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California Senate moves to smog-check two-wheelers
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If Senate Bill 435 becomes law, then beginning in 2012 all California-registered motorcycles made in the year 2000 or later would have to pass substantially the same smog tests that our four-wheel brothers and sisters must now pass, generally every two years or on change of ownership.
Naturally, there has been a monumental hue and cry over this new restriction on our two-wheeled freedom, including complaints that modifications will have to be unwound and all that "stock crap" put back from where we took it off our bikes.
Personally, this new requirements doesn't bother me much. I already own a car and I'm comfortable having to prove that it's not a big polluter (ever ride behind a smoky exhaust? it doesn't smell so good, and it's not good for you, either!). So it's only a tiny step for me to prove my bike leaves a clean trail in the air behind it, too.
More to the point, if I were to be against smog-checking motorcycles, then I'd logically have to be in favor of dirtying the air for my children and grandchildren and generations beyond. Because -- let's face it -- the only modifications that will have to be removed are those that result in more pollutants coming out of a tailpipe. I can't take that position. In fact, I want there to be stricter controls, as part of an aggressive program to move toward entirely new auto and motorcycle fuels that don't pollute the environment at all.
Where do you stand on this?
But before you say anything, let's be clear: Opponents of smog checks for motorcycles are caught in a situation where they don't want to pay the price for the pleasures we enjoy when riding in California. They're saying it 's OK for others to endure smog checks. It's OK for others to limit their noxious exhaust emissions. It's OK for others to pay for a testing program that improves air quality in our state (and our planet, of course). They just don't want to personally participate in doing the adult thing.
OK. Now where are you going to stand?
As I write this, California SB 435 is scheduled for a "reading" on May 28th. Whatever your opinion, take a moment and tell Senators Boxer and Feinstein what you think about smog checks for motorcycles. You may be wrong or you may be right, but either way remember that democracy is not a spectator sport!
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