Tuesday

BMW K1300 Recall

Vehicle Make / Model: Model Year(s):
BMW K1300 GT 2009-2010
BMW K1300 S 2009-2010
Manufacturer: BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, LLCMfr's Report Date: DEC 04, 2009
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 09V471000NHTSA Action Number: PE09052
Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Potential Number of Units Affected: 2019
Summary:
 BMW IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2009 AND 2010 K1300 S AND K1300 GT MOTORCYCLES MANUFACTURED BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 11, 2008 AND NOVEMBER 19, 2009. POOR FUEL QUALITY MAY LEAD TO SMALL DEPOSITS WITHIN THE THROTTLE BODIES. DURING ENGINE OPERATION IN A LOW RPM RANGE, TYPICALLY NEAR IDLE SPEED (WHEN COMING TO A STOP) AIR FLOW COULD BE SUFFICIENTLY RESTRICTED AND ENGINE STALLING COULD OCCUR.
Consequence:
 ENGINE STALLING COULD RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
Remedy:
 BMW WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPAIR THE MOTORCYCLES BY UPDATING THE ENGINE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE.

Got a lemon BMW motorcycle? Get a Burdge attorney. Getting rid of lemon motorcycles is what we do. Everyday. Since 1978.

Massive Harley FL Recall for Gas Tanks


Vehicle Make / Model: Model Year(s):
H-D / FLHP 2009-2010
H-D / FLHPE 2009-2010
H-D / FLHR 2009-2010
H-D / FLHR SHRINE 2009-2010
H-D / FLHRC 2009-2010
H-D / FLHT 2009-2010
H-D / FLHTC 2009-2010
H-D / FLHTCU 2009-2010
H-D / FLHTCU SHRINE 2009-2010
H-D / FLHTCU W/SC 2009-2010
H-D / FLHTCU4-CVO 2009
H-D / FLHTCUSE4 2009
H-D / FLHTCUSE5 2010
H-D / FLHTCUTG 2009-2010
H-D / FLHTK 2010
H-D / FLHTP 2009-2010
H-D / FLHX 2009-2010
H-D / FLHXSE 2010
H-D / FLHXXX 2010
H-D / FLTR 2009
H-D / FLTR3-CVO 2009
H-D / FLTRSE3 2009
Manufacturer: HARLEY-DAVIDSON MOTOR COMPANYMfr's Report Date: NOV 25, 2009
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 09V457000NHTSA Action Number: N/A
Component: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:STORAGE:TANK ASSEMBLY:MOUNTING
Potential Number of Units Affected: 111569
Summary:
 HARLEY-DAVIDSON IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2009 AND 2010 TOURING FAMILY MOTORCYCLES, INCLUDING CVO TOURING AND TRIKE PRODUCTS, MANUFACTURED FROM JUNE 6, 2008 THROUGH NOVEMBER 19, 2009. THE FRONT FUEL TANK MOUNTS MAY DISTORT IN REACTION TO SEVERE FRAME DAMAGE FROM A FRONTAL COLLISION. THIS CONDITION MAY CAUSE A FUEL LEAK AT THE WELD OF THE FRONT BRACKET TO THE TUNNEL.
Consequence:
 A FUEL LEAK IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IGNITION SOURCE MAY RESULT IN A FIRE, WHICH COULD LEAD TO INJURY OR DEATH TO THE RIDER.
Remedy:
 DEALERS WILL INSTALL A LEFT AND RIGHT BRACE, WHICH ARE INTENDED TO REDUCE FRONT MOUNT DISTORTION DURING CERTAIN CRASH CONDITIONS.

Got a lemon Harley motorcycle? Get a Burdge attorney. Getting rid of lemon motorcycles is what we do. Everyday. Since 1978.

