Well it seems big brother is saving the U.S. citizens and the mostly S.U.V. driving public from the high exhaust emissions from altered motorcycles. Now with gas at $3.00 plus per gallon I’ll ride a week on a $20 spot, that’s with a...

big bore, cams and an aftermarket exhaust. Each of these modifications I have done to my bike puts me in violation of the federal Clean Air Act of 1979. Hey, this is 2006! Why all the fuss about enforcing a law that’s been on the books for nearly 30 years? That seems to be the question being asked by many in the motorcycle industry, in a business where large corporations’ primary products are performance parts. These businesses will be devastated by the EPA crackdown, including every small repair shop and most dealership service and parts departments.          

            California’s branch of the EPA is the California Air Resources Board (CARB), they have started ticketing motorcycle shops for violations of the law, and the owners of these shops were basically told that the laws have been there all along .You just got caught now. In most shops engine work, carb and exhaust replacement and tuning are the bread and butter of the shops income. The fear among the shop owners is, if these tougher EPA standards are enforced, it will make it impossible for them to do any engine work that will change bikes emissions. The ticket comes with a $10,000 per day fine, which would put the shop out of business.     

            If these laws were to be strictly enforced, you can only build one bike for personal use in your lifetime. Now I don’t know how they plan to enforce this, but if you’re restricted to only register one bike build, it will have to pass an inspection and be in compliance with EPA standards. This will come at a cost to the owner, but if you’re a shop that does a lot of ground up customs the cost may be overwhelming .It seems the EPA is willing to work with the motorcycle industry before it is smothered to death by good intentions. I feel that if we want our way of life and our freedom of choice to continue and not go the way that Europe regulates its motorcycles we have to let the powers that be know how this will affect the industry. With this article I have included a link to an EPA QUESTIONAIRE, please take the time to fill it out and e-mail it to a couple friends.