HOW IT WORKS BY DAVE DWYER

WANT A $10,000 EPA FINE?

Well, that’s what you’re going to get if you don’t voice your concerns
while the EPA’s ready and willing to listen

■ T HE NEW EPA (E NVIRONMENTAL P ROTECTION A GENCY ) motorcycle emissions rules have taken effect for the large manufacturers, those that produce over 3,000 units per year, beginning with the 2006 models. You know your shop is ready for the new year. Your techs have done their homework so they understand the changes in the new models. You have all the latest catalogs so you can get everything your customers will want to personalize their rides. You know the specs on all the latest engines, engine components, transmissions, wheels, and frames and what will fit what bike. You can even build your customer any bike he wants, right down to that righteous paint job and custom chrome plating on the parts your machine shop fabricates.

Your customers have already started coming in complaining about the performance of their new ride and asking you to make some improvements for them. They want you to change that restrictive stock air cleaner and filter. Oh, and get rid of the stock pipes, so their bike will look, sound, and run better. That means a new fuel injection control module will be needed, or the stock one altered, because the engine will not run right (lots of popping and spitting out of the intake) with the factory fuel injection map. Your customer does not want to buy the flash from the dealer because he’s not finished changing things yet. So you put on one of the aftermarket programmable fuel injection control modules because the owner wants to be able to adjust the mapping when he has you put in the new cam and rework the heads later on.

Almost every Harley on the road today has had its engine, exhaust pipes, and/or intake system altered in some way to improve performance. However, doing any of these modifications makes you liable for a $10,000 fine.

Does this sound familiar? Sure it does, this is your industry, your livelihood. Heck, this is how you’ve been doing business since you opened your doors. However, now there’s a big problem with doing business as usual. Have you noticed the disclaimers on all those engine products, including the new, high-flow air filters? You know, the ones that say “For closed course use only” or “Not legal for street use.” Those words are what may end business as you know it unless you’re working exclusively on pre-1979 motorcycles. That’s because if you work on later machines, any modification you do to the engine, intake, exhaust system, or driveline of a motorcycle puts you in violation of the federal Clean Air Act of 1979. Unfortunately, this is how many small shops, manufacturers, and bike builders currently make their living. If you want to preserve your livelihood, now is the time to get involved.

TAMPERING

There is a section in the Clean Air Act of 1979 concerning “tampering,” which makes it illegal to modify or remove any component designed to reduce or control exhaust emissions, including intake or exhaust noise. Removing the catalytic converter on a car, or a new motorcycle constitutes tampering. So does replacing an engine component with anything other than stock or direct replacement components. Violating this anti-tampering law opens you up to a fine of up to $10,000 per occurrence . An occurrence is logged each and everyday the modified vehicle is operated on public streets. That means a possible fine of up to $10,000 per day for every modified motorcycle that comes out of your shop. (This is the maximum fine, not necessarily what the EPA will impose.)

What work can you do without violating the anti-tampering law? The EPA says that, by law, all you can change is accessories that do not affect how the bike performs emissions-wise, such as chassis improvements, color, and chrome changes. No engine, intake, exhaust, or driveline modifications allowed. Ditto for six-speeds, fat rear tires, and sprocket or pulley changes. Anything that can cause the engine to work harder, rev differently, etc. is not allowed. So how long can you stay in business if you lose the vast majority of your engine work or only work on pre-1979 motorcycles? Motorcycles did not have emissions controls put on them until 1979, so any engine or driveline modifications are legal on 1978 and earlier bikes.

Want to build a nice custom like this one? Well, it may cost you a lot more than what you spend in labor and parts if you don’t get the bike EPA-certified once it’s complete. That’s a process that costs thousands of dollars.

Most shops have not been concerned with the anti-tampering laws because the enforcement in the aftermarket motorcycle industry has been very lax. A large number of shops, individuals, and even some manufacturers do not even know these laws exist, much less that they apply to motorcycles. Manufacturing and selling components designed to defeat highway vehicle emission control devices has been illegal since the Clean Air Act was passed in 1977. The companies that make the parts you install put that disclaimer on the package to protect themselves. However, we’re not so sure it will protect them or you if the enforcement level rises, which it’s dong already. Case in point: On a recent trip out west, Editor Chris Maida talked with one California bike builder who has already been visited by CARB officials and has been slapped with violations for some of the bikes in his shop. And he’s not the only one. We also all know what starts in California soon finds its way across the country.

The new emissions rules were published in the Federal Register , Volume 69, No. 10. Here’s the text about tampering from page 2,403:

“F. Modification, Customization, and Personalization of Motorcycles.

Many motorcycle owners personalize their motorcycles in a variety of ways. This is one of the aspects of motorcycle ownership that is appealing to a large number of motorcycle owners, and they take their freedom to customize their bikes very seriously. However, there are some forms of customization that are not legal under the provisions of Clean Air Act section 203(a), which states that it is illegal: for any person to remove or render inoperative any device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine in compliance with regulations under this title prior to its sale and delivery to the ultimate purchaser or ... after such sale and delivery to the ultimate purchaser ... or for any person to manufacture or sell ... or install, any part or component intended for use with ... any motor vehicle ... where a principal effect of the part or component is to bypass, defeat, or render inoperative any device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle ... in compliance with regulations under this title, and where the person knows or should know that such part or component is being offered for sale or installed for such use or put to such use.

... In other words, under current law, owners of motor vehicles cannot legally make modifications that remove, bypass, or disable emission-control dev i c e s installed by the manufacturer. It is also illegal for part manufacturers and dealers to manufacture, sell, or install a part or component that the manufacturer or dealer knows or should know will be sold or used in a manner that defeats the emissions control system.”

What all that means is that it’s illegal, and has been since 1979, to change engine components like air cleaners, cams, pistons, heads, flywheels or crankshafts, carburetors, fuel injection modules, intake manifolds, or exhaust pipes on street motorcycles unless the finished bike has been tested and the amount of emissions the motorcycle produces did not increase. Changing gear ratios and putting on a fatter rear tire can also affect emissions because motorcycles are emissions- tested as a complete vehicle, not as individual components. Changing these components can alter how much a throttle is opened to get the motorcycle to a set speed, which may increase the emis sions it produces. Almost every aftermarket motorcycle shop, in this country and many OEM shops as well, has made, or is making these modifications. As we stated in the beginning of this article, this is your way of business; this is how you make a living.

Next>

Back to EPA Page