Hopefully this is not a repost....
On February 10, 2009, a new law called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act went into effect. This law was created by Congress last August as a knee-jerk reaction to hazardous toys being imported from China (remember the Fisher-Price toy recalls). It bans all products sold for use by children which contain above certain levels of lead and phthalates. In the act, children is defined as anyone 12 or under, and the law is very broad in that it exempts no products from its purview.
How does this become an issue of importance to motorcycle riders?
All minibikes, pitbikes and even OSET's fall under this act, as well as ATV's sold for youths. 85cc or smaller, gone. I can't get parts, I can't even get stickers. As of today, all the major motorcycle and ATV manufacturers have instructed their dealers to remove all bikes and ATV's used by children from inventory and to cease advertising, marketing, selling, possibly servicing these products. The lead contained in these bikes is not in the paint; it's in the metal used for certain parts in the engines and electrical parts. Most dealers have also been instructed to stop selling parts and accessories for the bikes as well.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission, CPSC, which is the commission charged with enforcing this act has been asked by the motorcycle industry to grant a waiver to prevent the end of the motorcycle industry, but they are dragging their feet. As a result, minibikes and pitbikes became illegal today.