OK Gents, Heres the official word..as I have had the unfortunate task of informing our OEM customers of for several years.
"Due to the liabilities encountered, Honda will not approve the installation of one of our General purpose engines on equipment by an OEM for a recreational Go-kart, mini-bike, powered bicycle, scooter or similarly marketed device."
Now, understand this folks. There happened several years ago, and it was a policy decision , and this only applies to an OEM mfg. NOT and end user (at this point). The reason for this has already been suggested above, to give Honda attorneys in a court setting protection.
To understand this completely, and how it is enforced you must first understand a couple of things. 1st, as mentioned, Honda is the largest engine manufacturer in the world by volume, and has assets in the united states. The fact it is the largest makes us a target, and the fact that Honda has assets here makes it vulnerable to enforcement by US courts. Companies that have no assets in the USA are not vunerable, as US courts cannot enforce laws in..say , China. 2nd, This is not a "new" policy, but one that was implemented several years ago, after a series of court battles in which Honda was targeted for injuries resulting from go-kart and mini-bike accidents. Honda, who has a huge employ of attorneys, seldom looses a lawsuit..and I mean VERY seldom, but liability attorneys discovered that when a minor or Child is involved as the injured, that all they have to do is demand a jury trial and they will win..almost everytime, regardless of the circumstances. So..Honda decided to stop marketing their engines into an area where they cant win. This was the basis of the decision which evolved at the corporate level to include not ony go-karts and mini-bikes, but also motorized bikes and other products. We can call this expansion typical corporate thinking. The Math was undeniable unfortunately, because the sales of engines for prices that average less than 200 dollars which you make 10 to 15% profit on, is quickly upside down after but a few zillion dollar lawsuits are lost. On a personal note, in my territory, several long time supply relationships with OEMS, (and friends) was terminated.
AND lastly, as to the implementation of the policy you need to know that Honda will not supply engines to a OEM mfg without first the product undergoing what we call an "OEM warranty application test". This means that when an OEM calls up and asks for engines to power their product, there is more involved than simply, "How many do you want?" This test involves operateing the mfg's product at maximimum advertised output for a period of 1 hour with engine monitoring of several temps, vibration, and, according to the specific application, other parameters to make sure the engine will last in the enviroment it is subjected to. Then an overall observation of the installation to see if it is in accordance with the various regulations applicable from the several regulatory agencies in the USA. Everything from sheilding of the driveline to EPA fuel system regs to warning label requirements must be met, and a contract signed by the OEM that these standards will be observed in production. This completed "Warranty Application" is then sent thru several offices at AHM hq for approval..and one of them is the legal dept....and only after approval, will a supply of engines be established with the OEM customer. This is how the word came to us in the field..no longer will the legal dept approve applications of mini-bikes, go-karts, powered bikes or anything else that a kid might ride. IN a Nutshell...thats it..the above comments about Honda Hating the motorbike market and other various inuendos are completely without basis. I have been at the job for 18 years last oct, and I assure you, its the courts. We tried suppling engines into your market, but the courts made in impractial, and un-profitable.
I also might add, that so far, the courts have not decided that a MFg will be completely responsible for a retail purchaser who buys an engine and takes it home to install it on an application that Honda has not approved, so untill that happens..you can buy em at retail and use them, even tho it is not approved by Honda...but dont get into the biz of selling a whole bunch of them, or call yourself a MFg...cause if you do...and your appearance even looks like a mfg enough to make the legal dept at Honda think their exposure is getting high because of your volume, or even just your presence...or you will get the famous "Cease and Desist letter" from Honda's legal dept, and take my word for it..you dont want to mess with them. They are salaried..and once in a while it seems they have to find something to do.
