Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

EPA (Continuedfrom pag e 19) and trucks on the roads. and only 6 .5 million motorcycles . A more significa nt figure . how ever. is'the number of m iles those m otorcycles t ra vel ed . When viewed in this vein . motorcycles wit h t heir average of 2. 500 m iles per yea r account for a m ere I. 2 percent of to ta l veh icle m iles. Addi t ionall y. alt ho ugh the EPA does not kno w the di st ribution of m ileage. the agen cy fee ls that only a sm a ll proportion of motorcycle m iles occ u r on freeways an d h ighwa ys . Again . no surveys appear to have be en made by t he EPA o n th is su bject. but our experience as the leader in large touring b ikes suggests that highway . touring accounts for a big part of the mileage distribution . We fail to see . in light of mileage traveled and a realistic distribution of that mileage, how EPA can consider today's 83 dB(A) motorcycles a major source of noise. As far as Harley-Davidson is concerned , the ultimate fault with EPA's assu m p tio ns on regu la tio n and health would impose unneeded and costly restriction at the manufacturer level . while igno ring the identified problem of modifications . According to th e NPRM . " It was recognized ... that most of the cu rrent im p act from motorcycle s comes from owner-modified moto rcycles (pa rticu la rly those wit h repla cemen t a n d m odi fied ex ha ust sys tems) ." At ano ther po int, t he N P RM st a tes that "T he agency's studies have co nfi rmed t hat co ntrolli ng ex haust system modifica tions is an essential pan of any strategy designed to lessen the impact of motorcycle noise on the pu blic hea lt h a nd welfare." . The agency's Dra ft Environmental and Infla tiona ry Impa ct Statement makes th e fo llowing comment : "That red ucing ex ha ust is essential to red uci ng the overall im pact of m otorcycle no ise is illustrated by the fact that a reduct ion in the n umber of exha us t-modified m o torcycles by oneh a lf woul d accomplish t he sa me reduction in impa ct of lowering new mot orcycle sou nd levels by ten deci bels. " . . Thus. we su bmi t t hat any EPA sta nd a rds whi ch go below the current 83 dB (A) level im pose su bst anti al cos t pe nalties to co ns umers and manufactu rers without affecti ng a correctio n to the real probl em . U n less those on the local level a re willi ng to tak e an active part in the solu tion to the p roblem , the sit ua tion ca n no t be expected to im prove. But in sp ite of everything t h at has been said about mod ifi ca tions . Harley-Davidson . must st ill face t he fact tha t E~A 's p roposals at their ult im a t e le vel of 78 dB(A ) will drastically a ffec t t he nature of Harl eyDavi dson's p roducts and may make o ur produ cts less a ttractive for the co nsum er because of in here nt cha racteristics of the current product line . In effect . Ja panese competition . is o nc e again put at an en viable advantage by U.S. Go vernment regulation . and compe tition fr o m Japan is fierce wit h Honda , Ya ma ha , Kawasaki and Suzuki holding an 87 percent unit sh a re of the U. S " market with only Harley-D avidson to co nten d with. sin ce we are th e sole surviving Ameri can motorcycl e manufacturer. This is a fact that EPA recognizes. but then . in effect. shrugs its shou ld ers with a "so . what" attitude . The NPRM gives the EPA's perspecti ve on Harley-Davidson. Since the EPA spells it out pretty clea rly , let me quote from the NPRM : " T h e economic im p act of the proposed 78 dB(A) standard on AMF/HarleyDavidson , the principal domest ic manufacturer. is expected to be primarily manifested in terms of the ability of the firm to manufactu re large displacement motorcycles whi ch conform to EPA standards. For H arley-Davidson to achieve an 80 dB (a ) standard -it is apparent tha t a t the very least. major redesign of thei r cu r rent la rge engine ty pes in