No More Non EPA Approved Pipes in 2013

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed SB 435 into law which will require all motorcycles built after January 2013 to have EPA approved exhaust systems on their motorcycles.

Riders found without an EPA label certifying sound emission compliance will be issued fix it tickets, with additional infractions having fines up to $250.00.

Therefore, any motorcycle aftermarket exhausts or pipes that are not EPA certified will be illegal in California.

Many aftermarket motorcycle exhaust manufacturers will probably not have the money or inclination to get such a certification, so for all intents and purposes, after market pipes will no longer be legal in California.

If other States follow California with similar statutes then it may force manufacturers to comply with EPA regulations.

California will now basically enforce a 25 year Federal regulation which requires that all motorcycle exhausts be EPA certified.

I have been riding motorcycles for many years. I try to have exhaust systems that have some bark, but that are not too loud.

However, there are guys out there running open exhausts that are so loud that you cannot actually hear yourself talk as they drive by.

The State has now taken action to quiet our motorcycles down since we were unable to police ourselves.

What can be done to avoid SB 435? Keep your old motorcycles and do not buy anything new after 2013. Replace the engines, transmissions, and frames as needed.

Whatever you do, keep your stock exhaust systems just in case you do get a fix it ticket. Even if your motorcycle is not a 2013 or newer biker, we are still subject to noise laws here in California.

This bill will probably have an ominous effect on motorcycle sales in California. So again, we have do gooders enacting laws here that screw our economy.

What can we expect next, a motorcycle smog bill. I recommend that every motorcycle rider in the State of California join ABATE, so that we will have a voice in Sacramento.

By California Motorcycle Accident and Biker Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © September 2010

The post No More After Market Pipes in California in 2013; We Did it To Ourselves. first appeared on Biker and Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Blog.

After Market Motorcycle Exhausts will become illegal under SB 435

Well, many of you have heard about SB 435, and many of you have not. California Senate Bill 435 will basically make it illegal to run with non stock exhausts on your motorcycles.

This bill passed the State Senate and is now sitting on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desk as I type this.

Our only hope now to get this asinine bill stopped is for the governor to veto the bill.

Every one of you should call, email, and write to Schwarzenegger NOW to get him to not sign the bill. Schwarzenegger is a fellow biker. Hopefully he will veto the damm thing.

If Schwarzenegger signs SB 435, it will become law. This law makes all 2013 and newer bikers without EPA stamped exhausts subject to fines of between .00 and 0.00.

On a personal note, I have never had a stock motorcycle with EPA stamps, so I have no clue how the hell the State is going to force manufacturers to put Federal EPA stamps on their exhaust systems.

I think this law is discriminatory on its face.

They say that since this is a secondary infraction, that the Police will be unable to pull over a motorcycle solely for an apparent exhaust violation, but I know that many bikers are being pulled over now for supposedly loud pipes.

You and I all know how this thing will play out. There will be some officers that will pull over any motorcycle that sounds loud, and they will ding the rider with a ticket if they cannot see the EPA stamp on the exhaust.

Frankly, I am so pissed off about this bill that I probably should not write anymore about it right now.

All I can say is that this is what happens when you get legislatures in office making more money than most of the people in the State, and with too much time on their hands.

By California Motorcycle Accident Attorney and Biker Lawyer, Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2010

The post After Market Exhaust’s and Pipes are About to Become Illegal in California. first appeared on Biker and Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Blog.

** 6/2/09 Update: California State Senator Fran Pavley a few months ago made herself motorcycle public enemy number one in California after she introduced legislation that would have required smog checks for all motorcycles of model year 2000 or newer. The bill proposed to start enforcing the measure in 2012, but that has now been changed.

The proposal has been amended to authorize police officers to fine bikers who have removed catalytic converters, instead of requiring the emissions testing. The senate approved the amended bill which now goes to the state assembly. If it passes there, the Governors signature is all that will be needed to make it law..

In reality the cost of policing the original measure, in relation to the minuscule amount of pollution a motorcycle puts out, just did not make sense when the two factors were weighed out under the original plan.

So under the new proposal, the police will now be able stop and fine bikers with allegedly modified stock systems. This is worse then the smog bill proposal. How are we supposed to prove to a police officer that our smog system on the motorcycle has not been tampered with? This notion is absured and puts too much discrestion in Police officer hands.

Make sure you keep writing your state senators!

*** 5/27/09 Update: A California State Senator has informed me of the following: “Due to the fiscal costs associated with SB 435, it has been placed on the Senate Appropriations legislative suspense file.” It appears that this bill has been placed on the shelf for now!

Well leave it to the California state legislature’s to come up with another dumb idea that may cost many people their jobs, will have no significant impact on air-quality, can be easily skirted, and will serve as another way for the state to take our money through backend taxes.

Welcome to California State Senate Bill 435, (“SB 435”) our State lawmaker’s idiocy at its finest. You may think that as a Biker Lawyer I would embrace more laws; wrong, I embrace laws that are reasonable, not laws that are just meant to discriminate and unjustly tax a class of citizens. SB 435 is meant to do just that, unjustly tax and discriminate against Motorcycle riders and bikers. Don’t let anyone lead you to believe otherwise.

The proponents of SB 435 are selling the bill as a means to clean up California’s air and to ensure that motorcyclist and bikers do not modify their exhaust systems.

There are many problems with SB 435, namely; there are already laws that prohibit motorcyclist and bikers from modifying their exhaust. Therefore this bill is duplicative. Secondly, it is very easy for a motorcyclist or biker to simply put their stock exhaust pipes on for a smog test, and then remove them after the test. The bill is asinine. Thirdly, motorcycles make up a tiny fraction of gas powered motor vehicles on the road today. There is no valid evidence whatsoever that SB 435 will clean up the air at all. Hell if you want to clean up the air, why not force everyone to put catalytic converters over their cooking ovens and at restaurants? Actually I better not give the legislatures any ideas. They actually sit around on capital hill thinking up shit.

SB 435 is all about hype and further discriminating against motorcyclist and bikers.

With a State already in a budget crisis, the States plan under SB 435 would cost untold millions of dollars to implement, and ad an added tax by way of fees to motorcyclist and bikers who are already pay enough taxes. As the old saying goes, you cannot squeeze blood out of a turnip.

Every Californian who cares about freedom should contact their State Representative and give them a piece of your mind, and tell them to vote no on SB 435. Our State is in fiscal crisis, we certainly do not need any more regulation that will put people out of jobs, cost millions to implement, cost motorist more money in a back end tax, with no real benefit to the people of the State of California.

It is easier to prevent a dingbat scheme like this from being signed into law, then to reverse the law once it is put into place, as we all learned with helmet laws in the State. Therefore it is imperative that we fight this proposed Senate Bill Now!

What if the law is enacted? Simple, put your stock pipes back on for the smog test. I will not give advice on what do after the test!
I am sure that many of you have sold or given away your stock pipes. Bad move. You should at all costs keep your stock pipes now. Hell why pay another 500-600 bucks to get another set of stockers simply to pass a smog test.

Smog test or no smog test, they will not get rid of us motorcyclist and bikers just yet! I just prefer not to have to pay a back end tax based on a law that has no demonstrative results and is useless.

By California Motorcycle Accident Attorney and Biker Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2009

The post The State of California’s Ridiculous Plan to do Smog test on Motorcycles. first appeared on Biker and Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Blog.