Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

• e, C1 [2.15. APPROVED CALIFORt-ilA GOLD AUlIIORIZf. O 6J @'if'~ W]1~1j) (:J @Il1]~E{@Gl:)(1, , {}'nl!,'if~~ ' f H R IGUf.5TUFF t: ' The Charcoal Connection The California Air Resources Board is making sure the smell of gasoline is a thing of the past By Jim Wolcott Anyo ne in vol ved In street m o torcycli n g knows tha t smog controls are a reali ty for the bikes of the 1980s. O f course, things aren't as bad as th ey used to be; rideability problems as a result of lean car bure tio n have, for th e most part, been overcome. Poll ution co nt ro ls have co me .th ro ugh th e Dark 26 Ages , a n d th e m otorcycl e manufacturer s a re 10 be congra tu la ted fo r th eir effor ts in pl ea sin g th e federa l m u Hler-sn iffers. BUI n ow a new form o f em issio ns sta n da rds are u pon us. Starting' with th e 1983 model vea r. rie w stree t m otorcycles re~i sl ere'd in Ca li forn ia mu st meet th e vapo ra rive emiss io ns sta ndards speci fied by th e Ca liforn ia Ai r Resources Bo ard (CA R B). Eva po ra ti ve sta n da rds? T hese d ea l wi th po ll ut io n ca use d by th e eva pora tion o f gaso lin e - whi ch is wh y th e fill in g st ation s in th e Lo s Angeles area feature tho se clums y vaporreroverv h oses. Fo r th e 1983 sta n da rds . CA R B go t ser io us a bo u t eva pora tive poll u tio n . a nd exten ded vapor- cont rol requ irem ents to m otor vehi cles. In short, th e sta n d a rds reg u la te how much fuel vapor ca n esca pe from a parked motorcycl e wi th a lock ed gas ca p. Now thi s is tri ckv business. For gasoline to ex it th e rank, air must be a llowed to enter. A vent that admits a ir will also a ll ow fuel vapor to esca pe, Sin ce the system ca n ' t be seal ed air-tight . th e only way to ens u re that this vapor ca n' t fou l th e sk ies of California is to route fu el syst em vents througha canister of activa ted charcoal. - Thi s a p p lies o n ly 10 s tree t m ot orcycles so ld in Ca lifo rnia - pari o f th e rea son whv su ch two-wh eeled exo tica as Yam;',ha 's FZ750 won ' t be a va ilabl e in th e G olden S ta te. Whil e suc h sta nd a rds a re an expen si ve nui sa nce to th e maj or m anufacturer s, th ey ha ve dea lt a cri p p liug bl o w 10 th e sm a ll vo l u m e Eu ro pea n ma rq ues. Su rpri sin gl y, th e p robl em is n ot th a t th ese m anufacturers an' u nwi lli ng or in capa ble of designin !?; a charcoa l-ca n isrer sys te m . T he pro blem is o ne o f sim p ly testin g th e m o to rcycles fo r comp lia n ce, To eva l ua te a vehi r le fo r co m p lia nce with th e new eva po ra tive st a nda rd s, C AR B specifies a co m p lex prored u re ca lled th e "s he d " u -st. For thi s, th e tes t vehicl e is sea led in an airti ght room eq u ip pe d with sen sors to d et ermine th e level o f hvdrocarbon em iss io ns it em its. H earin g' pads a re wr apped a ro u n d th e gas tank , 10 stimu late parking th e veh icl e o n a wa rm dav . The warmth ca u ses th e gasoline to expand , a nd co nse q ue n tly. th e fuel vapors to exi t th e breath er p ipe, If th e vehi cl e pa sses. th e next step is 15.000 road mil es , foll owed by a re-ch eck in th e shed . As you might im agine, th e a m o u n ts of fuel vapor involved are very small. Small enough that - s u r p ri s i n ~ l y it's impossibl e to acc u ra te ly test new vehicles. The problem is that paint . vin yl. plastics and rubber a re a ll petr6 leiJnFoer lvetl ~ Petrcl1l'um-pi 6d-' urts are, at the molecu lar leve l. pari of the hydrocarbon family . When th ese petroleum-based items a re fresh, Ih t,y take a period of time to stabilize, During th is tim e, the paint. rubber, and p lastic paris a ctua lly give o ff hvdrocarbon