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Injured man sues HD over 'wobble'
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I ride a Sportster, but I never knew about what the lawsuit mentioned
below alleges that on FLH models that they:
"...wobble when the motorcycle exceeds 50 mph is so widely known that
repair shops advertise repairs specific to the problem on these
models."
Story pasted below (for your convenience), from:
MAN SUING HARLEY-DAVIDSON OVER 'WOBBLE'
April 13, 2006
BY Steve Patterson, Staff Reporter
For years, Tom Hawkinson loved nothing more than to hit the open road
on his Harley-Davidson.
But as the Oak Lawn (Illinois) man cruised down Archer Avenue near
Lemont in 2004, the front end of his motorcycle began to wobble.
Seconds later, the 44-year-old was thrown from his bike and left with
life-changing brain injuries.
Wednesday, Hawkinson filed suit against Harley-Davidson, claiming the
company knew years earlier that there was a defect in the bike.
Before the crash, he was a vice-president at his family's Hawkinson
Ford in Oak Lawn, but today "he can't work and is unable to maintain
the life he had before," said his attorney, Max Maccoby.
"He was a successful businessman," he said. "Now he's incapacitated and
has gone through a number of brain surgeries."
The suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, seeks unspecified
damages, but claims that users have filed multiple complaints with
federal safety agencies and multiple negligence lawsuits because of
defects on the Dyna Wide Glide and other bikes in the company's FLH
series. One suit filed in Chicago in 2004 made claims similar to
Hawkinson's.
A Harley-Davidson spokesman declined comment.
Maccoby said the wobble when the motorcycle exceeds 50 mph is so widely
known that repair shops advertise repairs specific to the problem on
these models.
Those "design or manufacturing defects," the lawsuit says, caused the
crash and Hawkinson's injury.
"A driver coming toward him saw his front light wobble back and forth
for about 10 seconds before he was thrown," Maccoby said. "Now, he
suffers from disorientation, he fatigues easily, and he can't
multitask. He tried going back to work, but he couldn't."
Earlier suits filed against Harley-Davidson claim the shaking and
instability come from the front end of the motorcycle, as if it is
off-balance from the rear tires.
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my FLHS doesn't wobble.
well, maybe one time
when my front tire was loosing air
and the PSI got a little low.
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