Harley-Davidson agreed to pay a $12 million dollar penalty for selling “illegal emission-control defeat devices” and spend another $3 million on a clean air project according to news reports.

Here is the official word from Harley-Davidson:

The EPA claims that by selling its Pro Super Tuner through its U.S. dealer network, Harley-Davidson enabled dealers and customers to tamper with motorcycles used on public roads.

Harley-Davidson disagrees with the EPA’s position, noting that the tuner was designed and sold as an after-market, competition-only product used to adapt engine parameters for use with Harley-Davidson after-market equipment.

“This settlement is not an admission of liability but instead represents a good faith compromise with the EPA on areas of law we interpret differently, particularly EPA’s assertion that it is illegal for anyone to modify a certified vehicle even if it will be used solely for off-road/closed-course competition,” said Ed Moreland, Harley-Davidson’s Government Affairs Director.

“For more than two decades, we have sold this product under an accepted regulatory approach that permitted the sale of competition-only parts. In our view, it is and was legal to use in race conditions in the U.S.”

Harley says it would stop selling and buy back and destroy its competition-only “Screamin’ Eagle” Pro Super Tuners.

Here’s the complete news release from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) today announced a settlement with Harley-Davidson, Inc., Harley-Davidson Motor Company Group, LLC, Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company, Inc., and Harley-Davidson Motor Company Operations, Inc. (collectively Harley-Davidson), that requires the companies to stop selling and to buy back and destroy illegal devices that increase air pollution from their motorcycles, and to sell only models of these devices that are certified to meet Clean Air Act emissions standards. Harley-Davidson will also pay a $12 million civil penalty and spend $3 million to mitigate air pollution through a project to replace conventional woodstoves with cleaner-burning stoves in local communities.

The government’s complaint, filed today along with the settlement, alleges that Harley-Davidson manufactured and sold approximately 340,000 illegal devices, known as “super tuners,” that, once installed, caused motorcycles to emit higher amounts of certain air pollutants than what the company certified to EPA. Aftermarket defeat devices like these super tuners alter a motor vehicle’s emissions controls and are prohibited under the Clean Air Act for use on vehicles that have been certified to meet EPA emissions standards. Harley-Davidson also made and sold more than 12,000 motorcycles that were not covered by an EPA certification that ensures a vehicle meets federal clean air standards.

“This settlement immediately stops the sale of illegal aftermarket defeat devices used on public roads that threaten the air we breathe,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Harley-Davidson is taking important steps to buy back the ‘super tuners’ from their dealers and destroy them, while funding projects to mitigate the pollution they caused.”

“Given Harley-Davidson’s prominence in the industry, this is a very significant step toward our goal of stopping the sale of illegal aftermarket defeat devices that cause harmful pollution on our roads and in our communities,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden, head of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Anyone else who manufactures, sells, or installs these types of illegal products should take heed of Harley-Davidson’s corrective actions and immediately stop violating the law.”

Since January 2008, Harley-Davidson has manufactured and sold two types of tuners, which when hooked up to Harley-Davidson motorcycles, allow users to modify certain aspects of a motorcycle’s emissions control system. These modified settings increase power and performance, but also increase the motorcycles’ emissions of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides (NOx). These tuners have been sold at Harley-Davidson dealerships across the country.

The Clean Air Act requires motor vehicle manufacturers to certify to EPA that their vehicles will meet applicable federal emissions standards to control air pollution, and every motor vehicle sold in the U.S. must be covered by an EPA-issued certificate of conformity. The Clean Air Act prohibits manufacturers from making and selling devices that bypass, defeat, or render inoperative a motor vehicle’s EPA-certified emissions control system. The Act also prohibits any person from removing or rendering inoperative a motor vehicle’s certified emissions control system and from causing such tampering. The complaint alleges violations of both these provisions.

Under the settlement, Harley-Davidson will stop selling the illegal aftermarket defeat devices in the United States by August 23, 2016. Harley-Davidson will also offer to buy back all such tuners in stock at Harley-Davidson dealerships across the country and destroy them. The settlement requires the company to obtain a certification from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for any tuners it sells in the United States in the future.

Well I'll be fucked .... This will take the fun out of things !!!!!! Will be interesting to see if Aust dealers can still use the Pro Super tuner !!!! I suppose the Indy workshops will have will have a boom for awhile,, until they crack down on them !!!!!!

I'm wondering if this is part of the reason that Harley are releasing the new 107/114 motors.

If people can't put a tuner on their bikes (which you pretty much have to do or they run like crap) then maybe Harley needed a motor that would do 'tuning' internally (or not need tuning from stock).

TTS and dynojet will be happy. It looks like it's the end of the line for the pro supertuner. Will Harley Australia now buy back my pro super tuner?!

the article says they will buy back from the dealers, no mention of the public.
and US dealers not internationals, so yanks could buy them from here

Yep agreed I only said it tongue in cheek.

Can of worms .....Used hog with supper turner 10s of 1000s of em 

I don't think it'll change much at all. Bikes already tuned will stay that way. Bikes not tuned will need to be tuned with another device. If hd want to continue selling tuning devices, it'll need to be sold outside of dealers, with a diff name and under another company's name. They may as well simply focus on their main business and say goodbye to selling tuning device products.

And/or they continue to offer and sell the street tuners with epa compliant calibrations which nobody wants

Im not given mine back

Sounds like VW ...

watch Dynojet sales increase ...
I don't think it will change here.. if your bike is loud with or without super tuner you can get defected for noise and sent over the pits.
alot of jappa cruisers with VH systems louder then stock and no need for a tune on them.

Interesting. The US market is different to here but on the face of it, plenty of US Harley riders will just navigate to another brand of tuner (or different Harley tuner) and keep on chugging. If EPA step up enforcement to curtail that, they will also have to look at all other bikes that have similar tuners as well as cars etc. You start causing all sorts of trouble by that point that may reach a critical mass of 'too many people to screw around'. It's not only people that use aftermarket tuners here but also those that sell and service them. That's a lot of voters.

Apparently the particular tuners impacted in the US aren't officially sold in Australia according to Oz HD so this probably underlines the limited or no implications for here. When the new engine is released that may give further insights into where HD thinks it will take its product into the future. Lots of $$ at stake here.

The US EPA should just admit that they want to put people back to horse and cart days...

I am currently in the USA and it is the lead story in the national paper USA today in the finance section. Share price slipped by 7% but has climbed back a bit. Dealer would not be drawn into discussions at all

Probably only a matter of time before this happened.

Harley have not sold a "noisy" exhaust under the Screamin' Eagle brand since the 2007 model year.

For the same reason , the EPA came after them way back then.

The aftermarket continued of course , and V&H became MEGA as a result.

The Supertuner pro is dead , long live the Supertuner...

As before , the aftermarket will fill the void , unless HD take steps on the bikes to ensure they are "untamperable" ( which is highly possible !)

PS , this should probably be segued to the EFI Forum as well ?

lanesplitter.jalopnik.com/
Have a article on this and the breakdown for HD,sorry cant get the link to work. Good read.

If Harley makes their bikes "untamperable", it still won't stop people.

I know a tech that fits Turbo's to Jap bikes. He changes over the whole ECU to get better results.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

T-Max ?

Err NO THANKS..

TTS long live TTS