CFMOTO Recalls: What the CPSC Records Show and What They Mean If You Were Hurt

What a Recall Is — and What It Does Not Decide

A recall is a safety action in which a company, working with a federal safety agency, tells owners about a hazard in a product and offers a remedy, usually a repair, a replacement or a refund. The CPSC handles recalls for consumer products, and every CFMOTO notice discussed on this page is a CPSC notice.

The federal law behind these actions is the Consumer Product Safety Act. Under 15 U.S.C. § 2064, a manufacturer, distributor or retailer "who obtains information which reasonably supports the conclusion" that a product contains a defect which could create a substantial product hazard, or creates an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death, must "immediately inform the Commission." That duty does not apply where the company has actual knowledge that the Commission has already been adequately informed. The same section carves out "motor vehicle equipment as defined in section 30102(a)(7) of title 49." On-road motor vehicle equipment falls outside this CPSC reporting framework.

The same section lets the Commission order public notice and remedies. These include repair, replacement or a refund of the purchase price, less a reasonable allowance for use in some cases. Where the Commission orders a remedy, no charge may be made to consumers who use it.

The notices themselves stay within those limits. They state a hazard, a remedy and the reports the company received. None of them decides that a vehicle caused a particular injury or that the company is liable to anyone. For someone who was hurt, a recall can be one relevant fact, but responsibility is decided separately.

CFMOTO Powersports Inc. — Who the CPSC Records Name

Every CFMOTO recall notice cited on this page names CFMOTO Powersports Inc., of Plymouth, Minnesota, as the importer. Most give the place of manufacture as China. The October 31, 2018 notice goes further: it names Zhejiang CFMOTO Power Co. Ltd, of China, as the manufacturer and CFMOTO Powersports Inc. as both importer and distributor.

The notices state that the recalled vehicles were sold at CFMOTO dealers nationwide. Each gives a toll-free number, an email address and the cfmotousa.com website as the consumer contact for recall questions.

The importer's identity has a practical use. A bill of sale, owner's manual or dealer paperwork can be compared against the company the CPSC records name. In product-liability law, an importer and a distributor are among the businesses whose role in bringing a vehicle to market may be examined. Whether any of them bears legal responsibility in a given crash is a separate question that the facts decide.

The CPSC Recall Notices — What Each One States

The notices below appear newest first, each summarized only as its CPSC page states it. A cf moto recall on one model and year says nothing on its own about any other model, and it is not evidence of a defect across the brand.

CPSC recall 25-019, October 24, 2024: "CFMOTO Recalls All-Terrain Vehicles Due to Crash Hazards." This notice covers 2024 CFORCE 800 Touring and 2024 CFORCE 1000 Touring ATVs, about 2,650 units. The page states that "the throttle lever on the recalled ATVs can fail to return to the idle position when a driver releases it, and the vehicle could then unexpectedly continue to accelerate, posing a crash hazard." The remedy is repair. The page states that CFMOTO "has issued a stop ride notice" and that it received "four reports of the throttle failing to return to the idle position and including one report of the vehicle crashing, including one minor impact injury."

CPSC recall 24-307, July 18, 2024: "CFMOTO Recalls ZFORCE 950 Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles (ROVs) Due to Crash and Tip-Over Hazards." This notice covers 2022–2023 ZFORCE 950 HO Sport side-by-side ROVs, about 3,630 units. The page states that "the shock absorber rod assembly can unthread and detach, causing suspension collapse, posing crash and tip-over hazards to the rider." The remedy is repair, and a Stop Ride notice was issued. The page reports "approximately 86 reports of incidents in which the shock absorber failed and the suspension collapsed, including one tip-over which resulted in impact injury to the ribs."

CPSC recall 21-742, May 6, 2021: "CFMOTO Recalls All-Terrain Vehicles Due to Crash Hazard (Recall Alert)." This notice covers 2021 CFORCE 800XC ATVs, about 2,050 units. The page states that "the electronic power steering (EPS) can malfunction and cause the rider to lose control of the vehicle, posing a crash hazard." The remedy is repair. The page reports "three reports of the EPS failing and loss of vehicle control" and states that "two injuries have been reported."

CPSC recall 20-781, September 24, 2020: "CFMOTO Recalls Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles Due to Crash Hazard (Recall Alert)." This notice covers 2020 and 2021 ZFORCE 950 Sport ROVs, about 1,128 units. The page states that "the throttle gas pedal can fail to return quickly to the idle position which can create a crash hazard if the vehicle does not slow down as quickly as expected by the driver when the gas pedal is released." The remedy is repair. The page notes that the 2020 ROVs "were previously recalled for a fire hazard on 09/03/2020."

CPSC recall 20-776, September 3, 2020: "CFMOTO Recalls Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles Due to Fire Hazard (Recall Alert)." This notice covers 2020 ZFORCE 950 Sport ROVs, about 500 units. The page states that "the fuel line fitting on the vehicles can fail to securely lock onto the fuel injector inlet. This can allow fuel to spill onto the hot engine parts and ignite, posing a fire hazard." The remedy is repair. The page reports two fuel-leak reports, one of which "resulted in a vehicle engine fire," and states, "No injuries have been reported."

