MotoUtah: Motocross and Off-Road Riding in Utah

The CPSC has banned the sale of "non-certified" products that contain too much lead. This ban includes chaep toys from Chine and ATVs and Motorcycles for kids below the age of 12. This banm starts the middle of Feb 2009. Potentially included in the ban are: the pee wee bikes, pee wee atvs, 50's, 60's 85's and 100's and the parts that would normally wear out due to racing like motor parts, etc. I'll try to post a link that adds further explanation. If you have been putting off you purchases for this year, better call your dealers now....

Further Info: According to a letter sent to Honda dealers dated January 23, 2009, a Congressional Act passed in response to the sale of unsafe, lead-tainted toys last year, could result in a ban on sale of certain Honda motorcycles and ATVs sized for youngsters after February 10, 2009. The language of the Congressional Act is broad enough to encompass motorcycles containing lead in "substrate material" over 600ppm, which would impact certain motorcycles and ATVs even though paint on those models contains lead within acceptable limits. The affected Honda motorcycles and ATVs are the TRX 90, CRF 50F, CRF 70F and CRF 80F, but the ban would seemingly encompass any motorcycle or ATV "designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger." Honda hopes to convince Congress to exempt alloyed parts for small motorcycles and ATVs from the terms of the Congressional Act, but time is running out.

The following is a letter sent to Honda dealers from American Honda's senior vice president, Ray Blank...


Dear Honda Dealer:

On August 14, 2008, Congress enacted the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA or Act). The Act was primarily in reaction to the recent influx of lead-tainted toys that resulted in numerous recalls and significant public outcry for more stringent government standards.

The CPSIA requires manufacturers of “Children’s Products,” defined as those products designed or intended primarily for children 12 years of age or younger, to meet increasingly stringent lead paint and lead content standards and to certify, based on third party testing, that the products meet the Act’s requirements. Products that fail to comply with the prescribed lead limits are considered a “banned hazardous substance” and cannot be sold or offered for sale. Violation of the prescribed limits (initial limits detailed below) can result in severe civil and criminal penalties.

Ban of lead in paint over 600ppm (parts per million)

Honda’s paint contains little or no lead and easily complies with even the most stringent requirement.

Ban of lead in substrate material over 600ppm

Honda is still in process of completing tests on all of the materials used in our small ATV’s and motorcycles; however, some alloy materials commonly used to manufacture motor vehicles may inherently contain levels of lead that are (or ultimately will be) above the current, or future more aggressive, limits set forth in the Act.

Honda and other members of the Motorcycle Industry Council and Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, which face the same issues as Honda, are actively working to exempt the alloy parts for small motorcycles and ATVs from the terms of the Act. The lead embedded in the alloys used in these products is not transferred through typical use of these products. Our shared belief is that Congress never intended the lead content provisions of the Act, which originally were aimed at toys that can be mouthed by children, to be applicable to small ATVs and motorcycles.

Even more concerning is that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the agency charged with enforcing the Act, recently ruled that Congress intended the lead content regulations to be retroactive. This means that, regardless of its date of manufacture or the fact that it complied with all applicable laws and regulations at the date of manufacture, any children’s product manufactured with even a single component part containing lead in excess of the limits will no longer be legal for sale as of February 10, 2009. The economic impact of the CPSC’s ruling will be substantial for both dealers and manufacturers in an already weakened economy.

What all of this means to you is that – without Congressional or CPSC action -- you will not be able to sell new or used TRX 90, CRF 50F, CRF 70F, or CRF 80F models after February 10, 2009, stranding your investment in your new and used inventory. In fact, under the terms of the Act you cannot even display these models on your showroom floor, distribute brochures, or advertise them on your website.

**REVIEW IMMEDIATELY**

As Honda and others continue to work towards a satisfactory resolution to this dilemma, we urge you to support an industry effort by contacting your Congressional delegation and Senators and urging them to ensure that small motorcycles and ATVs are exempted from the lead-content provisions of the Act. Copies of letters already sent by the MIC and SVIA to various members of Congress are attached for your reference.

