Austrian motorcycle giant KTM is systematically bypassing laws designed to limit pollution and noise, it can be revealed.

During a year-long investigation, undercover reporters visited 15 trade shows and KTM dealerships in seven European countries, confirming an industry whistleblower’s reports of suspected emissions cheating.

Authorised KTM dealers across the UK, France, Austria, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Belgium were filmed or recorded sharing how they routinely “derestrict” new off-road-style bikes after they have already passed emissions tests to be used on public roads — making them more powerful and more polluting. 

One KTM staff member described the process as “a bit of a scam” at a motorcycle trade show in Belgium in January. They claimed KTM manufactured the bikes with features “just to meet the [pollution and noise] standards”, in the knowledge that they will be later modified or removed at dealerships, as the bikes would be effectively unusable in their “restricted” state. 

“To make them compliant we had to invent [something],” said one dealer in Northern Italy. “They [KTM] have been finding a way to catalyse [fit emissions-limiting parts to] the bikes for several years now, just to get them approved.”

The footage was collected as part of the cross-border investigation “Unrestricted”, coordinated by Paris-based NGO Climate Whistleblowers and conducted with Le Monde, El País, Der Spiegel, Paper Trail Media, ZDF frontal, L’Espresso, Der Standard, ORF, Centre for Climate Reporting, and DeSmog.

Eleven years on from the Volkswagen “Dieselgate” scandal, in which the German car maker was found to be fitting millions of devices to cheat emissions tests, the findings once again highlight vehicle makers’ willingness to evade EU and UK rules on emissions and noise limits, said French Greens MEP Marie Toussaint.

“These revelations are extremely serious,” said Toussaint. “They suggest that certain manufacturers continue to treat European environmental regulations not as collective safeguards for health, safety and the climate, but as constraints to be circumvented in order to preserve their profit margins and boost sales.”

The scheme relates to at least 16 models in KTM’s “Enduro” range, including models within KTM’s sub-brands GASGAS and Husqvarna, which are designed for off-road-style racing rather than extensive road usage. The bikes still need to be approved as road-legal: arriving at or moving between recreational or competition off-road riding areas usually involves riding on paved, public roads, while many unpaved trails used for enduro riding in Europe are still classed as public roads.

In response to the investigation’s findings, KTM said its bikes are meant to be used as delivered, and that it is not responsible for any modifications made after delivery.

However, staff at KTM dealerships told reporters that KTM was aware of the derestricting practice, and said that KTM supplied parts and training to dealers to modify the bikes after they arrived at the dealership. On KTM’s website, its bright orange and black Enduro bikes involved in the scheme are displayed visibly derestricted. 

One derestricted KTM Enduro model — the KTM EXC 300 — is over 10 times more polluting and two times louder than the limits laid out by the EU’s 2013 regulations on motorcycle approvals, an independent study commissioned by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) found. The UK has retained similar legislation on noise and harmful pollutants such as planet-warming carbon dioxide since leaving the EU.

The tested bike’s levels of carbon monoxide — a highly toxic gas — were equivalent to those of a small diesel locomotive train, the report found.

Europe-wide motorcycle registration data at a model level is not publicly available, but industry experts estimate KTM is selling at least 10,000 derestricted bikes each year.

None of the undercover reporters posing as potential customers asked if their bikes could be derestricted.

Nevertheless, during multiple undercover visits, official KTM dealers pointed to already derestricted bikes on display and explained that they were expected to remove pollution control parts and increase power after delivery. They then said they would still provide customers with paperwork and number plates stating the bikes were road-legal.

“As soon as [the motorcycles] arrive, KTM tells us to derestrict them straight away because the engines don’t work,” one KTM dealer in Northern France told a reporter. “It’s just to meet the standards, actually.”

“It’s rare to come across something that’s so blatantly unlawful and illegal,” said Remo Klinger, a Berlin-based environmental lawyer who has worked extensively on cases designed to force regulators to take action against manufacturers involved in “Dieselgate”. “The authorities have a duty to look into it.”

Daniela Gehwolf, KTM’s head of corporate communications, said its dealers “sell the vehicles exclusively to end customers in a homologated [restricted] and road-legal condition”.

“At the customer’s express request, modifications may be made to the vehicles for competition use through the authorized dealer,” added Gehwolf. “In the context of such customer-initiated competition modifications, the dealer explicitly informs the end customer that the road registration will be invalidated and the vehicle may no longer be used on public roads.”

Gehwolf also said that the KTM motorcycle used in the ICCT study “explicitly does not correspond to the vehicle’s original delivery state and is not intended for road use in this form.”

Both the French and German transport authorities said they are looking into the investigation’s findings. The UK’s Department for Transport said it had not received reports of the type of modification described by the investigation, but would “not hesitate to act where the law is broken.”

A European Commission spokesperson confirmed they were aware of the ICCT’s report.
 
Under EU law, they said, manufacturers must “take the necessary corrective actions” to ensure their vehicles remain in line with their “type approval” — the regulatory process for checking machines, parts and vehicles have met safety and environmental requirements, including on noise and emissions. They should also “take measures to prevent…modifications with adverse effects on safety or environmental performance”.

They added that the Commission was only responsible for assessing whether action taken by EU member states was justified.

If proven to be deliberately circumventing pollution and noise laws, KTM could face fines of up to €5 million (£4.3 million) under European law, according to Klinger. There is also the potential for larger fines and even criminal proceedings at a national level, according to Climate Whistleblowers’ legal team.

The Scheme

KTM sold around 200,000 bikes in 2025, but its revenue dropped to €1 billion (£860 million) from €2.7 billion (£2.3 billion) two years earlier, according to the latest annual report published by parent company Bajaj Auto. 

