The Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008 Could Be Devastating To All
Joe Hawkins walked into his local dealership in Washington State, strolled up to the parts counter and told the salesman that he wanted to buy a throttle tube for this Kawasaki KLR650. He was told that couldn’t be done.
Turns out the throttle tube on a KLR650 is the same as the throttle tube for a KX65. Huh?
It all comes back to the recent legislation that imposes strict lead content guidelines on children’s toys. Kid’s toys, lead content… how does that relate to Hawkins and his throttle tube?
Youth off-highway vehicles are children’s toys, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) reasons. Which means they fall under the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) and, according to section 101(a) of that enacted legislation, all youth products containing lead must have less than 600 parts per million (ppm) by weight. And the CPSC has interpreted the law to apply to various components of youth OHVs – including the engine, brakes, suspension, battery and other mechanical parts. Even though the lead levels in these parts are small, they are still above the minimum threshold.
And therein lies the problem. Effectively, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 has banned the sale of kid’s motorcycles and ATVs – and it all went into effect yesterday, February 10. And the ban also includes parts, thereby affecting motorcyclists like Hawkins and the entire motorcycle industry.
The AMA and every other association, manufacturer, race promoter and aftermarket manufacturer with a vested interest in this is calling now for motorcyclists to help – a call for action, so to speak, to try and put a stop to the insanity of the CPSIA.
"The unavailability of youth OHVs will devastate family OHV recreation and cripple amateur competition, creating a domino effect across all aspects of motorized recreation," said AMA Vice President for Government Relations Ed Moreland in an AMA press release. "All motorcyclists, whether they recreate off-road or not, need to come to the defense of our youngest riders and help ensure the future availability of youth OHVs."
A quick and effective way to help, according to the AMA, is to write or call your representative and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and let them know petitions exist to exclude certain vehicles from the final rule governing the law. You can send your representative a letter by using the Take Action button in the Issues and Legislation section of www.AmericanMotorcyclist.com.
The fight has already started with the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) and Specialty Vehicle Industry Association (SVIA) submitting petitions to the CPSC asking that certain vehicles be excluded from the final rule governing the law.
"It is critical that Congress and the CPSC know that these petitions exist and that by acting on them they will maintain a vital form of recreation for American families, preserve youth racing and protect the thousands of jobs associated with this industry," Moreland added. "We are asking all motorcyclists to write or call their representatives and the CPSC today and ask them to approve the petition to exclude youth OHVs from the CPSIA lead content requirements."
There are other ways to fight as well. Tom Self is a congressman from Missouri. His kids ride and race motorcycles so he feels the impact of CPSIA directly. His website has a letter that can be sent directly to Congress on behalf of anyone who takes the time to basically fill out the form that gives their name, address, etc. The site can be found at www.tomself.com.
Manufacturers have already sent letters to their dealers, telling them to stop selling their youth models. The letters are harshly worded… and to the point. The following is a portion of Suzuki’s letter to its dealers: "American Suzuki Motor Corporation (ASMC) is sending this bulletin to all Suzuki dealers as a Stop Sale Notice of Suzuki vehicles and/or parts that are designed primarily for children age 12 and younger."
On the list of Suzuki’s products that have been taken off dealership floors: The LT-Z50, LT-Z90, LT-A50, LT80, RM85, RM85L, RM60, RM65, DR-Z70, DR-Z125, DR-Z125L, DR-Z110, JR50, JR80 and other "discontinued" youth motorcycles and ATVs, the Suzuki literature says.
Dealers are already feeling the pinch. And it’s only the beginning.
"It’s too early to say the impact, but we’ve already turned away four unit sales in just a couple of days," said Kevin Dunn, the sales and internet manager of Thousand Oaks Honda Suzuki in Thousand Oaks, California. "We’re an average mid-high volume dealer. In the heyday back in 2004-2005 we were selling over 400 units per year in the kid motorcycle/ATV market category. Now, after the down-turn, it’s more like 100 units. So we’ll probably take a hit of about eight to 10 units a month, which equates to about a $10,000-14,000 hit per month. And that doesn’t include the loss of gear sales for those same kids and the service for those units down the road. Obviously, this hurts in any economy, but with this economy it’s possibly a death blow to some smaller dealers or even bigger dealers who recently renovated or moved to larger facilities and need every dime to pay for it."
Kawasaki called the Cycle News offices this morning to let us know that Hawkins should have been able to purchase the throttle tube for his KLR650 and that the dealer erred in not allowing him to. Turns out there is a restricted parts list that features parts that are crossovers and are used in both youth and adult model motorcycles and ATVs. Hawkins’ throttle tube would be on such a list.
Those parts come with a stuffer in the box that mandates that the parts are restricted and are to be sold only to those intending to use them on something other than a youth model.
Also, the list of banned parts are only those that are accessible to youths. In other words, you can still purchase a piston for a kid’s motorcycle or ATV – just not parts they could actually touch.
