Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

CARR grants I'~LU - ---~-- -...... ~ ftl~ft~_I~' . -----._,...-- - -- -- -- -~--- '""-- ~ ~- - vaRor hearings CARR will work with Harley, Lave r da and Moto Guzzi to make b i k e s availab l e in California. By Jim Wolcott LOS ANGELES, CA. FEB. 21 The California Air Resources Board (CARB) co n ven ed today to consider the p etitions presented by Harley-Davidson, Moto Guzzi, Laverda, an d a southern California Vespa scooter dea ler. T hese small -volum e mo torcycle compan ies had req ues ted special consideratio n fo r. or co mple te exem p tion Kerk er 's System K2S for th e Kawasaki GPz305 is a two-into-one ex ha us t system with a black head er a nd an a lu mi n u m sile nce r. The si lencer has Kerk er 's street-legal Comp III baffl e syste m. Oil filter an d dra in plug access is retained . as ( is th e stock center sta n d. From yo ur deal er o r co ntact Kerker . Dept. CN . 7900 Deering Ave.. Dept. CN. Canoga Park . CA 91304. Dunstall is aga in m anufacturing a line of mufflers for stree t m achinery. Available in 20 a n d 28 in ch len gths. th ey a re a qui ck bolt-on for bik es with I 1/ 2 to I 5/8-in ch di ameter h ead pipes and an " adj us ta ble decibel " silencer is ava ila ble. Retail p rice is $ 119.95 p er se t. Look for th em at yo ur deal er or co ntact RSC Performan ce. Dept. CN . P.O. Box 14664. Atl anta. GA 30324. in Supercross, a n d in cludes foot age of leading Ame rica n Su percross rid ers. T o orde r. co ntact Videos by Professor Ba iley. Dept. CN. P.O. Bo x 130. Axto n. VA 25404-0130. Be su re to sp ecify Beta or VH S formats a nd incl ude 53 per tape for shi ppi ng. Gi ve yo ur VCR a workout with o ne of th e la test relea ses fro m Vid eos by Professor Bailey. The 1984 Motocro ss & Trop hee des Nati ons ta pe ($99.95) is a full y narrat ed view o f race footage. person al moments a nd behind th e scenes action o f th e winning effo rt bv the America n tea m a t both events. 'r he Supercross Tech ni q ues tape ($49.95) detail s th e proper techniques for ridin g th e unique obstacles KV Dyn a Coils are now ava ila ble in . 2.2-ohm mod els to fit many lat e model H ondas a nd Kawasakis. Design ed to work wi th a ll types o f igni ti on system s, th e coi ls put o u t over 35,000 vo lts a nd accep t a ll co nve nt ional spark p lug w ires. stock brackets a nd h ardw a re for sim ple ins ta llation. From KV Produ cts. Dept. CN. 1060 _ E. Cypress ~t .• .Covin a, ~A ~ 1 7 24 . • from . Ca lifornia's stringen t evaporativ e emissions regu la tio ns . In th e end, a co mpromise was reach ed, H arl ey-Davidson's pe ti tio n called for a three-year extens io n o f th e existing six-grams-per-tes t evapora tive lim it. H arley claimed th at pecul iariti es o f th eir engine la yout a nd GUburetor pl acem ent has prevented the m from eco nomica lly rea ch in g the twograms-pe r-test limit. schedu led to ta ke effect for th e 1986 model year. A so u the rn Cal ifornia Vespa deal er had pe titioned fo r exe m p tion from bo th eva pora tive and ex ha ust em issio ns sta n da rds. Sin ce Vespa an d th e deal er m ad e n o effo rt to mak e th e scooters co m p ly. th at pe ti tio n was scuttled. Pending a maj or co m p lia nce effo rt o n Vespa 's part. no new Vespa scooters w ill be ava ila ble in Ca liforn ia , Whi ch brings to light th e p roblem s o f Mo to Guzzi an d Laverda. The California Moto Guzzi a nd Laverda dea lers were petitioning for a tempo rary exe m p tio n from th e evaporative em issions sta nda rds . Since th e new 49-sta te bik es don 't co m p ly to Cali forn ia stan dards . th ese deal ers hav en 't been abl e to sell new motorcycles for o ver a year. Instead. th ey h ave had to rel y o n ser vice work a nd pa rts sales to keep th eir doors ope n . More th a n the prof its from sell ing new motorcycles. th ese deal ers have a n o bligatio n to th eir custome rs to backup th e products. Withou t