Vince Castellanos follows up on the most important issue facing our sport
June 8, 2009, 5:28 PM
By: Vince Castellanos
Back in early March, we wrote about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which effectively outlawed small-sized powersports vehicles — along with about a million other things — when lead was banned from products aimed at people 12 and younger. At the time, smaller displacement bikes, ATVs and snowmobiles were being taken off dealers' floors while Congress and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) fought over who was to blame for a law most quickly came to see as silly.
So, where are we now? First, the good news: In early May, the CPSC issued a two-year stay of enforcement, meaning they won't stop dealers from selling. Second, a pair of Montana legislators — U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D) and Congressman Dennis Rehberg (R) — introduced bills to exclude powersports from the CPSIA. Both bills are attracting bipartisan support in their respective chambers, and that's a very good thing.
Now for the bad news: The CPSC's stay can't prevent individual states from taking action against dealers (though we don't believe any have taken that step). And as for Congress? "The bills are good and we support them, but hearings haven't even been held yet," says Kathy Van Kleeck, the Motorcycle Industry Council's (MIC) senior vice president of government relations. "Passing legislation is a little like watching paint dry: It doesn't happen real fast."
"Basically everyone in Congress is on board," adds Mike Schmitt, Yamaha's government relations manager. "Everyone is hot to fix it, but there are still major issues going on like the war and the economy that have to be dealt with."
Schmitt says that each manufacturer is handling the law in its own way. One work-around has been to re-badge products as suitable for ages 13 and older. Schmitt believes that it's too early to know if the CPSC stay will jump-start sales. "The stay came a little late," he says. "We needed it two months ago. Consumers have responded to the call for help, but we need to keep the pressure on. We need to pass these bills so we can get back to business."
After initially taking all small-sized vehicles out of their showroom, Corona Motorsports in Corona, California, is back to selling everything but 50s. But Gus Saba, Corona's general manager, admits there is confusion over what's okay and what isn't, and about what the future holds. "Business hasn't really picked up with the smaller stuff because no one knows what's going to happen," he says. "There's anxiety — will what they buy today be illegal tomorrow? Plus, I don't think many people know that there's no enforcement yet."
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