Bonneville America Forums Forums Rider Safety Forums Legislation We all knew it was coming

California is considering a program to smog-test motorcycles. The March issue of the AMA mag American Motorcyclist has a short story on page 29 that says the California Air Resources Board is considering adding motorcycles to it's smog-testing program. Here's an excerpt:

"The board reportedly is considering adding motorcycles to the smog-testing program because it believes a lot of California motorcyclists change their exhaust pipes and jetting, which could mean those bikes don't meet emissions restrictions."



It also says:

"The EPA monitors California Air Resources Board rules with an eye on adopting them nationwide"

We all knew it was coming. I figure we have five years. Then it's UJMs for everyone.

Cheerz
Cody

AR-I-ZO-NA
here I come

Right back where I started from

Thanks to all the morons cruising down my street
With pipes so loud they make the "wrong folks" take heed

When I move out Prescott way

I sure hope they stay away

'Cuz that's where I'm gonna stay.....

AR-I-ZO-NA
HERE I...COME!

Cheers,
Dwight
(Yep, John ol' boy...bet cha didn't know I do a pretty mean Al Jolson impression, did ya?!)

Told ya we should give California back to Mexico.

TOO LATE JACK!

But don't worry....my home state is ALREADY goin' that direction, ya know.(this bit news is in ALL the newpapers)

Listen...I'd move to Connecticut in a friggin' heartbeat, but there something about that WEATHER o' your's back there that kind'a sort'a is keeping me from packin' those old bags o' mine and doing THAT!!!

(that reminds me...Have you guys dug yourself out from all that SNOW back there yet???)

(oh...and when was the last time you jumped on that bike o' yours this winter and rode around a bit???)

Still have a 2 inch layer of ice on my front lawn.
Frankly Dwight the Mrs and i have been discussing moving to the So West. Maybe AZ. Gettin sick of this climate.

Dwight,
I never really took ya for the Al Jolson type. For some reason, Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show comes to mind. (Don't know why.)

Pack up the babies
Grab the old ladies
Everyone goes
Everyone knows
Brother loves show

Quote:

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(that reminds me...Have you guys dug yourself out from all that SNOW back there yet???)

(oh...and when was the last time you jumped on that bike o' yours this winter and rode around a bit???)

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Watch it there Dwight, you're treading on some thin ice...we don't take to no Kalifornicators busting on us up here in the frozen tundra we call home.

Ok, we all really wish it would just go away. I vote "YES" for global warming.

It's too cold to smog here.....

Quote:

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Listen...I'd move to Connecticut in a friggin' heartbeat, but there something about that WEATHER o' your's back there that kind'a sort'a is keeping me from packin' those old bags o' mine and doing THAT!!!

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Hey Jenny, when was the last time you got to take a day off work cause of the weather?

Enjoying myself in TWO FEET of the white stuff up here in VT!!

Just like the auto industry, people will b*tch-and-moan, but eventually they'll figure away to get around it and we'll all be better off for it.

20 years ago, the thought of a 400+hp V8 producing less emissions than a Honda Accord from 5 years ago was science fiction, but today you can go to buy numerous examples off the lot from a variety of different manufactures.

Honestly, I can't imagine that it would be too difficult to keep a motorcycle within emissions specs with aftermarket performance mods. And if it is, at least with our bikes its easy enough to go back to stock for a day while we have the test done.

There's more to it than just undoing the mods once a year.

In CT there are 2 ways to test cars,
On newer models they just plug into the onbord computer.
But some vehicle they strap it down, put the drive wheels on rollers and and run it up to 35 mph.And test the exhaust.

So do you want some monkey sitting on your bike and running it through the gears on a treadmill?
Oh and dont even think they will allow the owner to do it.
Insurance reasons they say.

Only a very few very good friends get to sit astride the Blue Streak. State monkeys are not among them.

