OFF THE WIRE
How many millions of problem after-market parts not meeting safety and environmental standards and endangering bikers are sold every year is the question that asks the Washington post. The investigation starts with an interview of Rick Doyle founder of now shuttered Hog Farm, a 3-million dollars business selling custom parts. Doyle now worries that the custom parts he sold by the thousands — from undersize mirrors and lights to high-performance carburetors — appear to be dangerous and/or to violate federal standards meant to keep the roads safe and the air clear of excessive emissions.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency regulate the industry but admits that it struggles with limited budgets and resistance from some parts of the motorcycle industry and that the laws themselves can be confusing, with nuances that make oversight difficult. NHTSA and federal safety experts also say that equipment failure has not caused a large number of crashes, but that the federal government has not conducted a comprehensive study of the causes of motorcycle crashes since 1981 when the study found that modified bikes were overrepresented in crashes.
Another question is raised regarding how requirements may apply to the manufacturer and to the operator of the motorcycle who may use a safe and approved custom part in the wrong way. And of course bike kits assembled by consumers are the objects of many attacks as much regarding the parts they are made of and the way they are built into motorcycles. The 5-page Washington Post investigation article can be read at Some after-market motorcycle parts don’t meet safety or environmental standards.
