Rejetting a dirtbike, carbon emissions, and how "the powers that be" aren't that intelligent.

[Blmpkn]

Got a dirtbike last fall. Only 3 years old but she's been ridden hard and put away wet for sure.

Been fiddling with the carb to get it to run right. Buying a variety of jets and an adjustable slide needle is part of that process.

I noticed a NOT CARB COMPLIANT warning in the listing on eBay that I purchased the jet/needle kit from.. and that kinda got me wondering..

..my wonder increased when I realized that the fuel screw on this bikes carb is both covered up by a brass plug... And upon removal of said plug.. the end of the fuel screw is completely round.. no slot for a screwdriver to adjust it.

Read about it online a bit... The round fuel screw is a (rather poor) attempt at an anti-tamper emissions measure.. and apparently just about anything that messes with a ICE motors AFR is illegal.. (in dystopifornia anyways)

...like bigger jets... To fix the lean condition that causes the bike to be almost impossible to start cold.. that was caused by the manufacturer purposely installing jets that are too small so they could meet their overall emissions goals/requirements... Or a slight adjustment of the fuel screw so it doesn't horribly bog right off idle.. because the screw was purposely set too lean by the manufacturer...

Now.. we all know California is a shithole.. and the purpose of this post really isn't intended to beat that dead horse... But all this really blows my mind. The logic behind these regulations is so poor it almost makes my head hurt. It's almost devoid of logic tbh.


We all know carbon emissions = bad.. right? You'd have to be a straight up waterhead to not realize that by this point.. and everyone understands WHY we're trying to reduce our carbon output..

BUT.... how in the actual F can someone honestly justify making a 140cc dirtbike a little faster a crime against nature when.. you know.. there's 300cc bikes out there for sale that would be 2x as polluting as my 140? Hell... There's 650's out there in the wild to buy and ride that would be OVER 4x as pollutifying.

Making small bike a little faster? Illegal. Buying bike with motor 4x the size that creates 4x the carbon? Go for it!


Whoever made these regulations... They also got some water on the brain.

 

[lowspeedpursuit]

Controversial topic, and various gov'ts make people jump through some absolutely braindead hoops--like the guy in Arizona who couldn't pass emissions because they pressure-tested his whole evap system--but sometimes I blame manufacturers just as much, and I dunno what the right answer is.

Small engines without emissions pollute so goddamned much compared to the new stuff, and there are millions of them out there. All that pollution adds up, and now the weather's fucked and suddenly we have tornadoes here.

I hate the overcomplicated expensive nonsense on modern vehicles, and non-adjustable carbs, and multiple cats, and whatever else, but I also like going outside and having it not be all smoggy.

So the powers that be try to do something, but it's complicated, and they come up with shit like "make a good-faith effort not to let users kill emissions". Whoever made your carb went belt-and-suspenders on the fuel screw because it cost 2¢ and they got to say "we'll definitely be compliant now".

I used to ride a Kawasaki that came lean, and everyone knew you had to shim the non-adjustable needle for it to run worth a shit, and it was stupid.

The next year they redesigned the engine and went fuel-injected, which was the actual non-stupid solution. It also made the bike 30% more expensive.

So yeah. No great answers here.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

So yeah. No great answers here.

www.hptuners.com

 

[Blmpkn]

Im with you on the clean air, smog is as terrifying as it is sad. I'm no climate denier or anything by ANY stretch of the imagination.. hell.. I even put a cat in my "race vehicle" for example..

But yeah.. braindead hoops is a good way to put it. The government also seems to always unjustly put the burden on the common (read: poor) man too.. instead of corporations & the elite.. and considering the amount of influence corporations & the wealthy elite have over the government (influence lol... They OWN the government)... It's quite literally a matter of "rules for thee but not for me".. and I have zero respect for that sort of borderline tyrranical dystopian bullshit.

Al gores mansion for example... Dudes been telling us to eat grass and scrap our cars for bikes and stop killing the earth with our hobbies for how many decades now? Well.. that hypocrites house uses 21x the power that the average single family home does per month.. and with all his money... He's only installed enough renewables to cover a meager 5% of his energy requirements. 5 goddamn percent.. wtf. Don't even bother at that point lol.

Thats just ONE guy in ONE house too.. there are tens of thousands of homes in the states that are just as big OR LARGER than Gores.. well just say 10 thousand. 10k homes all using 21x the power of the average single family home... That's literally enough energy to power HALF of the single family homes in the entire state of maine, and a third of alllllllllllllllll housing in the state....

...a towns worth of people using half a states amount of energy is fine? but jetting my bike for a pipe is unacceptable? that.

