OFF THE WIRE
Motorcycle Riders Foundation
For Immediate Release
April 29, 2016
Modified Motorcycles Potentially Under Attack
Members of both Houses of Congress have introduced proposed legislation
that would protect the rights of Americans to modify their vehicles for
racing purposes. Dubbed the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports
Act of 2016 (RPM Act, H.R. 4715 and S. 2659), this legislation would
ensure that converting any motor vehicle (including street motorcycles)
into a competition-only vehicle remains legal.
This proposed legislation became necessary after the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, under the guise of maintaining emissions as outlined
by the Clean Air Act, announced plans to regulate the conversion of
street motorcycles and other motor vehicles into race vehicles. This
attempt is reminiscent of the EPA's efforts back in 2003 to regulate
motorcycling through another unrelated proposed regulation aimed at
heavy equipment, steam engines and diesel engines that would have
prohibited owners from changing anything on their motorcycles except for
paint color or chrome.
Through the Color and Chrome initiative, the
MRF was successful in separating motorcycles from the EPA’s regulations
and created exemptions to protect the custom and aftermarket industries
and our lifestyle.
