--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
February 5, 2009, 11:42 am
So Long, Dirt-Bike Kids
By Daniel McDermon
Manufacturers and dealers are growing a bit frantic over the implementation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which would effectively ban the sales of small motorcycles and off-road vehicles intended for children under 12 years old beginning next week.
The new regulations, which are set to take effect on Feb. 10, require products intended for children to meet strict limits on lead content, such as in toys. Industry advocates said that certain internal components in motorcycles, including battery terminals and brake parts, contain enough lead to be effectively banned from sale. A letter issued by the American Motorcyclist Association on Tuesday says:
…although the C.P.S.C. has published proposed procedures for seeking exclusion from the lead limits, there is no practical way for manufacturers and distributors of A.T.V.’s and off-highway motorcycles to seek and obtain exclusions prior to the February 10 effective date… Unless the C.P.S.C. acts immediately to grant the manufacturers and distributers of motorcycles and A.T.V.’s emergency relief and a temporary exclusion from the lead limits for certain applications, a severe and unwarranted disruption in the supply of youth-model vehicles will occur.
The act also requires that products intended for children under 12 must be certified by testing laboratories as within the legal lead-content limits. But the implementation of this requirement was delayed for one year by the safety commission on Friday, after an uproar among retailers and manufacturers (and librarians), who pointed out that third-party testing facilities for some products are exceedingly expensive or not available.
On Wednesday, the Motorcycle Industry Council, a group representing manufacturers, called for an e-mail campaign to urge the commission to delay the rule’s implementation. The council has also filed a request for exemption to the new rules and signed a letter [pdf] alongside other members of the National Association of Manufacturers requesting an emergency stay.
In a statement, Paul Vitrano, general counsel for the industry group, said, “There should be common-sense procedures for exclusions of parts, such as brakes, engines and suspensions, that do not present risk to children in the real world.”
On Monday, the American Motorcyclist Association, which represents riders, sent a letter to the commission in support of the industry’s requests. In addition to the difficulty faced by manufacturers and dealers, the association’s letter suggests that making smaller machines unavailable could lead to children riding machines that are too large:
If emergency relief is not granted immediately, some consumers will very likely purchase vehicles that are physically too large for young riders, exposing them to unnecessary risk.
The safety commission has not ruled on the requests.
In its announcement of the certification delay, the commission cited widespread confusion over the requirements.
Regardless of the stay, manufacturers and retailers are still unsure whether they will be able to sell some of their products. After the commission announced its one-year stay on Friday, Honda issued an advisory to dealers that certain models would have to be removed from showroom floors. The models Honda cited were its entry-level trail bikes (the CRF 50F, CRF 70F and CRF 80F) and its small all-terrain vehicle, the TRX 90.
Joel Metter, general manager of New York Motorcycle, which sells Kawasaki and Yamaha vehicles that would be affected by the ban, said that he expected that an agreement on the delay would be reached. Manufacturers have offered to absorb the flooring cost of affected vehicles, Mr. Metter said, meaning that dealers would not be required to make the normal monthly interest payments to the manufacturers on vehicles that had to be pulled from the sales floor.
An industry newsletter, Dealernews, estimated the value of affected motorcycles and other vehicles at $50 million.
