es, you really do. Not too long ago the v-twin community was in a panic about the new emissions laws that were put in place. Sadly, everyone was spun up for the wrong reasons–the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) had actually made it easier for people to register a non-certified motorcycle than it had ever been before. The catch that everyone got spun up about was that each person would only be allowed to build one non-certified bike in their lifetime. Yes, lifetime. How is it possible this was better than before? Because prior to the one bike per lifetime rule all bikes had to be emission certified. Prior to this, it was illegal to produce any non-certified bikes in the 49 states at all–period.
     Additionally the EPA has issued a letter of guidance that no one really took notice of, except the MIC (Motorcycle Industry Council) V-Twin Committee, S&S Cycle, and TP Engineering. This letter of guidance, covering 49-state engines, details a procedure for certifying engines to meet exhaust emissions standards. This meant an engine manufacturer could certify engines for people to build emissions legal bikes–many bikes. In fact, if you use a certified engine in your building process, you can build up to 2,999 bikes a year–legally! It is important to note that as of the time of this writing only S&S and TP Engineering offer certified engines under the EPA’s letter of guidance issued July 25, 2006. And through this certification process both companies have really protected the custom bike world. Rather than a doom and gloom situation where building bikes takes on an air of deceit as you try to slide a registration past the DMV, using certified engines or following the other laws of exclusion allows you to comfortably, and honestly keep building custom bikes for yourself and your customers.
     Certainly there is more to it than just building that one non-certified bike in your lifetime or building a bike with a certified engine, so to get the full scoop we visited with S&S, TP Engineering and Tom Austin of the MIC at the brand new S&S Cycle Emissions Certification Facility in La Crosse, Wisconsin. S&S had offered to bring journalists in to meet with their emissions engineers, see how the testing is done and learn the real deal when it comes to building bikes and not worrying about the registration.
     Enforcement of these laws is sketchy right now. Some states enforce it and some states don’t. But eventually they will, because it is a federal law and that means revenue can be associated with it. Over the last few years we have heard of a few riders that had two and three year old bikes that were denied a renewal on their registration because they had no way to document the bike’s emissions certification.      And this was after having been registered before. The law is the law and turning a blind eye to it is not a good business model to follow.
     The first thing you should be aware of is the display bike exemption. In the case of 49-state regulations (we will touch on California later) a shop owner can sell up to 24 “display motorcycles” a year. What is a display motorcycle? Rather than be a daily rider, a display motorcycle is the kind of machine you ride to bike night, a weekend show or any place that bikes are gathering for display purposes. And there are not limitations to how many display motorcycles a person can own. Display motorcycles also don’t count as the one emissions exempt bike for personal use that a person can build in their lifetime.
     Next, you should understand the idea behind certified engines. As stated earlier there is more to it than just buying a certified engine, but not so much that it is a daunting task. You do start by buying the engine and inside the crate you will receive a set of installation instructions that outline the appropriate exhaust backpressure, gear ratios and maximum vehicle weight for your build. Once you provide proof of this to S&S (or TP Engineering) you will receive a sticker that is permanently mounted on the bike to show that the bike is built with all of the certified components.      The law is that the sticker must be permanently mounted and visible with the seat removed–again pretty easy to comply with. You still need to abide by the federal 80db noise regulation, and any special requirements your DOT may have for lighting, etc, but that is all you have to do. So you can build one for a customer or 2,999 and it doesn’t matter, the certified engine program lets you register bikes with no emissions concerns.
     We bet you are concerned about performance and emissions compliance, right? Well, in the current S&S catalog, the dyno charts for the 49-state 96ci, 113ci and 124ci engines shows they are just about 10% down compared to their non-compliant counterparts. Not a big sacrifice to assure you can keep building bikes. Additionally, look at the new X-Wedge from S&S. In a 50-state design, the 117ci version produces well over 100 ft/lbs of torque at the rear wheel, more than enough power to make a rider smile when they crack open the throttle.
     Now, about your customers. All of these laws apply to them building in their garages as well. You can supply them with all the parts and help them follow the rules without ever building the bike. They will have to show you the bike in order to get their sticker, but you can be the shop in town that helps the home builder keep building–legally.
     Before we move onto California, let’s talk about the one personal use exempt bike in a lifetime rule. It is there and it is a law. So, rather than use it, we recommend you go with the certified engine program or the display motorcycle exemption. You never know when that perfect dream bike will come into your head–or your customer’s–and will need to be built.
     California. Hopefully by the time this is in print, California will have a similar procedure for building certified engines as the 49-state EPA laws. If that is the case, CA. residents can use a 50-state certified engine, the rest of the rules will be the same, but it will also include the components necessary to meet CA. evaporative standards. So, for all the drama associated with California bike building it stands to become very easy. More on California concerning changing parts. The Golden State offers a nice deal on hop-up parts–as long as they have been issued an Executive Order by the state verifying the changes they will make in emissions will not exceed the mandated levels, they are legal to install on a bike. Currently S&S is hard at work on EO parts for California bikes and we can update you on the list as they come on line.
     So, the bottom line here is pretty simple–building custom bikes is not being limited by the EPA or California. Simply learn the laws, follow them and you are set to continue doing business as you had for many years to come.

Last April S&S Cycle hosted members of the press for a summit on motorcycle emissions at its headquarters in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Seen here is a motorcycle setup in the all-new S&S Emissions Laboratory.

S&S Cycle President Brett Smith (left) and TP Engineering President Tom Pirone spoke with the attending press members at the summit.

S&S Cycle Lab Technician Jan Smith ran numerous demonstrations during the event to show how EPA and California tests are conducted.

The Motorcycle Industry Council sent highly experienced emissions consultant Tom Austin to the summit to participate in the presentation.

The press members get a close up and personal tour of the new S&S Cycle Emissions Lab.