law suit

[werewulf]

i was reading in the daytona newspaper this morning about the trial that is under way against buell. it concerned one of the riders killed on a test ride at bike week. the deceased was riding an x-1, when the throttle stuck. the victim was middle aged and had been riding all his life.
this should do wonders for the companies financial stability.

[hippo888]

Weird,

My XB9S uses a pull-to-open, push-to-close throttle. One cable opens the throttle and the other closes the thottle. The idle return springs can fall off and you can still manually close the throttle.

Something must have seriously went wrong with the bike or it was rider error. Either way, it's a shame someone ended up dead. Makes me wonder why we enjoy this sport so much...

[Big Al]

Strange that I see a lot of negative Buell posts, but not to many positive ones. I bought a Buell Blast for my wife while she is learning to ride and it's been a great bike. Now about the report. Wonder how they determined that "the throttle stuck" if the guy was killed. Did he stay alive long enough to say anything. Then there's always the clutch, pull that baby in and the throttle doesn't really matter does it. Something just doesn't sound right with this lawsuit! Must be a money thing...

That's my 2 cents.

[dynarider96]

Buell issued a recall for the throttle cables on those particular models. its not even 100% sure if the bike involved was 'repaired' or not. The cables can loosed up & jump out of their mounts & the throttle will hang wide open. Stuff happens real fast of you arent expecting it.

The evidence of the recall was suppressed at the trial.

[Bobby M]

No matter how many years /miles experience you have accidents can and do happen.The cable could have stuck open and the rider hit the front brake etc.etc.I would think a rider would have 1 Second to Grab a hand full of clutch when he or she realized it was doing a run away. 1 Second is all it takes.I don't remenber ever hearing of a run away motorcycle like a horse.Did you ever watch people test riding the C.O.V.'s factory Buell's? They ride them trying to pull wheelys and lean them over far enough to drag the pegs,Burn outs etc.Maybe the cable was lose..Maybe it happen after the accident,was the tank or carb/airbox smashed? We don't know anything.I'd say he exceeded the motorcycles limits along with speeding.A Lawyer will dip up stuff that may not have even been there.Pointing a finger at company with lots of money and Harley-Davidson does have insurance or funds for incase this happens. Along with the there Legal team.I wonder if the rider signed a release?

[flying V]

In my experience a release is ALWAYS signed ; or you DO NOT ride. PERIOD

[werewulf]

believe it or not, a release isnt bullet proof. in court, they usually argue that a person would not sign away his rights if he knew there was real danger or a defect.

[bigal51]

Regardless of throttle----clutch----no problem----rider error

[sooey]

Harley/Buell got a defense verdict in that case. No defect! No liability...operator error. That bike was not subject to the recall. A great deal of money was spent defending that lawsuit that will have to be passed on to the consumer. That is too bad. At least justice was done. Its too bad somebody lost their life but people must accept responsibility for their own actions even if it means our families must do so as well. Somebody else is not always responsible for what happens to us. Riding a bike is not the safest thing we do but it is something most of us love and accept the risks. Hopefully we all minimize our exposure to the risks but they all can't be eliminated and when someone is injured/killed using a product it isn't always the products fault. We hardly ever hear of the defense verdicts only the big money verdicts.

[Old_Mil]

...if HD/Buell had thought that they had actually done something wrong. They would have saved the lawyer fees and settled out of court. Typically, trial lawyers try this sort of nonsense lawsuit to extort money from companies that haven't done anything wrong with the theory that it's cheaper to settle than to fight. Happens in aviation all the time.

[Fxsts103ci]

Originally Posted by sooey

Harley/Buell got a defense verdict in that case. No defect! No liability...operator error. That bike was not subject to the recall. A great deal of money was spent defending that lawsuit that will have to be passed on to the consumer. That is too bad. .

That is not really true .. HD would have to have a products liability Ins policy which would have covered all legal fees and any verdict against them up to the policies face value. And a co. as large as HD would have a substantial policy to fend off lawsuits without effecting the companies bottom line. I mean lets be serious here if You get sued by someone for injuries be it in your car at your home or by your dog for that matter ,the ins. company pays for the defense since they are the one's who ultimately pay for any judgement from your Liability portion of your policy.

[sooey]

Fxsts103ci, Your comments are not correct..Most of the major automotive/motorcycle manufacturers, Harley included, do not have insurance policies for the first several million for product liability. And, yes, the cost of defending these actions is (obviously must be) passed on to the consumer. Even if there was insurance, which there was NOT, who do you think pays for the increased premiums? Product liability lawsuits for injuries/death caused by the operators own conduct costs us all millions and millions a year. Sure, there are some valid product liability cases out there but let me assure you that there are a much much higher percentage of cases that simply arise from people not wanting to take responsibility for their own conduct and trying to blame someone else in hopes of getting $. It is not the lottery when you hurt yourself....People should accept responsibility for their own conduct! We would not have the tort crisis we have if people would just accept responsibility for their own conduct and then meritless suits would not be an issue.