[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 10, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2046-2047]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-699]



[[Page 2046]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA 2000-8090; Notice 2]


Honda Motor Company, Ltd.; Grant of Application for Temporary 
Exemption From Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 122

    This notice grants the application by American Honda Motor Co., 
Inc., of Torrance, California (``Honda''), on behalf of Honda Motor 
Company, Ltd., of Japan, for a 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 is 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 the application was published on October 25, 
2000, and an opportunity afforded for comment (65 FR 63912).
    Honda seeks an exemption of one year for its 2001 CBR1100XX 
motorcycle ``from the requirement of the minimum hand-lever force of 
five pounds in the base line check for the fade and water recovery 
tests.'' Honda has previously received exemptions totaling three years 
from this requirement for the 1998-2000 model year CBR1100XX (See 
Docket No. 93-47). The brake system of the 2001 model is said to be 
identical to the system on vehicles previously exempted. In 1997, Honda 
filed a petition for rulemaking to amend Standard No. 122 to 
accommodate the braking system of the CBR1100XX. NHTSA granted the 
petition and published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on November 17, 
1999 (64 FR 62622); however, a final rule had not been issued as of 
September 1, 2000, when its exemption expired.
    Honda has been evaluating the marketability of a motorcycle brake 
system setting which is currently applied to the model sold in Europe, 
and has sold 3,600 exempted motorcycles as of the date of its 
application. The difference in setting is limited to a softer master 
cylinder return spring in the European version. As Honda said in its 
initial application in 1997, 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. If on-set of 
braking is delayed until the five pound minimum is reached, a feeling 
results that the brakes come on suddenly or unpredictably. 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. Honda 
reports that many who try the system ``feel that they have more control 
with independent front and rear brake systems,'' and that ``The 
European version setting has shown greater consumer acceptance.''
    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 and from Honda cycles previously 
exempted. If the CBR1100XX is exempted it will meet ``the stopping 
distance requirement but at lever forces slightly below the minimum.''
    While Honda's application did not cite applicable sections of 
Standard No. 122, its previous applications asked for relief from the 
first sentence of S6.10 Brake application forces, which reads:

    Except for the requirements of the fifth recovery stop in S5.4.3 
and S5.7.2 (S7.6.3 and S7.10.2) the hand lever force is not less 
than five and not more than 55 pounds and the foot pedal force is 
not less than 10 and not more than 90 pounds.

    However, NHTSA determined that Honda required relief from different 
provisions of Standard No. 122, although S6.10 related to them. 
Paragraph S6 only sets forth the test conditions under which a 
motorcycle must meet the performance requirements of S5. A motorcycle 
manufacturer certifies compliance with the performance requirements of 
S5 on the basis of tests conducted according to the conditions of S6 
and in the manner specified by S7. In short, NHTSA provided relief from 
the performance requirements of S5 that are based upon the lever 
actuation force test conditions of S6.10 as used in the test procedures 
of S7.
    These relate to the baseline checks under which performance is 
judged for the service brake system fade and fade recovery tests 
(S5.4), and for the water recovery tests (S5.7). According to the test 
procedures of S7, the baseline check stops for fade (S7.6.1) and water 
recovery (S7.10.1) are to be made at 10 to 11 feet per second per 
second (fpsps) per stop. The fade recovery test (S7.6.3) also specifies 
stops at 10 to 11 fpsps. Test data submitted by Honda with its 1997 
application, and which it has incorporated by reference in its 2000 
application, show that, using a hand lever force of 2.3 kg (5.1 
pounds), the deceleration for these stops is 3.05 to 3.35 meters per 
second per second, or 10.0 to 11.0 fpsps. This does not mean that Honda 
cannot comply under the strict parameters of the standard, but the 
system is designed for responsive performance when a hand lever force 
of less than five pounds is used. For these reasons, NHTSA interprets 
Honda's application as requesting relief from S5.4.2, S5.4.3, and 
S5.7.2.
    Honda argued 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. We feel that improvements in braking, even those of an 
incremental nature, are in the public's interest and consistent with 
the objectives of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

    No comments were received on the application.
    Honda's application is, in effect, a request for a one-year 
extension of an exemption previously granted to it. Except for the 
model year of the vehicle involved, the facts and arguments remain the 
same. The agency's rationale in granting the original exemption and its 
extensions are hereby incorporated by reference (62 FR 52372, October 
7, 1997; 63 FR 65272, November 25, 1998; 64 FR 44263, August 13, 1999).
    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 a temporary exemption is in the public interest and consistent 
with the objectives of motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, Honda Motor 
Company Ltd. is granted NHTSA Temporary Exemption No. EX2000-4, from 
the following requirements incorporated in 49 CFR 571.122 Motor Vehicle 
Safety Standard No. 122 Motorcycle Brake

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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. The exemption applies only to the CBR 
1100XX model and expires December 1, 2001.
    (49 U.S.C. 30113; delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50. and 
501.8)

    Issued on January 3, 2001.
Rosalyn G. Millman,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 01-699 Filed 1-9-01; 8:45 am]
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