KTM Recall

May 23, 2007

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Off-Road Motorcycles Recalled Due to Fuel Leak

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of product: Off-Road Motorcycles

Units: About 20,000

Distributor: KTM North America Inc., of Amherst, Ohio

Hazard: The seal around the fuel tank can loosen allowing fuel to leak, posing a fire hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: KTM has received 5,114 reports of leaking fuel tanks. CPSC has received one report of a minor chemical burn due to fuel coming into contact with a consumer’s skin.

Description: This recall involves KTM off-road motorcycles. KTM is printed on the side of the orange and black motorcycles along with the model. Model numbers included in the recall are:

Model Year 2005: 250SX-F

Model Year 2006: 200XC, 200XC-W, 250XC-W, 250SX-F, 250XCF-W, 300XC, 300XC-W, 400EXC-G, 450XC-G, 450EXC-G, and 525EXC-G

Model Year 2007: 125SX, 144SX, 250SX, 250SX-F, 450SX-F, 505SX-F, 200XC, 250XC, 300XC, 450XC, 200XCW, 250XCW, 300XCW, 400XCW, 450XCW, 525XCW, 250XC-F, and 250XCF-W

Sold at: KTM dealers nationwide from November 2004 through April 2007 for between $5,400 and $7,800.

Manufactured in: Austria

Remedy: Consumers should stop using these vehicles immediately and contact their local KTM dealer to schedule an appointment for a free repair. Consumers with the recalled vehicles are being sent direct notices from KTM.

Consumer Contact: For more information, contact KTM at (888) 985-6090 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.ktmnorthamerica.com

To see this recall on CPSC’s web site, including a picture of the recalled product, please go to:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07194.html

Different Opinions

May 15, 2007

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A lot of times in the Motorcycling world there are very opinions on debates such as: How to break in your bike properly, Synthetic vs. Non-synthetic, How much Power bikes should have?, What grade of motor oil to use? and so on.  Some of these debates may never be able to be proved empirically for all cycles, but it is important to keep an open mind.  I recently read a speech by Michael Crichton entitled “Aliens cause Global Warming“, in which he shows time and time again that even some of the world’s most famous scientists (Crichton refers to them as Media Savvy) can be wrong time and time again.  Crichton say “Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you’re being had.” which reflects his comparing modern science to politics as what scientific agendas get pushed are the ones that the media focuses on.   While the mainstream media doesn’t really focus that much on the motorcycling world (except to portray them as death traps), there have been many widespread rumors that always seem to be one-sided.  Where are the differing opinions?  Where are the scientific dyno tests?  Motorcyclist magazine is finally starting to differentiate their compiled dyno results by which dyno machine they were run on, and this is the kind of stuff that the motorcycling world needs.  On our Wiki I want to try to avoid consensus just for the sake of consensus.  I think that is one of the major things that is killing one other wiki we all know of.  I leave you with this second quote from Michael Crichton who by the way is one of my favorite authors.

“Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled.” - Michael Crichton

Daily Motorcycle Blog roundup May 2, 2007

May 2, 2007

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Motorcycle Headlines and Links April 14, 2007

April 14, 2007

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Daily Motorcycle Blog roundup April 13, 2007

April 13, 2007

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  • Mike Werner has a post about a new book covering the History of Choppers. Also check out the youtube video he has on the Kawasaki ZX-6R here.
  • Canyon Chasers shows off a very clean looking “Military” Suzuki SV650. They say it has a ZX-6R front end and ZX-10R brakes.
  • Why Bike covers what happens when your in an accident with an underinsured motorist.
  • The Kneeslider shows off Mark Foulkes’ custom Kawasaki KZ1300 which is equiped with a 330 rear tire. Quite a deviation from usual Honda CBX 1000’s you see.
  • Bikenut shows off a picture of a very custom V8 motorcycle. Not sure if this is of Boss Hoss origins or not.
  • Faster and Faster mentions that JeanRichard (apparently a watch maker that I’ve never heard of) is partnering with MV Agusta to produce a MV Agusta watch series.
  • 360bikers.com has a post covering custom mirrors. You rarely see THAT many billet or custom style mirrors, at least in proportion to how many different styles are made. One thing you might remember is that Yamaha has for ages used left hand threads on the right hand mirror, all other metric bikes use right handed threads on both sides.
  • Autoblog has an entry about Defiant Motors reviving the VW GX3 concept from the dead. Now what exactly is going to happen when these beasts like this do hit the market. I can see why they need to be considered motorcycles, but they really just aren’t. Are motorcycle dealers going to sell them? What will the technical name for these beasts end up being. Are they as fun to drive as they look? I guess only time will tell.

Daily Motorcycle Blog roundup April 12, 2007

April 12, 2007

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  • BBC News - Neil Hodgson the former world superbike champion has signed with Ducati to be an official test rider.
  • Helmet Hair covers denim helmets by Nexx and I’m sure correctly calls it out as a simple publicity stunt.
  • Road Racing World has a press release about Oxtar boots becoming the official boot of Rich Oliver’s Mystery School. I’ve never heard of either but the names of both are quite quirky.
  • Motorcycle Misadventures has a post about a new motorcycle travel forum they’re starting up. If the posts in this forum hold up to the quality and work that has been put into the homepage for the site, I think you can expect a really good site.
  • Erin Baker posted a rant entitled “Bag the bike, not the biker” encouraging people to not judge a rider by the type a bike they are riding as they may enjoy many different flavors of bikes. I totally agree with that sentiment as I enjoy a KLR650 immensely and I find that most people don’t really get why.
  • BeachCruiser has an entry about Red Head gadget’s motorcycle map clips. While I respect their entrepreneurial spirit, I can’t ever see myself wanting one of these. I guess I’ve never been a fan of bikes with windshield’s big enough that this would be much use. I think she should make a run them for COG (Concours Owner’s Group) as I think this is right up their alley. I’ve seen more Concours with custom master cylinder covers saying the owner’s group name than anything else.
  • thescooterscoop has probably the most captivating picture of the day in my opinion. I don’t know how many motorcyclists were lego fans, but I figure out of the ones that are in the correct age group its higher than norm. Anyway the picture is of a Vespa scooter made out of Legos. Check it out.
  • Mike Werner covers the new Tom Tom motorcycle specific GPS.
  • The Superbike Blog discusses an article about cruisers being on the way out. I don’t agree with the argument at all really. I think the days of mega cruisers and let’s see who has the most cc size may be coming to an end for the general public, but I don’t see cruisers heading on the way out. I do think the image of custom cruisers has been over sold and frankly I sometimes get weary of all the custom bike shows on tv, I mean they are fun for a while, but very repetitive. He makes a couple assertions which don’t hold up really. The fact that Victory’s newest bike is a tourer not a cruiser is insignificant, as I would bet the nation wide sales of he Victory Vision are less than 1,000. The decline of V-Rod selling price is also a moot point, any bike that sells over MSRP in the beginning eventually sells for lower it just takes time. I would say the fact that Honda “dropped” the Valkyrie is insignificant I wouldn’t put it as really dropped but simply never upgraded it to 1800 (although there was the Rune, and I would bet it met Honda’s goals for such a bike). This is inline with my thoughts that the days of “megacruisers” might be limited though.
  • Motorcyclist at Large: gives a synopsis of the new Honda Unicorn a model which we don’t get here in the U.S. Check it out to see a Honda you aren’t likely to see here in the U.S.
  • Kropotkin Thinks follows up on his post about Ilmor’s decline by mentioning that Andrew Pitt will be getting support from Ten Kate Honda.

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