Buying a Falco outside of California?

[kingB]

Hi, total newbie to the board here...

Do the Aprilia's have 50 state emissions? Or do I have to buy a bike that has the CA emissions cert?

Just curious, though I'm pretty sure I'll find a Falco here in the SF Bay Area.

[redhawk]

i believe the only difference between california spec falcos and the other 49-states is that cali-models have an "fuel vapor recovery system" a.k.a. the charcoal canister that eats up the trunk space. i removed mine and pulled and/or capped the extra pound of hoses.

[CarlosT]

I picked up my Falco in North Carolina and it was a 50-state model. I'm not sure that they even have just 49-state Aprilias anymore. Check with the dealer to see the manufacturer's certificate...it'll state whether it's a 50-state model.

[Katch]

Carlos & King,
Check under the rear seat. If you see a "coffee can" size canister, then you have a CA emission one(all Falcos might or might not have them now). If you do, I suggest you remove it (unless you're like...a member of Green Peace). It takes up half your trunk space. There's a web site that has very good/easy instructions on how to do it. You'll only need to buy a dollar's worth of end caps. Some people claim it helps clear up that flat spot in the rpm's, but personally, I don't think it does anything except give me twice the trunk space now.

Steve
--I guess if you're a member of Green Peace, then you shouldn't be riding anyway. You'll be polluting the atmosphere or maybe even, God forbid, run over and kill an ant or something

[CarlosT]

The SL owner's manual has a great diagram of this system including the flow of fuel vapors and venting...could keep you outta trouble if you decide to plug up the wrong line

[Katch]

Here's the site with instructions and diagrams:

http://falco.hadeler.net/Sections+in...-3-page-1.html

Steve
(thanks hadeler!)

[cplus]

(thanks hadeler!)

No problem. It really isn't to hard to remove. The only benefit, though, is more room in the 'trunk.'

[Folgore]

Watch out for the troubles you may get into.
The most important thing to watch when bringing in a out of state bike are the certification stickers on the bike and the VIN on the frame.
The Cal DMV will run the VIN when you try to register it.
I found out the hard way, and after 7 months of battles with the DMV (straight to Sacramento), I gave in and sold my RSVR on Ebay and bought a Cal model. Once the bike is in the DMV system, no problem pull all the emmisions off to your hearts content but getting it there is a challange.
I even had a full emmsion system from my Falco that I was going to have a dealer install and certify that the bike is Cal compliant.
The DMV's response was the only way they would accept it, is if the frame was shipped back to Italy and have a new VIN put on it.
Life is a bitch at times. Be careful.

There are I think 3 exception to allow you to bring a bike in (double check with the local DMV office) but they are basically, you wrecked your bike out of state and had to buy one to get home (police report required), you moved in from out of state (proof of residence required) or you were on military service out of state when the bike was purchased. There is something about the vehicle requiring to have more than 7500 miles on it at the time of sale also.

Good luck,
Jeff

[Folgore]

KingB, I just noted you are in the Bay area, I'm in Fremont if you ever want to chat and hear the whole story.
-Jeff

[Katch]

Jeff,
When I moved to CA (about 5 years ago), I brought my '92 GSXR. All the DMV was concerned about was that the number on the engine matched the vin. They didn't even care that I had a D&D (not so street legal) pipe on it. Not that the DMV people are rocket scientists, they probably didn't pay attention.

Steve
'02 silver one

[Folgore]

Katch, you moved to Cal with the bike, which I'm assuming means you bought it and owned it out of state prior to moving to CA. That meets one of the exemption criteria to get registered ... without cali emmisions.
-Jeff

[ksann]

Originally posted by Folgore
There are I think 3 exception to allow you to bring a bike in (double check with the local DMV office) but they are basically, you wrecked your bike out of state and had to buy one to get home (police report required), you moved in from out of state (proof of residence required) or you were on military service out of state when the bike was purchased. There is something about the vehicle requiring to have more than 7500 miles on it at the time of sale also.

Good luck,
Jeff

You are very correct in this post. I went through something similar (as I bought an out of state bike also, but it truly had 9k miles on it). One thing that some people do, they 'Borrow' the gauges from another similar bike, and show up @ DMV, so that they can pass the mileage requirement. I have not tried to remove the dash, but it cannot be that time consuming. Not that I am recommending that you break the law.....


ken

[Tee-Dub]

One more reason we should give California back to Mexico. What a pain in the ass. So you actually can't buy a vehicle from another state unless it has all the California emissions crap on it?