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There is a law that came into effect on Feb 10th 2009 that effectively bans the sale of a huge number of children’s products, including dirt bikes and ATV's. Honda and Yamaha have both sent letters to their dealers telling them to remove the kid’s bikes from display, and to cease selling them. Even private sales will break the law.
This is all to do with lead paint in kid’s toys. The Govt. had a knee jerk reaction and made a law that bans lead in quantities of 600ppm or more… not just in paint, but in ANYTHING that a kid of 12 or under might use. What’s worse, is that the law has been deemed to be ‘retroactive’, so all inventory is affected. A bike that satisfies the law today, became hazardous on Feb 10th.
It turns out that lead in steel alloys is normal, and necessary in fact. It make the steel more ‘pliable’, easier to machine, bend etc. Steel alloys without lead are more expensive to use in manufacturing. Thus, many steel frames contain lead in higher than 600ppm, so the frames are now a ‘hazardous’ material. The lead in steel is insoluble, and wouldn’t come out in a million years, but the CPSC and Govt don’t seem to get that. There is also lead in valve stems, vinyl seats, cable housings & spoke nipples. All will be ‘hazardous’ as of Feb 10th.
A “stay was granted on Feb 9th that delayed implementation while the CPSC sort themselves out. There are petitions from all sorts of industries in to the CPSC and the Government. The MIC and AMA are both on it. Unfortunately, it appears to have become a ‘political’ issue rather than a safety issue.
As of today, not much has changed. Yes, there was stay awarded a few days ago. But it doesn’t affect the February 10th deadline. It only affects the actual testing of products that will be illegal once that deadline passes.
The New York Times has a blog about it here: http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009.../dirt-bikes-2/
The AMA sent a letter to Congress. Published here: http://www.amadirectlink.com/news/story.asp?id=595
The Act itself is here: http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/101lead.pdf
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Originally Posted by apollomx681
BUT you know even private sales aren't supposed to happen. The fuckin greenies hit huge with this one. pretty soon we'll be a nation of fat fuckin weebles 'cause our kids will be riding the couch not a dirt bike. You'll hear them at the mall weezin how they can to a no handed seat grab back flip over the 70' dirt ramp...and you'll know that they are talking X-Box...
