As part of the Department for Transport?s ?Future of Transport? review, there has been proposals to ban any kind of ?tampering? with ?a system, part or component, of a vehicle intended or adapted to be used on a road.? In short, the government want to stop us modifying our bikes (or any of our road vehicles), with aftermarket parts.

One of the main driving forces behind the proposed changes is vehicle emissions. Road tax categories, low emissions zones and various other road charges are based on the emissions data of a standard vehicle. Obviously, if you?ve binned off your standard exhaust, with its umpteen catalytic converters, lambda sensors and charcoal filters, your bike?s not going to be as ?green? as it was when it rolled off the production line.
There is also concern that, moving forward, when autonomous vehicles become a genuine thing, faffing with their systems could cause havoc. But self-driving cars of the future are a little bit different to Joe Bloggs? GSX-R750.

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So what happens then, when the government ban us from fitting any aftermarket parts to our bikes" Does every motorcycle and car have to remain absolutely and completely standard for it?s entire life" When our tyres wear out, do we need to replace them with exact matches of the OE spec rubber" What about other consumables and wear parts" Chains, sprockets, brake pads, clutches. Will we have to pay top-dollar and buy everything direct from the OE parts list"...