Class action suit for 05 to 08 new nomad owners

[pick187]

I got a letter in the mail today. It is notice of a class action suit against Kawasaki. It is Keith Baxter Vs. Kawasaki motors. I am not good with legal mumbo jumbo, but it appears that this guy has sued because he says Kawasaki has installed a device onto the odometer which made odometers register milage different from actual driven mileage. It is a class action suit and all individuals that purchased a 05 to 08 new nomad or classic are involved.


Anybody know anything about this?

[rayski271]

yes most got same letter i threw mine out

[Yellow Jacket]

If you threw the letter out you are part of the class action. To opt out you would need to respond as indicated in the letter.

[schoeney]

Lawyers suck!

Isn't there enough wrong in this world without going around suing people for stupid stuff. I bet they settle and it never goes to court. That is what the lawyers want...they could care less who is wrong or right.

I will not vote for any lawyers (hard to do)!

Owners will get $10 and the lawyers will get $10,000,000.

[borto1990]

hmmm, I have an 08 but purchased it new in 09. I have not recieved any letter. However I didn't think I went as many miles as I did last year but I never checked it to my gps. do they fix it or just give everyone like 5 bucks?

[Yellow Jacket]

The issue is that the odometer records more miles than actually ridden, therefore reducing the resale value. I doubt very much that Ma Kaw will come out with a fix if they lose the suit. The plaintiff may get a couple of thousand dollars if he wins. The lawyers will make millions. All the other Nomad owners that remain in the class action may recieve a few bucks.

All future buyers of Kawasaki products will pay higher prices to recoup the losses that Kawasaki will incur as a result of this lawsuit.

It sucks, but that's the way this crap works.

[phenrichs]

I think the deal is that since the speedo has been proven to be inaccurate your factory warranty is up according to the odometer long before actual mileage would be. At least that is what I got out of it. Doesn't matter to me since I was not original owner.

[Yellow Jacket]

Except that the warranty is based on time not miles.

[glwilson]

While I agree for the most part regarding these types of class-action suits... it still would remain a crime if Kawasaki manipulated the odometer and I would suggest some restitution to the owners of these bikes should be received.

However; as mentioned above... I would be entirely shocked if anyone gets more money than it takes to buy a cheesburger off McDonald's "dollar-menu"!! ;)

The lawyers will make their 1/3 of the entire settlement plus expenses for which are mostly suspicious and loaded with kick-backs from my experience.

This law-suit is going to happen no matter how many participate... so if I were you guys... I would suggest you participate and at least get your one-dollar.

[ells]

But, haven't many folks here indicated that their odo is dead-on and it's only the speedo that is off, depending some on what they've done with tire?? Is it possible this poor individual and his lawyers are going on the fact since the speedo is off the odometer must be also. Oh Oh!

[macmac]

Probably the guy will loose the case. No speedo is ever 100% accurate. I have seen electrical speedo's spin up wild numbers with a fault in the system, and the engine isn't even running!

No speedo I ever saw was accurate and most are off at some %, and then any tire changes can throw the reading odd wildly given time and miles. To me it is a non- issue.

I got saddlebag gas tanks in my chevy pick up, and I never got 2 cents for that suit either. Still git that truck too, but more for the engine and am seeking a far older pre cat body and frame to put that engine in to plow snow. NH DMV went nutso on dollars and I need the truck, but not at what those jokers want to just reggi it up.. To reggi up my 06 Nomad they want nearly 200 bucks for the stinkin plate! Do you guys drop jingle like that to just reggi up?

[hammer]

Does this mean odometer if the bike is left stock? What if you used a rear tire, etc., etc., Lol.

[Yellow Jacket]

II. DESCRIPTION OF THE LITIGATION

...Plaintiff alleges that Defendants altered or istalled a device onto the odometers which made the odometers on the Kawasaki Motorcycles register mileage different from the mileage the Kawasaki Motorcycles were actually driven, which he claims violates the Federal Odometer Act, 49 U.S.C. &&32703(1) and (2). Plaintiff claims that as a result of these alleged Federal Odometer Act Violations he and other members of the Class are each entitled to actual damages or $1,500, whichever is greater.

.................................................. .................................................. .........
As you can see from the above, the speedometer is not mentioned, only the odometer. (I added the yellow highlighting.)

With the stock tire (Bridgestone 170/70b-16) my odometer was reading about 3% more than actual mileage. On a side note, my speedometer was reading about 10% fast. As a result, you can not get both speedometer and odometer to read correctly at the same time. I corrected my speedometer error by going to a rear tire with a 10% larger diameter, but now the odometer reads about 7% slower than actual mileage.

Now, since both the speedometer and the odometer (on the 1600's) run from the exact same speed sensor signal the only way that both can be made to indicate properly is to correct the internal circuitry in the Meter Unit.

This stuff is not rocket science guys. There is no reason that the speedometer and the odometer could not have been properly calibrated by the engineers that designed the Meter Unit.

Personally, I believe it was a deliberate engineering design decision to make the speedometers read 10% faster than actual speed. Since it is law that the odometers are required to be accurate within a certain percentage (I don't know the percentage) I think someone just screwed up when designing the odometer circuitry which converts the speed sensor signal into miles.

Once again, the only ones who will make any real money out of this lawsuit are the lawyers.

[schoeney]

Mark my word...there won't be a winner or loser. This will get settled before it goes to court.

In addition watch the lawyers go after other bike manufacturers...as I know several Honda models have the same issue. I gotta believe others do too.

You know what you call a dead tort lawyer at the bottom of the ocean?..................A good start.

[kenb]

I find it interesting that Mr. Baxter, as far as I know, has not tried to gain any support for his claim from online forums such as this. I would think he would try and find other willing "plaintiffs" to help in his fight. He has the world at his fingertips. I am sure there would be other Nomad owners that feel the same way. As futile as the suit may be, I respect Mr. Baxter for fighting for what he believes in. Where would this country be if not for those who fought for their beliefs?