copemech Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 One of my buddies here just recently brought up something in another forum topic regarding this issue. The requirement of these things by certain governments sort of boggles my mind! In my mind, these little screens are worthless little expensive pieses of junk, thankfully they are not required here! I am just not sure I am 100 percent comfortable with this logic, as even though my memory is short, I cannot recall any sparks being SPEWN FURTH by any bikes! I have seen FLAMES from the exhaust of some 4T bikes, not in trials, but never anything I can recall from a sooty 2T but smoke, and the little screens certainly will not prevent flames! Same in a backfire situation, the screen is useless! Am I missing something or are the NUTS in control for sure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabnabit Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 Am I missing something or are the NUTS in control for sure? Click HereCheck the address! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaylael Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 Now spark arrestors, that is a subject I can really get angry about! The stupid little "cone of silence" that is mandated by uncle sammy, and the fact that proper trials bikes don't come with one stock. Take a perfectly good trials bike and f**k it all up with that ugly bugger on there. I'd sooner stay home if it comes to that, and quite often it does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mich lin Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 (edited) Here's my understanding of how we got into the manditory spark arrester situation. If your old enough you might remember the old Gill Spark Arrester out of San Francisco marketed in the late 1960's. Califorina was the first state to require these devices and they were adopted as manditory after Mr. Gill married the daughter of Gov. Brown Senior, also the brother of future govonor Jerry Brown. This family also owned the first PVC crankcase ventilation anto smog system that became a manditory retrofit onto every automoble in the state in about 1965. So the Brown family did know how to work the system in the state to earn an honest buck. It was not long after the manditory spark arrester in Califorina that other western states adopted them. Now if you remember all the Japanese trials bikes like Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki had USFS United States Forest Service approved spark arresters standard. Bultaco also designed and produced the box banana silencer that had a factory spark arrester that was intorduced in 1976. This Bultaco system was excellent and was used on all the World Championship winning machines throughout the end of production even though they were not required in Europe. I have seen a BIG spark come from our Sherco exsast without an arrester! Are they a pain in the @ss? No doubt but living in a fire zone I don't mind putting on the little screen models, even though they must be cleaned every ride or perhaps every lap in a competition. I have seen these screen units modified for increased performance! On Geoff Aaron's GasGas I have noticed that he replaces the standard screen with a much larger holed screen for increased performance and for sure less cleaning between rides or laps. Edited February 16, 2007 by Mich Lin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaylael Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 (edited) Somewhere amid vast sheaves of government (ODF) rhetoric, I recall reading that if your bike starts a fire for any reason, which results in the loss of property and or human life, it is then entirely your responsibility to prove that you had the correct and adequate spark arrestor on there, in a court of law. That means whenever we ride on public lands, or perform our duties as trials marshalls, we are personally risking being sued by the government, as a means to recoup the expense in fighting the fire you caused, and to recoup the property damage, which I'm sure you are aware can amount to billions. This makes having a "cone of silence" on your bike a real bargain at whatever price they are. I can see the practicality of not burning down the forest etc, but what I can't see is why it is up to me the trials rider to pay for it, install it and maintain it, when the bike ought to come with it stock, even if it is mandated by law and we are forced to buy them as a part of the price of the bike. What I am trying to say is, can't we have an integral spark arrestor that looks like it was designed to be part of the bike and not some ugly little funnel hose clamped to the tailpipe? Should a $5895.00 (and up) trials machine have some cobbled looking crap bodged onto it by the poor hapless owner? In a perfect world they would be on there already, and they would look nice too. It amounts to pride of ownership. These bikes are like eye candy, and a stupid cone thing just ruins the look of the bike totally. Edited February 17, 2007 by JayLael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copemech Posted February 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 So if I read the governmental regulatory BS correctly, they are not certified and you are still liable! Labels such as Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.