emissi ons - th e sarne f;imi Iy of vapors thai th e CARB measures in its shed test ! This a~in~ and sta bi lizin g is why new ca r interiors han' that cha ra cter istic smel l. The cu r io u s pari of thi s phenomena is tha t if so m e th in g bi~ and fresh off th e assembly lin e is put through CA RB's shed test, it wi ll likely fail the eva po ra tive em issio n s seg me nt w it ho u t an )' gaso line ill th e car uihatsororr! Auto manufacturers have been known to eva de thi s problcm hy t estin~ ca rs without interiors , with bodies tha t were painted so me m onths prior to th e a ctua l test. Wh en d ealin g with e m iss io n s quantiti es this minute, a motorcycle -m a n u fucru re r mu st have access to an a ccurate labo ratorv: both for R&D work . and for th e final cert ifica tio n . S uc h a laborar orv co sts a bo u t a halfmilli on do llars. . \\'hich brings us to th e predi cament . of Moto GUlli and Laverda m otorcycles . Both of th ese manufa ctu rers import stree t motorcycl es that co nfo rm to th e 49-s ta te safe t v and em ission s requirements. H owever , neith er has an a p p ro p ri a te em iss ions laborarorv to cer ri fv their bikes for Ca li fo rni a'. In a n effort 10 make th e bikes co m p ly, Sla ter Brothers (im po rte r fo r L averda ) a n d Benelli /M oto GUlli North Ameri ca (im porter for :\-1 010 GUlli ) hav e co n tac ted em issio n s testin g la bs throughou t th e country, o fft-rin~ 10 rent faci lities for the necessary d evel opment work . As it turned o u t, a ll th e s u ita b le labs a re pri vatel y own ed hv th e various motor vehicl e manufaciurer s - wh o have politel y .refused toaid the tw o Itali an importers. And th er ein lies th e rub: If you 're n ot sure whether or not your product will pa ss th e eva pora tive test, th e Ca lifo rn ia Air Resources Board W()I1 't let vou se ll it in th eir sta te. And if vou dOl; ' t o ffer a vehicl e for sale in Californ ia, th e CARB won 't ch ec k it to mak e sure that it co m p lies, So whv don't th ese tw o m anufacturer s co ns truc t their o w n em issio ns lab , eit he r for th e im port ers. o r for th e engi neers in Ita ly? Th e answer is sim p le econom ics: du ring a g ood year, e ither m anufa cturer m a y se ll as man y as 100 m otorcycles in Ca l iforni a . Constr uct io n costs for an appropriat e lab would hav e to be passed o n 10 th e co n su me r. And th ai would a bo u t do u b le th e re ta il pri ce of th e bikes o ffered for sa le. In an a tte m p t to ~e l the Ca lifo rrria Air Resources Board to recons ide r th ei r st an ce, petit ions have been filed bv Sla ter Brother s, and bv a coa litio n of Cal ifo rn ia M or o C Ull) d eal er s, reques tin g exe m p tio n from th e evapora rive em issions req uiremcnts. Also befo re th e board a re petiti on s from H a rle y-D avidson (as k in g for a twoyea r ex te nsio n o f th e ex istin!?; stalldards). and from a n independent Vespa scooter de aler. T hese pet it ion s wi II be discussed at a p u blic meeting, sc hed u led for Febr ua rv 21, 1985 - a t which lim e CARB will decide whether 10 furth er pursu e any or a ll of th e req uests, It 's hard to sa v exart lv wha t th e outcome o f that m eering \~'i ll be. In the meant im e. C A R B issu ed a sta ff report d at ed February 8. 198.'