Emissions info

[grumpy]

Does anyone know how to determine if a GL1500 is or is not a California model? TIA, Stan

[trike lady]

By the VIN number.

Also a California emission bike will have a charcoal canister to which the vent hose from gas cap goes in addition to the extra plumbing and valves from charcoal canister to carburetors.

[grumpy]

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping to be able to determine w/o tearing it apart. How, exactly can I determine from the VIN? I have run it on a couple of online decoders & get nothing about emissions. One even said my bike is a "1995 Honda CBR900 RR" Thanks, Stan

[trike lady]

This may help you with decoding the VIN.

Below is for a 1990 GL1500. The first 8 number/letter combo tells if it is a 49 state compliant or CA model.

• The VIN number for California began: 1HFSC220*LA200001 while the rest of the U.S models began: 1HFSC221*LA200001
  

[grumpy]

OK so I have 49 state bike. Here is the issue: A couple of days ago I came back from ~200 mile ride & parked on the lift & shut it down as usual. I had ridden ~55 miles since filling up. There was a "whirring" sound coming from the bike. Sounded like an electric motor running. Discovered it was fuel vapor venting from the gas cap. Not the hose, but the cap itself. Loosened it to the first "notch" & the noise stopped, & vapor vented for ~10 seconds. Is it possible that I had not seated the cap properly? Or the hose got plugged somehow? Or I need a new cap? Is there anyway to tell if a new cap is needed w/o replacing it? New cap is crazy expensive. TIA. Stan

Edit: Occasionally the bike is hard to start after being warm & sitting for awhile. FSM says this could indicate bad evap stuff on CA bike, but nothing about 49 state model.

[GoldWingrGreg]

Does anyone know how to determine if a GL1500 is or is not a California model? TIA, Stan

It looks like trike lady answered your question Here's another way to tell. By Federal Law a vehicle must have an emission sticker. On a GL1800, it's yellow and stuck to the underside of the right engine cover. A GL1500 could have theirs in the same place.

[trike lady]

The cap may not be venting. If you remove the cap and reinstall it does the bike start?

You can soak the cap in Seafoam. Check the vent tube to make sure no insects have made a home in it.

[Slvrvalk1]

The emissions sticker on my 2014 Wing is inside the trunk on the lid liner. I had to show the DMV the sticker when I registered my bike in California. I purchased it new from Western Honda in Arizona. The sticker indicates that it meets both EPA and CARB (CA Air Resources Board) regulations.

[grumpy]

The cap may not be venting. If you remove the cap and reinstall it does the bike start?

You can soak the cap in Seafoam. Check the vent tube to make sure no insects have made a home in it.

Yes the bike starts just fine. I will check the hose. If it is clear I will soak the cap. I don't have any Seafoam, but B-12 should do the trick. Is it possible that if I had the cap on crooked that could be the cause?