Motorcycle Exhaust
A key California State Assembly committee has endorsed a proposal to require motorcyclists to have EPA-compliant exhaust systems on their model year 2011 and newer motorcycles, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.
On June 28, the Committee on Transportation voted 8-4 to approve Senate Bill 435, introduced by Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Oxnard-Los Angeles), which would make it illegal to ride a motorcycle on the road built on, or after, Jan. 1, 2011, that doesn’t display a federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) label certifying the exhaust system meets sound emissions standards.
Motorcycle riders caught riding model year 2011 or newer motorcycles without this stamp would be issued "fix it" tickets by law enforcement officers.
The measure now goes to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for further consideration.
"Many EPA labels are very difficult to locate on motorcycles," said AMA Western States Representative Nick Haris.
"This proposed law could lead to a flurry of tickets for motorcyclists who have legal exhaust systems on their machines with EPA labels that can’t be easily seen. It’s unreasonable to expect a law enforcement officer to easily locate an EPA label, and it’s simply unfair to expect a motorcycle owner to partially dismantle an exhaust system alongside the road to prove the label exists."
"Requiring that a motorcycle display a readily visible EPA label isn’t the correct way to address concerns about excessive motorcycle sound," he added.
"The only objective way to determine whether a motorcycle complies with sound laws is for properly trained personnel to conduct sound level tests using calibrated meters and an agreed-upon testing procedure."
