How about a little Good news for a change...

 

AFTER nearly twenty years of trying, the powers to be/motorcycle lobby has cleared the final hurdle and the emissions requirement for Phoenix/Tuscon, has been rescinded.  For those of you in the know, Phx was the only urban center in the USA that required motorcycles to be tested.  Back in the nineties (remember them days?) a group began the arduous process of having this corrected, and as of June 21, 2013... (drum role here) bikes need not deal with this formality any longer.



Why is this good news?  Well I have two two wheelers down there at my condo.  A '98 XT 350 and an '08 Adventure 150 scooter.  I can renew my registration online, however, I can't do that until the bike was currently emission-ed.  Catch 22.  I have to be there to do the test, but I'm only there occasionally and now, living on the east coast, even less.  This meant that I would face a penalty and have to do the registration process all over again each time.  Now, with the exemption, I will (once I get it all back to the starting point) be able to just renew my plate online each year.  Yayyy!  Chalk one up for the good guys.



On another topic, I biked the VX 800 over to Clark's welding this morning at 7 30 am sharp, to do a bit of welding.  I picked up the VX a few weeks back and found some vintage Krauser bags online in Ontario, where biking friend Randy, bought them and shipped them here to me.  Old buddy Ronnie had some h/w that he sent me from Kamloops.  This bike was sold briefly in Canada during the early nineties.  It had the 805cc, L/C V-twin and shaft drive that the Intruder series had, and which the Blvd 50 still has today.  Being more Euro style, us North Americans didn't appreciate the bike and as a result, they did not sell well.  Finding a decent sample is difficult at best. 



I have been working on this bike fabricating hardware to fit the 800, late nights in anticipation of said Ronnie's arrival in September for a couple weeks vacation.  We are going to ride the Cabot Trail and visit long ago friends, Danny and Dana from Fort Mac days.  Being a Suzuki nutball, he will find the VX right up his alley...