gooday all... heads up for anyone considering a ride along the great  ocean road or anywhere in south west vistoria between now and easter.  unmarked and marked police bikes have been issuing defect notices on bikes with non standard exhaust systems fitted, via road blocks  doing roadworthy checks in wye river and anglsea over the last week or so. had a couple  of mates done. there booked into epa testing stations within a month. failure to attend booking..$500 and 3 points. you reckon the victorian police force would have more important issues to be dealing with  than bike noise. i was sitting in melb the other day and listened to trucks driving past.. twice the volume of many bikes on the road. dont see too many blitzes on those guys.  last weekend in colac of all places, 3 police bikes. 2 unmarked, one being a silver bmw with a pannier box on the back with a small antenna stuck on it. bloke wearing a silver dry rider jacket...  the other bike was like a R1  or similar,.  then the marked bike. just cruised the main street looking for work.  makes going out for a sunday ride just that little less enjoyable.

cheers.

ps. cops told mate not to bother putting his loud pipes back on till after easter.

Thanks cactus

W.T.F why arent they out looking for real crims,got bloody jap screamers using my street that make more noise than my drag pipes,bloody more revinue raising thats what it is,got stopped at a breath test the other day 6cars back from cop waves them on and stops me,if thats not harrasing what is,bloody filth.

Coppers have to be seen harassing the Harley riders just to keep the 'law abiding citizens' happy is all it is. Plus they have to spend their budget on new toys.

Thanks cactus.my mate got a notice in the mail, how fuckin lazy is that.He was riding and the copper took his rego number and sent it to him.Revenue raising for easter.

thanks for the warning , i was thinking of heading that way over easter weather permitting

They were down near Anglsea 3 weeks ago, I was in the cage they pulled 2 cars up in front and me and the Heritage cruising behind me just before town. I get told to take off they were after the bloke on the bike then as we get into town on the other side a marked car and bike pulling over anyone on 2 wheels.

Edit: what I should mention is WTF arent they targeting the maniac drivers in cars between Lorne and Appolo bay? friggin idiots you have to take every friggin corner deffensively because of the fools, I guess its easier to sit on the side of the road and target bikes, kinda sounds like revenue raising???

Thanks Cactus....Can't hear the neighbours yelling at each oyher when the coppers helicopter hovers around Brunswick lookin fer drugs or whatever....gotta turn up the TV....it's a barstard....they need the cash obviously

You can have legal pipes and still get a notice to present for inspection/testing just because they are not standard. Have to pay just under $40 for a test to prove your innocence. Happened to my son at XMAS, copper took photo of pipes and sent to EPA for their opinion. Even though they were "e" stamped, which is supposed to mean they pass ADR, notice in mail to get tested and prove they are ok. Reason I suppose is that there is the possibilty of them being modified . Guy at testing station said it was a joke.  Thought the law was innocent till proved guilty.  Would be interesting to se how a class action went to recoup testing fee, but suppose the "change to test then change back" buggers that.

Thanks Cactus, thats my fav part of Victoria which I visit heaps, but will be definately staying away from this easter. The low lifes are that bored they pulled me over 3 months ago between Arrarat and the Grampians just because my "vic" was covered on my number plate by my bag and threatened me with a fine if he seen it still covered further on. Suppose it could of been worse.......safe riding.

seems to be a few disgruntled bike riders around ..and rightly so. i wonder what the powers that authorise these crackdowns on bikes hope to acheive? do they want us to sell our bikes and use cars or public transport? thus creating more of a bourdon on the taxpayers for road maintanence, clogged city streets etc.... are they trying to keep us alive by insuring our bikes are quiet and our number plates are visable?
there seems to be little benifit to us riders from the actions taken by , not the bloke wearing the blue uniform who issues us the fine, but the people above him who tell him what hes doing for the day. is it police internal that doesnt like us? or is it government that is trying to hassle us into giving up our passion ?
i recall riding 30 years ago. if you were speeding and got caught, you copped it sweet.. there were no pedantic tacticts handed down by higher authority to make our day miserable, and more importantly, to drive a wedge between us and police. you just got a ticket for speeding and if you were nice, there was always the chance you got let off with a warning ...it is unfortunate that us as riders, of any make of bike it seems, but harley predominently, are driven to a point where we despise blokes in blue and the job they are doing. and from that government driven wedge, we now have a much deeper "us and them " attitude.
there is a need for law. but i believe there is a need for fairness and common sense along with it. there are child abusers walking the streets with less fear than we have for riding our bikes with non standard pipes. so many examples of unfairness. our judicury system , especially in victoria, really does need an overhaul. trouble these days is the people who get to do the overhaul are the same ones that have taken it to where it is.

shit, all that and i havnt been pulled over yet for bike offence. ill just climb back in my box till it happens.

cheers from one disgruntled motor bike rider living in victoria. who won't be riding the ocean road this easter.

Black Spur..last Sunday. Pulling up motorbikes only. Cruisers were getting breath tested, license check, vin No. etc. AND any non-standard pipes were EPA tested. One got done for 3 decibals over the allowed limit. Another with standars pipes, but louder, was let go. At the same time a Jap road rocket (with pillion) was stopped. His licence was checked & sent on his way. Sorry about the COMPLETELY BALD front tyre. He didn't have to remove his helmet for breath test etc.....Go figure!!!