One of the biggest players in the aftermarket retail industry has been smashed with a massive settlement fee, paying $1.93 million to funds and projects approved by the California Air Resources Board (CARB)

On June 9, CARB announced it had reached an agreement with Comoto Holdings, the parent company behind J&P Cycles, Cycle Gear and Revzilla. The reason for the fine, according to CARB: “Comoto Holdings, Inc. has agreed to pay $1,937,500 to resolve alleged violations related to the sale of non-exempted add-on or modified motorcycle parts in California.”

CARB said Comoto’s subsidiaries (again—J&P Cycles, Cycle Gear and Revzilla) were advertising and selling motorcycle exhaust parts that didn’t meet California laws, and that the parts weren’t being sold only for race use. Hence, the fine. The settlement agreement (read it here) says the “alleged violations” occurred between October, 2015 and December 2018.

If Comoto had paid CARB’s max fine for these offences, the result would have been massive. As per the garbled legalspeak in the settlement agreement:

Failure to comply with the provisions set forth above could result in a civil penalty
not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500) for each action if it occurred prior to
January 1, 2017, and $37,500 for each such action that occurred after January 1,
2017, under Health and Safety Code section 43016, and one thousand five
hundred dollars ($1,500) for each violation of Vehicle Code section 27156 under
Health and Safety Code section 43008.6(b).

That would have meant a lot of dough, certainly much more than $1.93M.

Comoto’s settlement money will be split between environmental projects in Coachella Valley and Placer County, and the California Air Pollution Control Fund.

Supposedly, Comoto will still be selling aftermarket exhausts in California, but the stickers will now have even more forceful language about their street legality. Or so we hear, anyway. Chances are, we’re coming to a point where no aftermarket retailer will sell any sort of exhaust to California, as the risk will outweigh the reward.

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