Hey Guys,

I thought I'd try to consolidate some of the information I've been able to learn about the California Green sticker program, and also put out an open call to anyone affiliated with Cannondale for additional info on why our beloved quads don't meet the California requirements.

Background
In California, all OHV's that are operated on public lands must display a &quot;Green/Red Sticker&quot;. This is esentially a license plate/registration/tax imposed by the state. Green Stickers are issued to vehicles manufactured prior to 1997, or after 1997 if they meet the emissions standards. Red Stickers are issued to <u>all</u> 2-stroke motorcycles/ohv's manufactured after 1997 and select 4 strokes if they do not meet the emissions requirements.

According to the California Air Resources Board website, a 2-stroke motor allows up to 30% of the fuel to pass through the motor unburned, and produce 118 time more Hydrocarbons than a new 1997 passenger vehicle.

So what do the stickers mean?
If you are lucky enough to have a green sticker'd vehicle you can ride year-round on all public lands in California. If you have a red sticker, you can only ride during the winter/fall/spring when ozone levels are low. This is the tricky part! Each riding area has a different schedule of when it's okay to ride a red sticker OHV, depending on the air quality in that area of the state. There were also many inaccuracies in issuing the correct color sticker in the first few years of this program, so this has added further confusion as to what is okay and when? The correct sticker for a motor is determined by the VIN number of the vehicle. If the 8th digit of the VIN is a &quot;3&quot; or &quot;C&quot; it is a red sticker vehicle. There is no need for any kind of smog check/test or periodic inspection of the vehicle.

Emissions Requirements
The vehicle must meet a grams-per-kilometer (g/km) emissions standards of 1.2 hydrocarbons (HC) and 15.0 carbon monoxide (CO). I'm no scientist, so I don't really know what this means.

Unfortunately our beloved Cannondales are being issued the Red Sticker, which severely limits the amount of fun we can have in California. In an earlier post, Scott Montgomery of Cannondale wrote:

The only other good news on this front is that Cannondale machines get great gas milage and are clean burning engines so in general we will do well with some of the restrictions the country is sure to continue to place on the industry

I can personally attest to the incredible fuel economy of my cannibal, and with it's fuel injection, I'd imagine it is far more efficient than a traditional carbuerator setup. So why did we get a red sticker, and did California give Cannondale a fair testing?

I'm hoping either ScottMontgomery or 4strokemadman might be able to shed some light on this topic.

I look forward to hearing all of your thoughts on this. Just because your state doesn't impose such rigid restrictions now, doesn't mean that it won't in the future. I urge you to get involved with one of the several organizations that support our rights as ATV'ers, or you may lose those rights.

Sources: California Air Resources Board (CARB) website, &quot;The Latest on the 2 stroke issue&quot; by Don Fuller.

 

Thanks for the great info. I live in So. cal and am considering buying an ATV. I have been looking at newer four-strokes because I hear the enviro laws are cutting down on 2 strokes. I would really like an older, modded up Banshee, but was steering clear due to the enviro laws. So, I understand you post as saying that pre-1997 models are basically &quot;exempt&quot; from the current 2 stroke laws, just like older cars are exempt from smog laws. Is this right? So if I found a 95 Banshee I would be eligible for a green sticker and could ride year round with no problems from authorities for it being a 2 stroke? Thanks a lot, this is something I was curious about.

Ben

 

I havn't had to cross this bridge yet, as all of our machines are Green Stickered, but with the boys progressing up the mx dirt bike ladder I'll have to deal with it pretty soon. I'm contemplating having future machines registured with friends in Nv., or just buying an old wreck and slapping the sticker on the new machine. So far none of the OHV parks are even enforcing the Green Sticker requirement and in the National Forests the rangers are pretty clueless. Only when we are camped out for several days on busy weekends do they even check.

Luckily for us we live near a privately owned mx track and the year round public areas are also close by. We also plan on doing more riding in Nv., where the fascist are still held at bay.

 

After visiting the Yamaha and Bombadier forums, it appears that both the Raptor and DS650 are both green sticker quads. How can a quad with more CC's and a traditional carb setup be a green sticker while a fuel injected quad with lower cc's isn't???

After visiting Thumpertalk and reading a few of the posts from the motorcycle guys it seems like the feeling is that Cannondale didn't have the time or resources to go through the California beauracracy and get the proper clearances for the 2002 models, but the 2003 models are likely to come with a green sticker. This is all just rumor of course and I don't have any reliable sources to back this up, just reading various posts.

If all of this is true, then my 2001 cannibal actually meets the California emissions requirements, but not the beauracratic red tape.

I've got a spare green sticker from an old bike that I could put on my quad, but a savy ranger could bust me based on the VIN, and apparently there is no set ticket amount. It varies based on the jurisdiction. It'd be my luck to get some judge that's a founding member of the Sierra Club, and he'll throw the book at me.

I think I'm gonna be sick. All of this really makes me mad, especially when I have to fight all the soccer moms in their gas guzzling suburbans and expeditions everyday on the freeway. California sucks!

 

You can always just pack it up north from May to Oct. The weather is a lot nicer up here that time of year anyway.

As far as the rangers go, I think you'd be pretty safe. Most districts are mainly manned by part time volunteers who have no law enforcement authority. There just aren't that many rangers out there. As long as you aren't shooting off fireworks while dancing naked they'll usually just wave and go on by.

 

Trexter,

So if we have the red sticker we can dance naked or shot fireworks but not both while we ride?LOL.

Seams like we need some input from the factory on this and will it be retroactive to the 2001 and 2002 models.

Time for a phone call.

Smitty

 

Huh and they call this a free country.Environmentalist are nothing but socialists and fascists in disquise using saving nature as a front.As soon as civilians wake up and relize this that its nothing but a game there charade will be over.

 

I got a new Dirt Wheels today and it has an ad in it to get information about California State Parks. The photo in the ad has a guy on a Kawasaki Tecate kicking the rear end out on a sand dune. Now my guess is that the park officials aren't very familiar with ATV's, because if they were, they probably wouldn't have a put a 2 stroke ATV in their ad, which you can't ride three months out of the year.

From what I can tell, this whole sticker thing was something thought up by people who had no clue what they're doing.

Living in Maine, I haven't had to deal with this stuff yet. I hope you guys can get all of this red tape crap taken care of.

 

At the track Sunday I noticed a 2003 Yamaha 426 with a red sticker. So I asked the dude why he got it. His dealer said it was a purpose built bike for closed course riding and that's why it was red stickered.

Just what he said not any facts from DMV.

Smitty

 

I've got a buddy that bought a Honda CRF450 dirt bike. It's got a red sticker and he said the dealer said it was because of the noise??? Sure it's loud, but I didn't think the red sticker had anything to do with noise, just emissions. I'm guessing that they're mistaken about the noise thing.

When I was out riding this weekend, I made friendly with 3 guys in the campsite next to me so that I'd have somebody to ride with. They were all on dirt bikes but were very cool, and were totally digging on my cannibal. (smile from ear to ear!)

We got to talking about the red stickers, and the one guy said that to use a green sticker on a bike where it doesn't belong is a FELONY! Needless to say, I'm scared and won't be using the spare green sticker I've got. Don't need to get caught on the wrong side of the law.

I'm just gonna have to find a MX track to ride at during the summer months. Heck, maybe I'll make the long drive out to ride with you one of these days smitty. You can show me the ropes on this MX thing, since you're the veteran! lol

By the way, how much was it to ride at the track, and was any special equipment required? nerf bars, kill switch, etc.