RIDEFAST DECEMBER 2021

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ARE EMISSION CONTROLS T SPOILING THE FUN? By: Sean Hendley Credit: Stephan Marais – KTM SA – for his knowledge, input and assistance with this article. Like it or not – change is a-comin to our industry. Sean popped down to kuier with KTM Groups technical man Stephan Marais for a chat about emission control laws and the effect it is having in the motorcycle industry… He says: We are told that we are killing our planet with the emissions from our internal combustion engines - and in an effort to save us all from extinction a whole lot of rules, regulations and policies have been passed into law regarding said foul gasses. And! We all know the effect that has had on our industry. Way back in 2014… or thereabouts, new homologation laws were gazetted in this country and… POOF! Just like that all sorts of bikes were outlawed, and everything had to have a catalytic converter fitted into the exhaust and that was the end of loud pipes and the general perception was that was also the end of all our fun… OR is it? We wanted to know what this whole lot was all about. This emission thing has brought about a new era of motor engineering that government school educated old timers like us do not understand and cannot fix ourselves. Cat vs Decat, Fuel injection and electronics packages vs carbs, points and condensers, (basically IT Tech mechanics vs busted knuckles and spanner grease monkeys). 2 stroke vs 4 stroke, (Thank the Good Lord above they haven’t forced diesel tech on the motorcycle market yet – oh… wait, Diesel is also a swear word these days). But electric tech is lurking in the sidelines. Silent running bikes. WTF? This is quite a wide, involved and pretty complicated topic as it turns out and varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and from model to model from the same brand. Here, we just scratch the surface and have left out quite a bit of some possibly interesting bits and bobs which we might explore at another time in other articles. The fact is. Laws are forcing changes to the traditional way of motorcycle thinking. 2 Stroke vs 4 Stroke Now! Make no mistake – we are huge fans of 2 strokes and were particularly traumatised by their demise when the new homologations laws were introduced way back when. 60 RIDEFAST MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2021
This led to the death of so many cool 2-stroke models, particularly from Japanese manufacturers. Supposedly their smoke – our favourite cologne – was way too polluting and damaging to the environment and the ozone. Really? Uhm, weren’t diesel vehicles considered to be the preferred ‘Green’ mode of transport? Have you seen how they smoke? Have you breathed in that crap? Jet planes? Somethings stinks here… and it isn’t 2 stoke smoke. It has taken a few dedicated years of hard work by a heroic few to design a fuel injection system for 2 strokes that is becoming acceptable to the tree huggers and politicians. We are pretty sure we’ll see this tech seeping through to other brands as controls tighten up. A quick side note. We know for sure that all EU spec bikes come into the country with full emissions packages onboard on both 2T and 4T, (dirt bikes in particular), and that they are removed and the mapping gets changed by the importers. Yup, dirt bikes also come with catalytic converters, charcoal filters, lambda sensors, solenoids and actuators that all get removed before they hit the showroom floors. The wait is over “2T or not 2T?” that is the question… Supposedly 4T bikes burn cleaner, have a better longevity and are more rideable. But they also have more working parts, valves, valve seats, valve guides, valve springs, shims, shim buckets, rocker arms, cams, timing chains, timing chain guides, timing chain tensioners and a bunch more stuff that 2T motors don’t have and don’t need. 4T motors are more fuel efficient and are generally kinder to the environment. However, the advent of the fuel injected 2T motors and advances in cleaner burning 2-stroke oil is making 2- Sroke tech more acceptable. Some, like the KTM groups TPI system with its sensors, ECU’s and fancy technology does all the thinking for you, negating the human factor out of the oil fuel mixture, and ultimately making a cleaner ride. Also, for endurance and extreme race and riding like The Roof of Africa for instance, every time the rider stalls and restarts, the sensors kick in, check conditions and sends that info back to the ECU which adjusts air fuel accordingly to achieve optimum performance – and the cleanest possible burn. Is the fun, character and charm being engineered out of our bikes by all the emission control systems and all the new electronics and technology - or, is it just making it different, better and we need to move with the times? Modern bikes in most instances are mind blowing, ridiculously fast, amazingly stable and easy to ride in any conditions. They might not shake, rattle and roll like the old bikes, but they do snap, crackle and pop when you twist hard on the throttle in full sport mode and bang even harder on the quick shifter. FUEL INJECTION vs CARBS. Fact: Fuel injection burns cleaner than Carburettor. The only real advantage carburettors have over fuel injection is that they can be fixed almost anywhere. The trick comes in fine tuning them or setting them up for different altitudes, air pressure, humidity and etcetera. Fuel injection seldom gives trouble – in our experience the fuel pumps tend to give in after lots of mileage, but you cant just fix them on the side of the road. Fuel injection barely ever clogs up with old fuel, basically because there is no float bowl or jets to speak of. Fuel injection is also self-correcting every time it starts. That’s where all your sensors come into play, communication with your bikes ECU (Brain). norden901 CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY come for a test ride taking deposits first shipment expected end jan 2022 DEALERSpoiled AUTHORIZED KTM, HUSQVARNA AND GAS GAS Willow Rock Shopping Centre Solomon Mahlangu Drive, Willow Acres, Pretoria East Tel: 012 111 0190 www.traxmoto.co.za Spoiled for Choice RIDEFAST MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2021 61 Scan to Find us
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RIDEFAST DECEMBER 2021

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