This alarming headline, which will probably be relegated to the back pages of the sports section, is not very far away. Our worst nightmare is fast becoming a reality. The EPA's new emissions proposal would not only eliminate two-strokes, it would also affect most of the off-road motorcycles we are so fond of converting for dual-sport use. Any 2003 off-road bike which currently does not qualify for a green sticker under California's CARB regulations, as well as some that do, would not be allowed on public land across the entire nation, and would be ineligible for a street license in any state!
Thanks to Governor Davis, the California Department of Parks and Recreation's Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division has been taken over by environmentalists. Their apparent intention is to drastically limit the use of motorcycles and ATVs on state and federal lands. As the state's regulatory noose tightens, more and more off-road bikes will be getting red stickers instead of green. In many places, such as the San Bernardino National Forest, the funds obtained from OHV registrations are no longer being used for building and maintaining OHV trails. The OHMVR Commission has been giving out grants that allow those funds to be used for habitat restoration and law enforcement, instead of supporting recreation!
What we are being threatened with here is not an access issue or land-use issue. This assault on off-road motorcycles is actually a vehicle use issue! While AFFA, CORVA, the BRC and the AMA have been putting up a fight against the land closures promoted by the environmental lobby, the eco-nazis have devised a completely different strategy. They are trying to eliminate the sale and use of off-road vehicles by pushing for stricter noise and emission regulations, which would effectively prohibit dirt bikes and ATVs from public lands. If we don't do something about this new attack immediately, dual-sport motorcycling as we know it will be doomed.
If you're not happy about what the California Air Resources Board and the California OHMVR Commission are doing to the Green Sticker Program, please get in touch with CORVA and ask them what they are doing about it:
California Off Road Vehicle Association
I hope you're convinced that dual-sporters everywhere, not just in California, will be severely impacted by the EPA's proposed emission regulations. For some strange reason, the AMA has chosen to frame this off-road vehicle use issue as a two-stroke problem, and they need to hear from the dual-sport and trail-riding community that our form of recreation is also in danger:
Is the AMA Protecting Our Right to Ride?
More information detailing the EPA's strict new emissions proposal and how to give them a piece of your mind can be found at this link:
New Federal Emissions Regulations