11-05-2021, 04:55 AM
(11-05-2021, 04:19 AM)j3gq_imp Wrote: All of this makes sense to me, for a car or m/c which otherwise doesn't exist in the U.S. market.
But why would this a apply to a bike which is literally a DLX with a few improvements ? The importer should just be able to prove that the bike imported is a CB1100 DLX plus a few mods. A different exhaust pipe cannot stall this process in a country where literally any exhaust can be mounted.
I know it's not gonna fly, or nobody is mad enough to try, but which items on the RS are really the show-stoppers, in your view ?
the confusing inconsistency you're talking about is primarily the result of how sovereign a US State can be vs the federal government. you're correct in that the US will allow you to mount literally any exhaust you want and radically modify a bike and still ride it on the road. however, it all depends on where you are. in South Carolina, I literally only need one mirror, one headlight, and two wheels, and the vehicle can be made road legal, as long as the VIN number registers as a road legal vehicle, or else it qualifies as a hand-built bike with no VIN numbers. However, if i take my showroom fresh CB1100 to California, put an aftermarket slip on exhaust on it, and ride it down the pacific coast highway, i'm almost guaranteed to get pulled over and ticketed for being too loud/illegally modified/illegally polluting with poor emissions, and if i tried to register the bike in the state i would be rejected upon inspection.
Also, I know what you're thinking...couldn't you just modify the RS a bit and register it as "hand built"? not really. If it had any kind of VIN at all you'd be forced to use the original VIN. you can't just scratch it off and say the bike has no VIN.
for me, the show stopper on that bike is the 17" wheels. that makes such a huge difference in so many facets of the bike. Everything else is just icing.