The Indian motorcycle conglomerate acquired majority ownership of KTM last year and cut 500 jobs as part of a major restructuring process. Sales began to increase again this year.

Through interviews with industry insiders, analysis of public records and leaked documents, and undercover visits to dealerships and trade shows, the Unrestricted investigation painted a picture of systemic emissions cheating by KTM in what has become an open secret in the industry.

Some KTM dealerships have even posted videos on YouTube and Instagram showing the derestriction process as part of their marketing, presenting it as “unboxing” content for motorcycle fans.

It is not uncommon for motorcyclists to modify their bikes after purchase, for example by removing speed limiters or fitting louder exhausts. In doing so, they may be breaching the bike’s original type approval that it needs to be road-legal.

However, the Unrestricted investigation demonstrates for the first time how a major motorcycle manufacturer is actively participating in a derestriction scheme in order to circumvent pollution legislation.

KTM’s emissions scheme begins with the company manufacturing restricted motorcycles fitted with features that mean the Enduro bike pass emissions and noise tests as part of its type-approval.

For example, restricted Enduro bikes have legal pollution control devices known as “lambda sensors”. These measure oxygen levels in the exhaust and send reports to the bike’s computer to adjust the air-fuel mixture.

These features, however, mean that these bikes — which typically cost between €11,000 and €13,500 (£9,500 – £11,660) depending on the model — don’t in fact perform “ready to race”, as they are marketed.

Instead, the restricted bikes arrive in store “completely unusable,” one dealership in northern Italy told undercover reporters, who were posing as prospective customers.

“It’s so tightly laced that it doesn’t work properly at all,” another dealer in northwestern Germany said. “Nobody would enjoy that, neither the motorbike nor the rider. It’s really just for the registration, so to speak, so that you can get it through.”

“We’re the ones who design the bike that way,” the KTM employee said at the trade show in northern Belgium.

With the bike “unusable” in its type-approved state, dealerships manually and electronically alter the vehicles before they are sold.

“So officially, they are fitted like that, but it’s not very good to ride like that,” said the KTM employee. “Dealers remove those [emissions-limiting] parts and fit the real parts.”

Both the KTM employee and three separate dealerships told undercover reporters that KTM supplies the equipment to do this.

Derestriction involves removing or disconnecting the lambda sensors, the investigation found. Dealerships may also remove engine air restrictors, remove or swap the catalytic converter for one that filters fewer pollutants in the exhaust, disconnect the tube that redirects exhaust gases back into the engine, and change the bike’s computer settings with a KTM-owned software.

At one dealership in southern England, a staff member told undercover reporters that their employees receive training from KTM on how to derestrict the bikes and have to “get tests every year.”

This process differs from the Dieselgate scandal, where Volkswagen fitted so-called “defeat devices” to cars to make them produce fewer emissions while under test conditions, rather than modifying the vehicle itself after type approval. 

Nearly all (95 percent) of over 250 Enduro bikes listed with Austrian KTM dealers in February this year were visibly derestricted according to the whistleblower, who has 20 years of industry experience and analysed images attached to each listing.

These modifications significantly increase speed and power, but also dramatically ramp up pollution and noise. Levels often exceeded the maximum range of instruments used during the tests on the KTM EXC 300 Enduro bike in the ICCT-commissioned study, which was carried out by the Czech University of Life Sciences.

This means buyers are able to ride away from authorised KTM dealerships on public roads with motorcycles well overofficial EU and UK pollution limits — despite holding a “Certificate of Conformity” (CoC), issued by KTM, which says the bike has been type approved to these standards. They also leave with a number plate, and vehicle registration papers.

At the dealership in northeastern Germany, the reporter observed the dealer telling a customer they had disconnected the lambda sensor, but had left it in the bike in case the customer was stopped by police.

KTM does not appear to be the only manufacturer engaged in this practice. During the course of the investigation, two authorised dealerships for competitors offered to derestrict bikes for reporters. It was not clear whether this was part of a manufacturer-led scheme, or whether these were isolated incidents.

Competitors Honda, Fantic, Triumph, Sherco, Rieju, Yamaha, Benelli, and BMW did not respond to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for Italian motorcycle manufacturer Beta said the company could not confirm whether KTM was running such an emissions cheating scheme or whether this gave KTM any competitive advantage. They noted that vehicle insurance was the main reason for restriction, which was linked to road registration. Beta did not respond to questions about whether they also run a derestriction scheme.

‘Not Fit for Purpose’

Transport and vehicle standards authorities in Europe appear to be aware that bikes may be regularly being used on and off-road while breaching their original type approval conditions.

At least 20 percent of motorcycles in Europe may have been modified in some form, according to a November2025 report by the EU’s L-vehicles emissions and noise mitigation solutions (LENS) programme.

In the UK, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DSVA) admitted there was “very little compliance” with regulations on aftermarket motorcycle exhausts — those sold to riders who want to modify a bike they already own — in an internal report from 2022, obtained via a freedom of information request during the investigation.

Both the EU and UK have recently considered bringing in further legislation to tackle illegal motorcycle modifications.

So far, however, none of these proposals have directly addressed the possibility of a manufacturer running a scheme to modify bikes after they have been type-approved, but before they are sold.
 
 “This is not a small loophole, but a business model built on deception,” said German Greens MEP Michael Bloss. “What this case really exposes is a European market surveillance system that is not fit for purpose.”

“The European Commission must investigate these allegations rigorously and finally close the gaps that allow manufacturers to game the type approval system.”

Editing by Phoebe Cooke
Proofreading by Diane Bernard