Green Vehicle Guide - Bikes Omitted

Not sure if anyone's covered this. Apologies if this is the case. Or
else, read on.

From an mailing list:

The federal government's Australian Greenhouse Office recently launched
a 'Green Vehicle Guide' website, with comparative information about
vehicle emissions and fuel consumption. The guide claims to provide
"information about the environmental performance of new light vehicles
(up to 3.5 tonnes) sold in Australia" and aims to help people choose
less environmentally harmful vehicles.

Information includes:

* Greenhouse Rating (based on CO2 emissions)
* Air Pollution Rating (based primarily on emission standards)
* An Overall 'Star' Rating
* Fuel Consumption (in L/100km)

As it says it covers vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes, it should include
motorcycles and scooters. Disappointingly, it does not.

Given the considerable benefits of powered two wheelers, especially with
global warming, traffic congestion and, now, higher petrol prices, it
would seem wise for governments to encourage people to consider two
wheelers as a possible vehicle.

Go to http://www.greenvehicleguide.gov.au to check the site out.

Help us remind the government of the importance and demand for two
wheelers. Write to the following people, explain the benefits of two
wheelers and ask that they publish data for motorcycles and scooters as
well:

1. John Howard, Prime Minister: http://www.pm.gov.au > Email your PM

2. Senator Ian Campbell, Federal Minister for the Environment and
Heritage, mailto:

3. Greg Hunt, MP - Parliamentary Secretary to Senator Campbell,
mailto:

4. Australian Greenhouse Office,
http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/ago/contact.html
or phone 1800 026 222

4. Your local federal member. If you know their name, their email will
be in the form of OR
. If you don't know their name,
determine your electorate then go to

http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/memlist.pdf, and find their
details.

Please spread the word.

 

I recently read something about why motorcycles in general are not as clean
as even a Commodore, I don't have this article on hand but it was only a
week or so ago that I read it but can't remember where. It just kinda caught
my eye so I read it.
The reason given was although most small to medium motorcycles say up to
around the 650cc size are very light on the juice as far as consumption is
concerned, but the fact that most motorcycles are not fitted with
catylict(spelling?) converters as do cars, the motorcycle actually spews
more harmfull gases per litre than the car equivilent. It's only that a bike
can travel much further than a car per litre that it might only just be in
front.Some of the larger bikes such as those with 1000cc or more, can
actually use the same amount of fuel per 100kms as a small to medium sedan
especially when it's been given a good revvin'. Many of the big bikes don't
have the converters either so they might actually be contributing to the
greenhouse problems more than those in a commodore or falcon.

Someone else might have another spin on this, but I'm only going on what I
read.

Last Sunday I took my Kwaka ER-5 (500cc) for a ride about 200kms and it
already had 80kms on the trip meter before i set off, when i filled it up,
it only took 11.75 litres for 280kms. I'm pretty darn happy with that.I will
say though that I'm still restricted to 80kph on my L's but I get up to that
speed bloody quick.

Cheers
DJ

 

DJ said....

I've heard the same too. But so far, I've not found any data to either
support this or to contradict it.

Thing is, during peak hour commuting traffic which produces the most of
the greenhouse gases, how many cars would have single passengers, and
how many would be fully occupied?

Now, given that the bikes are free to continue moving while the traffic
crawls along should in itself give them some sort of advantage,
shouldn't it?

The other thing to consider are the extensive ranges of bikes, from 250
singles to 250 4 cyls, to litre plus toures, sports bikes and so on.
While a lot of them won't be that efficient or enviro-friendly, surely a
lot of them must be? Therefore, why aren't they on this list?

If it turns out that a bike can't compete, even if it's fitted with a
cat, then maybe it's a good thing that it's not on the government's
database.

Someone in Netrider pointed me to an RACV website where they compare
various vehicles for emissions, etc. Motorcyles are lumped in as one
class of vehicle. No consideration is given for modern bikes with EFI,
cats, etc. So, it's hard to determine how accurate its findings are,
with respect to comparing bikes to cars. Also, given that the RACV's
lack of enthusiasm for supporting things motorcyclic, I'm not surprised
that its database ranks bikes down there with trucks, etc.

 

I've got to add too that even on cars, Cat Converters are only effective
when the gases in the exhaust are hot enough, so those people who start
there cars in the mornings, especially cold ones, are contributing more to
the greenhouse effect than any motorcycle. There are many very short trips
done in the mornings like taking the car down the the rail stn or driving
kids to school etc, that wouldn't get the Cat Conv. hot enough to clean the
gases that come out.

You are right about many cars just carrying one person most the time, car
pooling has been tried by many but you've only got to look at many people on
public transport with personal CD/radio players stuck in their ears, so they
don't have to talk to anyone, which tells me that car pooling would
interfere with the ME time.

