World Champion Exhaust

Italian Excellence from Motorsport to road

THE GRAND BUREAUCRACY OF NOISE COMPLIANCE

Written by Boris Mihailovic on May 3, 2021. See more News articles.

Hear that? That’s the party, streamers and all, the Australian Design Regulators are having to celebrate the arrival of SC-Project to Australia…except they’re not. But they should, because SC-Project has brought us the absolute cutting-edge of exhaust innovation and technology – and not just simple compliance with entirely noise-only focus of ADR 83/00.

The creation of world-class motorcycle exhaust systems is no easy task. There are several crucial aspects to a successful end-product.

It must look amazing – think up-thrusting sex-cannons made from titanium, carbon-fibre, and possibly Kryptonite.

It must sound magnificent – the song of your motorcycle-people must delight your eardrums and pop goosebumps on your neck.

It must be lighter and better-performing than a stock system – otherwise we’d all still be hammering out our OEM baffles with lengths of steam-pipe.

And it must comply with regulations. Which is probably the most important thing. Otherwise, your magnificent new aftermarket exhaust system becomes something your wife will hang plants off on the balcony.

ARE THE ADR BEING SHOWN UP BY THE REST OF THE WORLD?

In Australia, all aftermarket exhausts must comply with ADR 83/00. Interestingly, this regulation is entirely devoted only to how much noise the exhaust makes.

SC-Project exhausts go much further in terms of simple compliance with ADR 83/00. All its road exhausts comply with the much more stringent emission, homologation (and noise) regulations that make up the Euro 4 and now Euro 5 suite of regulations.

You’ve all doubtlessly heard of the Euro 5 regulations, the intent of which is to govern emissions. The entire bike industry is on-board with this because polar bears are crucial, ice caps are important, and there are few downsides to having cleaner air to breathe.

The issue of motorcycle exhausts in relation to Euro 5 regulations, Euro 4 (and Euro 3) which came before) was dealt with by a regulation within a regulation, called ECE R41.

This was a wide-reaching regulation which dealt with emissions as well as noise, and its advent caused Australian regulators some confusion – because they have always been all about the noise, and not so much about the emissions.

So, rather than adopting ECE R41 in its entirety – emissions included – the Federal Department Of Blissful Silence decided it would cherry-pick only the noise bits for compliance and drafted Australia’s own ADR 83/00.

The European Union, whose only contact with Australians is when strange monolingual people turn up to meetings they were not invited to in Avis rental cars and cheap suits, went on with its business and updated ECE R41. It is now known as Regulation EU 143/2014, and is the most stringent set of parameters concerning motorcycle exhausts developed thus far.

SC-PROJECT: WORLDS LEADING MOTORCYCLE EXHAUST FACTORY

Being good corporate and global citizens, the world’s leading motorcycle exhaust manufacturers, of which SC-Project is the biggest, if you discount Akrapovic which also does exhausts for cars, immediately began manufacturing its exhausts to comply with Regulation EU 143/2014, in exactly the same way as it complied with the former ECE R41. So every exhaust system SC-Project makes, greatly exceeds the rather limited regulatory scope of ADR 83/00.

Author: Boris Mihailovic

Published in Bike Me!, MCNews.com.au, Caradvice.com.au, Red Dirt Diaries, Bikesales.com.au, Smiths Lawyers, XbHP (India), Auto Action, Australian Motorcyclist, Heavy Duty, Ozbike, Live to Ride, Australian Motorcycle News, Road Rider, Kiwi Rider, Two Wheels, Just Bikes, Motorcycling NSW, Top Gear, Wheels, Menace 2 Society, Australian Worker, Zoo, Penthouse, The Picture, People, Motorcycle News (England), Ralph, FHM, Street Machine Choppers and Motorcycle Legends.

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Of course, SC-Project makes motorcycle exhausts for both road and race – and they are, as you can probably guess, rather different.

SC-Project exhausts are divided into two macro-categories:

Approved for Road Use
(Euro3, Euro4 and Euro5) all which pass the noise regulations of Australia being within +5dB of OEM stock configuration. ADR 83 / 00 Stationary Noise Test.

Racing Version
For Race Use Only. Developed for the very best riders and teams competing in the World Championships of motorcycle racing. Also made available to our customers for Track Use Only.

You’ve likely seen SC-Project pipes being used by the best racing teams all over the world. The racers who use them have stood on podiums in MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3, WSBK, WEC, the World Rally, and the Isle of Man TT. SC-Project also holds the Dorna contract to supply exhausts for the Asia and British Talent Cup – where tomorrow’s world champions lose their baby teeth.

And because SC-Projects understands you wish to be happy and bathed in the song of your people on the track, you can buy its Track Use Only-marked exhausts.

Are SC-Project Exhausts Road Legal?

The road is, quite naturally, a very different place to the track. If your exhaust doesn’t comply with ADR 83/00 – which will be measured by a humourless EPA officer in a “Stationary Noise Test”, you will be fined heavily and made to wrestle an angry government crocodile, which is kept for just that purpose in every tinted-windowed EPA van.

You will be pleased to know you probably won’t be wresting any crocodiles if you have an SC-Project pipe. All SC-Project road pipes comply with the noise regs set out in the aforementioned ECE R41 – which you’ll recall the ADR folks cherry-picked the noise bits out of for their own ADR 83/00.

And even more importantly, SC-Project road pipes conform to the new and even more stringent European Union regulation EU 143/2014. These go far beyond ADR 83/00 – both in terms of decibels and the increasingly more crucial aspect of emissions pollutants – and which is a regulation endorsed and respected all over the world. Except in Australia.