new m oto rcycl es to sell. a dea ler is faced with an ever-d w ind ling clientele. a nd u ltima tely m us t look for o ther ways to ea rn a livin g . . S teve Barber. a Laverda dealer fro m Sa cramento. an d J ohn Ellis. fro m Ben ell i/ Mot o Guzzi North America, bo th sta ted for th e record that these two manu fa cturers wa nt th eir mo torcycl es to co mp ly w ith Ca liforn ia standards . But for manufactur ers tha t expect to sell fewer th an 100 motorcycles per year in Ca li fornia . co nstruc tion o f a n evaporative test faci lity was sim p ly cos t-prohi bitive. By way of co incidence. Moto G u zzi dealer Son ny Angel. of Nati onal Ci ty, Cali fornia , had experimenta lly fitt ed a n evapora tive em iss io ns system on to a 49-sta te 1984 m odel V65 'G uzzi. T he CAR B had ru n this bike in th eir test "shed" th e day befo re th e hearin g . a nd th e bike h ad passed w ith a n aston ish ing 1.2-grams-per-test figu re - well below '85 req uirements . Of course th is shed test is on ly the first part o f a complicated cert ifica tio n p roc edure. Bu t the fact is. th e bik e passed ~vjt_h flying color~ ., . Kno wing th a t a Nota Guzzi co u ld be equ ipped to pass the eva porative tes ts, a nd sin ce th ey were al ready favorab ly disposed to aid H arl eyDavidson. th e CARB elected to explore H arl ey-Davidson 's req uest a t a p u blic hearin g: prov ided th at th is ex len- . sion o f th e evapora tive sta ndards be expanded to include all sma ll-volume motorcycle manufacturers. If th is extension is granted. small -vo lu me moto rcycle m anufacturers will on ly be required to meet the six-grams-per-test sta nda rd th rough th e 1988 mod el year. P ro babl y m ore significa nt th an CARB's pos ition . H arley Davidson a n nounced tha t it w ill make its evapora tive test facility availa ble to athe r mot orcycle man ufacturers for cert ification test in g . At thi s time. Cagiva pl ans to use H arley's facility for their Californ ia certification . Mark Tuttle. H a rley-David son Vice-Presid ent o f Engi neering. was o n hand a t th e m eet in g a n d m ad e H arl ey's position clear. " No, H arley is not go ing into th e em issio ns cert ifica tio n bu siness we just feel th at thi s is a situa tion where the industry ca n ben efit by sticking together. If a small-volu me manufacturer ha s devised a n emissio ns system that we feel will co m p ly. we'll test that system for th em . We' re n ot in a positi on to do en gineering work for o ther m anufacturers. At this time. we haven ' t set a schedu le for the availa bility of o ur lab , nor ha ve we worked ou t w ha t kind o f p rices we' ll have to charge forthe service." T he CAR B staff also su rp rised th ose a t th e meet in g by a n nou nci ng it would m a ke thei r test facili ty ava ilable to small -volu me manufa cturers. Th e testing o f Angel's canis te requi pped Mo ta Guzzi was a n experiment - not sta nda rd p ro cedure. T he CA R B staff is no w wi ll ing to ma ke th e sta te-ow ned em issions lab a vailable for o ne test: th e act ua l cert ifica tion test. The man u factu rer just has to ge t it righ t the first time. This is a big step; only two mont h s ago. th e CARB emissions lab was o fflimi ts to th e manufacturers. As far as im med ia te rel ief for th e Ca liforn ia Moto Guzzi and Laverda deal ers - th in gs are o n hold. T he deal ers were looking for a tem porary (meani ng a few mon ths) exe mptio n from th e sta ndards, so th ey co u ld con tin ue to sell motorcycles. U n fortunat el y, tod ay's " public mee tin g" was on ly to determine wh eth er th e CARB shou ld go to th e trouble to schedu le a regulat ory hea ri ng: wh ere th e de ta ils o f th e p ro posed extension wo uld be revea led . T he reg u latory hearin g is schedu led fo r so me ti me in May. Mo torcycles might be a vaila ble for sa le by this .s,!mme~. . . . ., "", • , . . • •

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