The Spanish traffic authorities have impounded hundreds of second hand Harley Davidson motorbikes which had been imported from the United States as they are ‘too American’. Hundreds of Spanish owners of the bikes are angry that they cannot remove them from the Guardia Civil barracks where they are being stored as it has been determined that the bikes do meet the Spanish official approval level. Only the Harleys which are sold via official dealers in Spain are being considered to meet the homologación official. An association has been formed by those affected says most of the bikes have passed the ITV test and are identical to those being sold by dealers. Their lawyer, Francisco Gualda, says that as many as 5000 bikes could be affected. Many bikers have opted for imported bikes to save money; quite how much is not clear. One report that it is 800 € has been dismissed by the lawyer who told El País, ‘Nobody would risk losing their bike for such an amount’. The Guardia Civil says the vehicles need to have the official approval sign assigned on an individual basis, but the bikes owners say it is impossible for individuals to obtain the documents. The DGT traffic authority has denied that there is any campaign against Harvey Davidson’s, saying that when a driver is stopped and his documents are not in order, then the bike is impounded. Josep Grañó, the Managing Director of Harley Davidson in Spain has told El País that the imported bikes are different as they have different engines. ‘That’s why we cannot repair them as they require different tools’. He also says the imported bikes do not meet many standards including CO emission, and noise.
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