How Europe’s Changing Emissions Laws will Change Motorcycling

This year promises to bring a record crop of new and updated models from virtually every manufacturer thanks to wide-ranging law changes coming into force thousands of miles away in Europe. Those changes might not directly affect us, but given the way bikes are developed with global sales in mind many of the new models being developed to meet the latest European regulations are sure to be coming here too. Just as here, there are endless detailed rules and regulations in Europe that car and motorcycle manufacturers have to meet in order to be able to sell their goods. Everything from the brightness and pattern of headlight beams to the permissible emissions from exhausts (yes, VW is in trouble over there as well) are governed.

On January 1, 2016, a whole new set of rules was adopted across Europe. The snappily titled “Regulation (EU) No 168/2013” is the piece of paper in question, and it makes some pretty significant changes—in particular to exhaust emissions limits but also to things like braking systems and electronics.

The emissions limits are, as you’d expect, tighter than the previous ones. Called “Euro 4,” the new limits reduce the permissible levels of carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons, and oxides of nitrogen in exhausts. Although America’s rules on emissions have previously been tougher than Europe’s, it’s hard to make direct comparisons thanks to differences in test procedures. What can be seen is that to pass the Euro 4 tests plenty of new bikes are getting much larger exhausts and kits that include charcoal canisters to reduce evaporative emissions. Tests for noise levels have also been changed.

Want an illustration of the impact? Check out the European version of Ducati’s 959 Panigale. That near-invisible, belly-mounted exhaust on the US-spec bike is supplemented by a brace of additional end cans on the right-hand side. Next year we’ll be seeing a lot more things like that. Why next year? Because while the rules were passed into law back in 2013 and came into force at the start of 2016, their implementation is staggered to give manufacturers a chance to adapt.

From January 1, 2016, all newly type-approved bikes—i.e., newly launched models—have needed to comply to be legally sold in the EU. But the more important date is January 1, 2017, because that's the deadline when existing type-approved models must also come into line. That's why the 959 Panigale (a newly launched model) has the hefty, Euro 4-compliant exhaust while the 1299 Panigale (which was type-approved under the previous rules) doesn't. Next year's 1299 is likely to have the bulky, side-mounted exhaust in Europe as well unless Ducati is able to carry out a significant redesign in the meantime.

In the longer term, the need for bigger mufflers could well see a change in the styling direction that bikes take. The under-seat exhaust, for instance, might make a comeback as stylists try to find ways to hide the extra pipework. Alternatively, both BMW and Honda have been looking into methods of using the hollow space inside the swingarms of their bikes as additional exhaust chambers.

What else is changing? Emissions aside, the big change is that in Europe all bikes over 125cc will have to be fitted with ABS while smaller bikes will need to have either ABS or a combined braking system. When it comes to easily recognizing machines that don’t conform, a lack of ABS is the clearest giveaway of all.

There are also changes to the lighting rules, with daytime running lights becoming mandatory and US-style side reflectors—a cosmetic blight that Europe previously avoided—mandatory. And as part of the emissions change, there will be standardized on-board diagnostic (OBD) monitoring for failures in the emissions system. Economies of scale may well mean that even the stuff that isn’t legally required here—like ABS—is likely to become standard on increasing numbers of our bikes, as it won’t make sense for manufacturers to build non-ABS versions just to suit a relatively small number of American customers.

While no individual country in Europe has bike sales that come anywhere near those of the US, every member state of the European Union is signed up to share the same laws for type-approval of bikes, and the total sales across the entire EU dwarf ours. Using 2014 as an example, some 483,526 bikes were sold in the US. That’s nearly twice as many as France, the EU’s biggest motorcycle market. But the EU as a whole sucked up 1,099,018 bikes during 2014.

While there may be nations that buy more bikes—Indonesia, for instance, where 7.87 million were sold in 2014—they’re usually developing economies where mopeds sell by the millions. Europe is the closest to America in terms of the types of bike that are popular, and as such the models available in dealers there are much the same as the ones we’re familiar with, hence the carryover in production and distribution.

Which bikes will be affected? It’s hard to draw up a definitive list, but as a rule of thumb if a bike hasn’t been launched or revamped in the last couple of years the chances are that it won’t have been designed to meet the new rules.

That means that any such bike will need to be updated or replaced in the very near future if its maker wants to keep it on sale in Europe. Popular models that are known not to comply include bikes like Suzuki's Hayabusa and Yamaha's YZF-R6, not to mention the current Honda CBR1000RR and CB1000R, but there are dozens of current bikes that won't be legally able to be sold under the new regulations.

It’s created an awkward situation for manufacturers. They’re understandably reticent to talk about forthcoming new models, not wanting to harm the sales of their existing machines, but at the same time it’s impossible to ignore the fact that some bikes simply don’t come up to the new standards.

There is a glimmer of light for manufacturers not wanting to admit that a new model is on the way or who don’t have their replacement machines ready just yet. The new regulation includes a provision for bike firms to apply for extensions to sell non-compliant machines for up to another two years after the supposed January 1, 2017, deadline.

As well as laying out the Euro 4 emissions limits, Regulation (EU) No. 168/2013 also gives the provisions for the next-generation Euro 5 emissions tests. Unsurprisingly, they’re tougher still, and the deadline for their implementation isn’t far away. New bikes launched for the 2020 model year will have to comply, while existing models must comply with the Euro 5 rules by the start of 2021. At the same time we will see adoption of car-style OBD II diagnostic standards and even lower noise limits. Given the fact that it takes around five years to develop the typical new bike, the machines on drawing boards now will already have an eye toward meeting Euro 5.

Asked about the chances of a new Hayabusa for 2017, a UK Suzuki spokesman jumped on the extension idea, saying: “The Hayabusa, like the vast majority of machines in the UK from all manufacturers at this time, is a Euro 3 machine. Although the Euro 4 regulations come into force on the first of January, 2017, for existing machines, manufacturers can apply for an extension of up to two years to continue selling Euro 3.” And that could give existing models a reprieve beyond the January 1, 2017, rules changeover.

However, it’s not as simple as that. The extension provision is really there only as a last resort, intended to let firms sell off unsold stock that’s remaining after the deadline, and there are strict limits on its use. For instance, they’ll have to make individual applications to the governments of the countries where they want to sell the non-compliant bikes, and those governments are perfectly entitled to turn them down. Even if successful, models using the extensions are only allowed to be sold in very limited numbers—no more than 10 percent of the number of that type sold in the previous two years in that market, or 100 bikes, whichever figure is higher.

In reality, while an extension might help carry manufacturers over for a couple of months until a new, compliant model is ready, they’re unlikely to be used for the full two years that they can theoretically apply for. And since there’s also scope to have extension applications turned down, it’s unlikely that many firms are serious about using them for any major models.

Bottom line: Euro rules are getting more stringent and the nature of global manufacturing means that where the US has often had the more rigorous—and some would say crazy regulations (anyone remember the 85-mph speedometer?)—it’s now the EU leading the way. For better or worse.