"Laying it down straight for you- the average motorcycle is 10 times more polluting per mile than a passenger car, light truck or SUV. Yes sir, that's the truth. Although bikes are twice as fuel-efficient as cars and emit a lot less C02; they account for 10 percent of passenger vehicles' smog-forming emissions. Bikes emit large amounts of nitrogen oxides, which along with hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide are measured by state and federal air quality regulators to determine whether vehicles meet emissions rules.
Catalytic converters and other emissions control devices would clean things up, but they're often too big, too heavy or too hot to install on motorcycles. So the next time you want to unnecessarily use your bike, think about the pollution it causes."
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Motorcycles and scooters pollute more than SUVs.
via: Greenlaunches
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3 comments:
How old is your source article? You have a lot of misinformation. Most motorcycles are fuel injected now, and closed-loop (oxygen sensor-equipped) EFI has been around since the mid '90s on motorcycles and common since 2003 or so. Motorcycle catalytic converters are common today.
Here are the current and proposed EU and US emissions standards for motorcycles:
On-Highway Motorcycle Emission Standards for EPA and EU HC (g/km) NOx (g/km) CO (g/km)
1980 EPA Limits 5.0 NA 12.0
2006 - Tier 1 1.4 (HC+NOX) 12.0
2010 - Tier 2 0.8 (HC+NOX) 12.0
Euro II (2004) 1.0 0.3 5.5
Euro III (2007) 0.3 0.15 2.0
Note that US 2006 compliant bikes generally beat the CO standard because of the stringent allowable levels of the other two pollutants.
You also leave out pollution formed at manufacture (much more for SUVs) , traffic congestion cause (SUV) or relief (motorcycle/scooter), the necessity of repairing road damage (exponentially more for SUVs, almost zero for motorcycles and scooters), all of which matter in the grand scheme of things.
Please try to be accurate befole blaring a misleading headline, thanks!
E.S.
ASE Master Technician
PA and NY licensed vehicle inspector, NYS licensed advanced emissions inspector auto/motorcycle/truck
I ride a 05 fazer 600, which has a cat, and is stock standard exhausts etc, arguably one of the cleanest rides ever.
But even so, i don't buy that statement at all ... how on earth could bikes be THAT much worse? For starters they are usually better maintained (more efficient) than light trucks or cars, and i would imagine that under normal driving, the engine works less hard too? (than an suv)
This sounds a LOT like sensationalist press? Or am i missing something?
its just poorly written. is this tyical for latimes.com???
"In effect, the stricter standard has already been met for many of the on-highway motorcycles on the market because any 2008 model year bike that is sold in California already meets the EPA standard for 2010."
thats the important point. i think she wanted her rant to be about under 150cc chinese bikes, but, then she got lost.
my bmw650c bike is euro3 FI and cat back
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