‘General damage’

April 30: A California man has sued BMW North America and a motorcycle-seat maker claiming that a four-hour round-trip ride on his 1993 BMW bike with a “ridge-like” seat gave him “a severe case of priapism (a persistent, lasting erection)” that has lasted 20 months and counting.

While there has been concerns about narrow “banana” bike seats causing loss of feeling in that area — for men and women —this is the first report of an extreme situation.

The product liability lawsuit against BMW and well-known aftermarket seat-maker Corbin-Pacific was filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco last Thursday by Henry Wolf and his lawyer, Vernon Bradley of Sausalito, California. The Wolf vs BMW lawsuit alleges that Wolf has continued to suffer the erection problem since the September 2010 ride — and, as we know from Viagra ads, anything past four hours is a problem.

According to the lawsuit, Wolf wants compensation from BMW and Corbin for lost wages, medical expenses, emotional distress and “general damage”.