Emission Testing for Motorcycles

[nhchris]

Just curious:  Are any of you folks required to have your motorcycle tested annually for tailpipe emissions?

Not sure if Europe, the UK or Asia requires this. I don't believe any state in the U.S. so far has this requirement, certainly not NH.

It would definitely put a crimp in the aftermarket exhaust business, but could it help the environment?

[kilo3]

As you may know, we are in a precarious position here in the USA with emissions.  Spring of 2020 the EPA went gang busters on major car tuning companies. APR/Dinnan, Cobb, REVO,..ect all had to pull catless downpipes from their lineup and downgrade a bunch of software offerings.

However, the smaller companies kinda fly under the radar.  Which I think is where motorcycles will stay in the USA since no one is touching the helmet laws on a federal level as an example.  Just not enough people doing with to raise a fuss.

Edited April 12, 2021 by kilo3

[mickey63]

No Motorcycles are not exhaust emission tested (yet) in the UK.

I said yet as who knows what the bast. government will bring in in the future............

[keithu]

49 minutes ago, nhchris said:

It would definitely put a crimp in the aftermarket exhaust business, but could it help the environment?

I doubt there would be any measurable improvement to air quality achieved by emissions testing for motorcycles. Motorcycles account for about 0.6% of all vehicle miles traveled in the USA.  

I heard Pennsylvania was actually considered dropping emissions testing for cars because the failure rate on modern cars is so low that the expense and inconvenience to car owners wasn't justified. Unfortunately, once a state has emissions or safety inspection laws in place it's nearly impossible to get rid of them. Inspection stations are usually private repair shops, and they lobby hard to keep these cash cow laws in place. 

Furthermore, if the auto industry shifts to electric as anticipated, the whole concept of emissions testing will be obsolete in ~20 years. 

[Garz747]

Automotive emission testing was finally dropped here in Ontario , Canada about a year and half ago.. Complete waste of 35$ plus tax of course.  There is a hotline to report gross polluters if spotted on the roads -   far more useful than the tax grab. Newer cars have little pollutants anyway.  Motorcycles comprise a negligible portion of vehicles on the road.  Back in the day I had a two stroke Yamaha RD350LC.  Those were smokers when cold especially.

[knyte]

British Columbia, Canada, dropped it, too, for the same reasons.  All the real clunkers died and have been shredded, and anything new runs wayyy cleaner now, including and especially bikes like ours.

It's a shame they can't find the compromise with clean(er) emissions and the enthusiast / consumer market.  I want to be conscious of clean air, but I enjoy the toys, too.  I dunno, enforce catalytic converters, or something.  I don't mind running toys with cats.  I put one back ON my 92 Geo Tracker.  No appreciable performance impact, and it doesn't stink nearly as badly on the trails.  But to outright ban the largest mod / tuning sector seems a bit of an overachievement somehow.  I'm sure a balance can be found.

[igalmarino]

In Costa Rica we have anual emissions testing for cars AND motorcycles ....

[knyte]

15 hours ago, igalmarino said:

In Costa Rica we have anual emissions testing for cars AND motorcycles ....

how strict?

[estell]

Washington state dropped emission testing for all vehicles a few years ago. 

[betoney]

1 hour ago, estell said:

Washington state dropped emission testing for all vehicles a few years ago. 

I have lived here my whole life, I never knew that we had emissions testing... 🤷‍♀️

[peteinpa]

We'd all be in trouble if they'd start motorcycle emission testing in the US.

Here in PA for cars etc. they plug into the PCM and check for codes. All drive cycles must be passed with no CEL.

Edited April 17, 2021 by peteinpa

[nhchris]

Interesting.  Not sure what “CEL” codes are.  Same as OBD codes?

And I guess they do not reflect CAT or Ox sensor removal.

One testing  benefit I can see would be to silence all the straight pipe Harleys that   Roar all summer around here!

Edited April 17, 2021 by nhchris

[keithu]

13 hours ago, betoney said:

I have lived here my whole life, I never knew that we had emissions testing... 🤷‍♀️

Maybe they only had it in certain areas? Oregon does emissions testing in the Portland and Medford areas, but not anywhere else. Fortunately I don't live in either of those areas.

[betoney]

1 hour ago, nhchris said:

Interesting.  Not sure what “CEL” codes are.  Same as OBD codes?

Check Engine Light

[peteinpa]

Forgot to add: Here in PA only some areas have emissions based on population density per county I believe. Makes complete sense to me. 😵😡  We're all polluting (or not) the same air.