[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 99 (Monday, May 24, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 28025]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-13065]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA 99-5698; Notice 1]
American Honda Motor Company, Inc.; Receipt of Application for
Second Renewal of Temporary Exemption From Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard No. 122
We are seeking comments on the application by American Honda Motor
Co., Inc., of Torrance, California (``Honda''), for a second renewal of
its temporary exemption from the fade and water recovery requirements
of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 122 Motorcycle brake
systems. Honda asserts 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.
We are publishing this notice of receipt of the application in
accordance with the requirements of 49 U.S.C. 30113(b)(2). This action
does not represent that we have made any judgment on the merits of the
application.
The discussion that follows is based on information contained in
Honda's application.
Why Honda Needs Again To Renew Its Temporary Exemption To 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
We 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 later applied for an extension of its
exemption to September 1, 1999, to cover the 1999 model CBR1100XX
motorcycle. This request was also granted (63 FR 65272, November 25,
1998). Now Honda has applied for the exemption to continue for another
year to cover the 2000 model CBR1100XX motorcycle. The 2000 model of
the CBR1100XX will be mechanically identical to the 1999 model. Under
Temporary Exemption No. 97-1, Honda has sold far less than 2,500
exempted 1998 and 1999 model CBR1100XX motorcycles.
Honda's original and renewed requests concern 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.'' The company
continues to evaluate 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,'' and ``allows a more predictable rise in brake
gain.'' 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. We granted Honda's rulemaking petition on March 16, 1999.
Honda interprets this action as ``signifying that the agency believes a
further review of the issues raised in the petition appears to have
merit.''
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's Reasons Why a Temporary Exemption Is in the Public Interest
and Consistent With Objectives of Motor Vehicle Safety
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.
Honda repeated those arguments in 1998 and 1999. It has asserted
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.''
How To Comment on Honda's Application
If you wish to comment on Honda's application, please do so in
writing, referring to the docket number and the notice number, and send
two copies to: Docket Management, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW,
Washington, DC 20590.
We shall consider all comments received before the close of
business on the comment closing date indicated below. All comments will
be available for examination in the docket in Room PL-401 both before
and after that date. To the extent possible, we shall also consider
comments filed after the closing date. When the Administrator has made
a decision, we shall publish it in the Federal Register pursuant to the
authority indicated below.
Comment closing date: June 23, 1999.
(49 U.S.C. 30113; delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50. and
501.8)
Issued on May 18, 1999.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 99-13065 Filed 5-21-99; 8:45 am]
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