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catalytic converter, smog check

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Old Jun 26, 2009 | 11:58 AM
  #1  
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Default catalytic converter, smog check

I wonder as riders on the touring forum, who agrees with DOT helmet laws, smog checks, and catalytic converters and soon to follow air bags

Touring in our country with all states having different laws is getting difficult.

Those who read my posts know I am a biker rights type of guy, if you are OK with new laws taking away more and more of your rights as a biker than do nothing.

If you want to keep touring on a modified bike then you better get involved.

As we speak California is passing law SB435f or smog checks, catalyic converters etc...

It does suck to be touring through a state and get a ticket even though you thought you were obeying the law, also most people will not take the time to fight the ticket because you are from out of state.

Motorcyclists all over our state are being harassed and ticketed everyday for legal helmets, yet police officers are using their subjective opinions on what they feel a helmet must look like in order to be compliant with FMVSS 218 and this is illegal in accordance with the Unites States Supreme Court and our constitution. Under United States Code, Title 49, Chapter 301, Section 30103 it says that once a state has adopted a federal standard, as N.C. did in adopting FMVSS 218, that federal standard has supremacy, and states may enforce no other standard other than the federal standard. There is nothing inside FMVSS 218 stating any fabrication requirements of any kind. DOT standard does not specify the type of material or design that manufacturers must use to comply with FMVSS 218; in fact Claudia Covell, Safety Compliance Engineer of the NHTSA, DOT writes that helmet manufacturers may use ANY material they wish, and any design they want. Now when motorcyclists get ticketed for a certain type of helmet design or for a helmet not being made out of a certain type material that is in violation of federal law.

There is no high horse here, just love to ride and hate being hassled because some desk jockey decides he wants more bullsh*****t laws to bring in money in to his state y messing with our lifes.

Many posts here concern modified bikes, looking for exhaust, hopping up your engine, cooling your engine cahnging your bars( new laws coming for that as well) this will all cahnge and not for the better.

OK I'm done...........
 
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Old Jun 26, 2009 | 01:16 PM
  #2  
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Whatever else anyone thinks about motorcycle clubs, the one thing I really give Sonny and the HAMC credit for is standing up to the RICO trials. They could have rolled over and plead out for lesser sentences, but they fought it all the way and (in my opinion) helped to slow the tide that was washing away individual rights.

The same thing is going on with 2nd amendment groups. DC vs. Heller was a huge victory, although much more is needed. The Open Carry rights groups all over the country that are fighting civil rights violations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, etc are winning by not rolling over and paying fines.

If bikers want to retain any rights at all, we need to be doing the same. Paying your ticket and bitching about it online, or signing some petition is not enough. Folks need to start standing up and challenging these rights abuses.

This is going to sound like a podium lecture, and I don't mean it to be, but this is about more than helmets and handlebars. It is about the very definition of freedom. The vocal minority in America - and certainly the ruling elite - have completely lost any concept of what individual freedom and liberty mean.

No-knock warrants, illegal detentions, smoking bans, global warming/cap & trade, imminent domain, firearms laws, the War On (some) Drugs, prayer in school, are all symptoms of the same pervasive statism that is encroaching on all our lives everywhere.

Little focus groups (bikers, gun owners, gays, marijuana smokers, Christians) are all caught up in their own little issue battles to the extent that everyone is divided and chasing their own pet symptom, while few are really fighting the root problem.

I don't have any solutions, but fighting a smog check law in California is not some magic bullet that's going to restore freedom in America.

Our forefathers took up arms against an oppressive government and were willing to sacrifice their lives over much much smaller abuses than what each of us endure every day. We've become a nation of bleating sheep. Even me.
 
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Old Jun 26, 2009 | 01:54 PM
  #3  
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You can't do it alone. Join ABATE or or one of those types of orgs. But I agree - Get involved.
 
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Old Jun 26, 2009 | 03:28 PM
  #4  
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Originally Posted by bobernet
Whatever else anyone thinks about motorcycle clubs, the one thing I really give Sonny and the HAMC credit for is standing up to the RICO trials. They could have rolled over and plead out for lesser sentences, but they fought it all the way and (in my opinion) helped to slow the tide that was washing away individual rights.

The same thing is going on with 2nd amendment groups. DC vs. Heller was a huge victory, although much more is needed. The Open Carry rights groups all over the country that are fighting civil rights violations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, etc are winning by not rolling over and paying fines.

If bikers want to retain any rights at all, we need to be doing the same. Paying your ticket and bitching about it online, or signing some petition is not enough. Folks need to start standing up and challenging these rights abuses.

This is going to sound like a podium lecture, and I don't mean it to be, but this is about more than helmets and handlebars. It is about the very definition of freedom. The vocal minority in America - and certainly the ruling elite - have completely lost any concept of what individual freedom and liberty mean.

No-knock warrants, illegal detentions, smoking bans, global warming/cap & trade, imminent domain, firearms laws, the War On (some) Drugs, prayer in school, are all symptoms of the same pervasive statism that is encroaching on all our lives everywhere.

Little focus groups (bikers, gun owners, gays, marijuana smokers, Christians) are all caught up in their own little issue battles to the extent that everyone is divided and chasing their own pet symptom, while few are really fighting the root problem.

I don't have any solutions, but fighting a smog check law in California is not some magic bullet that's going to restore freedom in America.

Our forefathers took up arms against an oppressive government and were willing to sacrifice their lives over much much smaller abuses than what each of us endure every day. We've become a nation of bleating sheep. Even me.
I agree but you have to start somewhere, I am very active in my rights for freedom not just smog laws but if you like riding a modified bike people best get ready cause the whack jobs in congress won't stop until all your rights are gone...........
 
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Old Jun 26, 2009 | 03:50 PM
  #5  
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Move to the United States....leave California behind.
 
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Old Jun 26, 2009 | 10:15 PM
  #6  
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From: eastern oklahoma
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isn't it odd that in oklahoma or colorado and most states i can ride my harley without a helmet, but the minute i jump into my pickup or car i can get a ticket for no seat belt??? go figure.
 
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Old Jun 26, 2009 | 11:12 PM
  #7  
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Originally Posted by emwolb
isn't it odd that in oklahoma or colorado and most states i can ride my harley without a helmet, but the minute i jump into my pickup or car i can get a ticket for no seat belt??? go figure.
It isn't odd. Colorado succumbed to the old Federal mandate in 1969 and enacted a helmet law. We worked with the U.S. Congress to repeal the portion of the Highway Safety Act that allowed the Feds to withhold funds from states that didn't have helmet laws in 'the mid '70's. The Helmet law years in Colorado produced a 22.9% increase in fatalities per reported accident compared to the 6 years immediatly preceeding it. The State Div. of Highway Safety said that stat was not relevant, and that you need to compare registrations to fatalities. Apparently I'm at risk when writing a check for my 3 bikes registrations. That somehow triples my exposure. Fact is, wearing a helmet comprimises your defensive driving capabilities but protects your head when an accident occurs. Sometimes that's a good trade off, sometimes not. Helmet laws are a marketing ploy, nothing more. We defeated our helmet law in 1977. People questioned authority more back then. A seat belt doesn't hinder your vision or hearing but more than that no one fights seatbelt laws like bikers fight helmet laws.
 
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