[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 227 (Wednesday, November 25, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65272-65273]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-31523]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA 98-4275; Notice 2]
American Honda Motor Company, Inc.; Grant of Renewal of Temporary
Exemption From Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 122
This notice grants the application of American Honda Motor Co.,
Inc., of Torrance, California (``Honda''), for a one-year renewal of
its temporary exemption from the fade and water recovery requirements
of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 122, Motorcycle Brake
Systems. The basis of the application for renewal was that an exemption
would make easier the development or field evaluation of a new motor
vehicle safety feature providing a safety level at least equal to the
safety level of the standard.
Notice of receipt of an application was published on August 10,
1998, and an opportunity afforded for comment (63 FR 42661).
The agency previously granted Honda NHTSA Temporary Exemption No.
97-1, expiring September 1, 1998, from the following requirements of 49
CFR 571.122 Standard No. 122 Motorcycle Brake Systems: S5.4.1 Baseline
check--minimum and maximum pedal forces, S5.4.2 Fade, S5.4.3 Fade
recovery, S5.7.2 Water recovery test, and S6.10 Brake actuation forces
(62 FR 52372, October 7, 1997). This exemption covered Honda's 1998
CBR1100XX motorcycle. Honda has applied for an extension of its
exemption to September 1, 1999, to cover the 1999 model CBR1100XX
motorcycle, and ``all unsold 1998 model year'' CBR1100XX vehicles.
However, it was unnecessary for Honda to have included unsold vehicles
in its request. NHTSA's temporary exemptions apply as of the date of
manufacture and certification of an exempted vehicle, and continue to
cover that vehicle even if it is sold after the expiration date of the
exemption.
[[Page 65273]]
Honda's original and renewed request concerned exemption ``from the
requirement of the minimum hand-lever force of five pounds in the base
line check for the fade and water recovery tests.'' It is evaluating
the marketability of an ``improved'' motorcycle brake system setting
which is currently applied to the model sold in Europe. The difference
in setting is limited to a softer master cylinder return spring in the
European version. Using the softer spring results in a ``more
predictable (linear) feeling during initial brake lever application.''
Although ``the change allows a more predictable rise in brake gain, the
on-set of braking occurs at lever forces slightly below the five pound
minimum'' specified in Standard No. 122. Honda considers that
motorcycle brake systems have continued to evolve and improve since
Standard No. 122 was adopted in 1972, and that one area of improvement
is brake lever force which has gradually been reduced. However, the
five-pound minimum specification ``is preventing further development
and improvement'' of brake system characteristics. This limit, when
applied to the CBR1100XX ``results in an imprecise feeling when the
rider applies low-level front brake lever inputs.'' On November 5,
1997, Honda submitted a petition for rulemaking to amend Standard No.
122 to eliminate the minimum brake actuation force requirement. As of
June 19, 1998, when Honda applied for a renewal of its application,
NHTSA had not yet decided whether to grant the petition. The agency
notes that it anticipates granting the petition and commencing a
rulemaking proceeding this fall.
The 1999 model of the CBR1100XX ``will be nearly identical'' to the
1998 model ``with two notable exceptions: the engine air/fuel delivery
system will change from carburetors to electronic fuel injection, and
the brake system will also have a minor change.'' This brake system
change involves characteristics of the pressure control valve, but is
``limited to high input force range, and it will not affect the
baseline check result nor other test results in FMVSS 122.''
The CBR1100XX is equipped with Honda's Linked Brake System (LBS)
which is designed to engage both front and rear brakes when either the
front brake lever or the rear brake pedal is used. The LBS differs from
other integrated systems in that it allows the rider to choose which
wheel gets the majority of braking force, depending on which brake
control the rider uses.
According to Honda, the overall braking performance remains
unchanged from a conforming motorcycle. Exempted CBR1100XX vehicles
meet ``the stopping distance requirement but at lever forces slightly
below the minimum.''
Honda argued in 1997 that granting an exemption would be in the
public interest and consistent with objectives of traffic safety
because it
* * * should improve a rider's ability to precisely modulate the
brake force at low-level brake lever input forces. Improving the
predictability, even at very low-level brake lever input, increases
the rider's confidence in the motorcycle's brake system.
This year Honda repeats those arguments and submits that a renewal
allows further refinement and development of the LBS. It believes that
the LBS has ``many desirable characteristics--especially during
emergency braking--that could reduce the number of rear brake lock-up
crashes.'' Honda has produced about 1200 motorcycles under Exemption
97-1, and anticipates that it will produce about 1,500 vehicles under a
renewal.
No comments were received on the application.
The changes that Honda intends to make to the braking system of its
1999 model do not affect the reasoning upon which the agency's findings
were based in granting the original exemption for its 1998 motorcycle,
and the agency's rationale is hereby incorporated by reference (62 FR
52372, October 7, 1997). A renewal should allow further refinement and
development of the LBS.
In consideration of the foregoing, it is hereby found that an
exemption would make easier the development or field evaluation of a
new motor vehicle safety feature providing a safety level at least
equal to the safety level of Standard No. 122. It is also hereby found
that the renewal of the temporary exemption is in the public interest
and consistent with the objectives of motor vehicle safety.
Accordingly, NHTSA Temporary Exemption No. 97-1 is extended to, and
will expire on, September 1, 1999.
(49 U.S.C. 30113; delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50.)
Issued on November 18, 1998.
Ricardo Martinez,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 98-31523 Filed 11-24-98; 8:45 am]
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