Two-wheeler recalls in India inch closer to the 80,000 mark

Harley-Davidson Motor Company India’s recent recall of its first-ever Made-in-India motorcycle model – the Street 750 – is the 65th vehicle recall exercise made by the OEMs in the domestic market since Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers’ (SIAM) voluntary code on vehicle recall came in effect on July 2012.

The recall of this model, which comes with a starting price tag of Rs 432,500 (ex-showroom, Delhi), is, however, part of a global recall made by the company for units manufactured under different timelines.

It is understood that the Street 750s recalled in India affects the volume manufactured at the Bawal, Haryana plant between February 24, 2014 to July 15, 2015. Autocar Professional estimates that a volume of close to 10,100 units of this model will come under the latest vehicle recall exercise, which is for a likely faulty inlet seal – a part of the fuel pump module.

The company’s official statement in this regard has not stated the number of Street 750 units that will be affected under this recall exercise.

“Harley-Davidson confirms that it has voluntarily recalled model year 2015 Harley-Davidson Street family vehicles, of which the XG750 model is available in India. We identified that some of the motorcycles may have a poor seal at the fuel pump inlet, and announced the recall in the interest of customer safety. We are committed to correcting this issue and are working with our dealers in India to notify customers and request them to bring their motorcycles in for inspection,” says the official statement from H-D Motor Company India.

It can be recalled that Harley-Davidson Motor Company India, in January 2015, had issued a recall of models from its Dyna and Softail family of motorcycles to check for faults in the front brake master cylinders. The company had not disclosed the number of units that were affected in its earlier recall exercise.

H-D Motor Company India,which commercially launched the Street 750 model at the Auto Expo 2014, produced 273 units of the bike until March 2014. Further, between April 2014-March 2015, the another 6,798 units of Street 750 rolled out at its Bawal facility. And between it has produced 3,035 units of the Street 750 between April 2015-July 2015. This adds up to the production of 10,106 units of this model until July 2015. 

After the SIAM voluntary recall code was issued, total two-wheeler recalls made in India point are now close to 80,000 units over the last phree years. Interestingly, all the two-wheeler recalls are include expensive motorcycles except for Yamaha’s 113cc Ray scooter, which is the only commuter that has seen a recall.