Just heard on the radio this morning about the government moaning about the top speed and pollution of faster bikes....

http://news.google.co.uk/news?hl=en&ne...;ncl=1114882351

Johnny

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6505423.stm

MPs are calling for motorcycles to be fitted with speed limiters, and for controls to curb emmissions...

a) Stupid
b) Stupider

When's the revolution? I'm busy for the next couple of weekends, but after that...

Oops - I just posted the same thing elsewhere.

I'd just like to point out that either of my bikes is cleaner to run than a bloody Smart car, so I think the government should just get a grip. And I'm sure the last thing I need is to be stuck in a pinch, have to bang the throttle to get out of it, and then find myself going nowhere. Or have the throttle stuttering on a bend or something...

Of course they won't call for speed limiters and emmission cuts on Ferraris and Astons, because all their mates and influential constituents will get pissed off then...

Good point Defiler. It's to you 'cause I'm all right Jack. Same as getting rid of 2p income tax and making the lowest earners pay for the luxury..but I digress.

"The charity suggested that engine size be limited to 125cc." - wot the f**** $%&*? Lets hope they don't get their way!

Just another example of environmental issues being used against us.

There will be money in it for the govenment somehow.

Its only going to get worse!

Nah - it's a "safety" issue. The money for the government is the increased tax they can claim of people who are still alive...

Of course, at the moment I can do 70mph down the motorway in a crash helmet and a thong. I'll still be dead if I crash. Surely if they were that concerned about safety, they would make protective clothing mandatory?

Anyway, there's another thread in the Bike chat section here - ignore this thread.

This makes no sense; I was under the impression that the new bike test was set to go ahead depending on the cc size of the bike?





isn’t this counter productive?



the worlds gone mad, if that is the case then cars should also be limited to the same claptrap.



put my name down for the revolution! im unemployed at the min.

Car drivers don't take 125s seriously - simple as that. As a general rule, they're a nuisance that's almost invisible. At least on a bigger bike you're regarded as more threatening.

I've never felt safe on a 125. Obviously whilst I was learning, the whole thing was new, exciting and dangerous. On the few occasions I've driven a 125 since, I've been terrified in traffic!

Just this morning I watched some idiot in a Mitsubishi pickup almost clobber a guy on a Fazer. The biker had watched everything going on, and had been patient. The guy in the truck indicated as he changed lanes and almost hit the bike (the biker slowed down). Then the guy on the bike moved through the gap (filtering) and the guy in the truck suddenly (and mysteriously) swung the front of the truck out straight at the bike. The boy on the Fazer had nowhere to go except forwards in a big hurry, and got clear. On a 125 I'd have been looking at a crash - I have no doubts.

Still, as Zombie said - it's silly season. All the sports bikes are coming out of hibernation, and their riders have forgotten how to handle them. So headlines are made, and MPs make knee-jerk reactions.

I wonder if they'll make it apply to Prince William too. Now he'd be someone good to head up the opponents to this knee-jerk solution.

got that right. Been ridin' all through winter and NOW it starts getting hairy - now its not snowing almost got taken down by a HOLE on a gsx with no gear and a pillion last night, gave him a proper earful, sounded like a right old man...

.. and all of these 170mph+ speeders on Youtube who are getting nicked don't help the cause. Theres 1 a week getting nicked & plastered all over the papers.

Johnny

Ahhhh... UK Politicians strike again.
Makes me glad I moved.

MP's will probably ignore this one just like Travel Tax Petiton, worth a go though , so I've signed up.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/OutlawEVSC/

ive signed it too....bastids!

signed... even though I'm an Expat!

Also signed

I'm in. Tell you what - if they did it to cars I'd laugh my ass off. My boss with his Lambourghini Murcielago, restricted to 75mph top

But they won't do that because it would be bad for votes. Ass-hats...

Thanks 4 link b19dae

I've Signed and will post on our sites and email to the few hundred bikers in our mailing list.

MMMM now there's an image

I don't understand how they reckon restricting top speed would be an answer to bike accident rates. Surely bike accidents have always occurred in whatever numbers, even twenty or thirty years ago, when bikes were obviously somewhat less powerful than what they are today. I mean how many accidents actually occur with bikes being ridden at or near their full speed potential anyway? What's needed is better training for car drivers, they've already lumbered us with staged licensing for under 21s and a far harder testing regime that deters less than committed riders from enjoying the benefits of 2-wheeled transport so why again are we being treated as the problem. I'd agree that having loads of power, in the wrong hands, can cause accidents, but at the same time its useful for avoiding situations. How can you draw a link as simply as that between accidents and limiting top speed? As to minimotos, the parents who buy these things for kids are the ones they need to target - obviously if they don't have places to use them off road then there's no excuse for buying them. Not that that's at all related to mainstream biking anyway...Given that a large proportion of bike accidents are caused by irresponsible car drivers why aren't the government educating them?

I thought I would add my 2p worth here.

