NHTSA Complaint #10714561 — 2013 BMW F800 GT

TODAY, 5/2/2015, IT WAS ABOUT 90 DEGREES AMBIENT IN LOS ANGELES AND ELLEN AND I WENT ON A BREAKFAST RIDE INTO THE MOUNTAINS. TODAY, I TOOK A NON-CONTACT IR LASER TEMPERATURE GUN INFRARED DIGITAL THERMOMETER SIGHT HANDHELD. NOT A TRUE SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT BUT GOOD ENOUGH TO TAKE SOME RELATIVE READINGS. AFTER RIDING FOR ABOUT 1.5 HOURS, WE PARKED AND TOOK MEASUREMENTS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE MOTORCYCLE, EXAMINING THE TEMPERATURE OF THE EXPOSED PLASTIC AND THE EXPOSED FRAME IN THE AREA WHERE THE RIDERS LEGS WOULD BE WHEN RIDING. THE HIGHEST READINGS WERE ON THE RIGHT SIDE FRAME OF THE MOTORCYCLE NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF THE PLASTIC AND THE FRAME. THE READINGS ON A RECENTLY RIDDEN BIKE, PARKED WITH THE ENGINE OFF, RANGED FROM 113 TO 117 DEGREES. WE HAD BREAKFAST, GIVING THE BIKE TIME TO COOL OFF, OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE BECAME WARMER, AND AFTER A 2 HOUR RIDE THE TEMPERATURE RANGE TAKEN IN THE SAME LOCATION ON THE MOTORCYCLE WAS 125 TO 134 DEGREES. AT THIS POINT ELLEN WAS COMPLAINING ABOUT THE HEAT ON HER LEGS, WHICH RESULTED IN FIRST DEGREE BURNS. TODAY, I DID SOME INVESTIGATION ON TEMPERATURES FOR VARIOUS TYPES OF BURNS. LOOKING AT THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE HTTP://WWW.NIST.GOV/FIRE/FIRE_BEHAVIOR.CFM. THIS GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION WEBSITE INDICATES THIS TEMPERATURE CAN CAUSE FIRST AND SECOND DEGREE BURNS. THEREFORE, THE INDICATED TEMPERATURE READINGS ON THE MOTORCYCLE IS IN A RANGE TO CAUSE FIRST TO SECOND DEGREE BURNS. ASSUMING THE MEASUREMENTS ARE ACCURATE ENOUGH TO INDICATE AN ISSUE, IT APPEARS YOUR COMPANY HAS A SIGNIFICANT HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUE WITH THIS MODEL OF MOTORCYCLE. THE MANUFACTURE STATES GETTING BURNED IS AS DESIGNED