[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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