Harley-Davidson agreed to pay a $12 million civil fine and stop offering unlawful after-market gadgets that trigger its bikes to emit too much contamination, the U.S. Justice Department stated on Thursday.
The settlement resolves government accusations that Harley sold roughly 340,000 super tuners allowing motorcycles from 2008 to contaminate the air at levels higher than what the Milwaukee-based company accredited to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Harley did not confess liability, and informed in a statement it disagrees with the government’s position arguing that the gadgets were designed and sold to be utilized in “competition only”.
The company stated the settlement represents “a good faith compromise with the EPA on areas of law we analyze differently, especially EPA’s assertion that it is illegal for anybody to modify a qualified automobile even if it will be used solely for off-road/closed-course competitors”.
An EPA representative told that the vast majority of these tuners were used on public roads.
As per the government, the sale of such “defeat devices” breaches the federal Clean Air Act. Harley was likewise alleged of selling over 12,600 motorcycles that were not covered by an EPA certification governing clean air compliance.
The settlement requires Harley to stop selling the very tuners by August 23, and purchase back and destroy all those tuners in stock at its dealerships. EPA stated the modified settings increase power and efficiency, however also increase the motorbikes’ emissions of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides.
Harley must likewise deny warranty claims if owners continue to utilize the devices. An EPA spokesman said the company’s dealerships are not part of this action, however “if they are tampering or selling defeat devices by themselves, then they could be investigated individually in the future”.
Harley will likewise spend $3 million on an unrelated task to minimize air contamination, the Justice Department stated.
