Euro 5 - What's it all about Alfie?
Euro 5 emissions legislation is here - so you know all about it right?
Euro 5 emissions legislation has been in the air - or not, hopefully - for a wee while now but do you know how it might affect you? Well if you are already an existing motorcycle owner don't worry it shouldn't affect you at all. The legislation is designed to reduce harmful emissions and help towards cleaning up the air, but only applies to new machines and the phased implementation has already begun. If you are planning to buy a new motorcycle you might be wondering how it will affect your shiny new machine? Well new machines should all be Euro 5 compliant now, as every new machine has had to be from 2020 according to EU legislation. The new emissions standards brought L category vehicles, motorcycles and mopeds, up to the same levels as Euro 6 cars.
One thing which is an interesting side effect is that manufacturers, who haven't been given any guidelines on how to actually achieve the new standards, have had to work it out for themselves. While this has been a challenge, it has led to some technological innovations as they have gone through the process to adapt to Euro 5, which hopefully will benefit motorcycle production in general. When Euro 4 came in in 2016 it led to the development of things like ride by wire as an off-shoot of the development process.
Some of the main areas covered by Euro 5 legislation are: carbon monoxide, total hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide (NOx) and the new one, which is different from Euro 4, is non-methane hydrocarbons. Euro 5 legislation rules that there can only be a maximum of just 1000mg/km of carbon monoxide emitted, the total level of hydrocarbons allowed is now 100mg/km, nitrogen oxide 60mg/km and the new measure of non methane hydrocarbons is 68 mg/km.
So now any new motorcycle needs to get European Whole Vehicle Type Approval by conforming to Euro 5 emissions standards, plus a lot of other criteria, in order for it to be legally sold in the EU or EFTA. To get Type Approval machines must not only comply to emissions levels but also meet rules on noise levels, advanced braking systems and access to repair information requirements plus some other things.
Just a few words on this but if you know of anything we've missed re Euro 5 do drop us a line at
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