[LIJ]

I've been thinking (since its winter and its difficult to ride the Bonnie)

A lot of us have removed the AI from our bike in order to get a smoother running engine and avoid the blue pipes (to some extent). The thing is, the AI is there for a reason, to get the exhausts to confirm with all kinds of emission regulations. And the reason we have those is that a lot of the stuff in the exhausts is not good for the environment. The AI system makes them a little cleaner.

So wouldn't it be best, in the long run, to leave the AI in. We might get some advantages in the short term, but its bad for the environment in the long run. Still a lot of us have removed the AI (including me). It just strikes me as a bit selfish - especially since the weather seem to have been a bit wacko lately (at least were I live)

So my question is, is it OK to pollute the environment more than we actually have to, in order to avoid some minor problems that comes with the AI?

Any thoughts on that (I know some might think I'm silly but I'm actually serious)?

 

[McQueen]

Since AI is post-combustion, there isn't really a noticeable performance advantage removing it. I gather it's mostly to preserve the aesthetics of chrome pipes. Personally, I could care less about blue pipes. That said, I removed mine. I'm an enigma!

 

[sweatmachine]

The AI works ok with the stock pipes because they're so restrictive. Add free-flowing exhaust and you'll get so much popping and backfiring you won't know what to do.

That's why the AI-elim is included with a lot of exhaust pipes.

Now go hug a tree and tell it you're sorry. :-D (joking)

 

[Aggie98]

I don't feel too guilty, motorcycle emissions don't even make a percentage of the overall air pollution problem. Before I feel guilty we would need to reduce power generation pollution, overall auto emissions, and even agricultural pollution (cow farts) . :razz:

Here in Dallas autos are inspected for working emissions equipment but motorcycles are not. Largely due to their generally low numbers in comparison to everything else. (So I've heard)

 

[SCCTrim]

Being concerned about the enviroment is a good thing, but the bottom line is until all the airline industry, and government's both local and state begin using something other than jet fuel and diesel....

 

[dazco]

rant on/

We don't do it for a smoother running engine. IMO they run better with AI in stock form. But once you get pipes and do any air/jetting mods the AI can cause popping and as was said blue pipes. These bikes run a LOT stronger with the mods. An old honda 450 is right in the same ballpark as far as accelleration compared to my speedmaster. One guy who has an old 450 and a bonnie said he thinks it's a bit quicker. Why? Cuz there weren't all these restictions back then. The honda is 1/2 the size ! So to my way of thinking, the govt has decided to take away 1/2 my performance to save the tiny amount of pollution that bikes contribute. Figure they contribute a tiny fraction even with the mods. I don't really give a %$#@ about the extra polution because IMO it's PC BS. If we wanna go this far in the way we govern society why not make smoking illegal in public too? Oh wait !!! They already did that in thousand oaks !!! (sarcasm ya know :-D ) Seriously, i think it's just going too far. The only real solution is to work on alternative fuel solutions. By the way, i get woke up every saturday at 7:30 am when i want to sleep in for the weekend by a gardener with a leaf blower. When i walk to a perticular restaurant at lunch i have to go down a street where i litrerally have been choked by leaf blowers kicking up debris and spewing fumes. leaf blowers make my life miserable. Did you know they put out something like 20 times the amount of pollutants as a car? The amount of pollutants spewed into the atmosphere by all bikes with AI removed probably equals the amount of pollution spewed forth by .01% of the leaf blowers on the planet. Why are they still legal?

If not for political correctness and lobbyists and those with agendas you probably wouldn't think AI remoival is important. But the powers that be want you to and know how to make you believe it. You'll change your tune when you're riding a 1800cc bike that makes 30 HP. You won't have to wait long either. (ok, slight exageration)

/Rant over

 

[McQueen]

Daz is right on!

Do our bikes pollute? Naturally. But are they the greater of the polluting, internal-combustion-engined evils? Hardly.

I think that frustrates me the most. The unabashed hypocrisy of certain groups. Typically, it's attributed to being "too PC," but I think it's more than that.

For example, ban smoking and sue the pants off of cigarette manufacturers because their products are harmful. YET somehow the cattleman's assoc. is off the hook when it comes to the ill effects of meat consumption (to both our health and the environment).

