Police check: Motorcycle too loud due to dry clutch (Part 1)
Traffic check in the Munich area: 90-euro fine despite original condition
Traffic check in the Munich area: The police officer declares my Ducati Hypermotard too loud — 90-euro fine, TÜV appointment and a report for a missing seal. Part 1 of the series.
Yesterday, I just wanted to go for a nice evening ride — to visit a friend in the Munich area. The Calimoto app guided me along small, winding country roads — straight into a general traffic check. Just great.
What the police wanted
“Where have you come from?” and “Are you the first owner of the Ducati?” — I should have become suspicious at those questions. But my relationship with the “friends and helpers” had always been good so far. After checking the paperwork, the chief police officer started inspecting my motorcycle.
Important: I am not a mechanic. All parts on my Ducati Hypermotard are original, unmodified and have never been objected to by TÜV. Nevertheless, the police officer was convinced that my bike was too loud. He claimed that a missing seal on the dry clutch cover was to blame.
The obvious problems
From my point of view, there are several issues:
- A clutch cannot drown out the exhaust — that is mechanically implausible.
- No sound level measurement was carried out. There was no measuring device on site.
- The bike is in original condition and has passed all inspections.
Nevertheless, the penalty was severe:
- Report
- 90-euro fine
- Installation of the seal within 14 days
- Confirmation by TÜV
What happens next?
Pay and fix it — or lodge an objection? In the second part of this series, I show the way through the workshop, TÜV and police station, with all costs and findings.
But it was still a nice ride.
Conclusion
My impression: A traffic check rarely ends in a relaxed manner — even if the bike is in original condition. A penalty without a sound level measurement is legally flimsy, but it is issued nonetheless. Anyone who wants to be on the safe side should keep TÜV documents and purchase paperwork to hand. What happened next in my case — seal, TÜV appointment, police station — is covered in Part 2.
