MotoAmerica Superbikes like these Yamaha YZF-R1s would have been illegal under the interpretation the Environmental Protection Agency expressed earlier this year.
Under pressure from Congress and the car racing industry (with very little involvement from the motorcycle racing side, which would have also been affected), the Environmental Protection Agency has backed off an interpretation of emissions laws that would have made it illegal to race modified street-legal machines. In other words, all of the professional roadracing classes in MotoAmerica.
The EPA has just issued a new statement saying its focus is not on true race vehicles, but on manufacturers making devices “for competition use only” that are actually used on street vehicles, not on true race vehicles. As I reported previously, the prior statement by the EPA would have overturned a decades-old understanding that the Clean Air Act applied to vehicles used on public streets, not race vehicles or track-only vehicles, such as the track-day-only bikes many of us have.
A measure was filed in Congress, called the RPM Act, that would have explicitly told the EPA that it was overreaching and that forcing competition vehicles to be emissions-compliant was not Congress’ intent. But the EPA backed down before that became necessary.
What this is really about is the loophole that dozens of companies use to sell equipment that defeats emissions controls by saying it is “for competition use only.” It’s a farce and everyone knows it. You can buy an exhaust system or air intake for an 800-pound Harley-Davidson touring bike, with its saddlebags and seat like a lounger, that is “for competition use only,” though nobody in the world races such a vehicle.
The EPA made its focus clear in its new statement, which says the agency “supports motorsports and its contributions to the American economy and communities all across the country. EPA’s focus is not on vehicles built or used exclusively for racing, but on companies that don’t play by the rules and that make and sell products that disable pollution controls on motor vehicles used on public roads. These unlawful defeat devices pump dangerous and illegal pollution into the air we breathe.”
Really, I’m sure this is less about motorcycles than about trucks. It’s probably no accident that the EPA’s previous statement was buried in regulations dealing with trucks. It has become popular among a certain segment of society to modify diesel pickup trucks so they belch an impressive column of black soot when the owner smashes the throttle. They still may not accelerate any faster than a Ninja 300, but this ostentatious display of fouling the atmosphere is some folks’ idea of great fun. Apparently, the EPA is not amused.
The EPA was overreaching, however, by saying that every vehicle ever certified for emissions had to stay that way, even if it was a Yamaha YZF-R1, like the ones shown above, never ridden on a public street and used only for MotoAmerica Superbike races.
The motorcycle industry will certainly be affected, however, if the EPA ever does decide to try to clamp down on companies selling “for competition use only” devices. You’d have to throw out about a third of the items in the catalog (if anyone still had catalogs). But that’s a battle for another day, maybe. At least we can still race Superbikes.
