” Missing was the pungent smell of gasoline and the ear splitting noise of engines revving, but all around San Jose’s 408MX Motocross track riders were spraying up dirt and catching air.
Ten teams with ten electric dirt bikes competed on the half-mile track Sunday in the 24 Hours of Electricross, hosted by Zero Motorcycles.
They had two goals: set Guinness World Records for largest electric motorcycle race and for the furthest distance travelled on an all-electric off-road motorcycle in 24 hours.
Missions accomplished…Â Details
 As the battle to bring youth motorcycles and ATV’s back to the dealership showroom floors seems to hesitate, advocacy groups are indicating their disappointment in agency officials.
The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC), the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America (SVIA) and its members are disappointed that Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Chairman Nancy Nord announced today that she intended to vote against the petition that our industry submitted for an exclusion for all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and motorcycles from the lead content limits found in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). The organization believed that a recent petition submitted to the agency was based on sound science and showed that there is no measurable risk to children resulting from lead exposure from these products…Â DetailsÂ
Makers and sellers of ATVs and motorbikes continue to suffer losses nationwide because of a well-meaning but overbroad regulation aimed at protecting children from lead.
Ever see a kid chewing on the air valve of an ATV tire? Licking the battery? Biting handlebars?
They all can contain lead and that’s the kind of effort it would take for it to endanger kids, critics of the regulation say.
Yet, an immediate halt has been placed on these motor vehicle sales. Also, there’s no grandfather provision for models already sitting in stores… Details
The head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission said she would allow retailers of youth-model all-terrain vehicles to unload their older inventory despite new restrictions on lead content that prohibit sales. But it isn’t clear if acting CPSC Chairman Nancy Nord has the authority to grant such permission.
Ms. Nord told her compliance staff Friday to hold off on its enforcement for a year on youth ATVs. A spokesman for Ms. Nord said that, as agency chairman, she can enforce her decision. But CPSC Commissioner Thomas Moore said he hasn’t made a decision, and until he does, Ms. Nord doesn’t have authority to act… Details