I realise I prob should put my views on this but I am torn, hearing what others have said about old rules I think maybe the 250 should be brought back.
There is a heck of a lot of weight difference between a 125 and a 500/650 bike even if it has been restricted, and I have seen lots of drops and offs cos of the weight difference, however you have people like Kaz who have ridden a lil bike loaded to the hilt and know what it's like to ride heavy.
Also someone who is restricted could not ride for 2 years and hop on a de restricted bike and away however someone else could do thousands of miles in year 1 and still have that restriction at the moment, so for those I think it could be a good idea.
However knowing how DVLA live to screw things up I can see huge costs to the motorcyclist with some limp assed excuse for them, it all being rushed in without the planning just cos almighty Europe says we have to do it ... De ja vu ... Mod 1 all over again????
Not more money to pay out!
More rules and added expense. Why don't they just make bikes illegal and scrap the lot, then they will have won.
I had to give up riding a bike cos I couldn't afford to keep paying the repeat fees to stay on the road. I tried and failed to pass my test 4 times. my fault not theirs, but I wouldn't have had to give up if they didn't keep charging repeat fees.
What annoyed me the most was I was a good enough rider to be let out on the roads unescorted as long as I had my CBT paperwork yet not good enough it seems to get a pass. What is the difference?
If I wasn't up to pass standard then why did they allow me on the roads? Definite proof that it's their greed not our safety they are concerned about.
It saddens me, and angers me, that I probably won't ever ride a bike again due to the ever increasing cost of just trying to keep on the road legally.
Is it any wonder some folk ride illegally?!
Excuse me while I go and have a good long screeeeeeam!!!
(and a lie down, I'm exhausted...no pun intended)
I'm not really sure what I think any more. Whatever happens it won't please all people, I'm sure *way back when* people were complaining about changes in testing requirements.
I'm one who as dropped their bike several times, both of them. I dropped the CG just as much as I've dropped the CBR but covering a much shorter time period and miles done.
I used to think the weight was the *reason* why I dropped them but I've come to realise that the weight only plays a small part. Inexperience and confidence are why I got into a situation where I was going to drop my bike and then weight took over.
So, how do we get more experience and confidence. Well some of us naturally have more confidence and ability than others but we all need to gain the experience and that only comes with riding the bike.
There is a shortage of lower powered bikes though these days. A return to the 250cc would be good, for learners and those looking for a cheap commute to work.
Annother stealth tax? Not really stealthy this one is it? Why do we get it all the time, do they target car drivers in this underhanded manner NO. Why because they "don't have to take any more tests to dive a Lambo, Ferrarri. Rolls Royce, Porche et al......" or even a big family saloon/estate or Hummer (well the agruments for us having a re test in these differant situations do not stack up at all), Inexperiance can and will cause misshaps or even kill no getting away from that, maybe we do need some kind of restriction in upper sizes/weights but the fairest way would be to say allow you an up grade after doing so many miles of relitively accident free riding and driving??? (minor bumps/offs not be a banning factor)
Kwak, I couldnt have said it better - seems lots of hoops to jump through.
Made me laugh though - going to sit Mod 1 in Nov and I have to ride on the roads to get there, then show my stuff in a play ground for 10 mins, then If I fail....I can go back on the roads and play in the traffic again lol ?????????? MAD,
This is not new guys, and MAG have been fighting just these types of rule changes for years (good reason to join).
Another reason we keep being picked on is that proportionally we have a higher accident rate than car drivers per vehicle number so are easier to target (more reasons and a smaller group to attack)
I must admit that when I'm out (anyone who knows me, knows the miles I cover) some of the riders I see are asking for an accident and also to have the car driving public against us.
Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with us always being european cannon fodder.
The accident rates have steadily fallen over the past few years, (MAGs own figures supplied by the Govt.).
Still say it's inexperiance that's the root of problems, (that can be a down fall in many ways) younger riders "mostly male with too much testostorone" who'll go out get a powerful sports bike and then ride it like they are on a bloody track............ Or weekend warriors too few miles under their belt who've got away with it and keep pushing their luck, IMO.