Wildfire WF 120 Recall

WILDFIRE WF-120V 2009
Manufacturer: WILDFIRE MOTORS, INC.Mfr's Report Date: DEC 03, 2009
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 09V470000NHTSA Action Number: N/A
Component: VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD
Potential Number of Units Affected: 42
Summary:
 WILDFIRE IS RECALLING MODEL YEAR 2009 WF-120V PASSENGER COUPE VEHICLES FOR FAILING TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 500, ¿LOW SPEED VEHICLE.¿ THE MANUFACTURER INSTALLED THE INCORRECT WINDSHIELD.
Consequence:
 SHOULD AN OBJECT STRIKE AND SHATTER THE WINDSHIELD OF THE VEHICLE PERSONAL INJURIES COULD OCCUR INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Remedy:
 DEALERS WILL REPLACE AND INSTALL THE CORRECT WINDSHIELD.

Got a lemon Wildfire? Get a Burdge attorney. Getting rid of lemon motorcycles and lemon atv's is what we do. Everyday. Since 1978.

Buell XB12X Recall

BUELL / XB12X 2010
BUELL / XB12XT 2010
Manufacturer: BUELL MOTORCYCLE CO.Mfr's Report Date: NOV 25, 2009
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 09V465000NHTSA Action Number: N/A
Component: EQUIPMENT
Potential Number of Units Affected: 23
Summary:
 BUELL IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2010 XB12X AND XB12XT MOTORCYCLES MANUFACTURED AUGUST 20 - SEPTEMBER 30, 2009. THE RIGHT HAND SIDE FOOTPEG MOUNT MAY HAVE BEEN MANUFACTURED TO INCORRECT SPECIFICATIONS.
Consequence:
 THIS CONDITION COULD ALLOW THE FOOTPEG TO MOVE SIGNIFICANTLY OUT OF POSITION, WHICH COULD LEAD TO LOSS OF CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE RESULTING IN INJURY OR DEATH OF THE RIDER.
Remedy:
 DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE DEFECTIVE FOOTPEG MOUNT WITH A NEW FOOTPEG MOUNT THAT WAS MANUFACTURED TO THE CORRECT SPECIFICATIONS.

Got a lemon Buell motorcycle? Bet a Burdge attorney. Getting rid of lemon bikes is what we do. Everyday. Since 1978.

Sunday

Foreclosures Hurt Bikers Too

So, your life is your bike so why should you care about foreclosures? Simply. You live in a house. If you want your home's value to stay the same, then you should care about foreclosures. Why? Because when the house next to you goes vacant, and most foreclosures do, then the odds of vandalism and crime go up in your neighborhood. That means the value of your home goes down.

It's as simple as that. Foreclosures hurt you and me and everyone around us. Stopping them stops your home's value from going down the toilet. Stopping foreclosures keeps crime out of your back yard.

Finally, there's an effort to change things.

We live is some tough times. And some politicians aren't helping any. US Rep. Mike Turner, however, isn't one of those.

Too many policitians vote by party label first and people's needs second. That shows up early in the process too. Such as when they sign on as a sponsor of a bill or amendment. That sponsoring is important because it signals to other members of congress where they stand on an issue.

Maybe that's why Rep. Turner, a republican from Centerville, Ohio, signed on as the only republican as a sponsor of an amendment to help bankruptcy homeowners keep a roof over their heads.

Maybe he did it because he realized the much-ballyhooed government home loan program earlier this year (you know, the one that was supposed to help millions of homeowners modify their mortgages to keep their homes in hard times) had pretty much failed to accomplish anything at all. A good idea, badly implemented, which created lost of paperwork and frustration but accomplished no good. Only about 4% of homeowners whose homes were reworked thru the program have managed to get a permanent modification to save their home from foreclosure, reports USA Today writer Stephanie Armour.

Maybe he heard the defensive clamoring of near countless mortgage companies that said they were still "working on it" while hundreds of thousands of modifications remain tied up with their red tape. Why? Well, after all, lowering interest rates and reducing payments is not going to put any extra money in those mortgage company pockets. And, bottom line, that's what bankers are all about.

George Bailey may have been running his savings & loan to help folks out, but that's just a seasonal movie to be found on television once a year. George Bailey doesn't live on Wall Street.

