Jump to content

HD sued over excess heat


Tpoppa

Recommended Posts

I agree that the decision was wrong, based upon what we know NOW. Based up on what was known at the time I believe the correct decision was made at the time.

How do you define frivilous? It may be semantics. To me "frivilous" does not mean "She should have lost". It means that the case never had any merit from the beginning and no reasonable person would ever believe that there was any value to trying the case.

She spilled it on herself. They didn't accidentally dump it on her while handing it through the window. I don't believe it should have ever gone to trial. Never would I think to hold a cup of hot coffee between my legs to remove the lid to add cream and sugar. That's just stupid. She burned herself. McDonald's didn't do it. Go touch the engine casing on your motorcycle after a few hours of riding. It burns. Now go touch the HD motor casing. Since it's hotter, you can sue. :nono:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you drop a Brand X chainsaw on your foot

Should have stopped right there. "YOU" being the operative word. Manufactures should not be responsibility for user error. Individuals have free choice to buy the chain saw with protection or not.

No one forced the user to buy that chainsaw and no one forced the customer to go to Mc Donalds, use the drive thru, put the cup in her crotch and spill it. Shit happens and it isn't always good. I could understand if the drive thru attendent did the spilling but that is not the case.

If we were to believe your liberal, nanny state argument - every single person injured in a motorcycle accident can now sue the manufacturer because BMW put ABS, traction control, anti-wheelie, shift assist, hand warmers on its motorcycle and others did not?

Now, if your Toyota and Audi running some Microsoft software that controls the operation of the vehicle and it geeks out, causing you to hit a bus load of McDonalds coffee drinking kindergartners - then file all the suits you want and I won't complain.

But this country needs to stop legalizing/protecting stupid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Damn, i can't imagine getting that hot/being that lean can be good for an engine. Fucking epa. My 73 Honda runs cool enough that i can grab the exhaust collector barehanded after about 2 minutes of being shut off, and pull the thing up onto the center stand. Nice and rich buddy. Hell, i don't even have to choke it to start until the temp drops below about 45-50. I love laughing at harleys starting cause they always take SOO long to start. A wimpy little girl could kick start this thing, and it would start first kick.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I ride a TC88 motor in my bike. Its air cooled, it gets hot. I recently rode an Ultra with a 103 in it, never really noticed temps being noticeably more than my 88. Maybe they were. But when we buy these air cooled bikes we are accepting the fact that the motors run hot. Complaining about anything always brings more carping from the grandstand about most anything, and considering we live in such a litigious society I am not surprised some numbskulls would sue. Just add more casework for our already overworked judicial system.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Damn, i can't imagine getting that hot/being that lean can be good for an engine. Fucking epa. My 73 Honda runs cool enough that i can grab the exhaust collector barehanded after about 2 minutes of being shut off, and pull the thing up onto the center stand. Nice and rich buddy. Hell, i don't even have to choke it to start until the temp drops below about 45-50. I love laughing at harleys starting cause they always take SOO long to start. A wimpy little girl could kick start this thing, and it would start first kick.

Hmmm, mine fires right up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I made some coffee at the hotel the other day. It tasted terrible so I dumped it down the drain. As I did, I rested my hand on the sink - or so I thought. It was actually on the burned of the hotel coffee maker. Think I have a case? Against Maxwell House, since their coffee was terrible?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...As for people that claim burn degree ratings. From the National Health Institute.

First-degree burns affect only the outer layer of the skin. They cause pain, redness, and swelling.

Second-degree (partial thickness) burns affect both the outer and underlying layer of skin. They cause pain, redness, swelling, and blistering.

Third-degree (full thickness) burns extend into deeper tissues. They cause white or blackened, charred skin that may be numb...

I've said this before. Somehow, somewhere, it got reversed in usage. Probably some widely distributed textbook used in nursing and medical education, that had bogus information. I've always known what vf1000 has said here, to be true. Either that or it's that darn alternate universe thing again.

