I have even done a bit of drag racing. Recently I spotted an online article about a car tuner getting done by trading standards for selling ECU remaps and decatted exhaust systems that were specifically loud and popped and banged, etc.
Now, whilst that isn’t my bag nowadays as I have a bit of grey in my beard (it would have been 25 years ago no doubt!) I have just picked up new KTM 1290 Super Duke R, and the tuner getting prosecuted got me jittery. As a man who has ‘the need for speed’ in his DNA, I had been looking to decat the new KTM and also get it remapped for more power and noise!!!). However, after reading about the woes of the car tuner, I am now really twitchy for several reasons.
Firstly, will it invalidate the KTM warranty if something goes pop if I change the mapping, etc? Secondly, whilst I wasn’t too bothered years ago in my ‘youth’, I don’t need issues with the Old Bill, so is it even legal?
I have checked the bike tuners’ website, and they state the modification to the KTM will make it ‘very loud’. Further, they say a fault light comes on as a servo is being removed and needs resetting by a KTM dealer. Am I right to be twitchy?
Answer
What a cracker of an engine!!! I got a KTM 1290 Super Adventure R this year. Huge amounts of torque and a quick shifter. An awesome bit of kit. Anyway, enough about my love of KTM and the 1290 engine, and back to your questions.
Regarding your first question, if you mess with the ECU and a decat exhaust, etc., and your engine goes kaput, I will bet you £1000 it will not be covered under your warranty. The manufacture will say you have effectively changed the bike from standard and you’re potentially trying to get more power out of items that may not have been designed to take it. To give a more extreme example, you wouldn’t expect the warranty to cover the engine if you strapped on a turbo and decided to go back to your drag-racing days and the engine popped in spectacular fashion.
As for the second question, the whole world and various authorities have become a lot more concerned about the environment, vehicles, and emissions, etc., over the past few years. You only have to look at London and the ULEZ scheme. As opinions and priorities have changed, the law has evolved and basically states it is an offence to use a motorbike (or any other motorised vehicle for that matter) on the road which has been modified in such a way that it no longer complies with the air pollutant emissions standards it was designed to meet. (If you are struggling to sleep, I can thoroughly recommend the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations and the Road Traffic Act 1988 as a solution to insomnia).
Therefore, if you get caught with a decat exhaust and remap in a bike that should have a catalytic converter, etc., you could be looking at a big fine. Whilst I know I sound like a killjoy, I wouldn’t do it to my KTM.
However, if you want to do it (and there are plenty of companies selling these products), go in with your eyes wide open to the risks. Lastly, I suspect that some tuning companies are getting twitchy as well as they appear to be getting scrutinised more and more.
Andrew ‘Chef’ Prendergast
More Bikes – January 2024
