Reports of chain failures in the European market have spurred Honda to issue a recall of its all-new NC700X.
has issued a recall for its all-new 2012 NC700X model. Potential defects in the drive chain prompted the action from Big Red, reporting the recall to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The US recall announcement follows similar action for the NC700S and NC700X models in Canada earlier this month.
A total of 1542 units are potentially affected by the recall (the Canadian recall affected 440 units). Honda will notify owners of the issue, with dealers inspecting and replacing the suspect chain free of charge.
The NHTSA bulletin states that: “Some motorcycles may be equipped with drive chains that contain outer drive plates that were improperly heat-treated, resulting in plate fracture during use.”
The chains in question were produced by
RK. A total of nine broken chains from the European market spurred the recall inquiry by Honda Motor Co. (HMC) and RK. The first claim was filed on March 27 of this year, stretching through the summer.
Documents outlining the recall state that “RK reported to HMC that they found large variations in the plate hardness after the heat treatment process.” HMC further analyzed the data and concluded a recall was in order on September 11, reporting the recall to the NHTSA a week later on the 18th.
Thus far, the claims files for chain failures are isolated to Europe, with none yet reported to American Honda.
The recall affects both the standard version of the NC700X and the Dual Clutch Transmission version. The NC700X is pitched by Honda as a versatile middleweight with low MSRP. Read more in the
2012 Honda NC700X First Ride evaluation.
Owners may contact Honda customer service at
1-866-784-1870, regarding recall campaign number S54. Another resource for consumers is the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at
1-888-327-4236 (TTY:
1-800-424-9153) or
www.safercar.gov.
Source: NHTSA
www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/jaxrs/download/doc/UCM427073/RCDNN-12V461-1562.pdf
