Is the end in sight for ecu flashing, aftermarket exhaust & air filters?

gv550

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A post on the Goldwing forum explains the reason for a popular vendor shutting down their ecu flashing service. The EPA has raided some shops that were providing ecu, exhaust and air filter modifications for cars and motorcycles, followed by huge fines.
This is the first I’ve heard of this applying to gasoline powered vehicles, although to be expected following the clampdown on Diesel engine tuners, for pickup trucks and farm equipment.
 

holligl

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Problem goes away when we all plug them in overnight. Coming all too soon....

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magic

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Several years ago the EPA hit Harley Davidson with fines of about $12-$15 million for selling their Screaming Eagle modules and FI programmers. The "for off road use only" and "for competition use only" labels didn't fool anybody. Part of the settlement included buying back over 300,000 of the devices and to stop selling them.

Sierra1, You are correct, many electric vehicles can be programmed. I worked on electric fork lifts and other industrial electric vehicles for about 10 years during my working days and you can adjust things like rate of acceleration and top speed on many SCR (silicon controlled rectifier) controlled vehicles. Some used a laptop and others required a hand held programmer...very simple procedure.
 

Checkswrecks

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Sounds like you may've just noticed but the regs were re-written 5 years ago and EPA has been cracking down on vendors since.
 

Sierra1

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The EPA would have a field day around here. I don't think any of the local "bro trucks" have a particulate filter or a catalytic converter anymore. Nothing but straight pipes, and echo tips. They try to use the excuse "the turbo acts as the muffler". o_O

And, since they're exempt from inspections, nobody is correcting the problem.
 

Sierra1

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It's only a problem if you support the Californication of Texas. ;)
Apparently you've never been "black smoked". Not directly the result of the removed parts, but the ones that have removed them also turn up their injectors.
 

tntmo

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San Diego, CA
Oh, I don't know. You can probably still re-program how the juice flows.
Of course you can. I test rode the LiveWire and it has several ride modes. Fun bike, too expensive for what it is.

Yeah, more oversight is not going to be good for those of us who like to modify our vehicles. In California, every passenger vehicle from 1976 and up needs to be emission tested so you have to be careful what parts you use. Motorcycles aren't part of this.....yet!
 
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