2004 HONDA GL1800 — Complaint #949418
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about EQUIPMENT:MOTORCYCLE:HELMETS filed November 14, 2012
NHTSA complaint #949418 (ODI reference 10484671) concerns a 2004 HONDA GL1800 and was filed on November 14, 2012. The owner reports the failure occurred on October 9, 2012. The vehicle had 74,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Virginia based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as equipment:motorcycle:helmets, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: yes, fire: no, injuries: 1, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same HONDA GL1800 cohort independently describe similar equipment:motorcycle:helmets failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2004 HONDA GL1800 shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
HJC SYMAX II MODULAR HELMET COMPLAINT BOTH MY FRIEND AND I, [XXX] (WITNESS), BOTH RIDING 30 YEARS, WERE TRAVELING.ON THE BLUE RIDGE PKWY ENTERING THE PARKWAY AT WAYNESBORO, VA TO AVOID THE SKYLINE DRIVE. AROUND 7:15 WE DECIDED TO HEAD TO ROANOKE WHERE WE WOULD HAVE CELL AND INTERNET. HEADED SOUTH ON BRP. I HAS EXPRESSED CONCERNS ABOUT DEER. APPROX 5 MINUTES LATER, DEER RAN ACROSS THE ROAD FORCING BOTH OF US TO BRAKE HEAVILY. APPROX 5 MINUTES LATER, SEVERAL MORE DEER RAN ACROSS THE ROAD IN FRONT OF ME. 2 COMPLETED THE CROSSING A 3RD REVERSED DIRECTION. 5 MINUTES LATER AS WE APPROACHED (SOUTHBOUND) AN OVERLOOK, 3 MORE DEER DASHED ACROSS THE ROAD FROM THE LEFT. AS BEST I CAN REMEMBER THEY WERE ADOLESCENCE. ONE PASSED IN FRONT OF MY GOLDWING, POSSIBLY CLIPPING HIS FRONT WHEEL AND DESTABILIZING HIM. A SECOND PASSED BEHIND, AND THE THIRD SLAMMED INTO THE SIDE OF THE BIKE. I WAS EJECTED FROM THE BIKE ON THE RIGHT SIDE. I BARREL-ROLLED TO THE RIGHT ONTO THE GRASS SHOULDER.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 949418 |
| ODI Number | 10484671 |
| Date Filed | November 14, 2012 |
| Failure Date | October 9, 2012 |
| VIN | 1HFSC47454A |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.