Author Topic: EPA approved inspector ruined my bike testing it.  (Read 4058 times)

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Sectorsteve

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on: September 12, 2013, 02:26:26 am
May be an exagerration - i hope so. I took the bike in with the stock exhaust to be noise tested today. On the EPA form it says im allowed 100DB and that the inspector is to rev the engine to 2625RPM. Inspector had to hook the RPM meter to the spark plug somehow which he had some trouble doing.
He then got me to start the engine and he controlled the throttle. He revved it to the 2625rpm and this is about 75% of the max throttle. Ive never ever revved the bike up that much. It sounded bad. I told him i didnt want him doing this, but he says he was just going by what the EPA said to do.
Anyway. I drive about 50km home down the highway at different speeds , but no more than 100kph. I stop near home to go to shop, then when i go to start the bike back up, theres a big "POP", came from the head/spark plug area. when you turn the ignition on the ticking sound near the fuses.
This also didnt sound good. I managed to kick start the bike, but only got about 1km before she stopped. It sounded like a spark plug, so i went and bought another. She would kick over, but only run for a short while. It seems like a power issue. If you use a turn signal or anything , its straight off.
Any ideas?
« Last Edit: September 12, 2013, 03:06:54 am by Sectorsteve »


hillntx

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Reply #1 on: September 12, 2013, 02:54:21 am
Possible loose connection due to the engine vibration from the test.  2625 rpm should not place your engine at risk.


Sectorsteve

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Reply #2 on: September 12, 2013, 02:56:20 am
thanks hillntx, hope so. ill be on it soon but ive had to rent a car to work for an hour or so.
what about tthe big pop though?


Bulletman

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Reply #3 on: September 12, 2013, 03:27:03 am
Just Maybe....your Spark plug boot is not Connected all the way to your Sparkplug..OR your HT lead is barely connecting internally to the spark plug boot ...Happened to me once..a quick check would eliminate that possibility.
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D the D

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Reply #4 on: September 12, 2013, 03:34:20 am
2625 RPM is a low cruising speed.  Vibration could have loosened up electrical and other stuff as the guys said or the EPA guy loosened the spark wire when he detached the Tach lead, but that midrange RPM won't damage anything.  You most likely shift much higher than that or else you're lugging your engine.
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gashousegorilla

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Reply #5 on: September 12, 2013, 03:38:31 am
Just Maybe....your Spark plug boot is not Connected all the way to your Sparkplug..OR your HT lead is barely connecting internally to the spark plug boot ...Happened to me once..a quick check would eliminate that possibility.


  +1    It's the last thing the guy touched...... And 2625 rpm's is nothing to worry about 
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Sectorsteve

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Reply #6 on: September 12, 2013, 04:07:42 am
Thanks guys. Took the battery out repkaced spark plug. Sparky looks fine. The pop is whatsoever worrying me. Checked battery. Appears rooted. Not charging. Buying new one now. Will test with multi meter once installed.


High On Octane

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Reply #7 on: September 12, 2013, 04:39:55 am
Hopefully it's just a loose connection somewhere.

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JVS

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Reply #8 on: September 12, 2013, 04:48:04 am
Thanks guys. Took the battery out repkaced spark plug. Sparky looks fine. The pop is whatsoever worrying me. Checked battery. Appears rooted. Not charging. Buying new one now. Will test with multi meter once installed.

Hmm a pop and the battery not charging...Almost sounds like a short circuit between the battery terminals. Is the battery cracked from somewhere? Any black spots? I really hope that I'm wrong and also hope that no other electrical connections and devices were affected by this. Try to get the AGM Motobatt battery..http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php/topic,15894.0.html And also check for exposed connections near the battery side.

Most likely some fuse has blown besides the main one..check for that too.
« Last Edit: September 12, 2013, 05:13:38 am by JVS »
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Sectorsteve

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Reply #9 on: September 12, 2013, 05:45:02 am
I got a motobatt. All is well it seems!


wildbill

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Reply #10 on: September 12, 2013, 09:10:20 am
so have i - good battery


Sectorsteve

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Reply #11 on: September 12, 2013, 09:30:07 am
all seems well now with the new Battery. Strange that the "pop" happened and the battery short itself straight after the Noise test.
I feel terminal now. The EPA has me on record, and supposedly any cop that scans my plate will see that im on the EPA list. Im hesitant to put my old muffler on which i love so much. I passed of course with the stock on but the noise tester guy still managed to get the stock up to 94 DB with his excessiveness on the throttle. No one who owns an RE would take the throttle so far. retards.
Im gonna wait about a month, see how we go, and in that time im going to try and quieten down the megaphone as much as i can. Peace.


wildbill

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Reply #12 on: September 12, 2013, 11:36:12 am
ref - The EPA has me on record - that would give you the sh-ts. just makes you wonder how come all those harley riders get away with it.
if they concentrated on those guys most of their bikes would be off the road.


Sectorsteve

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Reply #13 on: September 12, 2013, 12:16:39 pm
Well according to the noise tester they're getting alot of Harley's in lately. They say that they put their stocks back on to pass test, then put their after markets back on , but keep getting done to the point they sell their bikes.
Apparently the noise testers are getting very busy with work from the EPA.


tooseevee

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Reply #14 on: September 12, 2013, 01:58:23 pm
   You're worried about 2600 RPM? How do you ever get anywhere? I think you must be shifting higher than this & just don't realize it.

   I'm not positive, but isn't the redline around 5500?

