Interpretation ID: Interpretation-ElectraMeccanica-May 22 2024

May 22, 2024

Mr. Isaac Moss
Chief Administration Officer
ElectraMeccanica
EMV Automotive USA, Inc.
11647 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City, CA 91604 

Dear Mr. Moss: 

This letter responds to your request, on behalf of the ElectraMeccanica Automotive USA, Inc., for guidance as to whether passenger car tires certified to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 139 may be installed on new motorcycles. 

Your letter references a December 30, 1982 interpretation letter confirming that paragraph S5.1.1 of FMVSS No. 120 permitted a motorcycle to be equipped with passenger tires certified as complying with FMVSS No. 109, as long as the tires were fitted to rims listed as suitable for use with the equipped tires, and as long as those rims met the marking requirements of FMVSS No. 120.1 You note that since this 1982 interpretation letter, FMVSS No. 120 has been revised. Although you do not note this in your letter, since 1982, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has substantially updated tire requirements and new passenger car tires are now required to meet FMVSS No. 139. You ask three questions in your letter, and I will address each in turn. 

First, you ask whether NHTSA can expand its December 30, 1982 interpretation letter to include passenger cars meeting the requirements of FMVSS No. 139. I can confirm for you that FMVSS No. 120 allows new motorcycles to be equipped with tires certified to meet FMVSS No. 139. This is explicitly stated in paragraph S5.1.1 of FMVSS No. 120. 

Second, you ask whether NHTSA can confirm that NHTSA would reference S4 of FMVSS No. 139, in lieu of the references to S4.4 of FMVSS No. 109 and S5.1 of FMVSS No. 119 

1 Letter to Anonymous (Confidential) (Dec. 30, 1982), available at https://www.nhtsa.gov/interpretations/1982-337  

Page 2
Mr. Isaac Moss 

contained in S5.1.1 of FMVSS No. 120. The answer to this question is yes. If tires certified to meet FMVSS No. 139 are installed on a new motorcycle, the tire manufacturer must list the rims as suitable for use with those tires in accordance with S4 of FMVSS No. 139. This requirement is consistent with the tire and rim matching information for tires certified with FMVSS Nos. 109 or 119. S4 of FMVSS No. 139, like S4.4 of FMVSS No. 109 and S5.1 of FMVSS No. 119, provides for disclosure of the rims that may be used with each tire a manufacturer produces. The tire’s manufacturer may make this disclosure either in a specific document provided to dealers of the manufacturers’ tires and to NHTSA, or in a yearbook published by one of several tire and rim standards organizations. 

Third, you ask whether NHTSA can provide guidance on whether compliance with FMVSS No. 110 is required in addition to FMVSS No. 120 when tires certified to meet FMVSS No. 139 are used on motorcycles. The answer to this question is no. FMVSS No. 110 is not applicable to motorcycles, even if tires meeting FMVSS No. 139 are installed on motorcycles. S2 of FMVSS No. 110 explicitly excludes motorcycles from the applicability of FMVSS No. 110. The only tire selection and rim standard applicable to motorcycles is in FMVSS No. 120. 

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact David Jasinski of my office at (202) 366-2992. 

Sincerely,
Adam Raviv
Chief Counsel

Dated: 5/22/24
Ref: Standard No. 139