Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Wind (Continued from page 2) Darryl Kuenzer, former National Championship Enduro and Hare Scrambles Series competitor and ISDE gold medalist, has announced he 's promoting the Progressive Cross-Country Association (PC CA) Eastern Championship Hare Scrambles Series. The four round series - March 20, June 26, September 4 and December 4 - will offer a $10,000 purse at each round if a minimum of 300 riders enter. The purse w ill be divided among all classes. A rider's three best finishes will be counted towards overall series titles . For more info rm a t io n , contact the PCCA, P .O . Box 460, Abbeville, SC 29620,803/496-3643 . Los Ange les County will ask the Ca lifornia Depart ment of Parks and R ecreation for $ 16 million ' to purchase and develop a 606-acre off-road vehicl e park in southern California's Whitney Canyon, east of Newhall. When availab le, the park will be open to motorcycles, ATVs, fo urwhee l drive vehicles a nd dune buggies, Preliminary plans call for eight miles of riding trails and two , 20acre motocross tracks. The county will apply for the funds by March I. An environmental impact study will follow in April. Off-road riders in California who are c ited for trespass and who have their motorcycles impounded after inadvertently riding onto private property should be advised that in some cases it is couiltylawenforcement officers and la ndowners who are breaking the law - not off-road riders! AB2276, an assembly bill passed by the state legislature in 1986, makes ' it illegal for county.officials and /or landowners to prosecute off-road riders or others who mistakenly stray from public lands onto unposted private property. Accord ing to the state law, any county ordinance or resolution which requires written permission to enter vacant or unimproved private land cannot be enforced un lessthe land is : '1 ) adjacent to residential property; 2) enclosed by fence; 3) under cultivation; 4 ) or posted with signs ~orbidding trespass. If the property is posted, there must be at least three signs per mile a long all exterior. boundaries of the property, and signs also must be posted at all roads and trails entering t he private land. Commission, manufacturers' wrestle with . noise problem By Farren Williams SACRAMENTO , CA, FEB 17 Many motorcycles being ridden on public lands in Ca lifornia are too loud and are no t equipped with spark arresters, according to the state Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation CommiSSIOn . The seven-member panel today warned motorcycle manufacturers and the motorcycle/ ATV aftermarket industry tha t more than 200,000 off-highway motorcycles in ' Californ ia exceed lega l noise lim its and said a solution to the problem ' must be found. The commission added that a potential solution - the addition of aftermarket m ufflers and/or spark arrestors to illegal machines - may in fact compou nd the noise problem because many aftermarket mufflers do not meet req uired Environmental Protection Agency noise standards. The warnings came during a special OHV Commission meeting at the State Capitol which was bi lled as a dialogue between the commission and the mo torcycle industry. The meeting was attended by representatives from ATK, Cagiva/Husqvarna, Honda, Kawasaki , KTM , Suzuki, Yamaha, Answer Products, SuperTrapp, the AMA and . other ' industry-related compani es and organizations. Shortly after the gavel fell, state officials pointed to th e ill ega l use of motocross bikes on public lands as the most common noise vio lation by off-road riders. It is unlawful to ride motocrossers on public la n ds in California because they do not meet EPA noise regulations, they are not sparkarrester equipped and they can't be registered for general off-highway use. _ "A significant portion of the purchasers of these bi kes may buy them unknowing tha t they can no t be registered wit h a green sticker or used on public lands," said OHV Dep u ty Director Leon Cha uvet. " T he Commission's position is that every off-road motorcycl e sold in Ca lifornia should meet the require' ment s for registration under the 'Green Stick er' Progra m." The commission suggested that own ers of MX bikes retrofit their ma chines with mufflers a nd spark arresters to bring them int o co rn p liance with EPA nois e standards a nd with state 'law, but representatives of ' the motorcycle industry pointed out that th e proposed solution poses som e problems: It could constitute a violation of non -tampering provisions in EPA noise regulations. If manufacturers or th eir deal ers violate thos e provisions by adding muffl ers and/or spark arresters to motocross machin es , th ey co u ld be fin ed $10.000' p er da y, p er occurance (owners of the motorcycl es, how ever, could mak e th e alterations without , being subject to fin es); There would be no guarantee th e Departm ent o f Motor Vehicles would register retrofitted ma chines because th e vehicle identification numbers (VINs) would continue to identify th e bikes as 'closed-co urse, co m petition-o n ly motocrossers; It would be diffi cult to enforce .in th e field because offi cial EPA noise tests are impractical. " MX motorcycles have no spark arresters and MX motorcycl es are being used as off-road motorcycles," charged Commissioner Ed Wald-" heim. " When rid ers are not racing them on closed courses. th ey are going out p lay riding, using the same machine (on public land). This is wh ere we get into trouble. . " Whe n we apply for grants for new ' trails our biggest problem is noise, noise, noise," Waldh eim said. " What ar e we goi ng to do with spark arresters? They law requires a spark arrester. Wh y ca n' t we install thos e (on MX bikes ) automatically?" " If we install a spark arrester on a co mpetitio n motorcycle, it would become, by law, a n off-road motorcycle and wou ld have to meet the 82decibel standard for off-road motorcycles set by the EPA ," answered Kawasaki's Roger Hagie, who was " A'lo t of afte rmarket products take speaking for the mo torcycle industry. " We feel our ha nds are tied . T he " a lega l.vehicle and make it illegal," agreed AMA representative Gerry penalty for vio lat io n of the Noise Co ntrol Act is $10,000 per violation. Counts. " Aftermarket products are " O ur standards for the p roduct no t labeled. Our concern is with