Re: Banning 2-Cycle engines???
it would be interesting to hear from some of the guys (or gals) from europe as to what is happening over there to 2 strokes since they have had stricter polution rules for a while.
Same thing, but worse.
They are even trying to ban certain older (some German diesels that are less than 4 years old don't even get the new stickers) cars and trucks from larger cities now, even if you live in the city, you won't be able to drive your car home if it is not a newer model meeting ever changing requirements. The car industry is playing a big role in this with new sales going down year after year. It is their new way to force people to buy new cars.
The rules & requirements are also different from city to city, and lake to lake. No one knows what to do. People who bought several years ago thought they would be OK, they now had the newest. Wrong!
I wouldn't be surprised if the outboard manufactures aren't also working in the background here (just my thought, unlike the auto industry, I am not sure here). All that they are achieving though, is to push a already troubled boating industry over the edge.
People that are having a hard time combining boating and living, are just throwing in the towel. With the crashing economy, and exploding gas prices sucking up their disposable income, many were already boating less, if at all.
Making them buy new motors, when their old ones were in good condition is the straw that broke the camels back in many cases.
For people that aren't boaters, in a country that is very jealous of everything they don't have, we are an easy to sell target in political speeches where the environment is often the only theme.
