Hi..I live in SoCal. I have a 2011 vRod Muscle. I got pulled over today for a loud exhaust. It's a Vance and Hines 2 into 1 performance exhaust. When he pulled me over, by the time he got out of the car, my bike was off. He said it was to loud, but did not have or provide any evidence, nor have a decibal tester. It was just his subjective opinion. He also cited me for the pivoting license plate holder. I said it was OEM, and he said it didn't matter. I was folded in when he pulled me over.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I should fight this? I belive the law is on my side as he didn't test the actual decibal level of my bike as the law states.

THanks
rrats4

 

I'm sorry I can't give you any sort of legal advise on how to proceed but I'd wonder if your plate being folded in while you were riding is what opened the door for the stop, not the exhaust. I wonder if you would have been stopped had the plate been folded out. I know in my area you will get stopped if you're riding and that plate isn't visible, once they've got you stopped the games can begin and honestly, my V&H exhaust isn't going to pass a dB test either.

Here once you're stopped they can perform a 'safety inspection', check your insurance for proper first party medical coverage if you're riding without a DOT lid, the whole thing; it's giving them the articulable and reasonable suspicion that a violation of the vehicle code has occurred to facilitate the stop. A bit over the posted speed limit or a plate folded in and you can walk away with a mitt-full of citations...

That sucks you had it happen.

 

Thanks for the reply. I found this link on the ama website.

http://www.bikersrights.com/states/c...ia/sb435a.html

I guess I asked for it, it will be signed off by the end of the week. I should have avoided him in the first place and turned into a gas station. Note to self.

 

Ouch, yea, just like here, they won't stop you just for the pipes or not wearing a helmet but once the stop is made it has the potential to become a absolute cluster.

I noted this in the link you posted: That was my first though when I read you'd forgotten the plate, it was what actually created the stop. For example, here you can't be stopped for not wearing a helmet but if they do have a reason to stop you and determine you don't have the proper medical coverage on your bike insurance policy it's a pretty stiff fine and the bike sits at the side of the road until someone with a helmet rides it away or it's on the hook.

Since the California law took effect on 1/1/13 and your bike is an '11 and the exhaust system is hopefully manufactured before '13 is it reasonable to believe your bike is grandfathered in and the noise/equipment violation will be tossed? I hope so, then that just leaves the plate display citation.

I've wanted a better solution than the folding plate bracket, it's pretty cheesy anyway but in Michigan you can't vertical mount a plate so I'm going to live with it until I move back to Florida and do a vertical mount off the left shock on my Wide Glide and not have to worry about it again... Right now my habit is to turn the ignition to run and while the bike is talking to itself I reach down and flip the plate out, then I start the bike... knock on wood, I have not forgot yet!

I hope you can get the citations tossed!

 

I saw that secondary offense as well. He stated specially that he pulled me over because he "thought" my exhaust was to loud. Once I came to a stop, the fun started. I definitely didn't want to get into a pissing contest with the guy since he was an *** from the start...I was nice and cooperative, I'm military too...after I got home I started reading up on it. ref CA SB435.

For example, you can't get a speeding ticket because a cop "thinks" you were speeding. He needs to provide evidence like a radar gun, etc, FACTS. The cop didn't have a decibal tester and I'm sure he's not trained to determine what the noise level is by just listening to it. The initial code violation was 27151(a) modified exhaust. I read that code, and I did not alter/modify the VH exhaust, it's a replacement exhaust from the OEM that was on the bike when I bought the bike used. So, there is a specific test that must be administered to determine if I'm actually in violation.

All in all, I should have avoided him, ensured my plate was extended, but for some reason he had a boner for me.

 

Most factory exhaust have a stamp of approval. From what I understand, in California, you cannot change that. So if he knows bikes, he know it's illegal.
Look up the part number of your exhaust and see if it's legal. http://vanceandhines.com/california/ If so, take that to court and you should need no lawyer.

Even if it is not, you are probably correct, and with a good lawyer, you may beat it. Problem is that in traffic court, they are surely not going to refund the lawyer fees.

So, lets say you get out of the improper equipment fine. You are still out of pocket for the lawyer and it surely is not going to keep another officer from giving you another ticket. Just how loud is it when you really get on it? If it's too loud for early morning or late night in a neighborhood? If so, you need to man up and fix it.

 

wonder if you could get away with these in Ca: http://patriotpipes.com/pipes.html

From my experience here in Ohio almost anything goes as far as exhaust volume