I've seen a big increase in Sydney of young people buying motorscooters to
ride in the city which must be a plus, so perhaps the high cost cost of fuel
has some advantages. Motorcycle schools have noted that more women are
getting their licences now more than ever...another good sign....I like the
sight of a young lady on a motorscooter......very cosmopolitan hehehe

As you stated with RACV that motorcycles are classed on one type of vehicle,
that's just typical of the idiots who run these databases so I don't always
have much respect for some of the results. Saying that all motorcycles are
the same is like saying that a Hyundai is the same as a HSV Commodore or a
petrol landcruiser.Chalk & Cheese!!

I quotes Andrew Denton who says "society's to blame"!!

DJ

 

Can I just mention that Catalytic Converters don't get rid of CO2,
just other stuff? So they've really got **** all to do with the
Greenhouse Effect. Other than that, you're right.

-----sharks

 

So my sleeping in late and turning up to work at circa 10-11am is
good for the planet? Thank-you, I'll mention that to the boss.

Actually its the sight of a leather clad lass in the seating
position demanded by, say, a Monster or a VTR that floats my
boat. Each to his own I say.


GB

 

I think that some of the Large Euro bikes might have them, might have
something to do with more stricter pollution laws perhaps?!?

DJ

 

Hey..if you can get away with it....why not????.....might also ease the
congestion on the roads if more people staggered their working hours.

Aah C'mon GB, that nice little chicky-babe i seen riding her vespa in Sydney
City on saturday morning wearing a nice little singlet top and a
mini-skirt...can't get much better than that!! Wouldn't be too good for her
though if she came off or knocked off by an errant cabbie.

DJ

 

AFAIR the Australian ZX12R is the only version shipped without a cat
conv.

Nev..
'03 ZX12R

 

I find this a rather spurious claim. Can you elaborate on this?

Why. Don't they all use the same type of fuel?


Hammo

 

My Freewind has a cat (XF650 which is to all intents and purposes a
DR650 motor), I think current model DR650's have them too. My NSR150SP
(two stroke) had a cat converter too, right in the fat bit of the pipe,
probably didn't do much for the pressure pulse wave but presumably made
the emissions people happy.

 

pretty much most of the current crop of sportsbikes has them

remember the 999 and why the seat gets hot

most of em are in there but hard to spot as often made small enough
to fit in the pipework rather than being a seperate unit like in cars

 

Where are you getting this from?

Wonder into a bikeshop and you'll have a task trying to find a new
bike_without_a cat. Pretty much everything released since the 2002 model
year has a cat fitted, and that's in Australia. In other markets, they
became commonplace a couple of years earlier than that.

The longest holdout has been Suzuki; The GSX-R1000K5 is the first Suzuki
sportsbike to have one.

 

Malaysia got 'em, too, and this was only for the ZX-12R-A. The ZX-12R-B
came out with a cat in all markets.

Yours got a little "KLEEN" sticker on the fairing, down by the gearbox?

 

TDM900 has two, well mine did before the Staintune-ectomy.

Al

 

No sticker on mine. The section heading on Pg 53 of the owners manual
is a real giveaway... "CATALYTIC CONVERTER (EXCEPT FOR AUSTRALIAN
MODEL)".

Nev..
'03 ZX12R

 

Sorry guys, i was just going on about an article i read about it. to be
honest I'm not real sure what a cat actually does (except meows). but I
assumed it has something to do with cleaning up the exhaust emmissions, and
something to do with cleaning up the carbon monoxide that comes out of the
exhaust. But i did read something to the tune of cat converters are not
efficient at all when the gases are not up to normal operating temperature
(for christs sake don't ask me what that is).
I'm pretty sure my Kawasaki ER-5 doesn't have one. I'll have to check on
that. Mine is a 2005 model. If someone does know, please let me know.How
would I recognise if it had one or not?

Cheers
DJ

 

Stinky poo gas is stuffing the environment too, eh? Time you opened the
window.....


Hammo

 

Well, the clue is in the name; catalytic converter. It catalyses the
conversion of stuff into other stuff.

Partly true; apart from just carbon monoxide, though, a cat also cuts
down on nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus free radicals which form acid
rain and etch the facades of stone building. Essentially, all it does is
facilitate additional oxygen atoms to bond to these free radicals to
render them less reactive.

<this space left blank for Hammo to insert a baiting remark

That's pretty much it.

It won't. It's an old design. The ER-5 itself dates back almost 10
years, its engine almost 20. The inability of that old engine design to
meet emissions laws would've been one motivation for Kawasaki developing
the ER-6n/f, which does feature a cat.

Pretty much the same as you would on a car. Have a look along the
exhaust downstream of the headers and if the pipe bulges for a bit,
that's where the cat's hiding... of course, then there are the bikes
which hide the cat in the muffler or the collector box. On those, you
don't get an outward clue.

 

According to The Book(tm), my YZF1000RJ also exists in an
YZF1000RJC version, where the 'C' stands for, believe it or
not, 'California'. The RJC version is loaded up with anti
pollution stuff, including a catalytic converter.

GB