corporating most known engine quiet in g tech ni q ues would be necessary . " O ne a ttracti o n of Harl ey-D avidso n m otorcycles is a uniquely identifiable exhaus t tone that must domin a te ot her subsources to be heard . Engine redesign co u ld exa ct tonal c hara c te ris tics and performance pena lt ies that m ight , in thems elves . im p a ct demand for Harley-Davidson motorcycles. " T he proposed regulatory level of 78 dB (A ) is not considered achievable with modification to current HarleyDavidson engine designs. Complete redesigns, in addition to major exhaust and intake treatment , are likely t.o be necessary. " It is well accepted that HarleyDavidson motorcycles occupy a unique . posi tion in the U .S. motorcycle market. Harley-Davidson motorcycles have a devoted following and are expected to be relatively insensitive to small price rises . Consequently, if engine d esigns acceptable to the co n sumer can be developed wh ich m eet the proposed standard. the firm would b e ex pect ed to be abl e to ra ise necessa ry ca pi ta l from its large parent co rporation , AMF. and sell the n ew design a t lit tle sacrifice in profit ability." U nfortuna t ely, whi le the agen cy recognizes that H arley-Davidson oc cupies a uniq u e spot in the motorcyle marketplace, it does.not - a nd canno t be expected to know t h e Ha rl eyDavidson co nsumer. T he un iq ueness of our p roduct co mes from its longsta nding he ritage a nd trad it ion . Our two-cyli nder "V" engine configuration - o r V-Twin - first appeared in 1909 . A lt ho ug h it has undergone co nstant refin ement . its exis te nce through t he yea rs has built an extre mely loyal co n : sumer base . T he re is no other m oto rcycle like it. While the EPA wou ld have you think tha t ot he r en gi nes can b e developed and construc t ed b y H arley-Davidson that would not ca use a substantial drop in ou r exi sti ng mark et . our first-hand ex pe rience tells us di ffer ently. Other designs might be a ccepted . bu t t he realit y of this is largely unkn ow n . Ad d iti onally. wh a t the agency terms as a "sm a ll price rise" co mes out to $222 to $400 per vehicle in 1978 dollars. O u r market is not price insensitive, and t hose increases are hardly small. In any event . we have difficulty with the agen cy's statement th a t if we develop a new design , it will be "at little sacrifice to profi tability ." Evidently the agency h as little a p precia t io n ei the r fo r th e m assive ca pi tal ex penditure n ecessa ry to bring forth a new engine co ncep t o r t he uniq ue posi tion of o ur cu rrent p roduct. An d st ill . we must aga in repeat the question : " W h ere's t he benefi t to the public?" What good would it do to force the spen d ing of mill ions of do llars and pla ce substantia l. risk in American ind ustry when the result will no t produce an envi ronment that is noticeably fr ee r of no ise aggravations . Perhaps the Council on Wage and Price Stability puts it most cle a rl y wh en it says that " It can be clearly seen. .. that on the basis of the net benefit and incremental cost benefit ratio cri teria that the 83 dB (A ) level is the only appropriate regulatory .level, A regulation should maximize the net benefits to society: Net benefits of $132 .8 million for the 83 dB (A ) level are higher than for any other regula tory level ." • +f ALL OF FAME A Fea ture of t h e Cla• • ic WINSTON PRO SERIES $ 28 , 000 · ~ Prize Money 10 MILE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SANCT ION ED Sunday, June 24th OH IO STATE FAIRGROUNDS AdmiSSIon Gates Open a19,30 A.M. 2 P.M. COLUMBUS, OHIO RIDERS AND PIT GATE OPEN AT 7 A.M. Riders Qua li ty Sunday. June 24th Request s for Press Creden tials 10 BErry BROWN · 263 Charleston Ave.• Columbus. OH 430 14 _ • • • •- DETACH AND MAIL NOW ! C HA.RITY NEWSIE M O TORC YCLE RACE S p 0 Bo~ No 1950 1, Co lumbus . 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