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This beautiful image is owned by Falcon Motorcycles, and has nothing to do with this essay (but it does have straight pipes). It is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
People remember bikers with loud pipes, and stunters on public roads: in a bad way.
That jerk (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) Arnold Schwarzenegger was named AMA Motorcyclist of the Year as a negative award. Really. Rob Dingman promised to never pull that stunt again, but what a waste of the award! A great motorcyclist lost-out on earning AMA Motorcyclist of the Year, because they used it for a negative-award instead.
Governor Schwarzenegger signed California Bill SB 435, “the EPA label bill”, into law on September 28, 2010. This bill requires an EPA label to be in an easy-to-read location on all exhaust systems for motorcycles built after January 1, 2013. Never mind that these labels are never in easy-to-read locations. Never mind that the label tells law enforcement absolutely nothing about whether any particular exhaust system is actually quiet enough. The baffles in motorcycle exhaust systems are extremely easy to remove. A loud bike with no baffles, but an EPA label, might pass, but a quiet motorcycle without an EPA label would not? This law is that stupid.
Your bike was built before January 1, 2013, so you are in the clear, correct? Well, those folks with loud motorcycles, that were built before January 1, 2013, are the reason that this law was deemed necessary in the first place.
Why did they do this? The current laws require the bike to ride past a stationary sound meter at various speeds. Obviously that’s not something that police are going to do when they pull you over, so the AMA wrote model legislation that describes an inexpensive, easy, stationary test, but California’s lawmakers didn’t use it. California Bill SB 435 effectively makes almost all after-market pipes illegal. In some rare cases (read: Harley Davidson soft-tail models) an after-market muffler company might make an EPA labeled pipe, but the testing has to be done for every combination of motorcycle, intake system, and exhaust: not likely.
As goes California, so goes the rest of the country, because most of these great United States’ state lawmakers often don’t write their own laws about which vehicles are legal; they use California’s transportation laws as model-legislation instead. Maine already has a bill proposing this [cough]solution[/cough]. Really.
BILL NUMBER: SB 435 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 407
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2010
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 28, 2010
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 30, 2010
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 9, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 30, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 22, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 15, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 10, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 11, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 28, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 13, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Pavley
(Coauthor: Senator Lowenthal)
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
An act to add Section 27202.1 to the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 435, Pavley. Vehicles: pollution control devices.
(1) Existing federal regulations require a motorcycle manufactured
on and after January 1, 1983, and exhaust emission systems for those
motorcycles, to meet specified noise emissions standards and require
that a label be affixed onto the motorcycle or exhaust emission
system indicating that the motorcycle or exhaust emission system
meets the noise emissions standards.
This bill would make it a crime for a person to park, use, or
operate a motorcycle, registered in the state, that is manufactured
on and after January 1, 2013, or a motorcycle, registered in the
state, with aftermarket exhaust system equipment that is manufactured
on or after January 1, 2013, that does not have the above label, and
would make a violation of this provision punishable by a specified
fine, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by creating a
new crime. The bill would require the person to whom a notice to
appear is issued, or against whom a complaint is filed, for the above
violation, to provide proof of correction. The bill would authorize
a court to dismiss the penalty imposed for a first violation if the
person produces proof of correction to the satisfaction of the court.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 27202.1 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
27202.1. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, a person shall not
park, use, or operate a motorcycle, registered in the State of
California, that does not bear the required applicable federal
Environmental Protection Agency exhaust system label pursuant to
Subparts D (commencing with Section 205.150) and E (commencing with
Section 205.164) of Part 205 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal
Regulations. A violation of this section shall be considered a
mechanical violation and a peace officer shall not stop a motorcycle
solely on a suspicion of a violation of this section. A peace officer
shall cite a violation of this section as a secondary infraction.
(b) A violation of this section is punishable as follows:
(1) For a first conviction, by a fine of not less than fifty
dollars ($50), nor more than one hundred dollars ($100).
(2) For a second or subsequent conviction, by a fine of not less
than one hundred dollars ($100), nor more than two hundred fifty
dollars ($250).
(c) (1) The notice to appear issued or complaint filed for a
violation of this section shall require that the person to whom the
notice to appear is issued, or against whom the complaint is filed,
produce proof of correction pursuant to Section 40150.
(2) Upon producing proof of correction to the satisfaction of the
court, the court may dismiss the penalty imposed pursuant to
subdivision (b) for a first violation of this section.
(d) (1) This section is applicable to a person operating a
motorcycle that is manufactured on or after January 1, 2013, or a
motorcycle with aftermarket exhaust system equipment that is
manufactured on or after January 1, 2013.
(2) Penalties imposed pursuant to this section are in addition to
penalties imposed pursuant to any other applicable laws or
regulations.
(3) This section does not supersede, negate, or otherwise alter
any other applicable laws or regulations.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.