While Harley-Davidson might be considered King of the road, more than 300,000 of the company’s motorcycles are being taken off the road, and dealer floors, to fix a potentially deadly problem. The Milwaukee-based motorcycle company has issued a recall to fix an issue with a switch that can cause failure of the rear brake lights and possible failure of the rear brakes of affected bikes.
According to an Associated Press report, 308,000 motorcycles are affected by the recall with about 251,000 of those in the United States alone. The recall affects bikes made between 2009 and 2012. Specifically being recalled are Touring, CVO Touring and Trikes made during that time period.
The brake light problem was found to occur as a result of switches being exposed to excessive heat from the motorcycle’s exhaust system. This has been found to cause the brake lights to fail and could potentially cause the brake fluid leaks and failure of the rear braking system.
While the Harley-Davidson company reported that there has only been one known accident due to this issue and it was unknown if there was any injury associated with that particular incident, the brake issue has dangerous potential for motorcycle riders. Riders are well aware of the potential for injury and accident with other vehicles on the road and a brake light failure is a serious issue. Potential failure of rear brakes increases the potential risk with this issue.
Owners affected by this recall will be notified by Harley-Davidson and local dealers will install rear brake light switch kits at no charge.
Harley-Davidson as a company continues to see growth and prosperity, even as the U.S. economy flounders. According to a third quarter report from Harley-Davidson dated October 18, sales of new motorcycles worldwide rose by 4.9 percent in the first nine months of 2011 as compared to 2010 and 5.1 percent in just the third quarter. Harley-Davidson saw third quarter income from continued operations rise 95.9 percent to $183.6 million. Compare this to income for the same time period last year when Harley-Davidson saw $93.7 million in income from continued operations.
Total shipments of Harley-Davidson motorcycles for the nine months that ended 25, 2011 totaled 182,387 as compared to one year ago when the company shipped 166,013 motorcycles for the same time period.