On a serious note here, I think the reason those "state monkeys" up in Sacramento are considering this bit of legislation lately is possibly because not only is California the state with the largest number of motorcycles registered, but they are also growing in number, especially since this second "Golden Age of Motorcycling" has come around.(the first, I'd put at around 1965-1980)

Now, many will say that this is for "revenue enhancement", but let me tell you people out there something. I'm a native californian, born in 1952 in Los Angeles. I remember riding in the back seat of my father's '62 Cadillac Sedan DeVille many a time while on the then new San Bernardino Freeway, on our way to "San Berdo" and to my aunt and uncles house there. And, I remember the agony of feeling that the smog was literally going to burn my little 10 year old eyes out of their sockets, or that my lungs were going to explode before we reached our destination.(the mountains east of L.A. really held that crap in the atmosphere)

Since then of course, and since automobiles have become less polluting, MAINLY due to government fiat pressed upon the auto industry and the public, this experience is mostly a thing of the past.

Now, I'm not saying I "enjoy" having to take my cars to have them "smoged" every two years, mind you, and I definately am NOT looking forward to having this same procedure being done with my motorcycles, BUT...if it wasn't for "government interference" into the quality of the air that I breathe, I KNOW that all those days I can NOW look across the L.A. Basin and see those beautiful Santa Monica and San Bernardino Mountains, in mid-winter 70 degree weather(I MEANT to rub that in, BTW), would be few and far between.

Do you really think private industry really cares enough about air pollution,(or for THAT matter most private citizens...yeah, we give it "lip-service" alright, but really the mindset seems to be..."EEAH! It's a lot a trouble, and it costs me money!") or that "The Market" looks "long term" enough, OR EVER DID, so that the majority of people can live in as little a polluted environment as possible?

I don't think so. They're in it, and always have been in it, for the money TOO(just like those "state monkeys", I suppose)...and stock holders MUST be satisfied, ya know...and, ALWAYS in the "short term".(read: quarterly profits)

Cheers,
Dwight

I have to agree with you, Dwight. Austin is faily smog free but from thirty miles away you can see the smog over Houston and it is scary looking.

The first time I flew into LA, I really didn't want to get off the plane.

Remember back in the '60's when they talked about installing fans in the mountains above LA to break up the smog? Who would have guessed someday we would have wind power generation?

I hate for the government to get involved in anything but reducing pollution is really important.

Dwight ol' pard,
I totally appreciate what you are saying. The town I grew up in was too small and remote to feel the impact of exhaust smog, but we had two bentonite plants in the valley where I lived, and on days when the weather was just right, a white fog-like dust nearly blocked out the sun. It made breathing oppressive, and it ate the paint off cars. Half the guys who worked in those plants ended up with silicosis (They called it White Lung). It was the same environmental laws that cleaned up car exhaust that also cleaned up industrial pollution. I was certainly glad for that. I also worked for a lab in the 80's that did environmental sampling and testing. I took soil and water samples around some superfund sites that would make your hair curl (or other things). So I know that people and businesses tend to poison their own nests until legislation is written to stop it. I don't think that's a bad thing.

Back to my Speedy, I wouldn't mind so much just to have it tested. I don't mind paying a few bucks to the tester, and taking a couple hours off work to do the test and pick up the tabs. It's just part of owning a vehicle, and I just went through all that with my pickup. It would bother me a lot if it failed the test and I couldn't ride it after all the money and work I put into it. This bike is just about my only passionate hobby. I get almost as much enjoyment from wrenching as I do riding. National smog testing would be a paradigm shift for most people who love motorcycles. Who doesn't make at least a few changes to their bike after they buy it? Most of us want a real motorcycle sound instead of the sewing machine. With their carburetors and simple mechanics, our bikes are made to modify. If that day ever comes (I think they would make some allowances. Things are never as bad as you imagine) I'd either put my Speedy out to pasture, or donate it to a museum. Then, if I still wanted to ride, I'd buy a BMW or a Honda (if I could afford it), something I could leave stock and just ride. Or, maybe I'd just say screw it and buy me a George Jones rocking chair and plant it on the front porch.

It's the laws requiring the auto makers to build cleaner running cars that cleared the smog up, not the state testing programs. Only a hand full of drivers do any real modifications to their cars nowadays, But I think it would be safe to say most bikers do. The hardly boys I think will be hit hardest by this. As someone pointed out most of the mods talked about in this forum can be easily reversed.
Just glad I hung on to my stock pipes and AI parts.

