The use of aftermarket illegal exhaust systems is growing rapidly in the country, even though people know that it can lead them to get fined by the traffic police. Any Royal Enfield outfitted with modified exhaust, not per the specifications by the manufacturer, comes under illegal alteration according to the Motor Vehicle Act of India. Furthermore, aftermarket exhausts are so much louder than exceeding the permitted limit of 80 decibels makes them unlawful.
We have seen police throughout major cities take strong steps against violators as the fitted noisy exhausts are taken and controversially smashed to promote awareness or warning in that sense. And such an incident was recently caught on camera in the Fatehgarh Sahib District of Punjab, where Punjab police destroyed the illegal exhausts. A Youtube video was posted by a channel named Bhangu Vlogs in which we see a road roller crushing the exhausts in front of Mata Gujri College, Fatehgarh Sahib.
While some owners of Royal Enfields with loud exhausts argue that decibel metres aren’t used to determine whether an aftermarket exhaust is loud enough to be illegal, they should keep in mind that any modification that does not have the necessary RTO endorsement on the registration certificate (RC) will be deemed illegal by traffic cops. As a result, traffic officers are well within their rights to seize exhausts and penalise motorcyclists who have installed aftermarket exhausts.
Tampering with silencers is a violation of sections 119 and 120 of the Motor Vehicles Act, and it carries a fine of Rs 1,000 for the first offence and Rs 2,000 for subsequent offences. It is also worth noting here that Royal Enfield itself sells aftermarket exhausts through the authorised stores, but the company clearly cites that these exhausts are not illegal and they meet the permitted limit of 80 decibels.