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Environmental Benefits of Motorcycling

Submitted to the Transportation Research Board, February 2002

Problem Statement:

The two uppermost problems faced by the 107th Congress in surface transportation are fuel consumption and traffic congestion. With serious shortfalls in federal and state transport budgets, these two problems are likely to get worse before they get better.

Motorcycling is at least a partial answer to these problems. Motorcycles conserve fuel; 50 miles per gallon is not uncommon. Motorcycles act as an antidote to parking and traffic congestion; in urban centers, motorcycles complete the commute in roughly half the time of cars. Moreover, at a nominal 500 pounds gross vehicle weight, motorcycles cause no road wear. Cars, on the other hand, consume fuel, congest traffic and require extensive infrastructure (e.g., mammoth parking garages). In the commuting scenario, for example, the passenger car in America still carries no more than 1.1 persons to and from work.

Whether motorcycling will be encouraged as part of the solution to consumption and congestion is a question that may be answered neither by consumers nor the transportation community, but by the environmental protection process.

In 1975, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set the emissions standard for large street motorcycles at 5.0 grams/kilometer Hydrocarbons (HC), dirty when compared to today's standard for passenger cars - or today's 49-state motorcycles. In the 1990s, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) set an ambitious 1.4 g/km HC standard for large machines. Since that time, new 49-state motorcycles come close to (and in many cases exceed) the current standard. That said, many California motorcyclists believe their bikes are sub-par in operation; to correct them, riders obtain performance enhancements through the aftermarket, franchised dealers and any of the 1,000 custom shops in the state. California standards have also exacted a toll in small business. According to Motorcycle Product News, even the modest 1.4 g/km current California standard was at least partly to blame for the demise of about a dozen small-volume motorcycle makers. Yet, according to CARB, street motorcycles are responsible for a mere 0.006% of the pollution inventory attributable to all street motor vehicles.

EPA has plans to adopt the tougher, future, two-tier California standards and apply them nationwide. EPA has also hinted at cracking down on performance improvements -- a practice it terms "tampering." Grassroots motorcyclists' rights organizations believe that tougher standards are likely to force the closure of some 10,000 custom shops with corresponding declines in the aftermarket and the business of franchised dealers. Small-volume motorcycle makers are also likely to cease operations or suffer substantial losses.

In addition to the potential loss of tens of thousands of jobs, the upshot of the anticipated tough regulations is that motorcycling may well decline -- and with it, the benefits of motorcycling on society and surface transportation. According to a study by the Mercatus Center of George Mason University, the EPA failed to conduct a benefit-risk analysis on its rule on motorcycles. Thus, it is likely that the agency is not aware that the tougher standards it contemplates may hike the problems of road wear, congestion, infrastructure, fuel consumption -- and hike the costs associated with each.

Proposed Research:

The task is to quantify, to the extent possible, the benefits of motorcycles to society, and a benefit-risk analysis to determine the stakes involved in reducing street motorcycle emissions.

• The economic impact of the industry, to include the many small businesses involved.


• Fuel consumption advantages.


• Parking and traffic congestion advantages and the more rapid commute time on a bike for much the same passengers transported.


• The monetary cost and environmental impact of non-motorcycle motor vehicles on road and bridge maintenance and verification of the negligible impact of the motorcycle on road maintenance.

Expected Benefit:

An understanding of the motorcycle's benefits to society and an accurate assessment of how proposed restrictions on emissions standards will impact consumer values and the health and welfare of U.S. citizens across a broad spectrum of impacts.

Origin of the Statement:

Motorcycle Riders Foundation
Mr. Tom Wyld, VP-Government Relations
P.O. Box 1808
Washington, DC 20013-1808
Phone: 202/546-0983
Fax: 202/546-0986
E-Mail: wyld@mrf.org

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