Celebrities and their private jets.. heres a run down of a small handful of these dicks and how much their planes produced in 2022.. (measured in TONS)

Taylor Swift8,293.54
Floyd Mayweather7,076.8
Jay-Z6,981.3
A-Rod5,342.7
Blake Shelton4,495
Steven Spielberg4,465
Kim Kardashian4,268.5
Mark Wahlberg3,772.85
Oprah Winfrey3,493.17
Travis Scott3,033.3

51 thousand-ish tons of carbon from just these TEN people a year. Average their numbers and they each create more than 50x the carbon that the average person who earns under 100k annually per year does.. all year.. all aspects of their life.. not just ONE mode of travel.

There's 15k private jets in the states.. math it out by averages from that sample.. 15k x 50.. 750k. Once again, a towns worth of people creating around half a STATES worth of total carbon production... on ONE mode of travel?

That's ok but I can't run my air box without a lid for more air to compliment my bikes new pipe and upsize my jets some more? That again.


Coming around again.. make little bike faster? Illegal. Buy bike 4x as big that produces 4x the carbon? Totally cool man rock on thanks for saving the turtles and shit

It's delusional, it disproportionately affects the "lower class", and it's all by design.

I'm glad I don't live in California, id have to move.


As I said.. I wanna see us stop ruining the planet as much as the next guy but damn..

I ain't gonna miss out on the pursuit of happiness just because that's something that only the elite want to do. They can get 'd.

The wealthiest 10% make 50% of all carbon emissions....

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

They dont actually believe the sh*t they tell you.

There is no red team. There is no blue team.

Theres just one big club, and you ain't in it.

And thats as political as I get on here

 

[Blmpkn]

I'm just gonna continue to make the miniscule amount of pollution i make a year and I ain't gonna worry about it. "They" want something to change.. "they" can fix it within their own club.. as "they" are the ones who make it all.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

We have the tech and ability to produce things that are simple to work on, infinitely rebuildable and upgradable that produce minimal emissions. The problem with that is people are greedy. If everything is engineered to fail quickly and nothing is very repairable, then the “producers” make a fortune. Thus our current disposable society. Throw it away and buy a newer, more overly complex POS engineered with cool new features that nobody asked for but make sure it will have a shorter lifespan than what it replaced. Frickin disgusting.

 

[Roert42]

Don’t think about it.
Just consume some pickle beer.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Don’t think about it.
Just consume some pickle beer.

View attachment 144117

Reddit hands made this.

 

[Roert42]

Reddit hands made this.

I saw that in a grocery store.

It’s stupid.


Stop asking questions and consume the pickle beer.

 

[broncc]

As much as it sucks and as much as we (I) don't want to, its time to ditch the new production oil burners. Its time to change our frame of thinking. An e-bike will get the holeshot. An e-bike doesn't care what source, whether it be nat gas, hydro, solar, or nuclear charges the battery. I'm a stubborn idiot and my newest powersport toy is 20 years old. I could spend more time riding if I didn't have oil changes, valve adjustments, winterizing to do.

You can argue endlessly about the bikes sovl but you can't argue its a good solution only getting better with time. Early electronic fueling was hated because it was a new system and had lots of problems (lean burn anyone?). I think a lot of people will agree that once the system was figured out, 90s stuff was some of the most reliable cars ever made.

You can be like me and get left behind in the past or you can enjoy a different the future. Arguing online won't change that the ocean temperature is nearly record right now

 

[scotts90ranger]

Ever notice all this global warming thing isn't talked about much since the data centers are out and consuming more power than anything else and consuming a small cities worth of water just to cool their needless heat? Peprige farms notices... I remember when we were told to turn off light bulbs and use energy efficient everything and now it doesn't seem to matter?

I try to balance past technology and future, but some of the future is DUMB

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

As much as it sucks and as much as we (I) don't want to, its time to ditch the new production oil burners. Its time to change our frame of thinking. An e-bike will get the holeshot. An e-bike doesn't care what source, whether it be nat gas, hydro, solar, or nuclear charges the battery. I'm a stubborn idiot and my newest powersport toy is 20 years old. I could spend more time riding if I didn't have oil changes, valve adjustments, winterizing to do.

You can argue endlessly about the bikes sovl but you can't argue its a good solution only getting better with time. Early electronic fueling was hated because it was a new system and had lots of problems (lean burn anyone?). I think a lot of people will agree that once the system was figured out, 90s stuff was some of the most reliable cars ever made.

You can be like me and get left behind in the past or you can enjoy a different the future. Arguing online won't change that the ocean temperature is nearly record right now

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Your results may vary but I know for smaller two stroke stuff you can get adjustment tools.

https://www.amazon.com/HIPA-Carburetor-Tune-up-Adjustment-2-Cycle/dp/B01FAP7T44/?tag=959media-20

If it has a catalyst in the exhaust be careful you don't get it too far one way or another and melt that down.

 

[broncc]

I remember when we were told to turn off light bulbs and use energy efficient everything and now it doesn't seem to matter?

Yeah but they have enough money to grease the palms of those with power to stop them The AI powered surveillance state is of critical importance to probably 100 people.