London ULEZ exemption for Monsters

[slob]

There are two methods of getting your pre-2007 Monster exempted from ULEZ charges in London, an emissions test or submitting documentation to TFL. The test method currently costs £175 including VAT (assuming your bike meets the standard without further tuning), The documentation method should be free. The method you choose depends on how much time you have and what you want to spend.

Most standard Monsters should meet or be close to meeting the standard, high flow air filters and race pipes etc. may make this a bit harder.
The current standard is less than 0.15g/km of NOx (Nitrogen Oxides) in the exhaust gasses, eg. Euro3 for motorcycles.

Some example figures are:

Year	Model	NOx	Source
1997	900SS	0.14	Test	(similar engine to M900)
1998	916	0.09	Test	(similar engine to S4)
2000	M600	0.11	Documentation
2003	M1000S	0.132	Documentation
2006	S2R1000	0.036	Documentation	(Euro3 but not post 2007, TFL want further docs)

[slob]

This involves running your bike on a rolling road whilst analysing the exhaust gasses. This generates a report that is automatically sent to TFL. Currently the only approved test centre is Riverbank MCs in Bow, East London.

Unit 3, Riverbank Business Park,
Dye House Lane,
London E3 2TB
Tel: 020 8983 4896

If in doubt give them a call, they have tested may bikes now and will have a fairly good idea of what will or won't pass without further work.

It's just behind a Shell petrol station on Wick Lane, near the A12. The test takes around half an hour and there's a cafe opposite, so you can get a cuppa and a bite to eat while you wait.

Go to https://www.nationalemissionstestcentre.com/

You'll see some information on prices, meeting ULEZ standards and some advice eg. make sure your tank is full of FRESH fuel. Scroll down and click 'BOOK A TEST'



Select the earliest appointment or choose 'MORE TIMES' to see other options.



At the time of writing there was a sixteen week wait for tests! Although I was lucky and got a cancellation for a couple of days time.

Once you've selected an appointment, click 'Continue' fill in your information and confirm.



You'll receive and email from NETC, confirming your appointment. You'll also get an email reminder from them 24 hours before your appointment.

If there's a long delay, I'd suggest going back and checking the website daily to see of any cancellations have opened up, since the normal waiting list is over three months at the moment. Once the you've received the confirmation email you can then cancel your original appointment.

After the test you'll be given a report sheet to keep for your records and NETC will automatically inform TFL of the test, so all being well, you shouldn't need to take any further action.

* The test centre is inside the ULEZ, so if you're riding to the test, you'll need to pay the charge for that day. I was told it could take up to four days for TFL's systems to update, so check your bike's status before riding in London, The bike I had tested was showing as 'charge free' the following day.

[slob]

I did this on a PC, you can probably do this on a phone or tablet but depending on the OS it may be trickier than having a mouse and keyboard.

This was correct as of late October 2021 but the links and pages may change, TFL's website in particular has several routes to the same end result.

Before you start, scan or photograph the first two pages of your bike's V5 (front cover and main page of your logbook, don't worry about page three or the back) to your computer.

Go to the ducati.com homepage and click on the 'burger menu' at the top left corner,



choose 'CORPORATE' > 'CORPORATE' > 'Contact us'



At the bottom you'll see a red button to fill out the contact form.



Fill in the form, explaining you want to obtain documentary evidence that you bike meets the 'less than 0.15g/km NOx emissions requirement for the ULEZ'.



I got an email back same day, from Ducati Customer Support, requesting the two V5 pages, with a note confirming Ducati delete your documents once certification has been completed. I replied by email with the scanned document attached. I then received an email from Ducati Support confirming the documents had been forwarded to the relevant department.

I was told that this process usually takes about three weeks, but I struck it lucky and was contacted by Ducati UK after a few days, requesting a postal address to send the document to. This was a short letter on headed paper, stating the NOx emissions etc. identifying my bike by VIN (chassis number) and VRM (number plate), signed by the Products Director at the factory in Bologna.

Scan or photgraph the letter from Ducati to your computer.

[slob]

Moving on to TFL, go to the TFL ULEZpage https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ult...-emission-zone
The first thing you need to do here is create an account, once this is done you can 'Sign in'.



Go to the vehicle checker



Fill in your registration Mark/Country of Registration and click 'Find vehicle'



Check the details are correct and click 'Confirm and continue'



On the next page, scroll down and select 'I can prove my vehicle meets the ULEZ standards...' and click 'Continue'.



You'll be asked to sign in at this point if you haven't done so already.

At the bottom of the next page you'll see an 'Upload files' box, drag and drop or browse to your scanned V5 and letter from Ducati, and click continue.



Confirm the details and documents are correct, tick the 'terms and conditions' box and click 'Submit application'



You should see a reference number for your application, make a note of this in case you need to follow up with TFL.

I was lead to believe this process typically takes about ten days. I received an email from TFL (@cclondon.com)
after three days, with a .PDF letter attached confirming my bike met the required standard and was ULEZ exempt.



* Remember, it make take a few more days for TFL's database to be updated, so use the ULEZ checker to confirm no charges apply to your bike before riding in London or you may have to pay the charge. Again, I was lucky and the system updated the following day.

[Luddite]

Great work, Rob! Thanks for this.

[yellowfever]

Excellent and thorough post Rob, a very useful resource.

One minor clarification on S2R 1000: They were certified as Euro 3 from the introduction of this model in 2006 (anticipating the compulsory euro 3 standard coming into force in 2007). Therefore the V5 for 2006 S2R 1000 should clearly state that it meets the Euro 3 standard (mine does). BUT, despite this, as it is not 2007 (which are automatically accepted as compliant by TFL) if it does not also list the specific NoX figure on the V5 (mine didn’t), TFL insist (or at least did so in my case) that you obtain the certificate of Conformity (CoC) or other proof from Ducati for your specific bike that does show this figure. It cost me £50 (eventually refunded from TFL in the guise of a ‘goodwill payment’ after many mistakes and delays processing it on their part).

So 2006 S2R 1000 are certified Euro 3 from 2006 (as shown on V5) but TFL seem not to accept this and insist on the CoC. You may perhaps be able to push back on this if you make a fuss as there is no real legal or policy justification for them accepting a 2007 V5 stating it’s Euro 3, but not accepting a 2006 V5 stating it’s Euro 3….

[slob]

That’s terrible, we used to have an ‘05 (petrol) Clio, that was fine on the ULEZ checker, since Renault adopted the standard early. I guess cars are regarded as mainstream and bikes niche. Will edit OP.