You were right to bring it up, as many, including me, weren't aware. I've raised the question with my dealer, and will also clarify with my insurance company before I go ahead.
A condition of insurance cover will be that the bike is in a road legal condition, it will be in the small print somewhere. By taking out the insurance, you will be confirming to the insurer that the bike is in a road legal condition. If they subsequently find that the bike is was not road legal, perhaps due to fitting a race exhaust, then they will be in a strong position to void your insurance and not provide cover. If they had to pay out to a third party and you had voided your insurance somehow, then i think they are within their rights to try and claim back any pay out from you personally. Much will probably depend on the circumstances, but i would not want that possibility hanging over me especially if i have already parted with £500+ for insurance cover.
This is the wording in my policy with Bemoto: Important Notice: Under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, if you do not provide complete and accurate answers to questions asked by us, the insurer may cancel your policy or the insurer may void your policy or the insurer may impose an additional premium along with additional policy terms. This may result in the insurer rejecting or only paying in part claims you make. And: Has your vehicle had any changes since it left the production line, including any changes made by a dealership, you or any previous owner?
Joking apart, I understand everyone’s concern. It probably centres around the legality of the pipe. My car insurance wasn’t questioned over the options I added, but I suspect everything was assumed to be legal as it was factory fitted. As they say, ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law, but I think you’d have a strong argument about something on the bike that was factory/dealer fitted. The days of getting systems such as these factory spec’d are numbered. I’m making the most of it whilst I can. Bbbbrrrrraaaaapppp!
Unless the person enquiring about insurance cover declares this change to their motorcycle and has evidence of their declaration, associated with the specific question(s) asked by the insurer, then I would doubt this would hold up. In my experience when asked about this type of modification, the insurer has always asked about any increase in BHP, which often if less than 5%, has been acceptable. I have never to date, been asked about suitability for 'road-use', which might well be a more recent development, in which case, as you point out above in your post, you, the bike owner, MUST answer truthfully, otherwise in the event of an accident, insurance cover is voided.
But again most insures are under the impression as per their wording the vehicle they insure is road legal . Thus your non disclosure may well cause the voiding of cover . I agree for them to check the power gain is hard but this assumption is based on a road legal bike . This is how I have worked out the honest , safest way to get correct cover . It’s a questionable subject but best open to discussion and facts to help riders .
Do you think the Akra slip on has a deeper, louder sound than a standard end can, some say there is a difference !
I would say yes , but never run with the standard . Im sure the internet will give you a clip , ill have a look
You’d like to think for a £1200 accessory there is some advantage over standard, I know the weight difference is minimal..
This is where the grey area is. Because unless they say the bike must be road legal somewhere else in that document, then strictly speaking, with the above wording (granted this is just an excerpt), so long as they don't ask "is it road legal", then you've fulfilled your obligation. I can't remember what year it was, but the onus shifted from the insured to insurers in terms of who is responsible for extracting what is considered pertinent to giving insurance. This stems from a case brought in the high court where it was decided that a lay-person could not possibly be expected to know what would be considered important to an insurance company when getting a quote, so it became the insurance company's responsibility to elicit all the details. That's why these days their questions are often a lot longer and more detailed, because they have to cover themselves. So, in lieu of any other text from BeMoto, and the questions centering around less than 5% power etc, effectively you've fulfilled the conditions - but this is a very grey area for sure.
If it’s not road legal then strictly speaking it should not be used on the road. I’m pretty sure that is how the law sees it.
I would be interested in knowing what has caused Ducati to now have the attached advisory/warning when you try to access the accessories in the configurator? Is this a new (legal) requirement? I can’t believe this will go unnoticed by, and suspect it won’t be long before, insurance companies react with appropriate questions during quotes (if they haven’t started already). In my opinion the onus is clearly being placed on the insured who can no longer argue that it was a factory fitted/provided option for their road bike so it must be ok?
Yep, started a thread on that here: https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/new-warning-on-configurator.90202/
As I interpret this situation, in the event any dealership agrees to fit this type of accessory to any road-going motorcycle, in the knowledge that this is the manner in which the bike will be being used, then they are likely to be complicit in the bike owner ignoring the law and with not being covered under their insurance. I acknowledge the ability or the appropriateness of linking them directly to any future incident, is fraught with complexity. However, they too have an obligation to ensure the potential accessory 'owner' completely understands and appreciates their position, once this item has been fitted. They ought to, again IMO, be required to ask the question too, before they agree to fit the part(s), thereafter, assuming the bike owner confirms they understand the situation, they will have adequately covered the issue. Just a thought!
Thought I’d check my current insurance (Bennetts). There’s a list of modifications I can make without notifying them including exhausts. However, they have ‘road legal’ stipulated against exhausts so I would have to call them and state the exhaust I’m fitting isn’t road legal which, I presume wouldn’t be agreed to? They appear to cover the factory/dealer fitted argument as well by stating original specification? This appears to put the onus on me as it clearly isn’t a grey area. Ultimately, it’s always going to be an individual call as to whether there’s a genuine risk that the insurance company will look to dump you in the event of a claim. Personally, given the value of the PP, I wouldn’t be comfortable and the race exhaust doesn’t sit high enough up my list of must haves to change that. I would like it though…..
I’ve emailed my insurance company this morning, clearly stating that the exhaust isn’t road legal in the UK, and asking if they’ll insure it. They’ve come back with a couple of questions, which I’ve answered, so I’ll see what they come back with. The full system isn’t the be all and end all, but would be nice to get the full potential from the bike. I like sleeping at night though, so if they won’t cover it, I’ll take that off the vast list of accessories. This could have a huge impact on Akrapovic’s income.
