I stopped in at the local dealer yesterday to buy some oil. I ended up having a very enlightening and very discouraging conversation with one of the techs who happened to drop by on his day off. We talked about a lot of things, but at one point the chat turned to motorcyles. I told him that I guessed despite my newly-developed apprehension regarding engine modifications, I was going to have to break down and have them replace the cams in my Vision one of these days.
That's when he dropped the bomb on me.
He got this pained look on his face and told me, "We're not going to do cams anymore. Not gonna do Power Commanders, either. We're not going to do any performance mods. Noteven going to sell this stuff."
My Portagee mind should have put it together, but it didn't. This is one of the biggest dealers on the planet and one whose empire was built on parts and they'renotgonna sell anyperformancegoodiesanymore? All I could do was offer up a lame, "WTF, man?!?!"
Like I said, the answer should have been obvious. The answer is CARB.
There's been ominous rumblings in 'Ginafornia regarding the California Air Resources Board and motorcycles for years now. There's nothing new about the arbitrary and capricious laws that have been passed by pencil-necked geek legislators that don't know a fuel injector from a baloney sandwich. But what is new is that the punks have stepped up their game and managed to get their bureaucraticprickup some very big corporate bungholes.
I was told that one of the major parts suppliers was hit with a finenorth of six figures for selling "illegal" parts to shops and dealers in'Ginafornia. And in the process, havecompletely spooked one of the biggest names in the business. And rightly so. See, theCARB goon squad didn't stop with just the fines. They made this major parts house turn over their records of who they sold what to. In turn, they paid a friendly visit to the dealer in question who was required to show them invoices, shipping manifests and work orders. Luckily, they were nothit with any fines, but the message was loud and clear. Cease and desist. No more cams, fuel tuners, exhaust systems, nothing even remotely performance related.
Oh, sure. You can still buy aftermarket parts that are CARB-compliant, but what's the point. Anything "legal" will only be different than OEM, but in no way better, so why bother? For a high visibility, high value target like my local dealer, it's just not worth the risk of selling anything that works that "might" not be compliant. I'm sure they'll continue to sell the "safe" stuff, but who's going to want it? No one I'm acquainted with.
I'm guessingit won't be long before you won't be able to get a motorcycle dynoed inold 'Gini.These guys have a big, red bullseye painted on the backs of their head and the fear is spreading in their ranks, too. A couple of months ago, I called a Dynojet-approved tuner in the Bay Area. The guy was reticent as all git-out to even talkto me about tuning my bike. At the end of our short conversation, he told me tocall him back in a couple of weeks for no apparent good reason, and of course, I never did. I told my cousin about this encounter and he told me a story of his own. He had called a different shop tosee about a dyno and the guy told him the only way he'd do it is if my cousin trailered his bike toand from the shop and the bike couldn't have a license plate on it. He didn't want any performance mods done, just a dynotune, but that was the deal. Take it or leave it, so he left it.
It didn't make sense to me then, but it does now. The darkness is deepening here and it's only going to get worse. Some might be inclined towards a "So what? Everyone knows 'Ginafornia is a POS now. Who cares?" attitude. ButunlikeLas Vegas, what goes on here doesn't always stay here. The cancer sometimes spreads to other parts of the country.
Hope is winking out herefor the future of motorcycling as we know it. Pretty richly ironic considering the motorcycling lifestyle was born in 'Ginafornia, and now the do-gooder, know-nothing, panty waisters running wild and unchecked are doing everything they can to kill it.
Stay tuned (no pun intended) . . .
That's when he dropped the bomb on me.
He got this pained look on his face and told me, "We're not going to do cams anymore. Not gonna do Power Commanders, either. We're not going to do any performance mods. Noteven going to sell this stuff."
My Portagee mind should have put it together, but it didn't. This is one of the biggest dealers on the planet and one whose empire was built on parts and they'renotgonna sell anyperformancegoodiesanymore? All I could do was offer up a lame, "WTF, man?!?!"
Like I said, the answer should have been obvious. The answer is CARB.
There's been ominous rumblings in 'Ginafornia regarding the California Air Resources Board and motorcycles for years now. There's nothing new about the arbitrary and capricious laws that have been passed by pencil-necked geek legislators that don't know a fuel injector from a baloney sandwich. But what is new is that the punks have stepped up their game and managed to get their bureaucraticprickup some very big corporate bungholes.
I was told that one of the major parts suppliers was hit with a finenorth of six figures for selling "illegal" parts to shops and dealers in'Ginafornia. And in the process, havecompletely spooked one of the biggest names in the business. And rightly so. See, theCARB goon squad didn't stop with just the fines. They made this major parts house turn over their records of who they sold what to. In turn, they paid a friendly visit to the dealer in question who was required to show them invoices, shipping manifests and work orders. Luckily, they were nothit with any fines, but the message was loud and clear. Cease and desist. No more cams, fuel tuners, exhaust systems, nothing even remotely performance related.
Oh, sure. You can still buy aftermarket parts that are CARB-compliant, but what's the point. Anything "legal" will only be different than OEM, but in no way better, so why bother? For a high visibility, high value target like my local dealer, it's just not worth the risk of selling anything that works that "might" not be compliant. I'm sure they'll continue to sell the "safe" stuff, but who's going to want it? No one I'm acquainted with.
I'm guessingit won't be long before you won't be able to get a motorcycle dynoed inold 'Gini.These guys have a big, red bullseye painted on the backs of their head and the fear is spreading in their ranks, too. A couple of months ago, I called a Dynojet-approved tuner in the Bay Area. The guy was reticent as all git-out to even talkto me about tuning my bike. At the end of our short conversation, he told me tocall him back in a couple of weeks for no apparent good reason, and of course, I never did. I told my cousin about this encounter and he told me a story of his own. He had called a different shop tosee about a dyno and the guy told him the only way he'd do it is if my cousin trailered his bike toand from the shop and the bike couldn't have a license plate on it. He didn't want any performance mods done, just a dynotune, but that was the deal. Take it or leave it, so he left it.
It didn't make sense to me then, but it does now. The darkness is deepening here and it's only going to get worse. Some might be inclined towards a "So what? Everyone knows 'Ginafornia is a POS now. Who cares?" attitude. ButunlikeLas Vegas, what goes on here doesn't always stay here. The cancer sometimes spreads to other parts of the country.
Hope is winking out herefor the future of motorcycling as we know it. Pretty richly ironic considering the motorcycling lifestyle was born in 'Ginafornia, and now the do-gooder, know-nothing, panty waisters running wild and unchecked are doing everything they can to kill it.
Stay tuned (no pun intended) . . .
