Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/727617
32 nOctober 2016n www.thunderpress.net THUNDER PRESS Airing a grievance In the EPA's never-ending quest to paint motorcycles as the bad guy and blame these economical, gas-saving machines for the air pollution in this country, the government agency has fi nally landed the biggest fi sh in the U.S. bike pond. The Department of Justice, on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, fi led suit against Harley-Davidson for allegedly violat- ing the Clean Air Act. The government claims that H-D manufactured and sold approximately 340,000 "illegal devices" that, according to the EPA, increase air pollution. Harley disagreed with the EPA's stance, stating that its Screamin' Eagle Race Tuners and SE Pro Super Tuners were designed and sold for competition only, that packaging was clearly labeled to indicate that the products were not intended for street use, and that dealers and customers were educated on the legal ramifi cations of installing these products for street use. The suit was recently settled, with Harley's Government Affairs Director Ed Moreland stating, "By settling this matter, we can focus our future attention and resources on product innovation rather than a prolonged legal battle with the EPA." The complaint also states that Harley manufactured and sold over 12,000 model-year 2006, 2007 and 2008 motorcycles that were not explicitly cov- ered by an EPA certifi cate of conformity. The settlement requires Harley to pay a $12 million civil penalty and spend $3 million on a project to replace wood stoves with cleaner-burning stoves in various communities. Harley must also stop selling and offer to buy back from H-D dealerships all "illegal aftermarket defeat devices" in stock, and then destroy them. And the MoCo must also test and obtain a certifi cation from the California Air Resources Board for any still-legal street tuners it sells in the future. Moreland commented, "This set- tlement is not an admission of liability but instead represents a good faith com- promise with the EPA on areas of law we interpret different, particularly EPA's assertion that it is illegal for anyone to modify a certifi ed vehicle even if it will be used solely for off-road/closed-course competition." So there. A rare resurrection The headline for a story on an online news site belonging to RevZilla, a motorcycle parts and accessories purveyor, reads, "Vintage Motorcycle Available, Needs Restoration." Further down, the writer of the piece opines, "Looks like it needs a new front wheel and the paint's a little faded, but all the parts are there for a full restoration." Well, that might be a bit of an over- statement based on photos of the bike. On July 20, 1977, the western Pennsylvania city of Johnstown expe- rienced a major fl ood which decimated the area, destroying dams, houses and belongings and taking 41 lives. Johnstown resident John Vitalie lost Skullduggery In early 2013, Marcus Weller, a co-founder of helmet company Skully, came up with a prototype of a helmet that features a heads-up display (HUD) with rearview camera, integrated nav- igation system and other features. The company started an Indiegogo cam- paign to raise funds for development, and eventually took in nearly $2.5 mil- lion, nearly 10 times its original goal of $250,000. As per usual with fundraising campaigns, backers were promised fi rst shipments of the helmet at dis- counted prices depending on one's chosen funding level. But the prom- ised shipment date kept getting pushed back, making many investors nervous. Finally, earlier this year, a lawsuit was fi led by a former bookkeeper at Skully who accused co-founders Marcus and Mitchell Weller of using company accounts to fund their extravagant life- style. They allegedly spent the money on exotic sports cars and motorcycles, personal living expenses and travel, artwork and more. Recently, the Skully co-founders were ousted from management and the new CEO shut down the company as well as its Indiegogo campaign, stating that the company has been unable to raise additional capital and that they will not be able to ship hel- mets or issue refunds. The company plans to fi le Chapter 7 bankruptcy, at which time it will instruct investors, vendors, partners and others how to fi le a claim. This technology, however, did not die with Skully; there are other companies experimenting with sim- ilar functionality (after all, similar helmets have been used in fi ghter planes for some time). One promis- ing product involves a helmet called Livemap, invented by Russian entre- preneur Andrew Artishchev. The inventor is not using crowdfunding, and the helmets, due to ship in the summer of 2017, can be pre-ordered on his website. For now, we're just following the progress of this "smart" helmet technology. several motorcycles from a shed that washed away from the fl oodwaters. This past July, 39 years after the fl ood, maintenance workers in Johnstown, were working on a river culvert project when they unearthed the Yamaha 200 about fi ve feet below the surface. Amazingly, the construction crew had some idea of who the bike belonged to. The local PennDOT fi eld offi ce is right across the street from Vitalie's home, just a few blocks from the construction site, and Vitale had previously told the workmen that he'd lost motorcycles in the fl ood nearly four decades ago. The PennDOT inspector on the project ran over to Vitalie, who just happened to be walking his dog near the construction site, and brought him to look at the excavation. Sure enough, it was Vitalie's bike. It appears, though, that Vitalie does not want the bike back. He commented, "I took pictures of it; that's enough."