Proposed EPA Off-highway vehicle emissions standards

[John Robertson]

My personal opinion is that two stroke racing will be alive and well for quite some time.

My recent background has been hanging with jet ski (PWC) racing and it's interersting to note that the PWC manufactures are just starting to introduce 4 stroke engines for recreational PWC use. It remains to be seen how successful they will be -- lots of interesting problems to deal with -- like keeping the oil in them when you roll the boat. It will be years before they even have a chance on the race course.

[Christopher Berchin]

I wanted to mention that motorcycles are NOT actually allowed to run open pipes. There *is* a dB regulation on bikes, but for some reason it is not enforced very strongly. In addition, there is a double standard - someone on a 4-cylinder sport bike with a loud pipe will get pulled over far more often for noise than a guy with completely open pipes on a Harley. But both pipes are likely illegal from a dB standpoint, hence the movement toward quieter aftermarket pipes for sport bikes. The factory pipes are limited to 85 dB in a pass-by test, and I think the aftermarket pipes are supposed to comply as well.