   And why do harleys always have to be brought up? I say get away with as much as you can when you're up against a bureaucracy that is constantly trying to do away with you & your bike & everything you want to do to or with it. Without harley group lobbies (like ABATE) that are constantly keeping an eye on what the government's doing, you would have way worse laws than we have now trying to do away with motorcycles.  Granted, some bikes may be too loud, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. And I doubt that the noise tester is really getting any more harleys than normal. He probably just has that same old harley hair up his own ass.
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mplayle

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Reply #15 on: September 12, 2013, 02:16:05 pm
It definitely sounds like he had his machine set wrong.  If he has been testing Harleys, then it was set for a 2 cylinder bike and would read 1/2 what your RE was running.  The idiot should have been able to tell that by just the sound of the revs (unless he is deaf).


Sectorsteve

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Reply #16 on: September 12, 2013, 02:21:47 pm
5500rpm is correct, so I wasn't worried about 2600rpm.
the sound  from my bike wasnt a good one when the asshole was opening it up. It was screaming. I've ridden my bike 30000 ks in the last year with 2 big trips over 2500km over a few days on the highway  with constant 120kph. I've never heard it ring out like that, so I don't appreciate someone else fucking it for me. If anyone's gonna fuck it, it will be me. Not some moron working for government leaches.


JVS

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Reply #17 on: September 12, 2013, 02:30:57 pm
I may be wrong here again...

See, anything over 3000RPM on an Enfield, without any load (stationary) does sound high and scary. I am sure that revving the engine quite a bit on no load, especially iron barrels, can lead to bent pushrods and what not, am I correct?

I think the same applies for our UCE. We know that revving an engine excessively can cause some sort of damage. But I think an Enfield engine is more susceptible to this said damage if being revved too high for no reason without load. Doesn't matter what the redline is, try revving your Enfield a bit high..as much as it sounds okay at decent revs. But at higher revs without any load is just not worth it. Just saying.
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Sectorsteve

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Reply #18 on: September 12, 2013, 02:38:11 pm
I agree. I certainly wouldn't do it to my own bike. Different story if it's a Ducati or something but not on the RE. 


singhg5

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Reply #19 on: September 12, 2013, 03:17:04 pm
... On the EPA form it says im allowed 100DB and that the inspector is to rev the engine to 2625RPM. Inspector had to hook the RPM meter to the spark plug somehow which he had some trouble doing.
He then got me to start the engine and he controlled the throttle. He revved it to the 2625rpm and this is about 75% of the max throttle. Ive never ever revved the bike up that much. It sounded bad. I told him i didnt want him doing this, but he says he was just going by what the EPA said to do.
Any ideas?

... 
I feel terminal now. The EPA has me on record, and supposedly any cop that scans my plate will see that im on the EPA list.
. . Peace.


EPA guy very likely did not set his tachometer right and must be running your bike at double rpms 2x2600 and reading it 2600  . 

My suggestion is to buy a tachometer and a decibel meter. You can test yourself.

To set the tachometer, read idle - it should be about 1000 rpm (If tachometer is reading about 500, set the tachometer again until it is about 1000 rpm). I have seen it happen when tachometer is set wrong.

As you know 2600 rpm is not high at all and OEM muffler is not loud, in fact the most muffled of all.

After you have tested, go back to EPA and show the result with your decibel meter. It will cost you a little bit but may be worth it to get your name off their list. See if you can borrow a tachometer / decibel meter from someone.

Tiny Tach is wireless, just wrap the wire around the spare plug cable and I have used that because of ease of installation. There are other cheaper ones also available.

http://tinytach.com/handheld.php

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/decibel-meter

PS - Riding at 30 mph in III gear is about 2600 rpm
     - Riding at 40 mph in IV gear is about 2600 rpm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7CYDNVlgdg

If you don't have tachometer, you can do the following. Put a piece of white tape on throttle grip and another piece on its plastic body. Draw lines with pen to mark idle and wide-open-throttle and line them up. Divide one of them into 4 parts. Go for a ride. When you ride at above speeds in above gears, just look at how much throttle is open to help you give some idea about position of the throttle at 2600 rpm. Most likely it is about 1/3 between idle and WOT positions.

It would be different when bike is standing but gives you upper limit of throttle movement to reach those rpms, when testing for decibels without tachometer.
 
JVS had another method to find rpms by recording sound waves - thumps. Send him a message or if he is reading, he can elaborate on that method.
 
« Last Edit: September 12, 2013, 07:45:45 pm by singhg5 »
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ROVERMAN

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Reply #20 on: September 12, 2013, 03:55:07 pm
+1.


The_Rigger

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Reply #21 on: September 12, 2013, 05:36:46 pm
Wow.  Just....  Wow.  I'm glad I live in an area where the Gummint doesn't feel the need to do vehicle "inspections"...
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barenekd

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Reply #22 on: September 12, 2013, 05:46:21 pm
The guy probably had the tach set wrong, as for a twin, and he were actually turning 5300! RPM. It shouldn't take more than a small crack of throttle to get it to 2650.
I don't know that you have any recourse against the idiot, but you might mention it to his boss with your lawyer's phone number in hand!
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tooseevee

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Reply #23 on: September 12, 2013, 06:45:49 pm
The guy probably had the tach set wrong, as for a twin, and he were actually turning 5300! RPM. It shouldn't take more than a small crack of throttle to get it to 2650.
I don't know that you have any recourse against the idiot, but you might mention it to his boss with your lawyer's phone number in hand!
Bare

            That seems to me a reasonable explanation because no way in the world is 2,600 "scary" or a screaming, banshee, engine-destroying noise from this motorcycle.

             On the other hand, if the idiot did indeed rev his bike to 5,200 (a guess) with no load on it he has every reason to be pissed off.
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