argue that needs to get out and ride...

[acto]

I don't know how legal or illegal they are but I installed a termingoni exhausts on my bike and people in cars know that you are there. They may not see you at first but they will look twice if they are changing lanes or coming into the traffic. I say get them. They may save you from getting hit...

[slowbird]

I installed some slip-ons to my VF500. They have baffling all around the inside but you can still see through it.

MAN those things are loud!
Why'd you wanna go 100% open?!

[BOOSTEDSI]

I say go loud, if you pass the po po, just squeeze the ole clutch, to calm the beast down for a few, I have had a shorty yosh pipe on my old r6, ( It was loud ,) never hassled by the cops, and on my ducati with a zard exhaust its, super loud, but again no bother, man look at some harley's there straight right on thru
go with the open exhaust or street legal if you can take out the baffles to make it louder if needed.
thats my 2 cents

[andre_outlaw]

in sudbury i am willing to put money that you will be pulled over and told to put the stock pipe back on.... My buddy had to change the exhaust on 4 cars this week alone at his shop, they are getting super anal this spring.

[BOOSTEDSI]

Never once pulled over, and i blow by cops all the time, maybe they like my sexy helmet lol
and my ducati is fracking loud

[psycho44]

don't they have to be above a certain db to be illegal?

In the morning I have to go around the block to warm up my Suzuki 125cc. I think it's 'open.' It's a straight pipe with nothing covering the large exhaust hole.

[Brian P]

There is no dB limit written into law. It is up to the officer's discretion ... unfortunately.

[andre_outlaw]

Never once pulled over, and i blow by cops all the time, maybe they like my sexy helmet lol
and my ducati is fracking loud

only a matter of time....

[Rob MacLennan]

Go with the "street legal" version, if you must install an aftermarket exhaust. I expect that police will be enforcing this more heavily this season, for some reason. Keep in mind that both exhausts likely have a placard on them that states "for off road use only" anyway.

There are two separate things that you can be charged with, when you have an aftermarket exhaust. The first is having an improper exhaust under the HTA, which you might have a hope of fighting due to the antiquated statements in the code. The second is a bylaw "excessive noise" ticket, for which you would be screwed. You can get that one with a STOCK exhaust.

[FullMotoJacket]

I went through a seatbelt check on the York to 6 on ramp Sunday with an open Hindle and TSN's Masters app open streaming the live video feed on my iPhone on my bars + BT headphones. I stopped, the cop looked at me, smiled, and waved me through. Your results may vary.

[adri]

That would kill me. Not the streaming video while riding part, the golf part *yawn*

+1 for the extra (removable) baffle someone mentioned earlier. The girlfriend's Arrow has this little one you can pop in and out. Pretty neat.

[a_a_yu]

So I spoke to Tony at Blue Streak, and he told me that :

"Nobody actually imports these to NA as the open slip on is fairly quite. The Street Legal is really intended for countries like Germany that have very strict testing."


So I went ahead and order the Open exhaust.

[MarcosSantiago]

From the manufactuer's website:

92dB to 98dB (street legal Slip-on, Bolt-on)
98dB to 102dB (Racing, and Evolution)
94 dB (offroad)


Noise measurements are made following the standard procedure: 50 cm from the exhaust outlet at an angle of 45° to the side of the outlet.

"Evolution" is Akrapovic's flagship, and it is not excessively loud. I don't think anyone on the street would give it a second thought.

[turbodish]

Transport Canada regs for new motorcycles sold in Canada call for a 82 dBA limit on noise for all but the smallest motorcycles. Every 10 Db increase represents a doubling of perceived volume.

3. Every motorcycle shall be so constructed that

(a) where tested in accordance with Annex 3 to ECE Regulation No. 41, Uniform Provisions concerning the Approval of Motor Cycles with regard to Noise, dated January 19, 1981, as amended September 14, 1984, excluding the requirements of paragraph 3.2 of that Annex, the exterior sound level does not exceed

(i) 77 dBA, in the case of a motorcycle with an engine displacement not exceeding 80 cm3,

(ii) 80 dBA, in the case of a motorcycle with an engine displacement exceeding 80 cm3 and not exceeding 175 cm3, and

(iii) 82 dBA, in the case of a motorcycle with an engine displacement exceeding 175 cm3;