>, with opini ons and recomm end ations concerning each manufa cturer. Harlev-Davidson is close to meeting th e new sta ndards, for both th eir Sportster and Evolution engi nes. and ex pects to be able to comply wi th al l future standards if granted a two-year ex tens io ri: AccOfdin ~ io' 'the ' C AR R s taff recommenda tion , it 's li kely th a t Harley wi ll be granted the ex ten sio n . The-California Vespa scooter dealer. N ewport Vespa . doesn 't s ta n d a chance. Vespas haven 't been a p p ro ved bv Ca lifornia since the 198 1 model year, a n d th e peti tion requests compl ete exemption from bo th ex haus t and eva po ra ti ve emissions' regulati ons. In th e words of CARB: " Vesp a has ceased ef forts to reduce em issio n s from its motorcycles, and a p pa rent ly has n o pl ans to develop the necessary rechnologv, " Bu t in the cases of Laverda and Moto GUlli , th e issue is considerably less clea r. Th eir peti tions ask for outright exemptions from th e Ca lifornia evaporative requirements. and CARB has responded by sa vin g th ai " . .. n o provision exists 10 exem p t moiorcyr les from em issio ns st andards." Bo th ma nu fa cturers are serious about th e United States market, a nd would like to co m p ly with th e Ca li fornia sta nd a rd s - if po ssib le. Iro n ica ll y. th e Lav erda RGS is th e only street m otorcycl e designed to accom modate th e vapor-recovery hoses used by southern Ca lifornia Ii l lin g sta tions. Th e Dell ' O r ro ca rb ure to rs used on hoth brands hav e th e n ecessary fittings to vent the flo at bow ls. and a ll Mot o GUlli a n d Laverda m o torcycles have ample ro om for fi tti n~ a cha rcoa l ca n iste r. Given access to a s u i ta ble test facilitv. it's likelv that both o f these brands co u ld b~ cert ified for sa le in Ca lif ornia . Atthis point.things co u ld go eithe r wa y. In th e words of CARB: " T h e s taff recommends that th e board not hold a regu latory hearing to consider the petiti ons of Molo G Ulli an d Laverda .. . th e .staf f believes th at the technology to meet these standards is available to small volum e manufacturers . As evid ence, other small \ '01ume manufacturers. n o ta bl v BM''''. Harlev-Da vid so n and Triha~'k ha ve developed th e technology a n d certified motorcycles that comply." But there's hope on th e horizon. On receipt o f these peti tions, th e California Air Resources Board began working with Mot o GUlli and Laverda , and will soon make their EI Monte, California . e m issi o ns la bo ra to ry available for developing th e necessary em iss io n s equipm ent. So n n y Angel, a MaIO GUlli d eal er in Na tional Cit y. C a liforni a , h a s experimenta ll y eq u ip pe d a 49-stat e 198·l model V65 'G Ull i with a ch a rcoa l ca n ister a n d th e ne cessary plumbing - a n d th at bik e is sch edul ed for the shed test so me time this week. If that bi ke passes th e test. it will s ti ll hav e to run the 15,OOO-miledurahilitv u-st . Even th en, CA R B want s to kno w who will provid e a warrantv for su ch an add-on sys te m, and w h;, w ill be le!?;all y liabl e for it efft-niven ess. T h is is a su uai ion where pub lic input to the C AR B staff ma y be a ble to turn the bureaucratic tide. If both Mo to CUlli a n d Laverda were grant ed a n exe m p tio n from th e eva pora tive sta n da rd s, th e tota l pol lut ion impa ct would be from less tha n 200 motorcycl es - an unmeasurab le part of Ca li Iornia's pollution pi cture. Considered in that light . there's no reason tha t th ese manufa cturers sho u ld n' t be grann-d a n exemption. Of course, CARB is co n cern ed that this precedent would en a ble other manufacturers to petition for exemption on lim ited - · produ ct ion rn rx k-ls. Interested parties are invit ed to a tte n d th e m eeting to review th e petitions, scheduled for 10:00 a .rn. Februarv 21, 1985 in th e auditorium of the ' State Build ing , Room 1138, 107 Sout h Broadwav, Los Angeles, California. Or jot down your opi nions and forward them to ; The California Air Resources Boa rd , A ttn: K. D, Dra r h a n d. 9528 Telstar • Ave.• 'EI Monte, CA 91731,

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