I can't see this happening at all. Why ? you ask, well a word that has been bantered around to much in recent years(for the wrong reasons mostly) comes to the rescue.

That word is discrimination. You can't impose restrictions on people just because of the amount of wheels that they use.

I'm relatively new to riding on the road ( 2 years on a CG ) but have kept very interested in the biking world since I was small, as my dad and uncle both had and raced bikes and have friends that ride.I can understand that the government has introduced stricter laws on the size of bike you can have at a certain age and the tests that you have to go through, and this is (as many others have said ) because we don't have a steel cage around us.BUT, the driving test hasn't changed much for many years.In the past 20 years the 2 things that I have noticed that have been added are a theory test and one extra manouvre.

In this day and age where the amount of traffic that is on the road is getting worse and worse, the government themselves could cut this (in cities and large towns for certain) is encouraging motorcycling and having a better public transport system.

So this latest swipe at bike riders is nothing more than government closing it's eyes to the problems that they have in house, and responding to the moronic part of society (idiots filming themselves at 170mph and minimotos(their not in the same bracket at road going bikes)) and looking elsewhere.


Andy

Yeah - I was thinking of that yesterday afternoon. We just have to portray ourselves as an opressed minority.

Am a right in saying that if you have "x" amount of people declaring something as a religion, then it officially becomes one?

I'm sure I remember United fans talking about declaring MUFC a religion! I think you maybe need 10,000 followers....

So if bikers declared biking as a religion, then it would surely be a lot harder for them to try these stupid ideas...

Amen Brother!

I know this sounds harsh but...

If evey one had to have a bike for 1 year before geting there car licence, it would work in 2 very good ways.
1/ the tw$ts tht act like Wan876s will die.
2/ it will make everyone elso a better car driver. (Every one i know who had a car 1st has said thta there driving has improved since passing the bike test.)

also...

Bikes
use less fuel. (Taxable)
Have a smaller impact on the enviroment.(Taxable)
Have a smaller impact on congestion.(Taxable)

So whats His Tonyness real agender. (I know i'm pretching to the converted but.... i an seriously thinking thinking about moving to a 3rd world country were you at least know that goverment are corupt.)

You couldn`t call this government anything else but corrupt how that idiot prescott is still in a job I will never know

Hopefully, at some point or another, someone will come along and trample over the minds of people who think speed is the problem at hand with regards to accidents.

Sure, accidents have occured more over the last few years involving bikes than say 15 years ago, but there are more new riders taking their tests and heading out onto the road.

Take a look at horse riders for example. I have never seen a horse that can accelerate fast or keep up with any other motorised vehicle on the road, same with a bicycle. The difference being there are 3 million horse riders in this country. 8 accidents on average occur on a daily basis. That seems pretty high to me, more so than bikes? Yeah probably.

The problem is not bikes, cars, horses or whatever else. It is a combination mixed with people that have crap attitudes about the roads and don't have the intelligence or determination to want to improve their roadcraft. If the amount of bikes on the road amounted to the same as cars, you bet there would be just as many asshole bikers that couldn't ride for sh!t.

Anyway to my main point that limiters don't help anyone, they disable them and don't correct the problem at hand.Even if too many people speed and speed did cause accidents and deaths, it is a typical case of treating the problem and not the cause. Training. Training. More Training. Or get off of the roads for good and leave them available for people 'willing' to improve themselves.

The impression I get from the government and all people in promoting this is they are more interested in making the cause of the problem that exists on the roads today even worse.

The government is so oppressive & arrogant. It thinks it knows best by solving problems either with a new tax, restricting or banning it completely!

They just don't listen to the People anymore. Wasn't there a mass petition recently where nearly 2 million drivers didn't want Road Congestion Charging, but in its arrogance the Government ignored this mass protest and are carrying on regardless! So what hope have we with bikes?

yes we can protest and nash teeth but this contemptable government will just do what it wants to do because we live in a Nanny State where we're not allowed to do anything remotely dangerous anymore. Risk Assessment rules, as far as they're concerned, and will do their utmost to reduce accident figures to make to make them look good even though in the majority of cases accidents are caused by stupid car drivers and their incompetent driving skills.

If they're going to restrict biker speeds then they should do the same with cars, but of course, it doesn't quite work that way does it!

I`m so sorry I just had to have a lay down, I have just agreed with every word Cheesybeans said . What is happening in my world

Maybe we should all go as fast as we can until they ban all bikes or limit their speed this is a very pc (pc=stupid) government, but then a succession of governments in this country have been stupid,and they wonder why the standards of education are going down

Bikers! Bring back hanging

TBH I wouldn't have a problem with a max speed of 172mph; nowadays it is extremely rare I'm in treble figures and its hard to keep at that sort of speed for any length of time on a track day.
I feel a lot of the points raised in the report will be dismissed, the pollution figures seem inaccurate and the measurement can be called into question as would the requirement for everyone to be on a small bike (as this would raise questions as to why its necessary to have large and powerful cars).
More info from the MCIAindustry challenges report