Harley Davidson vs. the US Government on Emissions
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
2016 Harley-Davidson Sportster Roadster launches in Canada.
"Harley Davidson in $12 M Emissions Penalty" from the BBC Business Service.
Harley Davison is paying the US government $12 million dollars to settle allegations over HD aftermarket parts sold for its motorbikes. It has also been ordered to stop selling devices that enable motorbikes to generate power that also increases emissions. US Authorities said Harley Davison had sold around 340,000 super tuners since 2008.
The company denied the EPA claims of disabled pollution control devices saying the devices were only sold for use in off-road or closed course competitions.
“Given Harley Davison’s prominence in the industry, this is a very significant step toward our goal of stopping the sale of illegal after-market defeat devices that cause harmful pollution on our roads and in our communities” the Justice Department’s Assistant Attorney General John Cruden said in a statement.
Source http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37127576
Is the beginning of the end for aftermarket performance parts?
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93 months ago
What is the government going to do with a 12 million?
93 months ago
Containment in relation to emissions For bikes is all relative. Compare a bike with a Semi? Containment in relation to sound levels in suburban streets is an ethical issue.
93 months ago
@marina it wasn't legislation about limiting after market exhausts, and nor would this have changed anything.
It was actually a piece of European legislation called Type Approval, which meant not only could you NOT fit aftermarket exhausts, but any part of the bike, and that the bike would be built to disable itself if you did.
Ironically, as these exhausts were sold by Harley, they would almost certainly have been OK under type approval.
All type approval would do is limit supply and make it so that only your dealer could work on your bike. Prices would go up, choice would go down. Kind of the same reason an Apple charging cable costs $30 while an Android one costs maybe $3
93 months ago
@kershaw - Yep, that's pretty normal in most places.
93 months ago
They have a standard here for noise and emissions, however what generally happens is if you fit aftermarket pipes on a bike, when it goes in for an annual inspection, the orignal pipes are put on for the inspection, then taken off once the inspection has finished. It would be very very rare for police to test your pipes and issue a defect notice.
93 months ago
Overall bad news for Harley and for riders who buy the bike to customize it.
@alex wasn't there proposed legislation in the UK about limiting after market exhaust customizations?