Tag

CARB

Browsing

Californian regulators have voted to ban the sale of new gas-powered generators, starting in 2028.

The news comes as part of a larger crackdown on “off-road small-displacement” motors, which includes lawnmowers and leaf blowers, which will become outlawed starting in 2024.

Gas generator have their provisions, which give them an extra four-year reprieve, and none of this legislation outlaws the use of currently owned equipment.

The Yamaha YZF-R7 is coming back as a 2022 model, according to filings made with the California Air Resources Board (CARB), but before you get too excited about the news of this iconic motorcycle name, you should understand it’s not what you think.

Spotted by the eagle eyes at Motorcycle.com, the CARB filing tips that the 689cc motorcycle will use the parallel-twin engine found in the Yamaha MT-07.

As such, today’s news would seem to confirm the rumor that we were first to publish, that Yamaha is working on a full-fairing version of the MT-07, to compete in the growing middleweight twins segment.

You may have already seen the news from yesterday, where California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order that will require all new cars and passenger trucks sold in the Golden State to be zero-emission vehicles by the year 2035. 

The order also goes on to say that the state will phase out all new medium and heavy-duty trucks that are not zero-emissions by the year 2045, thus setting up the state to push electric vehicles onto its roadways in a big way.

There is a third provision in this executive order though, and it is getting far less attention than the other two, but it will greatly impact the motorcycle industry.

This is because Gov. Newsom’s executive order also says that by 2035 California will ban the sale of all new off-road vehicles that are not zero-emissions, where feasible.

Effectively, California has just set an expiration date on the sale of new dirt bikes, side-by-sides, and ATVs within its borders.

COMOTO the parent company to RevZilla, Cycle Gear, J&P Cycles has just settled a dispute with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for the alleged selling of non-exempted add-on or modified motorcycle parts in California.

In total, COMOTO will pay $1,937,500 to resolve the alleged violations, in a mixture of fines to CARB and payments for environmental projects that benefit the community.

The Trump administration is about to take on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in a battle for the rights to set emission standards.

The first blows in this showdown have already begun, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) sending a letter to the CARB saying that the organization had violated federal law by making an agreement with several automobile manufacturers on higher emission standards

The Trump administration doesn’t seem to end things there though, with the expectation the President will announce plans as early as today to do away with California’s emissions waiver from the Clean Air Act.

While it seems like politics as usual and centered around the auto industry, such a move will have huge implications for motorcycle manufacturers.

A month ago, we told you about Kawasaki thinking about its response to the Ducati Panigale V4 R, which is dominating in the World Superbike Championship right now.

In short, to counter the Italians’ creation, the Japanese brand was thinking of brining its own homologation special superbike to market, which like the Panigale V4 R, would be a race bike with lights, built only with the idea of winning the WorldSBK title.

Today, we seem to get further proof that Team Green will release a new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR for the 2020 model year, thanks to the company’s filings with the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

We knew for the 2019 model year that the R1200GS would become the R1250GS – the venerable adventure-touring machine getting an engine upgrade for the next model cycle. With 1254cc of displacement, and rumors of variable valve timing, it was of course inevitable that BMW Motorrad would bring its new boxer engine to the rest of its “R” line. We just didn’t think it would be all at once

Tipped by filings with the California Air Resources Board (CARB), we see though that the entire lineup of R1200 motorcycles will be getting a new engine for 2019. This means that the BMW R1250GS, BMW R1250GS Adventure, BMW R1250R, BMW R1250RS, and BMW R1250RT are on the way.

Team Green surprised us last year, announcing the Kawasaki Ninja 400 sport bike as a successor for the still fresh Ninja 300. For bonus points, Kawasaki brought the Ninja 400 to the US market, where it has displaced its smaller rivals (do you see what we did there??).

Now it seems that Kawasaki is ready to bring another 400cc sport bike to market, as a filing with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) tip-off the upcoming Kawasaki Ninja ER400DK. 

In Kawasaki-speak, the “ER” designation has been used for many of the company’s naked motorcycles over the years, so putting two and two together, logic would dictate that a naked version of the Ninja 400 is on its way for the 2019 model year.

If you read publications from our colleagues in Europe, then you will know that Honda must surely have plans for a new CBR600RR for the 2019 model year. The proof that they offer is that the recent CARB filings by American Honda show a CBR with a significant weight drop for next year.

First spotted by our friends at Nieuwsmotor, the CARB filings quote a 10kg (22 lbs) weight difference between the listed Honda “CBR600RA” and Honda “CBR600RR” motorcycles, which makes it seem like a lighter and more focused supersport is on the way.

It is an interesting dream – and a funny one for European journalists to spot, since the CBR600 series is all but dead in Europe. But what is the reality of this discovery?

Elected on a platform to do away with regulatory interference, especially Obama-era fuel economy targets, the Trump Administration is now looking to end California’s waiver under the Clean Air Act.

Ending the waiver effectively means that the United States would finally have a unified set of regulations for vehicles emissions and fuel efficiency standards, as California (through the California Air Resources Board) often sets higher requirements, through its Clean Air Act waiver.

Looking to gut the regulatory force of CARB, this news would also mean that vehicle makers would have lower targets to hit for gas mileage efficiency (37mpg instead of 46.8mpg), which in turn means that brands would have to sell fewer electric vehicles as well.

Lastly, under the proposed changes, vehicle emission standards would freeze at the planned 2020 levels, until the year 2026.

I never thought this day would come, a day where Triumph finally updates its venerable Speed Triple. The three-cylinder streetfighter has long held its own, but it has also seen the super-naked category walk away from the British model over the past 13 years of its sloth.

Yes, there have been updates over the past decade or so, but the model hasn’t strayed too far from its original form from 2005. That is set to change however, as a teaser video and CARB filings give us word that a new Triumph Speed Triple is on the way.

Judging from the video that Triumph released, we don’t think that the new Speed Triple will be a revolutionary change. The chassis seems relatively similar to the previous edition, and the overall design seems roughly the same.

Meanwhile, CARB filings show that the engine size will remain 1050cc and that the trim levels will be designated as “R” and “RS”. We can expect more power and other internal changes though, as Triumph chases machines like the KTM 1290 Super Duke R and Aprilia Tuono V4 1100.