CPSC recall 19-711, October 31, 2018: "CFMOTO Recalls Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles Due to Crash Hazard (Recall Alert)." This notice covers 2018 ZFORCE 500 Trail, 2018 ZFORCE 800 Trail and 2018 ZFORCE 1000 SSV ROVs, about 1,800 units. The page states that "the throttle pedal can be pushed past the throttle stop and not return to the idle position, posing a crash hazard." The remedy is repair. Under incidents and injuries, the page states: "None reported."

Each page's remedy section states, in the CPSC's own wording, that consumers should stop using the recalled vehicles and contact a CFMOTO dealer to schedule a free repair.

How to Check Whether a CFMOTO Vehicle Is Covered

The vehicle identification number (VIN), the unique serial number stamped on the frame, is what matches a machine to a notice. Each CPSC notice says where to find it, and the location differs by model:

• The 2024 CFORCE Touring ATVs have the VIN on the frame behind the right rear wheel.
• The 2021 CFORCE 800XC has it on the right frame rail, under the seat.
• The ZFORCE ROVs have it on the right-side frame rail near the right rear tire.

Several notices also identify the model year by the tenth character of the VIN. The 2021 CFORCE 800XC and 2021 ZFORCE 950 Sport use "M" in the tenth position. The 2020 ZFORCE 950 Sport uses "L."

The CPSC pages linked above are the official record of each recall, listing model names, colors, sale dates and prices. Each also points owners to CFMOTO's recall information at cfmotousa.com, with a phone line and an email address. That company site is a secondary source; the CPSC page is the record.

For someone who was hurt, a confirmed match between the VIN and a notice is a documented fact worth having on hand. It still does not show what caused the crash.

If Your CFMOTO Was Recalled and You Were Still Hurt

The natural question after a crash, a tip-over or a fire is whether the recalled problem is what happened. The law treats that as a question of proof.

Product liability is the area of law under which a manufacturer, importer or seller may be held responsible for harm caused by a defective product. A claim of this kind generally turns on three things: a defect in the product; causation, meaning the defect actually caused the injury; and damages, meaning the harm the law recognizes, such as medical expenses, lost earnings and pain and suffering. The details are set by the law of each state.

Federal regulation shows what "defect" means in the CPSC's framework. Under 16 C.F.R. § 1115.4, "a defect is a fault, flaw, or irregularity that causes weakness, failure, or inadequacy in form or function." The regulation adds that a defect "may be the result of a manufacturing or production error," may lie in a product's design, and "can also occur in a product's contents, construction, finish, packaging, warnings, and/or instructions." That definition guides when companies report to the CPSC. It is not the test a court applies in an injury case.

So a throttle that may not return to idle, a shock rod that may detach, or a fuel fitting that may not lock is a described risk, not proof of what happened on a given day. A rollover or a fire does not by itself prove a defect either. Speed, terrain, loading, operation and maintenance are separate questions, and each can point toward a different legal theory, including recreational negligence or a premises issue. The site's pages on a UTV rollover claim and an ATV accident claim explain those other theories.

Why the Timing of a Recall Matters If You Were Injured

An injury before a recall was announced, an injury after a notice reached the owner, and an injury after the dealer completed the repair each raise different questions about what was known, what was communicated and what was done to that specific vehicle. Dealer service records showing whether the remedy was performed can therefore matter.

A limitation period, often called a statute of limitations, is the time allowed by law to bring a claim. These periods for personal-injury and product-liability claims differ from state to state, as do the rules on when the period starts to run and the exceptions that may extend or shorten it. No single deadline applies everywhere.

Fault rules also differ. Comparative fault is a rule that reduces or, in some states, bars recovery when the injured person's own conduct contributed to the harm. In practice, that means the way a rider was operating the vehicle can shrink what may be recovered, or in some states end the claim. A few states use stricter contributory-fault rules. Damages rules, including those for wrongful death, also vary by state.

Because these rules depend on where the crash happened, a timeline usually becomes clearer once the state, the dates and the vehicle's service history are laid out side by side. To talk those dates through, a case evaluation is available.

Records and Information That Often Matter in a CFMOTO Injury Case

After a crash or a fire, the same kinds of records tend to come up:

• medical records documenting the injury and treatment;
• photos and video of the vehicle, the scene and the injuries;
• the vehicle itself, and its physical condition after the crash;
• purchase records, receipts or order history showing where the vehicle came from;
• incident reports and police reports;
• the names and contact details of witnesses;
• any recall notice, stop-ride notice or safety letter received from CFMOTO or a dealer, along with dealer service records.

The VIN ties these records together, linking the machine to a specific CPSC notice and to its repair history. For families after a death, the same categories often form the starting point for understanding what happened. The site's Polaris recall records page shows how this kind of record works for another manufacturer, and the CPSC ATV safety standard page covers the separate federal rule that applies to ATVs.