Increase emission standards on personal vehicles. YET let business pollute to their heart's content.

Now I'm all for being as green as I can. But let's make a list, put the most heinous of polluters at the top, and start checking them all off. By the time they get down to our bikes, we'll probably be riding electro-hovercrafts...

 

[sweatmachine]

This PC's me off (say it out loud).

 

[bonniesaltrat]

As I read LIJ's question, he's asking whether it's ethical to remove the air box in order to achieve minor aesthetic and performance gains at the cost of greater pollution to the environment. I think it misses the point to respond by saying that "other machines spew more pollution so it's okay for me to modify mine." That's like saying it's okay for store customers to shoplift because statistics demonstrate that most retail theft is done by employees.

Now I'm not a big environmentalist or anything (although I did vote for Nader for president once or twice), and god knows none of my friends or co-workers would ever accuse me of being "PC." In fact I've got a NARK sitting in my garage waiting for me to install it, so I'm as "selfish" as everyone else, I guess. And I'm not saying that people shouldn't remove the air box. I just don't agree with an analysis that justifies adding to a problem (i.e., "pollution"), even in a small way, by saying that there are others that are bigger contributors to the problem, and therefore my actions don't matter.

 

[hill8586]

Yes, it is quite alright to do this with the AI on the Bonnie !!!

 

[Silverado57]

Switching from a 20 MPG truck to a 40 MPG Speedmaster is one small way of helping Mother Earth. A little AI removal ain't gonna hurt no one.

Plus, this is our second year of using renewable fuel in anefficient and clean-burning wood stove to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. I'd like to think we're doing our fair share to save the environment.

Now, if we could just get the cows to stop [email protected]... :-D

 

[Hiltz]

The AI is intact on my Scram. Very slight bluing at the headers. The rest of the pipes look brand new.I had TORS
fitted prior to delivery and believe that has prevented the discoloration.I have seen Scramblers with stock silencers and very blue pipes.

I don't mind the popping on decel. Kinda reminds me of my
59 Volvo with 10" glass packs . :razz:

 

[BlueBird]

I've been asking myself the same question, and for now, I have left my AI on the bike. There's really no way around it - Taking the AI off increases the pollution that your bike will produdce. The question really is: How much? Apparently, not much.

When I start replacing the stock exhaust, tuning the carbs, and freeing up the airbox/filters, I will take the AI off.

My reasons: I ride a bicycle six days a week. I drive my truck (17mpg) once a week - or less - to get things that I can't carry on my bicycle (bookshelves, motorcycle parts, etc). Taking off the AI and really enjoying my motorcycle is a LESSER EVIL, or at least, that's the way I look at it. I'm okay with it. I'd rather ride my AI-less motorcycle than drive my truck.

 

[Guest]

I'm all for the push in modern society for less fossil fuel consumption, and am in favor of the pursuit for alternative fuel sources (green fuels anyway). You can't blame a minority of motorcycles for the planets fuel problems. As for putting the cattleman's assoc. before big oil, interesting, and before anyone gets upset I do know of the problems with the bovine industry, but fossil fuel usage and cows? Which one is the lesser of two evils?

 

[panthercity]

Lest anyone be injured falling off their high horse, this article might put it in perspective.

 

[bonnienewbie]

Living in Sweden (or Canada)itself is morally reprehensible. You should move to the tropics where you don't have to heat your home burning fossil fuels. :razz: :razz:

 

[sweatmachine]

you scrambler riders are nutz!

 

[Normandy]

Oh no ! I'm running out to the garage right now and putting my AI back on :-D
No one addressed the real reason for removing the AI, it is a heat generating device. We have air cooled engines. It ain't rocket science. :hammer:

 

[LT]

I removed mine because its one less thing to break. When I bought my bike, there was a fellow bringing his back because some component of the AI system was stuck or something, causing it to run poorly. If my AI system were to fail or cause a vaccuum leak, pollutants from less than ideal combustion would be spewed into the atmosphere causing global warming right over my bike.

 

[SCCTrim]

...is it spring yet