This is a good point. HD, I believe, purposely sells bikes that need modifications for their HUGE aftermarket take. My friend bought an 06'BMWK1200S and it needed nothing - absolutely nothing. Yeah, it's apples and oranges, but for 20 G's out the door (same for a K1200S and a decent HD tourer) you expect a bike that performs and doesn't need a stage-1, stage-2...blah blah blah. I bought a new SuperGlide once that coughed and sputtered no matter how I adjusted the carb. It took a stage-1 and breathing pipes - old news to Harley folks because we've been dealing with this for years.
Chudfxd is right on the money here. HD usually wants to sell you their version of aftermarket items before you even take delivery. In the instance of the last bike I bought; it already had accessory wheels on it on the showroom floor. I have also seen showroom bikes that had Screamin Eagle items on them even though that had not yet been sold.
This is done to up the sticker price especially on a bike with a somewhat lower base price than the top models.
My personal ride has been rejetted and piped; but with parts I purchased from a private shop...not the dealer.
My way of keeping HD from getting into my pocket any further than necessary.
I noticed this "trend" taking a pretty good hold around 1993 when I bought a new Sportster and just about dumped it in the dealer's parking lot when the damn thing sputtered and dies while doing a very low speed turn...needless to say it got the rejet/pipe treatment within a day or two.
What I'd really like to know is just exactly what perked up the EPA/government's ears towards bikes in the first place.
It's the money, I think. Pipes have been around forever though there are more of them on the road now with the "rebirth" of the cycle generation. No one seems to talk about the screaming pipes of the aftermarket sports bikes but I guess they're looking at them in key cities in CA - the beach, etc. I just heard that the CHP has started a crackdown on speed in the OC area - and pipes. There's money there and the state is in a budget crisis. I think states are looking for revenue wherever they can find it - why not look at laws already on the books?
The state makes TONS of money on the cars for smog certification....why not tap into the burgeoning bike market....
Another "strange" thing, is that I e-mailed my local dealer to ask what his take on this EPA situation was, and he did not respond.
I also noticed on the HD website, that they "are not taking email at this time".
Looks to me like they would have put some comment on their website.
The dealer; I noticed on a recent visit; continues to sell Screaming Eagle items as well as bikes on the floor that are so equipped to one extent or another.
Kinda funny too, that the news media hasn't mentioned this either; or at least not here in the Midwest.
Makes me wonder if everyone figures if they ignore it , it will go away.
Besides bikes, just about every pick-up truck in this area has been modified at least as far as aftermarket exhaust systems.
Also there is a huge amount of foreign 4 cyl. cars that has also been modified.
The performance take for HD dealers is HUGE. Individual dealers are not going to toss aside this huge take until the hammer drops. If you read the law - anything done that changes the bike's performance - is technically illegal and has been since the enactment; there has been no enforcement. Are they waiting to see who takes the smack? Maybe. If the consumer is hit by enforcement via inspection centers (a very liekley scenario) then they'll curtail; in the meantime they make tons of cash. If they're smart they'll start a PAC (political action committee) and start lobbying at the federal level for protection of our rights. They have the money to do it and it's the "American Way" They may take the path of least resistance and hope that people will continue to buy bikes that sound like asthmatic washing machines. I wonder what they'll do because many of the bikes HD sells right now perform like crap without aftermarket mods and they sound horrible. I've ridden a stock VRod and it performs well and sounds....docile. I don't own one and never would; HD has clearly been redirecting their market target though and the VRod is proof. The 88CI EFI stock performs lackluster when compared to Japanese, Italian, English, and especially, German bikes off the floor.
I just wonder if they'll start producing a twin-cam that meets guidleines and performs and sounds better within legal limits with regard to decibles.
I believe Victory is withing legal EPA limits (stock) for decible, and the performance (stock) exceeds anything HD this side of Screaming Eagle. God I hate the look of that "metric" looking engine though! The bottom line is that HD cares about... the bottom line. they don't care about you - they sure as hell don't care about the diehard Shovel, Knuckle, and or Pan owners because they don't buy Evo parts and they sure as hell don't trade their bikes in. If you're old enough you'll remember when the hammer dropped on muscle cars and everyone was looking for exemptions. Older bikes will be grandfathered in - Got Shovel?
Well, my current ride is an '02 Lowrider,and since I'm 62 and retired; it's most likely ths last scooter I'll be buying so if "they" do begin enforcing anything I'd most likely return the bike to stock and grudgingly ride it that way.....unless I stumbled on an pre-79 Shovel...or better still a Pan.
I still can't ensision them actually enforcing these laws though since they can't seem to organize anything else well enough to work across the board.
I can, however, see them pulling you over for speeding, or ??? and THEN checking pipes, or sending you to get the emissions checked as a provision of the speeding ticket.
That way they could theoretically get you at any time and NOT have to go through the huge task of checking every bike within a certain time frame.
As far as the dealers or aftermarket shops that may have installed an illegal part...will they "get" the rider and the shop; or just the rider?
H-D has dropped it's entire non-EPA compliant line of exhaust systems. It can still sell SE kits for EFI bikes, since they are now certified systems. H-D can not do this with the performance kits for carb bikes, since an owner can change the jetting, so it pollutes beyond EPA acceptable limits. That's not an issue on the EFI 95" kits, etc., since H-D gives you the required ECU upgrade, which is designed to keep emission levels at EPA standards.
Chris' comment above must apply only to 2006 models; 'cause I just went into H-D's website and you can order slip-on mufflers for years up to 2005 that are for "all states except Calif."
Linear Mode
