Silly question here, but... Harley Emission & EPA Laws Discuss Silly question here, but... in the Harley Tech & Harley How-to forums; Did the EPA pass the law where one is only allowed to build one bike in their lifetime? I searched the EPA website and didn't come up with anything. I ...

[unfknblvbl]

Did the EPA pass the law where one is only allowed to build one bike in their lifetime?

I searched the EPA website and didn't come up with anything. I may not have been searching with the right words in the right area, but there seems to be some pretty smart folks on this board. Thanks in advance!

Shane

[frisco-rigid]

Hi UN

That was the original plan and why I kicked my butt throwing together 2 custom sickles for registration in Dec. of '05..
OK, then the Pinko-Commie EPA decides to change that restriction..
I'm not sure what the law is now but I've read bits and pieces about it being not so restrictive partly cuz many motor makers have agreed to build and sell EPA certified motors.. Read that about a year ago.. I'm sure you can read between the lines there right.? I'll not worry about it any more for awhile..

[unfknblvbl]

Howdy frisco

Yep, I follow you loud and clear. Thanks for the info. I don't plan on building customs left and right, but if I was only allowed one I would have really re-think what I wanted to build. However, with what you have said I won't worry about it either. Thanks!

Ok, so the EPA gets its regs in place but their problem is that they are a federal agency and can only regulate interstate commerce. You register your bike with the state (in my case California) DMV and only the state regs can affect your bike and you in this area. The feds don't have any right or ability to go after you. The main thing a federal agency can do is tie federal funds to whether or not the state passes laws that put into effect the federal regs. That is exactly how the feds got the states to pass mandatory helmet laws in the '70's and '80's. If some state balked at passing a helmet law the feds would withhold highway funding. That kind of blackmailing has been challenged many times in the past and for a long time it was upheld as legal. My understanding is that in the last few years the feds got slammed in some state challenge and the courts have been less likely to back the feds. I'm not sure why this shift has been happening but I think that there has been a shift to more conservative judges that came into their power in the last decade or so. I think the EPA is having a hard time right now getting the states to pass legislation to impliment the EPA regs. It's the EPA regs that would have put the squeeze on custom bike building with that one custom bike per lifetime rip. So that's in limbo right now. Whether or not it ever comes into effect is hard to say. Unfortunately just the threat of that law hovering around in limbo has really slammed the custom bike market prices. It's the uncertainty that makes people nervous about buying customs today. I feel a little bit (but JUST a little bit) sorry for those people that paid $40k to $100k for a super custom that now has a market value of $15k to $35k. I feel more sorry for the guys that lost their jobs building those bikes.

It's the same old fed vs. states rights thang that goes back to the beginning of the union of states. By the way, for what it's worth, at the time of the Civil War the Democratic Party (Douglas's party) backed states rights and were pro slavery while the Republican Party (LIncoln's party) took the other side. My how times have changed!

[superchicken]

My understandng is one EPA exempt bike in your lifetime.
If you say it is a show bike and document it that way you can build as many as you
want, but it can only be ridden to shows, so they say, this is away around using your one exemption.
Or, if you purchase one of the engines that are EPA compliant, and you don't do anything
to the engine, and build the bike so it does not go beyond the limits of said engine, this is basically a weight spec, you can build as many as you want.
The problem with this is the engine companies charge alot more for a EPA
compliant engines at this time, hopefully the prices will drop in the future.
I'm starting my first build and do not want to use my one exemption on my first build,
so i've been doing some research to circumvent this reg.