[Richard230]

My brother just purchased a slightly used 2014 Triumph Bonneville that came with loud aftermarket mufflers.  He felt that they were too loud, but didn't want to pay for the stock mufflers, which are expensive and very heavy. So he contacted the Triumph dealer in San Francisco, who he claims, told him that they were no longer able to sell aftermarket mufflers and he was also told that they wouldn't even service a motorcycle with non-stock mufflers, unless it was approved for off-road usage and trucked to the shop.  So either my brother is full of it, or someone has read motorcycle dealers in California the "riot act" and threatened them with big fines if they get caught doing something that is not CA EPA approved. He says that he did find a dealer in Illinois who sold him a set of Arrow header pipes and mufflers.  He got them for $700, about half price, no shipping and no sales tax. My brother claims that he was told that was the last set in stock and the supplier never wanted to see another aftermarket muffler set again. 

[Arschloch]

Sounds like CA is a developing market for the BICAR.

[Richard230]

Sounds like CA is a developing market for the BICAR.

I am not sure what BICAR is, but our newly elected (no more Moonbeam) Governor wants to save the World and everyone in it.  He even wants to provide free medical services for everyone who is in the U.S. Illegally and is a resident of California.  To fund all of his big ideas he needs lots more taxes, fees and just plain money.  He sees California's Carbon Credit market generating billions of dollars that can be whisked away to fund just about anything and will be going after raising property taxes soon.  What is worse is that he has a "super majority" of liberal and "progressive" legislators who are not only ready to back all of his ideas, but have even bigger ideas and plans for spending every dollar then can get their hands on. 

Cracking down on any company selling or modifying a vehicle from its original specifications by fining businesses (oddly, not individuals) with huge fines (something like $10,000 per violation) for each infraction, is just a small part of the money grab.    No doubt that was why when our original sponsor was selling accessory mufflers, it came with a warning that it could not be installed on a vehicle licensed for highway use. (I promised to only ride my B5 off road while using the muffler.    )  Welcome to California.   

[tooseevee]

I am not sure what BICAR is, but our newly elected (no more Moonbeam) Governor wants to save the World and everyone in it.  He even wants to provide free medical services for everyone who is in the U.S. Illegally and is a resident of California.  To fund all of his big ideas he needs lots more taxes, fees and just plain money.  He sees California's Carbon Credit market generating billions of dollars that can be whisked away to fund just about anything and will be going after raising property taxes soon.  What is worse is that he has a "super majority" of liberal and "progressive" legislators who are not only ready to back all of his ideas, but have even bigger ideas and plans for spending every dollar then can get their hands on. 

Cracking down on any company selling or modifying a vehicle from its original specifications by fining businesses (oddly, not individuals) with huge fines (something like $10,000 per violation) for each infraction, is just a small part of the money grab.    No doubt that was why when our original sponsor was selling accessory mufflers, it came with a warning that it could not be installed on a vehicle licensed for highway use. (I promised to only ride my B5 off road while using the muffler.    )  Welcome to California.   

     I've been watching that fool since he married Kimberly Guilfoyle in SF for his own political gain him being gay and all not that there's anything wrong with that    She finally kicked him to the curb and moved on.

      Do Beccera and Eric Holder still have jobs with Newsom? California is doomed as is the rest.

[Stanley]

That BICAR looks like a senior mobility scooter with Ed Roth styling just for cruisin to CVS.
 

[Richard230]

That BICAR looks like a senior mobility scooter with Ed Roth styling just for cruisin to CVS.

And here is the latest motorcycle crap from the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show: 
https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/other-motorcycle-news-from-ces

[gizzo]

That BICAR looks like a senior mobility scooter with Ed Roth styling just for cruisin to CVS.

That makes me feel sick.

[Arschloch]

That makes me feel sick.

Probably just some wierd tech art, for some wierd collectors. Not exactly a stradivarius.

[Richard230]

A list of new and improved traffic fines that went into effect in California, starting January 1, 2019, were published on the internet recently.  When I tried to post them here in several different forms all I ever got was a "database error" message.  I have no idea why that is.  I even tried to retype them in my word processor, copy and post them in my message, but I still got the database error message and then it wouldn't let me modify and repost my message.  So I will type this message "from scratch" and hope for the best, just concentrating on the fine for modified exhaust systems.

In the Great People's Republic of Kalifornia the fine for having a "modified exhaust" has been raised to $1000 "per stop".  My brother is president of a 1970's "muscle car" club and he says that his members are running scared and few of them have the original exhaust and muffler installed on their 50-year old cars and most run cheap generic "glass packs".  Oddly, he says that motorcycles are not covered by the modified exhaust fine.  I have no idea why, unless it is because most "straight-pipe" Harleys are ridden by LEOs and prison guards.

[Stanley]

$1000 isn't unusually high. I got a red light camera ticket a few years back. The fine and fee to take driver school plus the school payment were over $2000.  Months later the cameras were removed because most of that went to an Arizona company that owned the cameras.
As far as noise goes, I don't strive to be low hanging fruit for LE.

[Arschloch]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46822472

...the french solution for extorsive traffic cameras.

Not exactly diplomatic.

[Richard230]

The thing is that muffler violation is the largest of the new fees. About 50% more than passing a school bus with its flashing red lights on, or blowing through a stop light, to mention just two infractions that you would think would have higher fines.    Naturally, using a cell phone while driving will cost you only $160. The muffler fine is also three times what it would cost you to exceed the speed limit by 25 mph.

[Stanley]

To my understanding the legality of emissions/noise mods in CA have been on the books for many years but unenforced.
I always hesitated to mod my vehicles in case the laws were enforced. Oddly enough, my 2000 Enfield has no date of manufacture on the pink slip so even if it were scrutinized it technically wasn't made after the 1975 start of restrictions. I tried to get this corrected by DMV and they blew me off. Go Figure.

It's all moot since CA doesn't test for motorcycle compliance and dealers still make bank selling slip-on cans and PCs.

BTW, I managed to register a motorized bicycle and got a license plate. Registration is good for life with no renewals or proof of insurance.

[Richard230]

 "Registration is good for life with no renewals or proof of insurance."  Famous last words in California.  Sooner or later they will find a way to tax your bike, or call it some sort of "fee".  Nothing in California, ever goes long without being taxed. 

[Stanley]

Well, so far so good for the last 12 years. 

[Arizoni]

Arizona had the traffic spybot cameras for a while but we kicked them out because the company that owns them was making the big profits and they caused more freeway and local road problems than they could justify.

There are still cameras at major intersections looking for red light runners but the regular speed monitors are gone.

[Richard230]

Arizona had the traffic spybot cameras for a while but we kicked them out because the company that owns them was making the big profits and they caused more freeway and local road problems than they could justify.

There are still cameras at major intersections looking for red light runners but the regular speed monitors are gone.

California outlawed automatic speed ticket-issuing cameras years ago.  Probably because our legislators and off-duty cops are some of the worst speeders around.    The city that I used to work for had several "red-light" cameras that sent out tickets to anyone blowing through a red light, or (and this was a real issue) turning right at a stop light without coming to a complete stop first (the infamous "California stop"). These cameras were installed in the name of "safety" via a contract with a private company that installed, owned and operated the cameras.

But after about 10 years, the city removed the cameras when a study found that the private company was making all of the money from these "safety" improvements and, as drivers became "safer" by stopping first before making a right hand turn, the city had to make up the profit that the private company was guaranteed when the cameras were installed. It was then that the voters found out that the cameras were really about revenue and not so much about "safety".