03-31-2014, 06:15 PM
According to my own comprehensive insurance policy, the modifications made must be accepted by the insurance company. In addition, they cannot be 'illegal', or not approved by the state transport authority.
The issue is that vehicles in Australia must comply with Australian Design Rules (ADRs) and if the vehicle is ridden/driven on a road and is in breach of these ADRs then an offence is committed such as 'failing to maintain vehicle standards' which normally results in a ticket and/or the vehicle being 'defected' and ordered off the road until the breaches are fixed and verified.
An example is the classic 'tail tidy' where the rear fender is basically removed. In Australia that is illegal. The ADRs state that a motorcycle needs a rear facing red reflector. Rear direction indicators need to be 180mm apart etc, so straight away you have all these ADR breaches just for a tail tidy. The bike is now illegally modified. Same with removing catalytic converters, putting on little clear LED blinkers, removing chain guards etc etc etc.
All these 'rules' are reasonably prescriptive, and allow for little deviation. Exhausts are another classic as most modern bikes need to be under 94 db at certain RPM, can't quite remember what it is.... The Staintune pipes are certified as road legal in Australia by the company and they send you a nice little compliance plate to stick on your bike...
Whether or not an insurance company would try to weasel out of a claim based upon minor 'cosmetic' mods or overly loud exhausts I do not know and would not even try to guess..anyone ever had any issues??
It also says that if anyone who rides my bike has had their licence cancelled or suspended in the 5 years previous is also not covered if they have a crash, so there are lots of little things in the fine print!
The issue is that vehicles in Australia must comply with Australian Design Rules (ADRs) and if the vehicle is ridden/driven on a road and is in breach of these ADRs then an offence is committed such as 'failing to maintain vehicle standards' which normally results in a ticket and/or the vehicle being 'defected' and ordered off the road until the breaches are fixed and verified.
An example is the classic 'tail tidy' where the rear fender is basically removed. In Australia that is illegal. The ADRs state that a motorcycle needs a rear facing red reflector. Rear direction indicators need to be 180mm apart etc, so straight away you have all these ADR breaches just for a tail tidy. The bike is now illegally modified. Same with removing catalytic converters, putting on little clear LED blinkers, removing chain guards etc etc etc.
All these 'rules' are reasonably prescriptive, and allow for little deviation. Exhausts are another classic as most modern bikes need to be under 94 db at certain RPM, can't quite remember what it is.... The Staintune pipes are certified as road legal in Australia by the company and they send you a nice little compliance plate to stick on your bike...
Whether or not an insurance company would try to weasel out of a claim based upon minor 'cosmetic' mods or overly loud exhausts I do not know and would not even try to guess..anyone ever had any issues??
It also says that if anyone who rides my bike has had their licence cancelled or suspended in the 5 years previous is also not covered if they have a crash, so there are lots of little things in the fine print!