Because Australia is Australia, and exhausts which comply, and indeed exceed, the specifications of Regulation (UE) 143/2014, do not yet comply with Australia’s own ADR 83/00.

Of course, SC-Project exhausts most certainly would. If they comply and exceed the requirements of Regulation (UE) 143/2014, then it’s a no-brainer they’d far exceed the far more primitive noise-based parameters of ADR 83/00. But in order to find out if they do, the Australian bureaucracy that created ADR 83/00 expects the world’s leading exhaust manufacturers to submit every single one of their products for sale in Australia to receive ADR approval.

Think about that for second. Consider the stunning bureaucracy at play. Companies like SC-Project, which manufactures its exhausts to the most stringent rules on this earth, now have to submit those same exhausts to be “tested” by what amounts to nothing more than a stationary decibel metre.

SC-Project Certified Road Legal Exhausts

Example of Euro4 Certified Exhaust Development By SC-Project (EU 143/2014 Official Certification).

Triumph Street Triple 765 (2017-2020) With Specific Euro4 Homologation Certification for noise and emission pollutants. Official Stationary Noise Test Australia – Result: 87.9dB – Exhaust Approved.

ADR 83/00 regulations state Under 94 dB or within +5dB of OEM motorcycle compliance plate.

Triumph Street Triple 765 (Road Legal) SC1-R Exhaust

Triumph Street Triple Road Legal SC1-R Exhaust

What Does SC-Project have to say:

SC-Projects is quite correctly rather nonplussed by all of this. And you can rest assured it is not alone in its confusion. The company issued a recent statement in which it put forward its case:

“SC-Project designs, develops, and manufactures many approved exhaust systems for motorcycles suitable for road use. It actually runs two lines of exhaust development to cater for the requirements of all its customers, ie. Road Legal – which meet Regulation EU 143/2014 (Euro 4 and now Euro 5)with certified compliance, and developed far beyond the ADR 83/00 regulations; and Race Use Only exhausts, which are specifically developed for the racetrack.

“SC-Project is officially accredited and recognised by the Italian Ministry of Transport for the production of homologated exhaust systems. This homologation is valid throughout the entire European Union. We realise our exhaust systems according to the world’s most highest and most severe qualitative standards and assessments.

“For products for road use, the entire homologation process is handled internally by the highly qualified engineers of our technical department with extensive research and development experience. Each exhaust and muffler MUST comply with the requirements of the increasingly stringent homologation standards, and only after passing phonomeric tests, material ageing tests, significant and rigorous performance tests, noise and pollutant emissions control, can the exhaust be homologated and placed on the market.

“In order to do this, SC-Project makes use of the most highly respected EU technical services of TÜV Italia, belonging to the TÜV SUD Auto Service GmbH group, which interfaces directly with the EU Ministry for the approval certification of each and every one of our road developed exhaust options in order to guarantee the highest standards of quality. homologation and safety to our customers.

“All SC-Project Road Legal exhausts come with specific EU Ministry compliance certification, which are either Euro 3, Euro 4, or Euro 5, depending on the make and year of the motorcycle. The specific exhaust certification is supplied with every legal exhaust. The compliance certification of each individual exhaust type has also the compliance code laser-etched into the particular muffler for proof of certified compliance authenticity”

“SC-Project exhausts are clearly highlighted on the SC-Project Oceania website as either Race Version (Not for Road Use), or Road Use – Euro3, Euro4, or Euro5 which to Australia means they do comply to noise regulations of the ADR 83/00.

What all this boils down to is really quite simple. That ADR 83/00 is all about noise. It does not address the pollution issue at all. Regulation EU 143/2014 addresses both, and with far more stringent guidelines.

It is no easy job for any exhaust manufacturer to make motorcycle pipes in today’s super-strict world of compliance. These manufacturers must address the key criteria of a good aftermarket exhaust system at every step – weight reduction, increased performance, ultimate durability, exceptional design and build quality – and the ever-present compliance with noise and emission parameters – especially the very strict Euro 4 and Euro 5 rules. It is an impossible job for many exhaust manufacturers, and they have simply given up, unable to meet EU 143/2014 .

SC-Project? No problem. Exhaust technology and innovation is what it does best. It is quite rightly tagged as World Champion Exhaust. A name they were honoured with in the Paddock of the MotoGP.

You’d think the ADR mob would be singing the praises of companies like SC-Project, with the resources, technology and innovation that come directly from the largest motorcycle only, state-of-the-art Factory. You’d think that they’d be chucking a party to celebrate having SC-Projects Downunder. After all, its exhausts far exceed the dinky ADR 83/00 they are enforcing – both in terms of noise and pollution.

But no. That is not how the ADR lads roll. It’s very much: “Comply with ADR 83/00 or get the crocodile, and let’s not worry about polluting the air, because that doesn’t make any noise.” One would think Australia would rush to embrace a company like SC-Project. And maybe one day, it will. But that’s not today. Meanwhile, SC-Project will continue to produce the world’s leading Euro4 / Euro5 exhaust development for noise and emissions compliance recognised and praised by the rest of the world.

Written by Boris Milhailovic
Author, Editor, Writer, Podcaster

SC-Project Road Legal Euro4 Certification

Specific muffler and motorcycle development for Euro4 and Euro5 exhaust compliance comes with the Official Certification Code. That unique code is lasered onto each of our Road Legal and noise compliant exhausts.