US biker sues Harley in ABS light case

[DefyInertia]

No offense to members in California or 99.9% of Californians

I don't understand your comment about Californians. Can you expand on that?

Anyway I had a 98 New beetle, the instrument cluster said ABS, but it never lit up when the car was first started etc, I even got an insurance reduction for it. It didn't have ABS and I knew it.

This to me is as pathetic as the m:spank:y Mercedes saved my life commercials....

I would assume the guy knows he is at fault but is just looking to pass the buck to someone else...kinda like when you took a discount you didn't deserve, just on a much larger scale.

 

[dxh24]

GF's Hyundai Sonata has an abs light that comes on when i turn the car on, but if its icy and you step on the brake a wee bit too hard, yeah, you quickly learn it does NOT have ABS lol...

Ya gotta know your vehicle!!!

As much as i dislike Harley's view towards the rest of the bike world, i think the next headline should be "H-D sues US Biker for incompetence"

If a HD salesman SAYS the bike has a 1000cc I-4 engine in it and slaps a sticker on it saying 1000cc I-4 should you believe him?

If a light pops on saying "turbo boost engaged" are you gonna believe that too?

Know what you buy is the moral of this story :spank:

 

[marke14]

I still maintain that any vehicle manufacturer should not have an "ABS" icon/light/indicator on a vehicle if that particular vehicle does not have that important safety feature, for exactly this reason. Cars, bikes or trains - if there's no antilock braking system, then by God there should not be a hint of it on that vehicle's dashboard.

Guys, just because something is the way it is, does not make it right. It makes it cheap to manufacture HD instrument clusters [to put an "ABS" light on all of them], it doesn't make it right.

And I'm still not stating that the manufacturer is at fault in this accident, only that it is wrong of them to include an icon on the dash that could lead a driver to believe that the vehicle had certain - and this is the important part - SAFETY features, that it in fact does not have.

You know, it's different if the thing had a light for heated grips, when the bike doesn't actually have heated grips. Who give a sh*t if it has heated grips LIGHT on the dash, but no heated grips? That won't have bearing on the outcome of a sudden-stop situation like an ABS system would.

Either way a sad outcome for someone who was innocent in it all, the passenger.

I also saw a comment here regarding the helmet type the passenger was wearing. I think anyone can agree that a full-face helmet offers the most protection, then a 3/4, etc. on down the line.

However take it from me; I have a friend whose coworker was wearing full leathers and a top of the line full face helmet, who crashed when he t-boned a car who decided to make an illegal U-turn on a mountain road, around a blind bend. Despite his Arai (I think?), he had to have a lot of facial reconstructive surgery.

Just my way of saying, potentially the woman could have had on a full-face helmet and still ended up with brain damage. There's only so far a helmet will go in protecting you.

 

[04fizzer]

I still maintain that any vehicle manufacturer should not have an "ABS" icon/light/indicator on a vehicle if that particular vehicle does not have that important safety feature, for exactly this reason. Cars, bikes or trains - if there's no antilock braking system, then by God there should not be a hint of it on that vehicle's dashboard.

Guys, just because something is the way it is, does not make it right. It makes it cheap to manufacture HD instrument clusters [to put an "ABS" light on all of them], it doesn't make it right.

And I'm still not stating that the manufacturer is at fault in this accident, only that it is wrong of them to include an icon on the dash that could lead a driver to believe that the vehicle had certain - and this is the important part - SAFETY features, that it in fact does not have.

You know, it's different if the thing had a light for heated grips, when the bike doesn't actually have heated grips. Who give a sh*t if it has heated grips LIGHT on the dash, but no heated grips? That won't have bearing on the outcome of a sudden-stop situation like an ABS system would.

Either way a sad outcome for someone who was innocent in it all, the passenger.

I also saw a comment here regarding the helmet type the passenger was wearing. I think anyone can agree that a full-face helmet offers the most protection, then a 3/4, etc. on down the line.

However take it from me; I have a friend whose coworker was wearing full leathers and a top of the line full face helmet, who crashed when he t-boned a car who decided to make an illegal U-turn on a mountain road, around a blind bend. Despite his Arai (I think?), he had to have a lot of facial reconstructive surgery.

Just my way of saying, potentially the woman could have had on a full-face helmet and still ended up with brain damage. There's only so far a helmet will go in protecting you.

If this were to happen, you're not allowed to bitch about the price of vehicles going up. This not only increases manufacturing costs of the part, but it also increased the assembly cost because each vehicle has to be kept track of to make sure they get the proper labeling.

 

[marke14]

I agree to not bitch about the cost of vehicles going up.

 

[mave2911]

I honestly and firmly believe the rider has no right to claim against the manufacturer.

It is the RIDER'S responsibility to know the specifications of his machine.

It is the RIDER'S responsibility to read the owners handbook.

It is the RIDER'S responsibility to ride in such a fashion that is safe should the unforeseen happen

Minimum following gaps etc are mandated for this reason, and to think the RIDER (not the manufacturer) took a pillion without adequate knowledge of his machine just beggars belief.

I can assure you, I, and most riders I know, are fully aware of braking distances and abilities of our bikes. (if an emergency situation should occur, when to brake or when to avoid etc)

This is just a case of the RIDER not realising his responsibilities and stuffing up and looking for an out. (must blame SOMEBODY!)

If my bike had an inoperable NOS light, or parachute light, I wouldn't think either of those had been fitted, unless it was in the manual. (BMW is trialling air-bags for bikes, however!)

My thoughts, but I really think the onus should fall squarely on the rider to know his machine.

("These new Yum Cha tyres say they're just as good as Pirellis!" - But I'd suggest not immediately speeding up and scraping the pegs in a corner to find out!)

Cheers,
Rick

P.S. It's also not stated that even WITH ABS, could the accident have been avoided? Probably not I would surmise. (and what did we do in the days BEFORE electronic aids? Oh yeah, we modulated our OWN braking.....)