Custom Bike (Where to find info?)

Burnt_out · L Plate Warrior Joined: 03 Jun 2018 Karma :

Hi everyone,

New to this forum and just returned to biking three years ago.

Being of a certain age (old!) I find my current ZZR600 is not quite the bike for me so I am thinking about making something in the garage which suits me better. Plenty of ideas but here is my problem.

Watching TV I see that Henry Cole extols the virtues of homebrew bikes and often shows custom builds with noisy exhausts, no front mudguards etc. I am not convinced all those bike are legal on UK roads.

So can anyone point me to some information on just what can and cannot be modified on a bike. For example I have recently been told that its no longer allowed to change the handlebars or control levers from standard! Is that true? If so then how do custom bike builders get around this issue?

I should like to take a standard road bike and change things like the headlamps and indicators for ones that can actualy be seen along with the handlbars and seat etc.

Any advice for this old biker would be very welcome.

Thanks for reading and safe riding.

Regards,

Burnt_out

Rogerborg · nimbA Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :

Burnt_out · L Plate Warrior Joined: 03 Jun 2018 Karma :

Hi Rogerborg,

Just to say thanks for the reply to my posting. I followed the links you provided and found a wealth of usefull information.

I had no idea all this information was in the public domain and while some of it is in "lawyers english" is fairly clear for the most part.

It seems my modifications should be ok and when the time comes I will chat with my local MOT man and verify everything is ok.

Thanks again for the pointers,

Regards,

Burnt_out

M.C · Super Spammer Joined: 29 Sep 2015 Karma :

Rogerborg · nimbA Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :

Amusingly, the MSVA regs don't specifically require[*] mudguards, although C&U does. So you could road register a vehicle that's technically illegal to use on the road. Is anyone surprised?

[*] The closest they come is to talk about "the leading edge of the front mudguard" in a section which also talks about "the windshield (where fitted)", so you might (or might) not infer that windshields are optional, but mudguards are not.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

Ste · Not Work Safe Joined: 01 Sep 2002 Karma :

Rogerborg · nimbA Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :

You could, but it's not hugely likely. I ran with this for a bit and received surprisingly few beatings from the Stasi.

https://i47.tinypic.com/28asu2d.jpg
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike