No more custom bikes?

9569 Views 76 Replies 53 Participants Last post by knogjärn, Nov 4, 2006

1LowLeSabre

Discussion Starter · Sep 20, 2005

From the Hamb.

http://www.mrf.org/pp-epa-for-the-layman.php

California has passed a law/legislation that WILL almost completely eliminate custom bike building and essentially destroy the kit bike industry. We will give you a brief overview of the short of it.

For the direct link click here http://www.epa.gov/otaq/roadbike.htm and scroll down to Final Rule for Cleaner Highway Motorcycles (published January 15, 2004).

1) As of Jan. 1st 2006 Californians will only be allowed to build ONE custom motorcycle in their lifetime that is not E.P.A./D.O.T. certified.

2) If you have a "custom built motorcycle" titled/registered before Dec. 31st 2005 it will be grandfathered and will not count against you as your 1 in your lifetime.

3) If you sell, wreck, or lose your custom built bike (grandfathered or your one in a lifetime) due to accident, theft or anything.TOO BAD! NO REPLACEMENT!

4) Custom Shops, Professional Bike Builders, legitimate builders can build 24 bikes a year.here's the kicker..you can't ride them anywhere except from your home to a legitimate "show" and straight back home. If you get caught "cruising" on your CM stamped bike, it is gone!!!

5) Any bike that is not a Manufactured Vehicle, 100% D.O.T. compliant with title, will not be available except for the 1 in your lifetime.but there is a catch.

6) Within 5 years all motors must be fuel injected, E.P.A. compliant, no exhaust will be allowed that are not E.P.A. approved and NO MODIFYING PARTS to carburetion, air cleaners, custom exhaust will be allowed to be used if it alters the exhaust or emissions of a manufactured vehicle or on "custom built bikes".

7) If you build an Non-E.P.A./D.O.T. compliant bike and then you die, your estate cannot even sell your bike for .5 years!

Here is the bigger worry. The rest of us might also suffer this fate along with California. The Federal government, D.O.T. AND E.P.A., want to adopt this on a national level!!! If this happens, it will kill just about everyone in the kit bike business as well as a lot of exhaust, air cleaner, carburetor, performance manufacturers and others. Custom Chrome was smart enough to see that they can stay ahead of the curve and get their kits to Manufacturer Status so that once you are built with a title you will still be able to build your 1 custom in your lifetime, build as many of their bikes as you want, modify them easily to "custom" status but still play by the NEW rules. No other major kit bike distributor has pursued this. For those of you in CA (and probably the rest of the USA) by January 2006 if you have NOT BUILT YOUR CUSTOM BIKE BEFORE THIS you may only get one chance in your lifetime and you may only get to build one. And it will have to be the way the government wants it to look and run and maybe not how you want it to look and run. SO IF YOU'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT BUILDING YOUR OWN BIKE OR YOUR DREAM BIKE, YOU'D BETTER BUY RIGHT NOW! REMEMBER, WHATEVER YOU BUILD AND GET REGISTERED NOW WILL BE GRANDFATHERED IN AND WON'T COUNT AS YOUR ONE CUSTOM.

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leoj

· #71 · Nov 3, 2006

1. This has been around now for over 6 months. While it's a law, there isn't anything in place to enforce the provisions of the act. Since it will (would be) very costly to implement it remain s to be seen if this will ever be anything more than just a law on the books.

2. If implementation occurs, all pre-2006 bikes that HAD emissions devices on them from the factory, will have to be operational... ie say you have a 1992 vintage, that somehow no longer has the breather vents returning to the carb and if the law is actually enforced, I'm subject to huge fines. Again the issue is how does California enforce & forturnately there is no plan...... yet.

Definitely in the Motor company's best interest to see this happen - virtually eliminates all small builders...

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