Let The **** Storm Commence

[Scratch33]

 

Some after-market motorcycle parts don’t meet safety or environmental standards, experts say


The first dollar Rick Doyle ever earned as a $3 million-a-year dealer of after-market motorcycle parts is tacked to the wall of a dusty barn in rural Ohio, where two custom-built bikes have been pushed to the corner, forgotten. There is nothing here now except a 10-year-old tractor. The biker calender above the desk still reads February 2006.

That’s about when Doyle made an unsettling discovery about an industry that for decades catered to motorcyclists who pride themselves on customizing bikes with unique features and high-powered parts.

Some of the products that Doyle had sold by the thousands — from undersized mirrors and lights to high performance carburetors — appeared to violate federal standards meant to keep the roads safe and the air clear of excessive emissions. Other parts that showed signs of being dangerous weren’t covered by any standard at all. Doyle started researching the fine print of federal law after a series of after-market parts broke while he was customizing bikes. He was also engaged in a dispute over shipping and billing with one of his biggest parts suppliers.

“I felt like my chest had a piano on it when I realized the number of products I had sold, as well as countless ignorant dealers,” said Doyle, whose business, known as the Hog Farm, is now shuttered. “But no one wanted to hear it. No one wanted to investigate it. The government was letting these companies sell anything they wanted.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/some-after-market-motorcycle-parts-dont-meet-safety-or-environmental-standards-experts-say/2012/05/26/gJQAgQezsU_story.html?hpid=z1

[FJR1300]

 

[Scratch33]

“People don’t want to be told what to do with their bikes,” said California motorcyclist Michael Reese. “Does society really care if a guy has loud or modified pipes?”

But air-quality experts cite an environmental toll when bikers tamper with certified engines, fuel and exhaust systems by substituting after-market parts, such as air filters, ignitions and pipes. The average manufactured motorcycle produces 14 times the smog-forming emissions as the average car, California’s air quality experts have found.

“These [after-market] parts create smog and particle pollution,” said Paul G. Billings, vice president of national policy and advocacy for the American Lung Association. “It’s willful violation of the law. We need to go after the manufacturers and retailers.”

[Scratch33]

On the safety side, fatalities among motorcyclists climbed steadily between 2000 and 2008 even as deaths among occupants of passenger vehicles dropped. Motorcycle deaths declined in 2009 but rose again in 2010. Motorcyclists are 25 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a crash and five times more likely to be injured, according to NHTSA.

No one knows whether non-compliant or potentially dangerous parts have contributed to the problems on the roads. Research by the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that motorcycles with high-performance capabilities can encourage riders to speed and engage in risky behavior.

NHTSA and federal safety experts say that equipment failure has not caused a large number of crashes, but the federal government has not conducted a comprehensive study of the causes of motorcycle crashes since 1981. That study found that modified bikes were overrepresented in crashes.

[scottzilla]

Those little short stalk turn signals Lochart Phillips sold by the millions are illegal in most states.  
Not sure what the problem is.  

[DogBoy]

Oh my gosh. This is terrible. Especially when you consider that every single aftermarket part sold for high performance cars, 4wd trucks and SUVs are produced in absolute compliance with all emissions and safety regulations.    And those cars and trucks only outnumber motorcycles by a factor of a gazillion.  

[Scratch33]

[PatM]

It can be summed up in one word, liability. The manufacturer and/or distributor and/or reseller can be held accountable for the safety of their products. Even if the guberment did not enforce its regulations. Even if they're not used as prescribed. Those for off-road use only stickers did not appear out of safety concern only.  

[cbsnbiker]

Beat me to it. I was just about to post this article.

Juxtapose this with tomorrow's Rolling Thunder, where much of this will be on display.

[Joey Stalin]

I don't really care, I'd rather have some guy wipe out in a single vehicle collision because of some shitty part he installed, than having the government hand hold my every purchasing decision.

[Papa Lazarou]

I don't really care, I'd rather have some guy wipe out in a single vehicle collision because of some shitty part he installed, than having the government hand hold my every purchasing decision.

I'm sure that can be arranged. How much would your wife pay?

[arktazz]

 

[county]

Well, to quote Gomer Pyle..."surprise surprise surprise"  

And that idiot Doyle is, IMO, lying....hell, I do not even sell that stuff and I know a lot of it is illegal.  Like loud pipes, duh.  

[veefer800canuck]

You mean I can't get a Maltese cross taillight and matching mirrors for my Vfr?

[black hills]

umm..yea.... proabably expalin why most of them say:

"not for highway use"
"for off road use only"

etc.....

[Joey Stalin]

I'm sure that can be arranged. How much would your wife pay?

what?  

[Flyer]

So if we extend this liability thought...
Could an insurance company deny coverage of a vehicle "modified" with "off road parts" without consent, illegally operating on the road?  
It would be enlightening to read the policies of some of these $100K motive creations...

[chilipeppernorm]

Let's summarize, shall we. Some guy who ran an aftermarket mail order business out of his barn which he named the "Hog Farm" now has his thong in a wad and can't sleep because the crap he sold wasn't compliant with the Federal regulations thought up and drafted by the twatwaffles that currently and previously occupied the White House and the Congress.  

[davenay67]

twatwaffles

This made my day....this is close to being my new favorite insult....

Back on topic, not sure how Mr. Doyle didn't realize that some of the gear he sold wasn't 100% compliant.

[Giaka]

what?  

Cocaine is a hell of a drug.