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/127813
even argued, but not my staff yet though, some have argued that gasoline and petroleum fuels can be made cleaner still. There are also examples in the case of low emissions vehicle requirements for light-d uty autos. I think it's Honda that is going to certify a low-emissions vehicle, and ultralow-emissions vehicle that runs on gasoline. We never thought that could happen. So I guess the point I'm making with you is that with District 36 and the AMA, I was pleased with how the meetings went, they conducted themselves in a very professional manner. I was pJeased with that, but they had bought in to some extent the dire predictions about what's going to happen in the marketplace, that these motorcycle manufacturers are not going to participate in the market, and they're not going to offer quality or innovative products, and we have not seen any indications from them that they are going to walk away from the California market. Quite the contrary. We've heard them talk with some enthusiasm about new prod ucts they are going to offer, a.bout how they are going to market these products and what this might mean to how they market off-road motorcycles of the future to the rest of the country and throughout the world. So coming back full circle, yes we're leading the way, yes we're asking some difficult and challenging things of the motorcycle manufacturers, yes it's going fo have an impact on the users of these products, yes right now we're in a diffirolt position relative to (the fact that) we can't see into the future, but it is my belief and the belief of the technical staff here at the board that we are going to see some surprisingly innovative things, that we are going to see some breakthroughs in weight distribution, performance of the product and the environmental benefits that we are going to receive that are going to make this worth it. We may not be able to see it completely as clearly as we would like at this moment, but we do believe and are optimistic we'll see it in the very very near .future. So you didn't find any of the economic reasons compelling enough to warrant any change to the regulation. Well, we saw a couple things. We talked to motOl;cycle- manufacturers and we looked afthe prices they were planning to-sell their motorcycles for. We found them to be, the new four-strokes, we found them to be comparable to the prices of the two-strokes. In some cases it would be less money, some cases it would be more. But we did not see any outrageous or troubling things emerging for pricing of these products. That's the economic argument, for consumers, that they are going to pay quite a bit more for a four-stroke when compared to a two-stroke that they may have been, able to get the previous year, but we did not see a wide disparity in price. I'm very sympathetic to the AMA and the District 36 folks about popularity of their sport - we want them to be successful, we want them to have people participate in off-road riding and racing. We don't have any desire to see that curtailed. Quite the contrary. I am very sympathetic to the membership of tbes'e organizations, so that's why I extended the offer to them and they've agreed to accept discussion on these competition issues. I don't need to tell you what kind of impact two-stroke engines have on air quality - it's profound. As a matter of fact, it's said that anywhere from 20 to 40 percent of the gasoline gets blown right out the tailpipe. 'That's a consideration of ours, and that this relatively small number of engines have a profound negative impact on the environment. And we want to clean them up, like we've asked other engine makers to do, heavy-duty down to light-duty and smaller engines such as lawn mowers. Was there any consideration made to aftermarket parts manufacturers who make competition parts for these two-strokes? We had no discussion about aftermarket issues. One of the major concerns that motocrossers have had is that while they may be able to sell their 1996- or '97-model motocross bike to a trail rider this year, it doesn't look like they will be able to after next year. That is a big problem for a guy who is a serious motocross racer, because next year, when it's time for new equipment to help him stay competitive, it doesn't look as though he is going to be able to get some of the money out of his old bike that h.e has put into it - the trail rider won't be interested because he won't be able to use the bike legally on public land. I'm not as worried about those 100 riders as I am about the air-quality program that is directed at protecting the health of some 34 million Californians. Let's talk about the tons associated for a minute to i~I~=~~;;~~;~=~:~~~~~~~~~~~~~I' most costly air-pollution regulatory progive this board and state ever gram you some context. The brought forward was the $4-5 billion program that was introduced this year. That got us 300 tons of air pollution reduced. Largest in history. Electric vehicles, when they're implemented around 2010, are going to get us, say, 15 tons. You know how much has been written and said about the electric vehicle. Motorcycles of this category, two-strokes, our earlier estimates show 34 tons per day would be controUed by this program larger than the electric-vehicle program. See my problem? How can I, here with our public-health mission, modify a program that takes into account those competitors and allows them to compete, as they should be able to do, but gets at the less-competitive rider, provides them with new products that are cleaner for the environment? Explain to me the logic whereby we make a change there. You've got to remember our mission is to protect public health. That's the rub, that's the tough position we find - ourselves in. Now, back to the questions we haven't answered. If the data .were bullet-proof, if there were problems with product offerings, if there were problems with widespread inability of competitors to participate, if the products didn't work, then we would find ourselves in a situation where change woutd be necessary. We don't find ourselves in that position at this point in those four areas. It would be necessary for us to have problems in those areas to make the change. That's kind of the big picture. What about the person in the market for a new two-stroke right now who wants to use it on public land? When and what can he/she buy and still be legal? Let me beg off that question in part - I'm not an expert on the green sticker program. Here's what I would say general- ly speaking, that after much consideration, and it has taken a lot of my personal attention and that of my technical staff here, listening to the arguments and have multiple meetings with the AMA, District 36 representatives and the others who are out there participating in the sport, we have had our eyes opened to a number of issues. And we have worked to get answers to the questions that they have raised relative to what the manufacturers are going to be doing and issues surrounding the use of competitive twostrokes which we are comfortable with, we think we're in a good place there and with the data surrounding the use of these motorcycles, we found at this point it is in the best interests of. public health protection to maintain the regulatory program brought forward some two years ago. And we listened to the AMA team and found that there are implementation issues that still need to be watched closely to make sure the sport does not suffer unintended consequences as a result of this health-protection program. If we identify problems in this area, we will revisit these issues with the experts in the motorcycle field and with the AMA people. This is a partnership here. So unless something really big comes up over the imple.mentation process, then the regulation will stand. Wh.at about in the future? Will there be a tightening of the regulations? At this point we don't have any plans to tighten them. Certainly not in the two years I'm likely to remain here we don't have any plans to do that. l'X The bottom line - The regulation stands as it was written. - You can still get a California green sticker for a two-stroke off-road bike or ATV manufactured prior to January 1, 1997. Most new 1997-model bikes have already been manufactured and are therefore still legal. Those two-strokes manufactured after January 1, 1997, sold new or used, will not be legal. - Motocross or any dosed-course racing activity is not affected by the regulation, nor is their use on private land. Only the use of two-strokes on public land where green stickers are required is controlled. - The opportunity for change still exists. Because of the meetings among District 36, the AMA and the California Air Resources Board, these groups will be forming a joint task force to monitor implementation of the regulation. If new issues arise, the regulation will be re-examined. - District 36 and its board of directors, the most active group on the motorcycling side, are still working to change or overturn the regt!lation and are looking at new strategies to do so. They have spent over $50,000 thus far and need your financial help to continue representing the interests of motorcyclists. If you would like to help, send donations to District 36 Legislative Action Office, 15773 St. Albans PL, Truckee, CA %161.