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/141050
Feds Say Scooters Are Polluters • Ban on Motorcycles In L.A. Basin Possible by Ch arles Clayt on A ty pic al two-st ro ke m o torcy cle cau ses m o re air p oilu tion than fo ur 197 1 au to m o b iles!? T h a t is wh at th e fede ral gove rn me n t's Environmental Pro tec tion Agen cy says . In th e Lo s An gel e s Basin , wh ere sm og is the w o rs t fro m ~I ay to O ctober, the E.P.A. est imates th at m o to rcy cles d ump 30 ton s of dangerous reactive hyd rocarbons into the air ea ch day , co mp ared to all th e aircraft flo wn in th e basi n , wh ich a r e r e sp o nsibl e fo r 35 to ns of p oilu tan ts. Your ty pical fo ur-stro ke m o torcycle is not mu ch b etter in th e eyes of EPA scien tists. They claim to have te sted " a wid e vari ety" o f four-cycle m o to rcy cles and came up with an average p ollu t ion co unt of 4.4 grams of carbo n mon o xide . sulp hur dioxide and n itr ogen dio xid e p er m ile, co mp ared to th e 3 .4 gram s of the same substances out of an average 19 71 car . "I cannot believe that my 500 Hon d a is a dirtier p olluter than my Chevrolet," exclaim ed a typi ca l motorcycle en thu siast. "It so unds lik e th eir test rider h ad to be smokin g a big cigar o r something. It stands to reaso n that my car bums four times as much gas per mil e as my Honda. So it's go t to be making more sm og. " d esign ed to fi t old er models so that I w on ' t h ave to p ut my C B5 0 0 in a mu seum. Tw o-st roke manufacturers had better start testing vario us mo to r oils and fuel s fo r emissio n as well as performance in their en gines, an d h asten to ma ke th eir find ings public. T wo-stroke owners sho uld fill up with "smokeless" oils imm edia tely. ,...: N til Bon neville 10 alcohol. All you ha ve to do is reje t an d re size th e orifices in th e carb w ith a h an d drill. " A lco h ol d elivers m ore power , but less m ileage , and runs cooler th an gasoline . MORE SCOOTERS POLLUTERS w == Z W ..J U >U LESS Hopeful ly, so me Tho mas Ed ison -type person will inven t and ., The Death of Competition • Racer s and tr ail rid ers may have to co nve rt vo lun taril y to burning alcoh ol in stead o f gaso line . in th eir machines. District 3 7 AMA rul es w ould h ave to be ch ang ed to p ermit this . Alky is one of the lowest emissi on fu els, acc o rding to th e la test EPA te sts . Francisco Ch emi cal s of Glendale , Cali f. sells methyl (und rin kab le) alc o hol at S I per ga llon for use in speedway bikes, but Dr . Francisco says that, w ith en ough d em an d, it co uld be retailed for as low as 25 cen ts per ga llon. H azen Bair of the T riu mp h di stributors in Duarte, Calif. in fo rms us, "it is a simple matter to co nvert. say. a marke t a cheap, e ffe cti ve afterburner or so me such device th at ca n be fitted to ex ist ing m otorcycles . and ma ke th em less p o lluting. More emission te sting facilities will hav e to be made availabl e for experimenters. Motorcycle ma kers arid en thusiasts need not fear th e EPA's findings as a threa t, so muc h as view the m as an opportuni ty to do our part to help clean up th e air. Let th e slog an be "More scooters - less polluters" In about tw o months. smo g season will arri ve in th e Lo s A nge les Basin. T here is no time to lo se. "W "~T, ME r:>1~TY? " Fo r mo re info rma tio n write ! Environm ental Prot e ct io n Agency Of fice of T echnical Informat ion Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711 Mobile So urce Pollution ControlProgram 401 M Street SW Washington, D.C. 20460 WHAT IS HAPPENING No t necessari ly, say s th e E.P.A. Remember th at th e new er cars are loaded with ret rofit emission co n trol de vices th at change ha rm ful emissions int o innoce nt carbon dioxid e. Few motorcy cles can b oast of havin g an y o f th ese smog-stoppe rs. Un til now, ne arly eve ryo ne assume d th at moto rcy cles didn 't ne ed smog valve s, e tc. In fact, tests p erformed less th an tw o years ago b y the motorcy cle industry fo r the Cali fornia air pollution co n trol agenci es seemed to co nfi rm the lo w e mi s s i o n c h a rac t e ristics of motorcy cle engines . . . But te st ing procedures do change, as motorcycles h ave changed rapidl y in the last tw o yea rs. What if the EPA is right ? They are ch arged b y -federa l law with cleaning up th e air . What do you suppose th e six c o un ties o f greater Los Angeles would rat her give up to co mp ly . wi th th e Cle an Air Act : air t ravel or mot or cycle s? B y 197 7, " aut om obik es" a re sup posed to b e limited to o nly 4 / I Oth s o f a gram emissio n per mile and eve n t he n , says EPA , Ca lifo rn ia may have to acce pt gasoli ne ratio ning and limit s on car and mot orc ycle registratio ns to meet th e req uiremen ts of th e Clean Air Act . By 19 77, un less the m oto rcycl e indus try d oes so me th ing abo ut it, yo u r typ ical two-st rok e w ill be gui lt y o f producing smog eq uivalen t to tha t o f th i r t y-e lgh t n ew 19 7T stan dard auto mo b iles! My Honda 500 , th ey tell me . w o uld th en make as mu ch air p oll u ti o n as eleven 1977 Cadillacs. If no th ing is d one , mo torcy clists may be faced wi th a d iffi cult choice : wh eth er to ke ep o n ridi ng , o r keep b rea th ing and lettin g others br ea th e. I don' t th ink th e vo te rs will h ave an y di ffi cult y deciding w hi ch h as to go . The re arc straws in the smo g already. Ventura Co unty is serio usly suggest ing m ot or c y cl es b e ha n n e d , t h at particula rly if gas has to be ra tio ned, since th at . would create eno rmous demand for m ot orcycle transp o rtation . Th is d em and would result , if the EPA fig ures are true . in a wo rse smog prob lem th an we have no w. The CZ motocross is made for one purpose. To go faster and easier over rough terrain than any other bike. And to do it weekend after weekend, year-in and year-cut. At CZ. We don't make changes just to say we have a new model. . So for 1973, we have made refinements that will help you go even faster. A 5 speed gear box for the 250. New, improved carburetor for all 3 bikes. A" sunburst" head for increased cooling for the 250 and 400. New Grand Prix tank and styling. And an engine that puts out enough "out-of-the-crate"horsepower to win every moto. A frame that is virtually unbr eakable. Designed to get around corners Q uick. but great stability when you're hooking it in the rough. Waterproofing and dustproofing keeps the CZ engine running strong and ignition dry. And the dual-coil ignition that fires both plugs simultaneously so you won't be left stranded. Precision parts; chains. sprockets, gears that seem to last forever. W elded levers. Barum tires and a new light and flexible fiberglass front fender. At CZ. we build for speed. strength. handling and durability: for motocross, cross-country and desert . .. we'll let our 32 world's titles speak for themselves. CZ is built for the rider. That's why it' s not only a better dirt bike, it's a better CZ. So much bett er .that when you ride one, you'll see why our changes are all for the right reasons. Check one out at your nearest CZ dealer today. WHAT T O DO What th e motorcycle ind us t ry mu s t do immediately is re so lve to meet th e same stringen t em ission standards as au to mob iles . Detroit say s th ey can ' t me et th e standa rds in . time, but surely m o t 0 rcy cle manu facturers. working with sma lle r engi nes, can. S i m u lta neo usly t h e i n d u s t r y me mbers must po ol th eir .reso urces to launch an eme rge nc y research program a n d d e vel op " clean " m otorcy cle engi nes . Suzuki, T riump h and Yam aha mu st in traduce their new models with low- em ission \\Tanke} engine s as soon as p ossib le, certainly b efore 19 77. Honda h as shown ho w fas t they can get new design s fr om the draw ing b oards to th e showroom floo r, No w the Japanese gian t must cran k o u t mill ions of motorcycle s with their new, patented, cle an-bu rn ing co mb usti o n cha mbers. Perhap s th e new cylinde r heads co uld b e 1 2 5 MX, 250 MX, 400 MX JAWA·CZ AMERLCAN JAWA, LTD. WEST: 3745 Over landAve., los An eeles. Ca. 90034. EAST: 185 Express st , Plainview, Lone Island, N.Y. 11803 CANADA: Skoda & JaWJ Motors Canada Ltd. 7600 Trans-Canada Hwy Mon .• trtal 377 ca. ® .. and Pub lication s