It’s been over twenty years since motorcycle exhaust gas inspections started.
Emissions regulations have become stricter year after year, and the world has become one where motorcycle shops can’t take inspection approval for granted anymore.
Honestly, without a CO/HC tester, you can’t even talk about passing an inspection on emissions-regulated bikes.
Investment to reduce risk is necessary.
An inspection passes in a flash if there are no problems.
But if there are issues, you can’t complete the inspection without fixing those areas—that’s how the system works.
What do you do on the spot if that problem is exhaust gas?
The inspection station won’t tell you what percentage CO is or how many PPM HC is unless you ask.
And even if they give you the numbers, there’s nothing you can do about it on the spot or back at the shop.
What if you had a bike that’s completely stock but still fails the exhaust gas test?
You’d bring it to the inspection station with your fingers crossed, and if it passes, great—but if it fails, it’s hell. Honestly, it becomes a tough situation to run a business.
I feel like these emissions regulations have reduced the number of times motorcycle shops bring bikes in for inspection. Most of what you see are inspection shops, dealership chains, or classic bike specialists.
There are plenty of used bikes out there that shops have given up on.
Getting back to the point: with a CO/HC tester, even if a TMR or FCR carburettor is out of tune, you can adjust it at the shop.
If the catalyst is dead from high mileage and the bike’s running rich, you can still dial it in.
The tricky part is that sometimes you run into bikes with a sub-controller or full controller installed where there’s just nothing you can do—that’s a fact.
But even in those cases, you can usually handle it before bringing it in, so this machine is an absolute must-have for inspection work.
Oh, and one more thing: this machine needs warm-up time, so I’d recommend getting the newest model you can afford (though they’re pricey)—ours takes five minutes, by the way.
