NHTSA Complaint #10021505 — 2002 HARLEY-DAVIDSON FLHT

HARLEY-DAVIDSON 2002 FLHT FUEL TANK QUALITY PROBLEM LEADING TO SAFETY RISK OF FIRE AND VEHICLE STALLING EXPOSING OPERATORS AND/OR PASSENGERS TO PERSONAL DEATH OR PERMANENT DISABLEMENT. FUEL TANKS HAS A SIGNIFICANT RUST CHARACTERISTIC ALLOWING CONTAMINATES TO ENTER INTO THE MOTORCYCLES FUEL SYSTEM CAUSING A CARBURETOR OVERFLOW CONDITION RELEASING RAW FUEL ONTO THE MOTORCYCLE SURFACES LEADING TO FIRE RISK AND ENGINE STALL DURING OPERATION. I HAVE HAD YEARS OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH OTHER MODELS OF HARLEY-DAVIDSON MOTOR CYCLES WHICH HAVE NEVER EXHIBITED THIS PROBLEM AND ALL HAVE FACED THE SAME ENVIRONMENTS AND OPERATING CONDITIONS WITHOUT THIS ISSUE. THE PROBLEM STRONGLY SUGGESTS THAT ON THE MANUFACTURING DATE OF THE 2002 FLHT FUEL TANKS THE PROCESS INTRODUCED A QUALITY DEFECT FOR THE PRODUCTION RUN. ALSO, A DESIGN CHANGE IN 2003 PRODUCED FUEL TANKS THAT ADDS A REMOVABLE FUEL FILLER CUP TO THE TANK FURTHER DEMONSTRATES THAT APPEARS TO BE A KNOWN QUALITY ISSUE WITH HARLEY-DAVIDSON FUEL TANKS. THERE WOULD BE NO NEED FOR THE CHANGE OTHERWISE. ADDITIONALLY, CURRENT HARLEY-DAVIDSON R&D EFFORTS ON TANK COATING PROCESSES AND TANK COATING COMPOSITION WOULD NOT BE OCCURRING SAVE FOR THIS FUEL TANK QUALITY ISSUE. ALTHOUGH NO DEATHS NOR PERMANENT DISABILITIES HAVE RESULTED AS YET, THERE IS A SAFETY RISK TO THE CONSUMER FOR FIRE AND/OR TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS DUE TO THE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS OF THIS QUALITY DEFECT WITH THE HARLEY-DAVIDSON FUEL TANK. *JB