It's not about weight, it's more about ballance and losing concentration, obviously i started out on a 125 and the amount of times i nearly dropped it are greater than since i owned bigger bikes, the reason your bigger bike actually "hits" the ground is where the weight comes in and the ability to catch it and right it before the centre of gravity moves too far... Yes my bigger bikes have actually hit the ground more times but only cos even i'm not strong enough once it passes that point of no return... On a smaller bike the centre of gravity is higher so you are actually more likely to start to drop it but being lighter it's easier to right again once the "bikes" centre of gravity has shifted.....
If you goto Europe you'll find that half the European countries ignore Brussells, In some you can still smoke in resteraunts ffs... We'll only bow to these rules cos our government wants to a) stay on the right side cos we didn't accept the euro etc and b) cos they think they'll get more money.
They (labour) destroyed the British film industry "again" because it was going so well, they upped the taxes to foreign film makers using our studios in a greedy move, which back fired cos everyone moved to Prague etc.... It's happened before it'll happen again....
Off orange box now, back to cleaning my baby...lol
This is not new guys, and MAG have been fighting just these types of rule changes for years (good reason to join).
And failing ..... (good reason not to bother joining)
I agree with bringing back 250's, (or alternatively a 33 bhp limit) cant ride anything bigger until you pass a full test.
Having to do a CBT every 2 years is a money maker too, believe it or not there are people out there who don't want to pass their test and as kwak said if you are good enough to ride for 2 years without any of the hassle of the" fuller" test, why cant you then progress to say a 33 bhp for the next two years and then a full licence two years after that.
Admittedly you can get the CBT and not ride anything, but surely if the DVLA could at least endorse the fact that you have to own a bike in the time period .... just think that's more jobs for the public sector, would have thought they would love that
Think i would agree with Kwak, it's all about the money. Anyway why is it just bikers they are targeting, once you pass acar licence you can drive any engine size & believe me the power difference from a 1.6 to 6 litre is huge. everything handles differently when loaded or just with a pillion. Rules rules rules, all made to be broken if i had my way lol
The reason car drivers don't face the same bullshit is it would actually cause a melt down inthis country. Car sales etc but it would awfully inconvenience the upper class and middle class when they pass the car test andmove on to daddys Audi 2.8 or mummys chelsea tractor with 3 ltr engine that is why it happens to the biking community god it must have hurt when prince William got a bike itcouldn't be perceived as just "those type of people" who run those noisy death causing motorbikes
The higher stats for motorcycle accidents are not, I would guess, because of inadequate rider training, but from drivers not looking properly. Now, if the car test had a requirement to pass the CBT on a bike then we might be on to something.
when they work out statistics for accidents, dependant on the type of study that is done you can manipulate the results to suit hence why internationally under the last government the Office of National Statistics became a standing joke....
...for instance it is well known that speed is not and never has been a major contributing factor to all but a very few accidents.... another fact that isn't usually asked and seldom reported even by police or A@E is whether or not a car was the contributing factor to a motorcycle accident....even when it is the motorcycle is still often blamed as its easy to say he came out of nowhere....in other words the f**king car driver doesn't look for bikes........
All we have to remember is thay work for US, its the same as fuel why do we put up with paying so much duty on it, why do we put up with all the other tax we have to pay, why do we let the goverment tell us what we can and cant do, most of our fishing industry is in port most of the time, our industry is gone becuse it cant compeat with the markets due to being over taxed, our hospitals have no money for our opps becuse all the money gets spent on the wellfair of the rest of the world or over payed managers if we travel overseas we have to have health insureance do thay? no its free make them pay, our taxes our paying for the rest of europe to come here and get a free ride off our backs. Will it change ? NO becuse we are to feckin lazy to get off our backside and do anythink about it ,we moan and pay up as allways.
Its up to us we do have the power to change it
motorcylists are 28 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured than car drivers
so when i go out on my bike i accept that risk and i know that risk comes almost exclusively from bad car drivers so stop being a nanny state and let me take the risk
i agree the 250 on L plates was the best way but maybe they should have raised the age a little bit instead of lowering the power
i went straight to 250 at 17 because i could, maybe they could do 125 at 17 and 250 at 18
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