Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126314
EVE HEARl> HIM. J. (~ JD An emergency is upon motorcycle riders Ro~ to get the dead hand 01 bureaucracy ofl our bikes By Ed Armstrong An emergency is upon motorcycle rid e r s that is more ser ious than ' DOT mandated helmet wearing. Today, EPA emission and noise controls on bikes, far beyond an y reason , ar e going to strangle the street bikes. .EPA argues that motorcycles must be as quiet as cars. This is not just a false assumption but a stupid one . Motorcycles are not cars. Bikes are simp le, efficient, open machines. Most autos ha ve water coo li ng by engineeri ng necessity. Four-stroke street bikes do not need water cooling . EPA by their noise reg is forcing this unnatural device onto motorcycles. If you think bikes are bad now, EPA int ends to make them worse and worse with each passing year. I've heard the custom biker say, "Hey man, they can build.ern any way they want, I'll fix ern Protection Racket To have -some understanding of what this article is about, say the biker's party greeting, "Eeyuuhh! , " out loud in a normal tone of voice. The sound that you just made registers about 80 decibels on the A scale. 26 the way I want!" Sorry bro, in a few years the parts won't be for sale, your local shop can be fined $10,000 for selling parts not app roved . You, upon bei ng reported by your frie ndly neighbor, will be fined , Sure, right now you ca n still modify, you just can't .get a decent new bike anymore. But if EPA isn't shot down dead on the new proposed regs, in seven years you won't be able to do one thing with a new bike but leave it dead stock. Read the EPA document titled "Proposed Motorcycle Noise Emission Regulation, Draft, Environmental & Inflationary Impact Statement", EPA 550/9 /77 /202 , Nov. 77, EPA Office of Noise Aba tement , Wash . DC, 20460. Wri te for a "free " copy (you've already pa id for it with taxes .) How to take action Can anything be done about th is bureaucrap ? Yes. The path.is through Congress and here is a plan. Bikers must : 1. Find U.S, reps and Senators to introduce a few lines into a larger EPA bill tha t will force EPA to back off from the 78 dB(A) ultimate level to a reasonable test limit of 83 dB(A ) at normal cit y speed and maneuvering. The argument is that 80% of the good EPA claims for 78 is accomplished at 10% of the cost! 2. The bill must specify that EPA is forbidden to force regs onto the states by an y threat of withholdi ng or granting money. Granting mo ney to states who do the ir bidd ing is the sam e as withholding mon ey from those who don 't. 3. Wh er1 the bill is in Comm itt ee, start a hard letter writing campa ign to put thousands of lett ers in the laps of the Committee members as well as your own congressmen. , 4. Arrange for an all day hearing ' with thousan d s of b ike rs in Washington . Big part y time. Hit 'em hard with well prep ared present ations, Stress the adverse economic effects. Stress that EPA was only man dat ed to regulate for pu blic health and welfare, not " a n n oya n ce ." Keep o n t h e pressure until our part of the bill is law. Please let us hear from eve~y organization that will comm it themselves in this fight tha t in the real sense, is a fight to keep bikes. If we don 't fight, or if we fail , the bureaucrats will have made a big step in accojnplishing th eir aim to get bikes off the street! • ' Motorcycle • nOise regulations EPA answers back Why is the Environmental Protection Agency concerned about motorcycle noise? Isn't it just an annoyance not a threat to public health requiring federal regulation? EPA is required by law to promote a n e n viro n ment free fro m noise whic h wou ld en danger th e public hea lth a n d welfare . " Hea th and wel fa re" m ea ns personal comfort and we ll-bein g and the a bse nce of d isturb an ces a nd annoyance , a s well as the a bsence of physiological harm suc h as hea ring loss. Ea ch day m illions of A merica ns are exposed to annoying motorcycle noise tha t in terrupts the ir . act ivit ies, conve rsatio ns, and sleep. Why is EPA tryin g to regulate dj dE if :! 3: sl q h 10 new motorcycles? They are, already quieter than they were. i It's true that manufacturers have been building quieter m otorcycles.s But if motorcycles are n ot qui eted , further they will soon be th e] noisiest type of veh icle on the road jj This is because ot her noise-maker su ch as trucks and buses will ~ bec~me noticeably quiet er in t? e-{ commg yea rs due to federal noisej standards like this proposed on e. ~ Everybody knows that modified, motorcycles cause most of theI complaints. Why do new bikes require regulation? ) Modified motorcycles are the most, obvious source of annoying noise ,z but unmodified bikes are also a ] problem. A great majority of stree t) motorcycles are unmodified. They) are usually operated in and around; suburbs and residen tial areas where background noise is low:'] Noise from individual motorcycles). can be a considerable annoyance to, the res idents of such places. By[ requiring lower noise levels for new" bikes. both street and off-road;" EPA is wo rk ing to reduce this} problem . 0:> What does EPA plan to do aboutmodified motorcycles ? . cil Three provisions in the proposed , regulation a re ni eant to work , together to redu ce m odifi cationsr j I ) A new replacement exhaust th at is d esigned for a regulated jm ot orcycle m odel can n ot , makes th a t m ot orcycle louder than its sta n dard all ows; 2) Each ~ replacement exh a ust system must carry a label listing eve ry