Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~ ~ -- ~ -- -- -- --- ~- ---- Emis sion controls • • ... n 1 , ...and parts sales In coming months , som e of you may notice som e spot shortages in aftermarket or add-on par ts, It won't be because the parts aren't being made. What's happened is that emission control laws have panicked dealers into cancelling orders on some items, particularly engine performance parts for '78 models . I say " p a n icked " with reason , for recent developments show that dealers may have c a n cel ed unnec essarily . What's th e major flap? It all has to do with what th e la w ca lls "a nti- ta m pering:' H av ing placed all ears and motorcycles under emission co nt rols, th e bureaucra ts want th em to stay und er. Ther efor e, it's illegal to "re move or render inoperative" a n emiss io n co n trol device. In th e ease of mot orcycles, the "emission co ntrol device" is sim ply a n engine ma de to fixed , precise specs sueh that it ea n be cert ified as "clea n ." "T a m pering " as it's int erpret ed for mot or cycles , ca n mean modifying any em issions -rela ted part of tha t engi ne in suc h a way tha t it will ru n "dirtier" tha n stock . T he go vernment has go ne on to define those parts bel ieved to be emissions -re la te d . Briefl y, t hey a re pistons, rings, heads, cylinders , valves, valve gear, ca ms , port in g , ma ni folds (inta ke and exha ust) carb u re tion (right d own to th e jetti ng) , a ir clea ne rs, ig n it ion , and possib ly mufflers. Th is is what h as th e d e al ers panicked about m odified parts. Plus , th ey kn ow that a viola tio n of -t he tampering law ca rr ies with it up to $10 ,000 fine per vehicle. How ever , mu ch of the fea r is mi spl a ced , acco r d ing to MIC Presid ent Ala n Isle y a nd o t her industry spo kes me n. First, th e law applies only to m ot or cycles a ctually made a fte r J anuary I , 1978 : a nd th e general market has yet to see one , although we 're we ll in to t he 1978 model _ yea r . (Mo re ab out that , sho rt ly.) Second , when th e em issioncontrolled m odels do appear, th ere are set procedures by whi ch most aftermarket parts can be sold without breaking th e law . 16 Let 's go ba ck to that " da te of manufacture" bit. An y new m otorcycle has a vehicle 10 plate located (usua lly) on the stee ring hea d . It m ay say " 1978 MODEL" in b ig bo ld characters . but tha t does not necessa rily mean th e bike in questi on is un d er em ission co nt ro l. The t hin g to look for is the da te of ma nufactu re , wh ich will be sta m ped in sm a ller charac ters somewhere on the 10 plat e. · (I mi ght also ad d th a t a race bike with no lights is not a n emissionco nt ro lle d m otorcycl e . T he refo re m ot orcycl es wh ose 10 pl at es say "c om petitio n on ly, not in te nde d for ro ad use " a re exem pt. So a re afterma rket parts whic h are simi la rly ma rk ed , whe n used for off-road , on track co mpetition . If " ra cing o nly" parts wind up on an emission -controlled street bike and somebody is ca ugh t at it , that is tampering. Word to the wise an' a ll that.) As you re ad th is, virt ua lly every 1978 model in use or on t he sho wroom flo or will ca r ry a '77 d ate o f manufacture . The Big Fou r importers are just n ow rece ivin g th eir firs t emissio n -co n tro lled '78s for service training and test ing . This mea ns that , at present , non e of your dea le r's current repair /mod ifica tion busin ess is su bject to th e tam per in g regs; and that means he has nothing to fear, tod a y, with respect to em issio n controls. What of tom orrow ? Wh en the em ission -controlled bik es start to en te r th e stream of commer ce, th ey will be subject to the anri -tampering laws . However, MIC has been able to obtain, from th e federal EPA, some guidelines to a d vise d ealers and mechanics on what's legal a nd what isn 't, These th in g s a re co nsi d e red legal : I) Use of a non- origin al part (includ ing a rebuilt part) as a replacement solely for repair and /or maintenance. Simple fix-it is OK , as long as it's been do ne accordi ng to the man ufacturer's ' specs . 