NHTSA Complaint #10183962 — 2007 KTM 300 XC-W

I OWN A 2007 KTM 300 XC-W DISTRIBUTED BY KTM NORTH AMERICAN IN CORINTH MS. IT CAME WITH A 'NEW' 1/4 TURN FUEL CAP. THIS CAP HAS A CHRONIC LEAK ISSUE ON MANY BIKES AND WILL EVEN POP OFF OF THE TANK ON OCCASION. I PURCHASED THE RECOMMENDED O RING THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO FIX THE ISSUE BUT IT HAS MADE MINIMAL IMPROVEMENT AT BEST. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY COMMON ISSUE AMONG 2006 KTM MOTORCYCLE OWNERS AND CONTINUES INTO THE 07 MODEL YEAR. I FEEL IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME UNTIL MYSELF OR SOMEONE IS BADLY HURT OR KILLED BECAUSE OF SPILLED FUEL COMING INTO CONTACT WITH AN IGNITION SOURCE. KTM HAS COME OUT WITH THE CAP RECALL/REPLACEMENT MENTIONED ABOVE IN LATE 05 AND THEY HAVE GIVEN SOME FOLKS A SEAL RING ACCOMPANIED BY A LETTER SAYING THERE WERE WORKING ON A FINAL SOLUTION. HERE IS A LINK TO A SCAN OF THAT SEAL RING DOCUMENT OF 8/24/06 WHERE THEY SAY THEY ARE WORKING ON A PERMANENT FIX: HTTP://216.165.194.66/KTMTALK/PHOTOGALLERY...BERS/X-RING.JPG SO THEY'VE KNOWN ABOUT THIS ISSUE FOR OVER A YEAR. FOR SOME REASON, THEY ARE NOT MAKING THE ABOVE RING/NOTICE AVAILABLE TO MOST OF US. KTM APPEARS TO HAVE AN ALUMINUM CAP BECOMING AVAILABLE THAT MAY FIX THIS ISSUE BUT THEY ARE NOT GIVING IT TO OWNERS OF THESE DEFECTIVE PRODUCTS. THEY ARE TRYING TO CHARGE THE OWNERS FOR THEIR OWN SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE. I FEEL KTM SHOULD AT THE VERY LEAST GIVE THESE ALUMINUM CAPS TO ALL 06 AND 07 OWNERS. IF THAT IS NOT THE FIX, KTM SHOULD ADDRESS THIS ISSUE IN SOME WAY TO PERMANENTLY FIX IT, AND QUICKLY. *NM