the will not allow us to hang a muffler consumer. What does he do? Does he keep buying mufflers until he on a motocrosser," H agie added. " It fin ds one that's lega l?" wou ld require significant ot her changes." " We do n 't want to put (the after" When the genera l public goes market) out of business, but we want into a motorcycle shop, they want to keep the sport healthy," said the biggest, most powerful bike and Bishop. "The aftermarket has been the main problem . The aftermarket that motorcycle is the competit iononly bike," said Commissioner Mike people need to know about the EPA Bishop . "Then they take it out to law. Rath er than sell on ligh t weight Hungry Valley (OHV Park ) and it and loo ks, sell on fun ction," said becomes an en forcement problem . Bishop. " A m uffler's supposed to " What if we said all motorcycles make things quieter." . must meet off-road standards?" "What (IS the aftermarket) making Waldheim asked for dual-sport bik es?" asked Waldheim. "The las t thing we need is " If co m petitio n motorcycles were required to meet EPA off-road noise problems with dual-sport bikes. I'm standards, my understanding is we very concerned that if aftermarket would not se ll them ," Hagie ma n ufacturers do 'anything to dualanswered. , purpose motorcycles, th ey must be " C a n a consumer change an responsible to see to it that (exhaust exha ust system so a bike will be noise) doesn't go over 80 decibels." legal ?" Waldheim said. At the conclusion of the meeting, " Yes, he can," said H agie. the commission: " Ca n a dealer modify a bike to • Asked aftermarket manufacturmake it legal ?" Waldheim asked. ers to test' the noise levels of any " He wou ld be marketing a vehicl e mufflers p ut on the market to make not meeting EPA regulatio ns," said sure the m ufflers are legal. Hagie. "Techn ically the dealer • Asked aftermarket manufacturwould be breaking the law. EPA ers not to market aftermarket ex haust regulations for exhaust systems are systems for d ual sport bikes u nless designed to prevent deterioration of the aftermarket mufflers leave the EP A regulations when exhaust sysbikes quieter than stock. tems are cha nged. They 're not • Directed the OHMVR staff to designed to bring competition bi kes work with the Ca lifornia Highway to th e noise level of off-road bikes." Patrol and the Department of Motor "What about MX bikes and tbe 20Vehicles ' to establis h a program in ch (noise) test?" asked Commiswhere ow ners of motocross bikes sioner Mike Bishop. may retrofit their machines with "The stationary (so und ) test is not aftermaket mufflers and spark arres' part of th e EPA procedure," said ters to make them lega l. It was Hagie "Our recommendation is th e suggested the CHP could perform use of that procedure. " the sta tio nary sound test and check EPA regulations call for a cumfor spark . arresters , then issue a bersome, unworkab le-in-the-field , certificate of co mp liance allowing acceleration pass-by test where sound the DMV to register the motorcycles fro m a motorcycle being tested is as off-road vehicles even though the measured from 50-feet awa y while VIN numbers identify them as th e motorcycle is accelerating at full closed-course , co m peri tion-on ly throttl e. To pass the test, the noise motorcycles. level from an off-road bike musi be • Directed th e OHMVR staff to no greater than 82 decibels . determine if motorcycl e/ ATV Following length y discussion, th e dealers ma y alter the exhaust systems commission voted to substitute a of competition-only machi nes to stationa ry so und test for the EPA make th em off-road legal without acceleration test in all State Vehicu lar violating the tampering provisions of EPA noise regulations. ' Recreation Areas. The action set th e noise limit for all events in SVRAs • Asked motorcycle manufacturat 99 decibels per ma chine (using th e ' ers to , " co rrect ly identify" stationary test) excep t in the cases of competition-on ly motorcycles as int ernati onal or vintage events, closed-course bik es when advertising whi ch wou ld be approved by th e th em . co mm issio n on a case-by-case basis . • Asked a ll race -sa nct io n i n g During the proposed stationar y orga nizations. including the AMA test, whi ch : was developed by th e and FIM, to change their competiSociety of Automotive Engineers, tion ru lebooks to read that th e exha ust noise level is measured 20 maximum noise level allowed durin ches from th e motorcycle with th e ing competition will be 99 decibels, bik e's engine running at a steady measured by the stationary test. rpm. The maximum noise allowab le , In 1980 the EPA established noise 'standards for motorcycles that went wou ld be 99 decibels, which noi se expe rts say equals an 86-decibel into effect during the 1982 model co un t under the approved accelerayear . Standards were set for all new tion test. motorcycles (o n-road and off-road) Final adoption of the stationary and for all aftermarket motorcycle test would be pending the approval exha ust systems . o f th e sta te legislature, Chauvet Off-road motorcycle noise standreported that a bill to replace the ards are 80 decibels for motorcycles EPA acceleration test with the sta with engine disp lacement 170cc and tionary test will be introduced soon below; 82 decibels for motorcycles by Assemblyman Richard Katz (Dl7lcc and above. The noise level for Sepulveda). all street-legal motorcycles is 80 db. But no matter which sound test is In the EPA regu lations, two: and us ed , many aftermarket ex ha u st th ree-wheeled vehicles (mo torcycles syterns simp ly do not meet ' EPA and ATVs ) are defined as motorcystandards, commissioners charged. ' c1es and must meet the noise lim its. Officials said aftermarket exha usts Four-wheeled ATVsare not included tha t are tuned to boost horsepower in the regulations, but manufactur- . also are transforming legal off-road ers have voluntaril y applied EPA standards for three-wh eelers to fourbik es into illegal noi semakers. " Afterma rket companies advertise wheel ers . All off-road motorcycles ridden on th at a pipe. cam and c u bs will make a four-stroke go, " said Bishop . public lands in California must mee t "Yeah, it'll make it go , but you ca n' t EPA noise standards and must be take it on public lands." fitted with spark arresters. •

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