Pa. bill proposes lemon law for motorcycles

HARRISBURG, Pa. (KDKA) -- Decades ago, new cars were a lot less reliable. And when something went wrong, there was a lot less you could do about it. Then came lemon laws for four-wheel vehicles. But motorcycles? They're a different story in Pennsylvania.

Ken Edwards, the legislative coordinator with the so-called motorcycle rights organization A.B.A.T.E., said motorcycles are far more reliable these days than back in the 1980s when he started riding. 

"It's rare now that you get something that would fall into that category of a lemon," Edwards said. 

But on those rare occasions? 

"Sometimes they can't fix it on the first, second, third, or sometimes even more than a dozen times. At that point, an automobile purchaser would get some protection from the lemon law. Motorcycles are exempt from that, they don't get that," Edwards said. 

That's how it's been for motorcyclists all these decades but maybe not how it'll be soon. 

"We believe that consumers who purchased motorcycles should have the same protections that have been wildly successful for people who purchase automobiles," said state Rep. Nick Pisciottano.

Pisciottano says the bill he's sponsoring would level the riding field for bikers. There's bipartisan support and versions moving through both the House and Senate. Then again, that happened last session.  

"But neither bill got across the finish line fully into the governor for his signature," Pisciottano said. 

"I don't think there's a lot of controversy on this. Other states have lemon law protection on motorcycles," Edwards said. 

The motorcycle industry council isn't sure Pennsylvania should join that list, saying lemon laws "can be detrimental if they are too far-reaching." The group says warranty repairs already do the job better than a bill it says "sets arbitrary limits and encourages lawsuits."