S. Korea to toughen noise regulations for motorcycles

South Korea will strengthen the noise permission standards for the manufacturing and operation of motorcycles to the European Union’s standards.

The country’s noise permission standards have remained unchanged over the past 30 years.

The Ministry of Environment announced that it will improve the overall noise management system to reduce the noise generated by motorcycles.

The noise permission standards for the manufacturing of motorcycles are the subject of pre-negotiation under the free trade agreement (FTA) between South Korea and the European Union.

The improvement plan will be drawn from the EU’s pass-by noise standard range (75 to 80 decibel (dB).

The exhaust noise restriction level for the production of motorcycles will be increased to 95 dB for motorcycles with a displacement of more than 175 ccs, 88dB for vehicles with a capacity ranging from 88 to 175 cc, and 86dB for vehicles with an engine displacement less than 80 ccs.

The Ministry will make it compulsory for motorcycle manufacturers to display the result value of the exhaust noise certification test and prevent any modifications exceeding 5 dB from this figure to avoid structural change as a result of noise amplification.

The exhaust noise permission standard for motorcycles will be determined by selecting the higher level between the exhaust noise permission standard by engine displacement, which is 86 to 95 decibels, and the value of adding 5dB to the exhaust noise certification value.

The government expects the reform strategy to be implemented by late this year or early next year since the process will require FTA negotiations.