There are four motor vehicle laws which affect the motorcycle industry in significant ways. Whether rider or industry employed, it helps to know about these landmark pieces of legislation. The four laws are the VIN, Magnuson-Moss, the so-called Lemon Law, and the infamous Clean Air Act.
The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
History
The U.S. wrote its regulation, the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) # 571.115, in 1979, to be effective the following--1980--production season, i.e. model year 1981. Though VIN systems have been established internationally, each nation has some freedom as to the composition of its system. Many use fewer than 17 digits, for example, for models not sold in the U.S. (all vehicles sold for street use in the U.S. are required by law to have 17 digits). What is consistent worldwide is that however many digits are used, all of these characters are grouped into three sections, each of which is tightly defined by law. The first uniquely identifies the manufacturer, the second the vehicle, and the third records the model year and production number.
Purpose
The law states its purpose as "To simplify vehicle information retrieval and reduce the incidence of accidents by increasing the accuracy and efficiency of vehicle defect recall campaigns."
Interesting Points
The lifetime of a VIN is 30 years. That is, the law prohibits any two VINs from being identical within a 30-year period. The "check digit" (the 9th from the left), is designed primarily as a double-check to ensure the accuracy of VIN transcription (writing it down on paper). When entered into a state computer system on which the secret formula has been pre-programmed, an incorrectly copied-down VIN should immediately be detected. Would-be VIN modifiers will be foiled as well. The check digit is derived from a simple formula which applies numeric value to some of the characters and then multiplies and adds them in a certain sequence. The characters must be Sans Serif (no feet), a minimum of 4 mm tall, and do not include the letters "I", "O" or "Q." Vehicles made in quantities under 500 are indicated by a "9" as the 3rd character.
FMVSS laws have greatly affected motorcycles. There have been many, some of which have mandated such things as left side shift, how far apart the turn signals must be, the maximum wattages of lights, etc.
Magnuson-Moss
Of the handful of laws which most affect the motor vehicle trade, none has benefited
the consumer as much as the Magnuson-Moss Warranty-Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act. Conceived by the late Warren Magnuson, the illustrious six-term Washington state senator who authored the Civil Rights Act and federalized public education, this comprehensive definition of what manufacturer’s warranties must and must not do was signed into law on January 4, 1975 by President Gerald Ford.
Magnuson-Moss "puts teeth into" state warranty law by establishing federal minimum standards for warranties. It doesn’t require warranties, only what is in them. For the most part, it puts a limit on the extent of the customer’s responsibility, establishes procedures by which manufacturers must remedy qualified defects, and puts controls on service contracts. In short, Magnuson-Moss lays down the rules all warranties must follow. For example, the law mandates the inclusion of the following statement in every warranty that makes any exclusions from coverage:
"Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you."
The Act benefits consumers of all products, and although it was amended several times in its first few years and has been reinterpreted in recent times, the law’s comprehensiveness and applicability to the real-world needs of the customer make Magnuson-Moss, twenty-five years later, a lasting and still very relevant tribute to fair commerce.
For the motor trade, three outcomes of the Act so profoundly affect the consumer-producer relationship that people on both sides of the counter need to be aware of them. First, Magnuson-Moss prohibits a manufacturer or his representative from conditioning warranty benefits on adherence to the use of factory authorized service or parts. All that is required is that the consumer make "reasonable and necessary maintenance" efforts, which in practical terms means keeping receipts for purchases of oil and spark plugs. Second, the law makes illegal the policy of some dealers who refuse to do legitimate warranty work on a customer’s machine merely because it was purchased from another dealer. Third, the law makes warranties (which though voluntary on the part of the manufacturer, once offered must follow federal guidelines) so much a part of the sale of a vehicle that manufacturers now compete heavily on the basis of those warranty provisions, adding another dimension to the purchase of a motor vehicle. These three effects of the law make it definitive, watershed regulation and help illustrate the importance of the Act’s provisions to the consumer.
Lemon Laws
So-called "Lemon Laws" are state laws which began on the east coast in the early 80’s and are now found nationwide. Although different for every state, most statutes follow the same general theme: that a new vehicle may be returned to the manufacturer for a refund or replacement if warrantable defects are not repaired within a reasonable number of attempts, a reasonable number of days out of service, or the vehicle cannot be repaired. While federal law (Magnuson-Moss) specifies how the manufacturer must respond, the states specify the number of attempts and number of days out of service.
What this means to the consumer is that when the shop fails to fix something right the first time on a new vehicle, this seriously affects the dealer entirely apart from any safety consideration. In most cases, upon reaching 25 days duration, manufacturers get really anxious about doing something to make the warranty repair happen quickly, i.e. before reaching the 30 days specified by most states, to the point that replacing the motorcycle becomes the next option. This is not a good thing from the manufacturer’s point of view, as it is expensive (the replaced motorcycle will be difficult to realize a profit on), and it is particularly bad if the delay has been the dealer’s fault, in which case the dealer’s relationship with the manufacturer will definitely suffer.
The Clean Air Act
The Clean Air Act of 1955 is recognized as the first federal legislation addressing auto emissions. Revised in 1960, it resulted in the first crankcase vapor control systems, and with its expansion in 1965, established the California Air Resources Board (CARB). More changes came during 1966 and 1967, and in 1969 President Nixon wrote the law which ultimately led to the 1970 creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which opened the door for Congress to coerce manufacturers into researching new technology, and established national air quality standards, including a 95% reduction in emissions from new autos by 1975. The Act’s 1977 amendment, which became effective on the following January 1 (1978), is perhaps the most significant to motorcycling, as it added tampering consequences such as $10,000 fines, and for the first time specifically targeted motorcycles. The amendment also required manufacturers to add emissions warranties to their regular written warranties, which spell out the emission-related vehicle parts the federal government require to last a specified time, usually longer than the standard warranty.
