NHTSA Complaint #10032650 — 2002 HONDA GL1800

I RECENTLY PURCHASED A NEW 2002 HONDA GL1800 MOTORCYCLE, AND NOW HAVE 4500 MILES SHOWING ON THE ODOMETER. THIS MOTORCYCLE IS EXPERIENCING THE SAME OVERHEATING CONDITION THAT HAS BEEN WELL DOCUMENTED WITH THE NHTSA. MOST RECENTLY, IT OVERHEATED WHILE STUCK IN TRAFFIC ON THE INTERSTATE WITH AN AMBIENT TEMPERATURE OF ABOUT 89 DEGREES. HONDA HAS RECENTLY BEGUN A CAMPAIGN TO REPLACE THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE AND INSPECT/REPLACE THE HEADS AND RADIATORS. QUESTIONS ARE BEING RAISED ON MANY OF THE GL1800 WEB SITES AS TO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF REPLACING THE ECM. THERE ARE SOME OWNERS WHO HAVE SEEN POOR RESULTS FROM THE ECM REPLACEMENT AND SOME HAVE REPORTED PERFORMANCE AND GAS MILEAGE REDUCTIONS WITH THE NEW ECM. SOME OWNERS STATE THAT THIS SERVICE CAMPAIGN MAY JUST MASK THE EFFECTS OF HIGH TEMPERATURE BY RECALIBRATING THE TEMPERATURE GUAGE. AS STATED IN PREVIOUS COMPLAINTS, THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY HAZARD TO HAVE THE MOTORCYCLE OVERHEAT IN HEAVY TRAFFIC. PLEASE ADD THIS COMPLAINT TO THE GL1800 OVERHEATING POPULATION AND CONTINUE TO MONITOR HONDA'S ACTIONS TO ENSURE PROPER CORRECTIVE ACTIONS ARE IMPLEMTED TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE COMPLETELY.*AK