Harley-Davidson Recalls 250,000 Motorcycles for Rear Brake Light Switches
Mon, 24 Oct 2011
Harley-Davidson is issuing a recall for 250,757 units from its Touring, CVO Touring and Trike line from model years 2009 – 2012.
The rear brake light switch on the models in question may become degraded due to the heat from the exhaust systems. This may affect brake light function and may result in a brake fluid leak.
According to documents released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the problem was first identified in June 2010 after a Harley-Davidson Trike model lost rear brake function due to a fluid leak. A month later, Harley-Davidson received a report of an alledged crash with a similar problem.
Harley-Davidson isolated the problem tot he rear brake switch and began conducting extensive performance testing. Parts from the field reports were also shipped to the switch supplier in Italy. The investigation concluded the cause of the problem was a new configuration introduced in Harley-Davidson’s FL touring line in 2009.
Dealers will install a replacement brake light switch kit on the models included in the recall campaign.
Here’s a full list of the units and model years affected:
H-D / FLHP 2009-2012
H-D / FLHPE 2009-2011
H-D / FLHR 2009-2012
H-D / FLHRC 2009-2012
H-D / FLHT 2009-2010
H-D / FLHTC 2009-2012
H-D / FLHTCU 2009-2012
H-D / FLHTCUSE4 2009
H-D / FLHTCUSE5 2010
H-D / FLHTCUSE6 2011
H-D / FLHTCUSE7 2012
H-D / FLHTCUTG 2009-2012
H-D / FLHTK 2010-2012
H-D / FLHTP 2009-2012
H-D / FLHX 2009-2012
H-D / FLHXSE 2010
H-D / FLHXSE2 2011
H-D / FLHXSE3 2012
H-D / FLHXXX 2011
H-D / FLTR 2009
H-D / FLTRSE3 2009
H-D / FLTRU 2010-2012
H-D / FLTRUSE 2011
H-D / FLTRX 2010-2012
H-D / FLTRXSE 2012
[Source: NHTSA]
By Dennis Chung
See also: Harley-Davidson Reports Q3 2011 Results, Forbes Expects Harley-Davidson to Announce Gains for Q3 2011, Harley-Davidson Opens Latin America Office in Miami.