Motorcycle Pollution

 

Rather than simply let the topic drop I'd like to post a few articles.

http://www.evworld.com/article.cfm?archive=1&storyid&0&firstF49&endF48

"Consider that the cleanest motorcycles in the 2001 model year
certified at a level of about 0.32 grams/mile of hydrocarbons on the
Federal Test Procedure. On the exact same test procedure the Prius
certified at a hydrocarbon level of 0.0024 grams/mile. The cleanest
(highway) motorcycle is therefore more than 100 times dirtier than the
Prius. Said another way, you could drive the Prius for more than 100
miles before you got to the same hydrocarbon levels the motorcycle
would emit in only 1 mile of driving."
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Now this is the CLEANEST of modern motorcycles.  Imagine what some of
those old designs, especially a V-Twin with a carburetor sitting in a
hot spot between cylinders is doing.
----------------------------
from:
http://www.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/07012005082416MWE9J9.htm

"So the powers to be are looking at motorcycles seriously and trying
to see what can be done to reduce pollution. One way they are looking
at it, is abolish motorcycles all together. That would make many
politicians very happy (as reported before that Paris is studying the
possibility to stop motorcycles from entering their city ). "

http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Environment_380/How_Much_Pollution_do_Motorcycles_Generate.shtml

"Motorcycles typically get about double the gas mileage of even the
most fuel-efficient cars—but that doesn’t mean they are green. Despite
getting 60-70 miles per gallon, motorcycles are not subject to the
same rigorous emissions standards as cars and light duty trucks, even
though they spew up to 15 times more pollution per mile, mostly in the
form of smog-causing hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides.

In the wake of these developments, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) established new federal rules that require motorcycle
makers to reduce their products’ emissions by 50 percent. In place
since the beginning of the 2006 model year, these new rules are
expected to cut combined hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions from
motorcycles by about 54,000 tons a year, while also saving
approximately 12 million gallons of fuel annually by preventing it
from escaping from fuel hoses and fuel tanks.

Many manufacturers are rising to the challenge. Honda, already a world
leader in the development of greener cars, is putting the finishing
touches on its new “idling stop system” that cuts fuel consumption and
exhaust emissions by turning off the engine instead of idling at stop
lights and in traffic jams."
_____________________
The statement about mileage is false.  The highest mileage automobiles
average in the high 70s to 90s and achieve up to 110 mpg.
=======================================

http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2003/05/28/umbra-motorcycles/

"motorcycle hydrocarbon burden is 90 times higher than that of the
typical passenger car, and a motorcycle releases 20 times more total
pollution per mile than a new car."


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Classic Rider
www.2wheelclassics.com
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E-hem. This is 2001, which should be considered ancient history.

I don't know about other parts of the world, but Europe changed a whole
lot in 2006, with EUR III becoming the required standard for new bikes.
Since then, you'd have a hard time finding a carburetted motorcycle, and
definitely none without catalyzers.

Also, there's more than just HC's (I'll concede to you they're bad, but
CO's and NOx's aren't healthy either), and there's more cars than just
the Prius, most of which are considerably dirtier.

And there's the CO2, while not directly 'dirty', does contribute to
global warming.


Discarded: if the fuel put into motorcycles is only around 1% of the
total, then the CO2 emitted by those motorcycles can only be around 1%
of the total either. Motorcycles are not magic machines that find
additional C atoms in the fuel.

Reading the ADEME study, too. It said motorcycles range from good to
bad, in relation with the effort done to clean them. Worst, not
unexpected, are the little 50cc 2 stroke scooters without FI, catalyzers
etc.


I'll be there next week, I'll see if I can spot a motorcycle. Last year
there's been thousands.

cu
  .\arc

 

Motorcycle get better "smiles per gallon"
--
Stupendous Man,
Defender of Freedom, Advocate of Liberty

 

On Aug 23, 6:39�am, marc.ger...@gmail.com (Marc Gerges) wrote:


http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/03222005084558MWEB5B.htm

The Paris Transportation Department wanted to ban all motorcycles from
the city by 2012, but I don't read French well enough to tell what has
happened since the spontaneous protest of 400 motorcyclistics in 2005.

The association of angry French motorcyclists (FFMC) seems to be more
interested in gay rights at this time...

 

On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:39:18 +0200, marc.gerges@gmail.com (Marc
Gerges) wrote:


Then we should mandate the scrapping of every motorcycle that is not
up to date?  Studies seldom are produced within even two years of
current.  


That's Europe.  Here the riders of cars and truck regularly remove the
catalytic converters.  Many of the motorcyclists want to be thought of
as dangerous outlaws and breaking the law with pollution controls, and
noise is part of the "look."


I was looking for the recent article that stated that motorcycles (not
the newest) typically pollute as much as 90 cars.  EVEN TWICE should
be unacceptable.


Not true at all.  CO2 is produced at a much higher rate in some types
of engines that others.


No they are simply bad at converting fuel into clean(er) exhaust.  Air
Cooled engines will be effectively banned due to Euro IV I believe.  I
know BMW has numbered the days for the R series as a result.


As you said, that's an old article using arguments from the dirtiest
engines.  The fact is the CLEANEST motorcycle engines are NOT up to
standards which are coming.


I'm sure there will be.  But if the government acts, there won't be.
European nations are far more likely to take steps to protect the
environment than the USA at this time, perhaps due to their past
negligence.

Norway is the FIRST nation in the world to design a PRO MOTORCYCLE
highway based on the Vision Zero concept.
========================
Classic Rider
www.2wheelclassics.com
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