Honda in a spin as it is forced to recall bikes

Leading motorcycle maker Honda Vietnam is recalling more than 2,000 LEAD scooters, the company’s best seller, to fix faulty gas tank bolts.

 According to a statement from Honda Vietnam on October 16, the company started to recall 2,154 LEAD vehicles from October 15 to replace the faulty bolts.

The Japanese firm stressed that the fault would not affect the motorcycles’ safety and they would be fixed free of charge.

However, according to some Hanoi-based Honda Vietnam authorised dealers, the company required them to replace the whole gas tank, not only the bolts.

According to staff of Hanoi’s Tran Quang Khai street-based Thang Loi 1 store, they had more than 200 LEAD vehicles already sold belonging to the recall.

“All the vehicles need to be replaced with new gas tanks. We have replaced nearly 80 per cent of more than 200 tanks. We are now waiting for a new batch of tanks,” the staff added.

Honda Vietnam staff told VIR last week that the company could not replace only the bolts, which connected closely with the tanks.

LEAD scooters were introduced to Vietnam in early 2009, with its biggest competitor SCR imported from China-based Honda producer.

LEAD quickly became a favourite scooter in Vietnam, besides the automatic transmission Air Blade model. The high domestic demand for the LEAD and Air Blade contributively prompted Honda to decide to expand its motobike manufacturing capacity to two million units next year from 1.5 million units.

Honda Vietnam’s recall is rare in Vietnam’s motorbike industry.

In June 2010, Honda also announced to recall VFR 1200F AT motorbikes in Britain for concerns over engine problems.