The local Triumph dealer has some stock pipes for sale for 200+ if anyone wants some

I think the testing procedures fell into place as part of the laws forcing auto makers to reduce emissions.

I have to agree tho, whatever the catalyst was (get it? Catalyst?) it benefits us for sure!! Just watch one of those videos of the crazy intersections in Viet Nam or something where everyone is wearing a mask!

The B\S auto emmisions testing they had in CT. 15 years ago turned out to be ALL ABOUT THE MONEY and when they all got caught with their hands in the cookie jars, they searched out a couple of Mexicans to hang the whole thing on.

Then LO and BEHOLD they roll out an emmisions study were they claim the emmissions were not that bad to begin with and few metric ton of pollution would all blow over to MA. anyway.

SO THEY DID ALL OF US A**HOLES A FAVOR, put the Mexicans in jail and canceled the whole thing, but strangely the money was never found !!!!

Dwight,

You got me started, I agree that CA. had a serious smog problem and the goverment stepped in and cleaned it up exactly what our goverment should do.

But, in a small state like CT. smog and air pollution have never been a problem, we do howvever have a big problem with ground pollution and the turd factories tend to stink up the joint on hot days in JULY and AUG.. But it was always about the money !!!

The biggest problem we have in CT. with cars is uninsured motorist you can not believe the beaters we have running around the state.

I have to buy uninsured motorist insurance and then a $1,000,000 umbrella policy to protect my family GOD forbid one of those guy's hit's me as every shlock lawyer will be sueing me. Funny how a guy can not buy insurance but can find the money to hire a lawyer to sue you.

The only reason the state does not enforce the uninsured motorist laws is there is NO MONEY IN IT FOR THEM.

Done ranting !!

Vermont is on the list of the 5 toughest states too. Think smog is a problem there? Chicken poo is worse

It's not easy being green...

I hear in Californiia (uber allus)you're getting fresh new smog imported from china

I'd just like to note that Arizona is currently the only place where you have to get your motorcycle tested for emissions. But that's only in the Phoenix area, not state wide. Used to have to here in Tucson, but that was recently taken off the books.

It's a joke though the way they test bikes. There is no rolling dyno-like run for bike tests, they just stick a sniffer up a tail pipe while the bike idles. And it's not like they go looking for EPA mandated stickers on your pipes either. I've never heard of anyone getting nailed for not having stock pipes on their bike. Certain areas do watch out for loud pipes, but the Arizona MVD isn't one of them.

Chicken poo?

IIRC from my one time inside my in-laws big chicken house, it reeked of ammonia. My mother in-law raised award winning chickens for Perdue before she passed away about 12 years ago.

I have to comment about the unisured driver BS. A couple of years I did the system design on a computized system of verifying a driver actually does have insurance. You would think insurance companies would jump at the chance? They beat the hell out of us with lobbying money becuase they DO NOT WANT ALL DRIVERS TO HAVE INSURANCE!! They would rather force us good drivers to pay for uninsured motorist than sell insurance to bad drivers.

Now, in Texas, the a****** insurance companies have found a loop hole whereby sometimes they can slip out of paying unisured motorist claims. I really love George W. 's legacy in Texas governement and wish I could have the votes back I cast for him.

You think that smells bad the "inside of a chicken coup"

Wait till you break open that top layer of chicken poo they walk around on, instant pukke fest.

I worked on a chicken farm one summer when I was sixteen, shortly after that I began experimenting with alcohol and other intoxicants...hmmm wonder if there was a connection?


Funny how this thread has gone from emmission testing two chicken Sh*t...wonder if there's a connection.

Jack,

You hit it on the head emmission testing is just a chicken s*** excuse for taking our money, while shaming us for all the bad deeds of our fore fathers !!!!

No emission tests in OK. Even got rid of vehicle inspection several years ago. They do a pretty good job here publicising (sp?) high ozone days in Tulsa. Plus the population is relatively small compared to LA. I think OKC has more of a problem though.