Who hasn't burned themselves on an air-cooled motor? I've had numerous 1st & 2nd degree burns from them. But never a 3rd degree. A decent burn has to come from the header, nothing else comes close. Blowing flame out of an exhaust header will of course ignite whatever gets in it's way.

Cotton ignites at 250C/482F. No way anyone burned jeans, other than flame coming out of a header. Considering many bikes have owner installed after market exhaust pipes, I'd guess that was the source and the cause. That means I'd only consider dealer installed exhaust systems in the lawsuit. And the claim should go against the dealer/mechanic, not the manufacturer.

However, wood will slowly begin to char at 120C/248F to 150C/302F. I'm guessing that cotton would be similar. So it does sound possible that the hottest parts of an air cooled engine could produce what looks like the beginnings of a burn, in a relatively short but technically extended period of contact.

edit: Come to think of it, I've "charred" jeans many times on bikes or tools or whatever. It doesn't take all that much to make cotton turn to a light to medium brown from heat. Where's my money...

edit2: Here you go, here's the conditions where the factory parts would actually burn something. The bike vibrates hard enough to let flame or super heated air get past the header of the rear cylinder, right against the rider's leg. Considering what I've seen vibration do that I'd never expect, I'd have to think that it's at least possible. Also, a cracked header flange will blow a nice little flame, if it wants to.

Edited by ReconRat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was momentarily distracted earlier.

I remember when I bought my 2003 HD that it ran very hot. Thankfully I was in Portland in early fall and the temps outside helped keep the heat at bay.

I took it back to the dealer at the break-in service and was told the bikes are set quite lean. I put the Stage 1 kit on, new pipes and a map and the heat was no longer an issue.

I ran into a lady from Canada this summer. She had a brand new Heritage and she was miserable with the heat off the bike. I recommended that she look into the Stage 1 and leaning it out as she was not having any fun in the near 100 degree temps on her ride out to Sturgis from Toronto.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please explain. McDonald's spent more money to heat the coffee to a higher temp to satisfy a perceived customer desire.

Most large companies don't give a crap about the customers. If doing right by the customers costs money then they won't do it. The extreme examples are the Pinto Memo etc.

The 3.8 Taurus engine blew headgaskets on a regular basis yet ford never admitted any problem with it - the knew there were massive numbers of failing engines. Rather than do the right thing an recall the cars for the uprate headgaskets they kept denying the existence of the problem until a public pressure built up.

http://www.autosafety.org/ford-38l-head-gasket-trouble

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sporting a burn right now on my forearm from the Speed Triple, case or no case?

Of course I am kidding about the lawsuit.

A very common occurrence with the Speed Triple's under tail exhaust, I have heard many bitch about getting burned from it...Now I am one of them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most large companies don't give a crap about the customers. If doing right by the customers costs money then they won't do it. The extreme examples are the Pinto Memo etc.

The 3.8 Taurus engine blew headgaskets on a regular basis yet ford never admitted any problem with it - the knew there were massive numbers of failing engines. Rather than do the right thing an recall the cars for the uprate headgaskets they kept denying the existence of the problem until a public pressure built up.

http://www.autosafety.org/ford-38l-head-gasket-trouble

Still a bit general, but I get it. Quality drives revenue these days. If Ford didn't have a million rednecks shouting "I'm a Ford man" because their fa-vor-ite race car driver drives one, they wouldn't have continued to buy the Taurus and pinto. Hell, my Father-in-law has a brand new $40k silverado that he still claims is the best truck in the whole wide eber-neber world even though it's been in the shop more than it hasn't. The fortune 500 company that I work for operates based on "invest in quality and the rest will follow". However, you're right that there are still some cost-cutters out there, even at the sacrifice of quality and safety. The McDonald's case doesn't fit that and I don't believe HD does either. It wasn't until all Harley owners became Doctors and Lawyers that the pipes became too hot. Damn doctors and lawyers....:rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...