Maybe Mike Turner did it because he's from one of the hard hit states that have suffered the loss of thousands and thousands of jobs, foreshadowing the foreclosure crisis that always follows on the heels of pink slips being passed out.

Whatever the reason, we say "Good for Mike." He appears to be the first republican to wake up and realize that the ultimate power to modify a mortgage is not to be found in a mortgage company's boardroom. It's to be found in the power of a federal bankruptcy judge.

No one has seen more foreclosures, or the impact they cause, than the judges who sit on the nation's bankruptcy courts every day.

On December 11 Rep. Mike Turner signed on as a sponsor of an amendment to the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 that would give federal bankruptcy judges the power to modify mortgage terms on primary residences when the homeowner is in bankruptcy. In doing so, Turner acknowledged reality and, at the same time, necessity.

In the Dayton, Ohio area, Turner noted, it is estimated that some 10,000 housing "units" (let's just call them homes, or at least they used to be) have been abandoned because of the mortgage crisis (let's just call that a mortgage mess, which is what it is).

Ironically, bankruptcy judges already have the power to modify mortgage terms for people's vacation homes (that tells you something about who wrote that law, for sure). This new amendment would give them that power for primary residence homes. It's about time.

Meanwhile, the money-grubbing American Bankers Association came out against the amendment, shouting from the roof tops that the amendment will "impose unforeseeable costs on lenders." Gosh, folks, I just feel so very, very bad for them bankers.

Not surprisingly, another Ohio congressman, Rep John Boehner (looking remarkably well-tanned for someone from wintry cold-weathered Ohio), opposed the amendment. Clearly, while he knows where the tanning parlor is, Boehner's home is not in foreclosure. He just doesn't get it.

Helping banks and mortgage companies will not stop foreclosures. Creating government programs that they don't have to do anything about is not exactly going to keep roofs over the heads of the jobless victims of this economy.

Judges are notoriously conservative and almost always neutral. What's wrong with giving them the power to make a mortgage company accept a little less profit in order to keep another home from being abandoned, boarded up or not?

Abandoned homes are a major cause of crime increases, blight, and reduced home values for everyone. If you doubt that, then just call up the Detroit police chief and ask him.

Rep. Mike Turner has spoken his conscience. It's too bad a lot of people in Congress don't get that. He does because he understands because he sees the foreclosures happening around him in his hometown.

Others in Congress don't. Probably because it's not their homes that are being foreclosed on. If it were, they'd be voting a lot differently.

Bikers should care about foreclosures too. If you don't you could end up in the same boat. And riding a bike isn't much fun when you're sitting in a boat. Especially one that's leaking.

Thursday

Kawasaki EX250 Recall

2009 and 2010 KAWASAKI EX250 2009 and 2010 model years
Manufacturer: KAWASAKI MOTORS CORP., U.S.A.Mfr's Report Date: NOV 24, 2009
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 09V464000NHTSA Action Number: N/A
Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Potential Number of Units Affected: 259
Summary:
 KAWASAKI IS RECALLING MODEL YEAR 2009-2010 EX250 NINJA 250 MOTORCYCLES. POROSITY IN THE ENGINE CASE COULD ALLOW ENGINE OIL TO LEAK, AND BE DEPOSITED ON THE REAR TIRE. A SMALL NUMBER OF UPPER ENGINE CASES FOR THE AFFECTED MODEL COULD HAVE POROSITY IN THE ALUMINUM CASTING. THIS POROSITY OCCURS IN THE VICINITY OF A PRESSURIZED OIL PASSAGE JUST ABOVE THE TRANSMISSION OUTPUT SHAFT.
Consequence:
 ENGINE OIL LEAKING FROM THIS LOCATION CAN BE DEPOSITED ON THE REAR TIRE, CREATING THE RISK OF A CRASH.

Got a lemon Kawasaki motorcycle? Get a Burdge attorney. Getting rid of bad bikes is what we do. Since 1978.

Remedy:
 DEALERS WILL INSPECT AND CHECK FOR LEAKS IN THE VICINITY OF THE SUSPECTED POROSITY.