I need some advice on how to resolve a dispute I have with Strassenverkehrsamt ZH regarding accepting homologation certificates for an aftermark exhaust fitted to an imported bike.
I'm trying to be legal !!!
Bike was imported years ago and has a RoadsItalia exhaust fitted. I recently bought the bike . No homologation certificate so I ordered one from RoadItalia in Lugano.
RoadsItalia and BB Motors (a seller) insist the certificate is valid and have been selling these exhausts for years.
STVA ZH rejected and keep asking for more information. To date I've supplied
- Fahrzeus ausweis
- EU Conformity Cert for bike
- EU conformity Certs for exhaust
- CH Homologation certs from RoadsItalia
All clearly shown everything is in order.
The latest response is go back to the importer and ensure everything is conformant with Section 8 of the regulations. Yes - that vague !!!
At this point, I'm 100% sure SVTA ZH is being deliberately obstructive and is adopting the "Schweizermacher" attitude ... which is xenophobic and make life as difficult and unpleasant as possible for foreigners or anyone buying things from abroad.
Can I complain or escalate this to independent arbitrage ?
Yes I could give up but that only encourages the SVTA .... and I hate bureaucrats who generate no economic value in society, are tax payer funded and impose unreasonable restrictions on people's lives.
StVA ZH is usually rather tolerant and follows the ASA 2b. I am surprised you have an issue. This means something is not in order with the papers. Did they say what is missing or incorrect?
(Can you send me a PM with a link to the scanned documents ?)
In the worst you would have to request a "Einprachefähige Verfügung mit Rechtsmittelbelehrung" and then sue at the administrative court. But at that point all must be in order and according the regulations. I know a few exhaust papers, were a single item or required, mandatory, piece of information is missing. Most often you still get a pass at the StVA, but would not in a court as obviously the paper are not in order w/o the mandatory information.
Is BB Motors (sounds like a dealership) the seller? If so, let the dealership handle the issue and forget about it.
Also, caveat emptor. All those thoughts and feelings about SVTA ZH may be better redirected to the seller in case they claimed everything's in order during the transaction.
As said, I would need all the papers as they are linked together, each referencing the other.
But we can already see what might be the issue.
Typengenehmigung: X. I do not think BB Motor can give a statement of conformity for a "Typenschein X" vehicle. An X in field 24 of your registration papers means it has a unique vehicle type approval and does not follow a standard production bike, and the vehicles CoC no longer applies.
If however you had X6HA184 (Self imported CBR900RR SC50) in bikes gray paper it might be possible. Now question: Why do you have an X and not X6HA184?
Possible explanation: Your bike did not conform to its CoC when it was registered in Switzerland (maybe because it had not the original exhaust).
How to fix it?
1. Prove that the motorcycle was registered in Switzerland with the current exhaust.
2. See how you can change the X to X6HA184 or 6HA184 (you might need the vehicles original exhaust for this. You hopefully got this as well? Right? You have the original exhaust? A vehicle w/o the original exhaust is a pain in the ass. If you are luck you might find one on ebay. But it must be the very correct exhaust for your vehicle).
3. Get a statement of conformity from FAKT or DTC for your very own bike. This means they will test your actual bike with your actual exhaust and check if it conforms to all laws and regulation. If it does you get the statement which is accepted by the StVA and plus a hefty bill. If not you will only get a hefty bill. In either way the bill will be for more than CHF 1000.
An X as part of the type approval number is an import which corresponds a known type available in Switzerland.
If you have just an X you lose the assumed link between your vehicle and the vehicles CoC as the Swiss registration papers do not list the EU type approval number.
I do not claim that the current praxis is correct. There were a lot of shenanigans in the past. For example that the X can be part of the type approval number had AFAIK be decided by the court. Best would be, if the Swiss registration papers would show the EU type approval number of the vehicle. At the very least for those with Typenschein X. Maybe this information is available internally in the IVZ-Fahrzeuge data base (somewhere it must be recorded on what evidence it approved and issued a gray card).
In addition, in theory it should be possible that the exhaust should be approved based on the exhaust statement of conformity and the motorcycles CoC. The tricky part is to prove that, apart from the exhaust, the vehicle is the same as listed in the CoC. At that point the StVA can come up with all crazy excuses, why all the evidence you show are not accepted. Something which is simply not possible if you have a proper type approval listed in your registration papers, as now the StVA must show that the vehicle does not conform to the type approval.
The COC was accepted by them yesterday. Their full response was as follows
Danke für das COC. Anhand diesem ist es möglich das Fahrzeug zu identifizieren und die Emission Klasse zu ermitteln. Das COC wird benötigt, da das Fahrzeug keine Typengenehmigung hat.
Die Bestätigung vom Importeur gemäss Merkblatt 11 noch vervollständigen. Dann kann die Bestätigung anerkannt werden.
At least it references the vehicles CoC (which btw. you must carry in addition to the gray card).
At least we are going forward. Step by step.
The problem with Merkblatt 11 and in particular page 6: It references VO EU Nr, 540/2014 which is not applicable to motorcyles but passenger cars.
A statement of conformity for motorcycle exhaust, which follows the relevant EU regulations, needs much less information.
You can either fight this and show that your papers follow the relevant EU regulations for motorcycle exhausts.
Claim that the statement you got from BB sport follows the Weisung des EJPD from 29.09.1995 http://www.astra2.admin.ch/media/pdf…9-29_710_d.pdf and ASA 2b (I think it does. Page 6 of MKBT 11 is just an alternative way)
Get a statement which has all the information as requested on page 6 of the Merkblatt 11.
You ask them, that given the template on MKBT 11 page six is for cars (as it references VO EU Nr, 540/2014) if they have a template for motorcycles according Chapter 9 of Directive Nr. 97/24/EG which I think is the one relevant for your motorcycle.
Note: You will also need the an installation manual (Einbauanleitung) or at least a sketch of all the relevant parts, as this is mentioned in the relevanbt regulations for motorcycle exhausts.
Well if you were able to figure out the rules to such an extend that you are 100% sure you are correct, then I'm sure you'll be able to figure out the next step too.
But based on what you have posted here, I'm with the SVTA on this - you are exactly what they complain about - a know it all foreigner, demanding that they change their ways to satisfy his sense of entitlement.
I have the same for a Ducati that I bought new in Italy 15 years ago (at the factory, new and all original).
I also had issues, despite being friends with the local dealer and the importer (and several friends at the factory, including then CEO Federico Minoli). Finally a friend put me in touch the the head of BL STVA, with whom I had a long conversation, fax him everything, and he agreed that there was no problem, and told me to try one more time, otherwise he will let me register it in BL! Took nearly a year!
I have a collection of cars & bikes and the STVA have been mostly OK over the years. Just now they're stressed me big time !
Switzerland is 100% the best country in the world. Thanks to direct demoracy, Swiss social responsibility & work ethic, I feel very lucky to be here. It truly is a model country.
I emailed STVA asking what exact detail they still required to be Merkblatt 11 conformant , but no reply.
I had to go there today to update some documents for a car. I asked in the Prufungshalle if they were satisfied with the bike documents. All OK. I even went to the boss in his office, and sat with him to check.
He assured me several time that the documents would be acceptable for MFK, police or customs check ... and I only need to keep the originals with me.
... but said they never update Fahrzeugausweis.
I've asked Honda to confirm the Swiss code as 6HA184 based on Coc, then I can get the documents updated to X6HA184 which can only help in future.
I'll submit the bike for a new MFK in Spring. Should be OK.