2) Use of a non-orig inal pa rt as a n ad d -on or au xil ia ry. An exa m p le might be a spa rk arrestor install ed as a n add -on , or a n oil coo ler. 3) Adjustm ents or a lte rat ions to a part or system . if th e dea le r has reason to believe th e wor k wo n't ma ke the engi ne run ·"dirtier. " T hat "reason to believe" part d eserves some ela boration. Accor d ing to the feds, a dea ler ca n feel sa fe if th e work he's doi ng is done acco rding to the m anu factu rer's repair/ adjust me m ltuni ng specs. This tca n . cover th in gs like re -t im ing , va lve a dj ustmen t, re-jetting with in lim its. If it's in the manual for th at particular emission-controll ed model, it's OK . Certifying that th e stu ff in th e manual is correct, that's th e manufacturer's burden . (And boy, have th ey liowledl) There a re other " reasons to bel ieve" with resp ect to modified parts. If th e maker of the part certifies in wri ting that th e part conforms, th e dealer is off the hook . If th e parts-maker lied , he gets the fin e . An o ther , m ore powerful ind ica to r is if any state or federal agen cy has specifica lly cert ified the part . (In C al ifornia, that 's mandatory. Mor e on that lat er.) Finally (a nd thi s last is also a powerful , cost -effective tool , if th e bik e builders and the afte rma rket parts builder s want to work together for mutual su rviva l) th e feds say that if a biker -maker - ha s already test ed a "worst case" mod el with functionally simi lar op tiona l eq uip me nt, a nd tha t "wo rst case" bike passed the tests , then th e p arts a re as good as certified. W an t that anot her way? Su p pose you , next yea r, b uy a 1979 Su zuk i GSI OOO , a nd you decide you' d like to put a set of 29mm smoothbores a nd a trick co llec to r exha ust on it. If th e Suzuk i facr orv has a lrea d v certified a Super-gon zo Pr odu cti on Ra cer version with a sim ila r ca rb a nd exha ust set-up, the othe r makers of sim ila r parts a re able to rid e in on the factory's coa ttails, so to spea k. T he MI C has sa id it will pu blish th e results of a ll emissio ns ce rtifica tio n tests, so afterma rket pa rts bu ilders will be ab le to find out wha t kind of equipment has passed the tests. Another en eouraging sign: Hond a and Ka wasa ki reps promised, at a re cent industry worksh op /seminar , that their firms would soo n release ea rly p rod uc tion em ission -controlled bikes for loan to a fte rm a rke t exha us t mak er s, so th e pipe-builders co u ld d o th eir own testin g and ce rt ifica tion . Other fa cto ries are being u rged to follow sui t, in a spi rit of go od faith. If all pa rts of t he industry do ge t to gethe r for mutual su rviva l, it will lessen th e ha ssle of living with em ission co nt ro ls. How ever, we're not tot all y out of the woods , for the bureaucrats (who ca used this mess in th e first place) are still fumbling , Congress, when it modified the - Clean Air Act , told the EPA it had two years to come up with a "short test " (sort of a quickie bench-test) for aftermarket parts certification , Full certifi cation is presently a long · durati on, involved process that can cost the tester upwards of $60 ,000 per engi ne family tested . Very few go ddiemakers ha ve this kin d of bread . It now looks as t ho ug h it's goi ng to take th e fu ll two years to co me up wit h a short test. So EPA issued its "reason to be lieve" gui delines as a stopgap . Mean while, in Ca lifornia , the Air R eso u rces Bo a rd has m ad e after ma r ket p a r ts ce rt ification manda tory. Unfo rt u na te ly. having la id down th e law , th e C .A .R. B. hasn't yet CO~l' up with set pro cedu res for ce rtificat io n. In st e ad , t he pa rts builders arc bei ng asked to "negotia te" on a piece -by-piece, basis to d eterm ine whet her each part is or is not goi ng to "dirty" t he engine's ex ha ust. Real cute. C .A .R .B. For this th ey hired a ll those hig hly -ed ucated staffers , hu h? However, once a pa rts· mak er does wangle a Ca liforn ia certification for his ca m, ca rbs , COl , wha tever , it's automatically a certi fied part in the other 49 sta tes . If you sense th at it gives a few d ewey-eyed C ,A .R .B . sta ffpersons more power th an th ey deserve , you'r e right. But that 's the law . Read it a nd weep. At least th ey haven 't made it impossibl e to do busin ess. Just d ifficult . • ... and road • racing As ofJanuary 1,1978, it became an emission-controlled world for