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Harley-Davidson rider fined for playing music: Delhi Police say bike has ‘illegal’ panniers & music system

Pruthi was on his RoadGlide in Tilak Nagar area of Delhi with his wife on the pillion seat – both wearing helmets and listening to some tunes on the Glide’s Boom! Box at, he says not more than 30% volume.

harley davidson fine for playing music

harley davidson fine for playing music

Harley-Davidson baggers (massive cruiser motorcycles with more gadgets than your car) come with their own instrument cluster and music system. But as it turns out, you could get pulled over by Delhi Police if you’re seen using that music system on the roads and handed a challan for listening to music on the go. Raghav Swati Pruthi, the owner of a new Harley-Davidson RoadGlide Special bought only about a month ago told us about what happened.

Pruthi was on his RoadGlide in Tilak Nagar area of Delhi – wearing a helmet and listening to some tunes on the Glide’s Boom! Box at, he says not more than 30% volume. As he set off from a traffic signal after it’d turned green, he was pulled over by a police car.

Raghav tells us that the driver of the police car who was not in official uniform stepped out and asked him to hand over his driving licence. When Raghav inquired as to why was he stopped, the driver said that ACP, Tilak Nagar Police Station was in the car and he would either have to produce vehicle documents or come to the police station.

The Delhi Police personnel insisted that the panniers and music system were aftermarket accessories, which makes the motorcycle illegal. Raghav showed the product page of the RoadGlide Special on H-D India’s website, citing that it was a stock machine with no modifications. This led to an argument and the police asked him to appear at the police station.

Raghav tells us that at the Tilak Nagar Police Station, the police played music at full volume on his motorcycle and issued a challan for playing music on the motorcycle. The amount of the challan as per the law shouldn’t be more than Rs 500, but Raghav is extremely dissatisfied with the police’s handling of the entire matter, not to mention that it wasn’t the Delhi Traffic Police that stopped him but the Delhi Police in the first place.

harley davidson roadglide special fine for playing music

Raghav says that the Delhi Police personnel were disrespectful and their behaviour accounts to harassment, adding that the sub-inspector, Tilak Nagar Police Station was in plain clothes while dealing with the matter. Pruthi’s DL has been impounded and he is now awaiting the next course of action from the virtual court.

Motorcyclist fined Rs 23,000 for traffic violations in Gurugram: Here’s why

The RoadGlide owner wrote to Harley-Davidson India to inquire whether the music system on the motorcycle complies with the Indian laws and standards, to which H-D has affirmed to him that under no section of the Motor Vehicle Act can he be fined for having a music system on his bike, however, the system needs to be used in accordance with a certain decibel limit and the local law in effect, for example, in a no honking zone.

harley davidson fine for playing music mail

Harley-Davidson RoadGlide is sold in India through CBU (completely built-up) route and carries a price tag of above Rs 40 lakh. It comes with Harley’s Boom! Box GTS infotainment system as standard with a two-speaker music system. In fact, the RoadGlide is not the only motorcycle that features a music system – several H-D and Indian Motorcycle models feature these and this is the first time someone has been fined over this.

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First published on: 16-09-2019 at 18:14 IST
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