The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which was passed by Congress last year and took effect Feb. 10, sets strict limits and requires testing on the amount of lead that can be in products classified as toys for children.
Dirt bikes and quads are classified as toys and have parts that don’t meet the government regulation.
 New federal regulations ban the sale of dirt bikes and quads that have a certain amont of lead. The sale of parts for these vehicles is also banned, even if those parts do not contain lead. Janelle Montenegro photo |
“It’s not a large percentage of our business, right around 2 [percent] to 3 percent of sales,” said Alegria. “But in the larger picture, the kids get the bikes at a younger age and really get into the sport and become a large part of our sales as they grow up.”
The battery terminals or tire valve stems on the motorized vehicles are the main culprit in not meeting the new lead limit of 600 parts per million limit. That limit is due to drop in half by August and be virtually eliminated by 2011.
“With some of these models, the only lead they have on them is an internal engine component,” Alegria said. “Now, I don’t know of any 10 year-old who is going to disassemble his bike and engine and begin licking the parts inside there, but I guess it’s possible.”
Beyond the dirt bikes and quads, shops are no longer allowed to sell parts for the bikes regardless of whether the specific part contains lead. David Phillips, owner of Arizona Honda, 4710 S. Palo Verde Road, said this has lead to practically having to interrogate customers buying parts.
“Some of the parts that are for the youth models are interchangeable and are used on other models,” Phillips said. “So we have to find out exactly what bike they are buying it for and write down the VIN number so we’re certain it isn’t going to one of the youth bikes.”
He said parts are a big part of Arizona Honda’s business these days as people are more interested in maintaining their existing bikes rather than buying new ones.
Phillips says he is frustrated by how the new regulations are affecting one particular model of quad, the Honda TRX90X.
“With that model up to 2008, it was designated for riders 12 and older,” he said. “For the 2009 model, it is designated for 10 and older. So now we can’t sell the 2009 model, but we can still sell the 2008 or earlier models, even though they are the same.”
Honda and other members of the Motorcycle Industry Council and Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, are working to exempt the alloy parts for small motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles from the terms of the act, according to a letter American Honda Motor Company sent its dealers.
“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,” says the letter.
Alegria hopes the group can get the change made quickly but knows the government is preoccupied with the economy at the moment.
“It is just one of those things that they didn’t mean to happen but it did and now because everyone is so busy on all this other legislation I don’t know how quickly they will fix it,” Alegria said.
Contact Joe Pangburn at jpangburn@azbiz.com or at (520) 295-4259.
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