(Adds Harley-Davidson comment)

DETROIT, May 6 (Reuters) - Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson Inc HOG.N said on Tuesday it has hired a former General Motors Co GM.N engineer who oversaw an internal investigation of the defective ignition switch linked to at least 13 deaths.

Harley-Davidson said Jim Federico, 56, who GM said retired on Monday, will start as vice president of engineering on June 2, working at the company's Milwaukee headquarters.

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"We've been talking to Jim about this position for some time," Harley-Davidson spokeswoman Maripat Blankenheim said.

Federico had been director of global vehicle integration at GM since September 2013.

According to GM documents made public last month by Congress, Federico had received reports from an engineer in the company's product investigations department trying to learn the root cause of airbag failures in GM vehicles. The effort to answer that question led to engineers finding the defective ignition switch. In 2012, Federico had been a "champion" of that probe, a term used to identify a senior executive who marshals internal resources.

GM said Monday that Federico's retirement was his choice and had nothing to do with the switch recall.

(Reporting by James B. Kelleher and Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by David Gregorio and Eric Walsh)

((benjamin.klayman@thomsonreuters.com)(313-202-6920)(Reuters Messaging: benjamin.klayman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: HARLEY GM/EXEC