manufacturers of street -going motorcycles , That shouldn't affect what happens on the ra eetrack or should it? Mu ch depends on th e sta te you' re in - of m ind and / or resid ence . Here's th e basic law: After J anua ry I , 1978 it is illegal to build for sa le in th e U.S. a ny mot orcycle over 50cc , ha ving head , ta il and sto p ligh ts, unl ess t he m achine co n forms to ce rtai n emissio n lim its, Under th e law , the importer of a for eign -made bik e is stuc k with th e resp onsibilities of t he " bui lder ." How d oes this work out in practi ce? The major bike mak ers in Japan and Europ e have done , or are doing, most of the mega -buck research to sa tisfy th em sel ve s that th ey ca n build em ission-controlled mot orcycles th at meet th e present limits (a slid ing sca le based on dis p laceme n t, spelled out in grams of po llu tant per mi le) . The U .S. bui lder or im porter then has to prove to the U .S. government and t he Cali fo rnia Ai r Resources Board (if th e bike is to be sold in California) that each "engine famil y" meets th e limits, Full certification currently costs roughly $60 ,000 per engine family. The suppliers have already sa id flatly they will import and/or build only those models they can sell enough of to justify the fee , " Most , if not all, of the popular Jmodel four-strokes conform easily and sell in sufficient volume to justify certification costs. Most , if not all, of the better European exotica (fou rstroke variety) also conform. Tbf unsettled question is, how many models will actually be imported and in what quantities? (Those who build or import less than 10,000 bikes a year are given a break on the certification that saves them about $10 ,000,) There is even an open chance that Yamaha will have a certifiable RD400 by 1979 , though th eir decision to import it will be a "m a rketing question , rather than a technical one: ' OK , let 's say your favorite product ion ra cer has survived th e cut, a nd is ava ila ble for sale. Now all vou go tta do is prepare it - clean up 'the ports, add a cam a nd som e of t hose smooth bo re ca rbs, j et it to run strong without blowing up , and go for it right ? Uh, how a bo u t a qualified L "maybe?" You see , th ere's this thi ng ca lled "anti -ta m pe ring" th at's written into th e clea n ai r laws of both th e U .S. an d Cal fiornia . It was writt en in to keep the ca r folks from throwing awa y th eir emissio n co ntrol gadgets to make their ca rs run right. It also applies to m otorcycles in that it's illega l to "re mo ve or render inop erative" an emis sio n co nt ro l system . In motorcycles , the "em ission con trol system" is simply an engine built with suffici ent precision that it burns its fuel cleaning and at the proper temperatures for low emissions. The law takes the tack that to modify any "em issio ns-rela ted part" of that engine is tampering, The government has gone on to define emission-related parts as cylinders , heads, pistons, rings , valves, va lve train , cams , manifolds (intake and exhaust) , carburetion , air filters , ignition timing, spark plug heat range and possibl y mufflers if their modification affects jetting. (If your club requires stock exha usts for Production class status , th is latter question becomes ac ademic.) So it boils down to this : Does preparing an emission -controlled duction bike for racing constitute tampering? There is both a strict co nstruc tio n of the la w and a loose con st ruction . Under the 'strict view, .once a ma ch ine is manufactured as an em ission -controlled unit , it can nerer be modified , even if used off-ro ad . Th is would requ ire e m is sio ncont roll ed street bik es (t he ones built aft er January I , 1978 ) to be raced with all emis sions- re la te d parts intact, including j etting! I Taking the opposite viewpoint. th e " loose" int e rp reta t ion of the la w hinges on the federal Clean Air Act's definition of a motor ve hicle as a selfpr opell ed devic e used - for transportation, If it's not used» for tra nsporta tio n (say for racing, show, or com pe tition, instead) th en it d oesn't come u nd er the Clean Air Act a nd you can do a nyt hi ng to it. as lon g as tir's confined to th e track . Hey, th a t's neat, pro-

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