We ask for your patience and understanding as we work through this unfortunate process together. You may continue to sell these models lawfully and with all existing Honda retail support through February 9th, 2009. We will advise you if the industry is able to obtain an exemption from the lead content regulation. In the interim, we will keep you posted on developments and business actions necessary from February 10th forward to comply with this Act. With best regards, American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

The following is from the MIC...


The Specialty Vehicle Institute of America and the Motorcycle Industry Council, whose member companies manufacture or distribute youth model all-terrain vehicles and off-highway motorcycles, respectively, as well as parts and accessories for ATVs and motorcycles, today urgently requested the Consumer Product Safety Commission and federal legislators to take a common sense approach to implementation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act's lead provisions. SVIA and MIC also announced their intention to join several of their member companies in filing petitions with the CPSC for emergency relief from the provisions, which go into effect on February 10, 2009. They are seeking a temporary final rule to exempt ATV and motorcycle parts in order to avoid major disruptions to enthusiasts, to the member companies' businesses, and to the companies' dealer network of thousands of small, independent businesses which employ tens of thousands of Americans.

"SVIA and MIC applaud Congress for taking an important step in protecting children from those products that truly present a lead risk," said Paul Vitrano, executive vice president and general counsel, SVIA. "However, 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."

The petitions for exclusion will request exemptions based on existing European Union studies and analogous exemptions for lead in components of motorized vehicles and motorcycles. "Some ATV and motorcycle parts unavoidably contain small quantities of lead," said Vitrano, who also is general counsel of MIC. "Lead in these components is necessary, either for safety, as in the case of facilitating the machining of tire valves, critical to assuring tire air retention, or for functionality, such as the lead in battery terminals, which is needed to conduct electricity."

Vitrano said the new law provides for exclusions for inaccessible components and authorizes CPSC to grant petitions for exclusions under certain conditions, but CPSC has not granted any for ATVs and motorcycles.

The CPSC recently released several proposals to address exclusions it might adopt, but the public comment period for these proposals will end after the February 10 effective date for the new lead provisions. "By delaying release of these proposals, CPSC will provide no meaningful guidance to product manufacturers and distributors eager to comply with the law prior to the February 10 deadline. Congress included an exclusion process in the CPSIA expressly to allow relief for parts that are unlikely to harm children, such as those contained in an ATV or motorcycle," Vitrano said.

The delays in clarifying the available exclusions have created an untenable situation for the associations' member companies and their thousands of dealers, many of which are small businesses. On February 10 huge inventories of products that present no health risk to children could be rendered retroactively illegal, and future products prohibited from sale. These products may need to be destroyed which would result in severe hardship to the member companies of the associations and their dealers at a time of unprecedented economic disruption.

Vitrano said that SVIA and MIC are calling on all ATV and motorcycle enthusiasts, dealers and other stakeholders to contact the CPSC and their respective Members of Congress to urge them to enact these temporary exclusions because, in the absence of government action, there likely will not be any new youth motorcycles or ATVs available for purchase in their local dealerships as of February 10.

this is jacked up...Wow!

Kawasaki has now banned the sale of any parts found on the KX65, KX60, KLX50, KLX110 and KFX50.

Correct me if I am wrong, but as I interpret this legislation, there has been a one year stay on the requirement for lead content certification, but not a stay in the legal lead content requirement. The major manufacturers (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and KTM) already know how much lead their products contain, and certain parts contain too much lead, such as valve stem parts, battery terminals, etc. And being as these parts contain too much lead the product cannot be sold for children under age 13. However, being as the low budget Chinese products have not had lead testing done, and the lead content is not known, they can continue to sell them because now they do not need to certify the lead content for another year.

This is so typical, our goverment passes a law to protect our kids from inferior Chinese products that may be unsafe, but all they succeed in doing is keeping the quality products off the market while the inferior Chineese products continue to slide by. This law is a mess.

3TV

GOOD NEWS Kawasaki has now let their dealers retro-fit the little ATV 50s (KSF50's) in stock to become compliant with the new lead laws. Having just completed one of the recalls myself, the only parts that were not under the plastic fenders or wheel wells were the kickstarter lever and grips.