Clean bikes and clean air…

The CSC Cyclone continues toward its 9000 kilometers on the dyno as part of the US EPA and CARB (California Air Resources Board) certification process.    All systems are go and the bike is performing flawlessly.

There’s a lot to the certification process, and its all about essentially two tests:

• The first test is the emissions test.   During that test, the bike runs at various speeds while the exhaust emissions are monitored.   It goes for 9000 kilometers, and the test includes oil changes and other maintenance activities.   We need to demonstrate that the emission system does its job on an extended mileage basis.
• The second test is the shed test.   It gets its name from the fact that right after the bike has been run hard on the dyno, it moves to a shed (literally within a minute).   That shed is sealed and then heated.  While all of this is going on, sniffers do their thing and, well, they sniff.   They are looking for volatile emissions outgassing from the bike.   It’s the reason EPA-compliant and CARB-compliant vehicles have charcoal canisters and sealed fuel systems.  The charcoal canisters capture any fumes escaping from the fuel tank and fuel delivery system, and prevent them from entering the atmosphere.

You know, the EPA and CARB catch a lot of heat from uninformed people who think that these agencies are unnecessary.   I don’t see it that way.   When I first moved to California 35 years ago, the air quality here in  So Cal was atrocious.  Those mountains you see from the plant…the San Gabriels I brag about right here on the blog?   Well, 35 years ago the air was so dirty you couldn’t see the mountains.    No kidding…they disappeared into a big brown cloud.   Today that problem doesn’t exist.    The magnificent views of the mountains you see in our blog photos didn’t happen by accident.   That’s a direct result of the CARB and EPA motor vehicle requirements.

I’ve ridden other bikes (not ours) where the owners had removed all of the emissions equipment, and I could not tell the difference…the bikes ran just as well (from a performance perspective) with the emissions equipment as without it.  I’ve not removed any of the emissions stuff from any of my motorcycles.   It’s just a meaningless thing to do.

We’ll keep you posted on the Cyclone certification effort.   The bottom line is that we’re on schedule and everything is progressing smoothly.

Ride safe, folks.   We’ve got another magazine visiting us tomorrow for another feature story on the Cyclone.   More to follow…