The reason for the question is that I have a hard time believing that all kits here accept for the Skyhawk kits have been in the States since 2010..... I wonder how long Duane has had all his kits and I know it was within the last couple of years when Pirate started selling the old original PK-80 kits that have the longer crooked clutch actuator arm.
I dont claim to be up on everything or have any solid proof but that all smells a bit like...... B... ...., well the nice thing to say would be fishy......!
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Feel free to look it up yourself but since the 2010 EPA regs took effect it requires a 40CFR-1051 certification to legally import a Chinese 2-stroke bicycle/moped engine and the factory can no longer do this themselves, there must be a US distributor responsible to the EPA for the engine kit they sell and only 48 and 66cc Skyhawks have that.
In short you will not see a single engine kit with an EPA sticker on it newer than 2009 unless it says Skyhawk on it but then again many have no sticker or mfg date at all.
I am no tree huger and most of the regs are BS like a better cat pipe and carb and I'm sure there are 2-stroke engines that still hit the shore under the 2 cycle bicycle engines EPA certified as lawn mower replacement engines which only requires a simple Class 90 EPA certification.
And it is just plain silly to think you can order 1 motor kit and have it shipped direct to your door from the Chinese factory, you may be able to order it from a Chinese web site but you can bet you butt it is already on shore as shipping is so expensive it would cost you $150 in shipping for 1 box, you have to buy at a least pallet full if not a container to make it worth the cost and most Chinese manufactures of anything ship entire cargo ships full of containers of products at a time and I wouldn't be surprised if Walmart even had their own cargo ships for that too.
Again, just facts and beside the point as we tend to put on aftermarket parts that would make the EPA cry but the EPA doesn't have environment cops pulling you over, well except maybe in California ;-}
What the EPA does have is Customs officials that will destroy entire loads of products at the port if they are illegal but that has nothing to with shipping inside the US as Customs is not involved with domestic shipping
The important thing to me is not how green it is but when the motor was made and what improvements may have been made if any and I find comfort buying an engine that was made less than year ago every time.
Is EVERY motor kit for sale in the US made before 2009? Probably not but the majority were or the buyer took a pretty big risk importing them.
Again the point was that
legally nothing but Skyhawk has been legal to import since 2010 so whatever else you buy is a crap shoot. That doesn't make it bad, maybe even better, the point is why take the risk of 'crap in a box' for about the same price you know is actually up to date new?
I don't, but it's your money, I'm just a happy camper who's kits go on nice and fire right up every time and I build a lot of bikes.