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To fight the recent call by Transport 2000 and other interest groups to reduce bikes’ power, weight and speed

Lifted from another topic.

I see no harm in all 3 of the above points going thru.

Reduce power.. Hands up all those who havent had fun on an 80's bike (remember the lack of extra BHP? No..? Was still fun though, yes?)

Reduce weight (Wheelies R Us?!) Cant be a bad thing. more flickable bikes, for starters..

Reduce speed.. Ive never really used the top end of my bike.. any of them.. well, not that i'd own up to anyways. Is 130mph so bad? Even on a track day?! Cars have been capped at 155 for a while. Even the T5 Volvo traffic cars the cops use.

Maybe im just getting old. I spend most of my riding time in, on, around the national speed limit*. I still enjoy life.

So what's the story, morning glory?




*admittedly for Germany...

Why not just reduce its speed, like you say peg it to 155mph, after all who really goes that fast?

I like the thrill of the acceleration more than the top end. It's one of the reasons I love my Falco. Very rarely see more than 130 on the clock tho and IMHO that's fast enough.

Given a go on a faster bike though I will nail it just to see how fast it is.

I've never ridden a fast bike so can't speak personally but my 100cc bike was more fun the the GT550 cos it was little light and flickable!

Mate of mine actually sold his Busa cos he said he kept trying to find out how fast it was and thought he's end up killing himself - he rides a supermoto now!


Some of it might depend on whether you want to ride the thing or talk about it.





*awaits incoming*

So we all seem to agree that we could accept a limit of around 155mph. Fine with me then the Falco would be as fast as a new Gixxer thou K8 or a new Kwack ZX10R.
Obviously we would still also have the advantage of instant low down torque, yup I'll go with that.

Hmmm, going too fast, with too much power is unsafe, so we should prevent it.

But, being on two wheels instead of four is "unstable", so let's remove this hazard as well.

And what if the new, four-wheeled bike rolled over? Need something to protect the occupants - let's put a roll-cage in.

So we'll have a 100 BHp, four-wheeled, roll-cage protected bike. Wait, that's like a 1-litre small car.

Let's face it, at 70 mph you can do a lot of damage, at 50 BHP you can accelerate fairly sharply to 70 mph, it's all about attitude, not what you ride. You want to ride like a muppet, you can do so within the "legal limits", and within any sort of restricted capability that the so-called interest groups might suggest (you can wheelie a moped, after all).

My issue isn't should they do this (reading this in it's barest form, like Kwack, I don't see anything wrong with what's been suggested), but what do they do next when they get their way on this issue. Fit stabilisers to all bikes in case they fall over?

Although, in the case of the Falco, might improve things regarding the dodgy side-stand...

Firestarter wrote:Hmmm, going too fast, with too much power is unsafe, so we should prevent it.

But, being on two wheels instead of four is "unstable", so let's remove this hazard as well.

And what if the new, four-wheeled bike rolled over? Need something to protect the occupants - let's put a roll-cage in.

So we'll have a 100 BHp, four-wheeled, roll-cage protected bike. Wait, that's like a 1-litre small car.

Let's face it, at 70 mph you can do a lot of damage, at 50 BHP you can accelerate fairly sharply to 70 mph, it's all about attitude, not what you ride. You want to ride like a muppet, you can do so within the "legal limits", and within any sort of restricted capability that the so-called interest groups might suggest (you can wheelie a moped, after all).

My issue isn't should they do this (reading this in it's barest form, like Kwack, I don't see anything wrong with what's been suggested), but what do they do next when they get their way on this issue. Fit stabilisers to all bikes in case they fall over?

Although, in the case of the Falco, might improve things regarding the dodgy side-stand...

I think Firestarter's hit the nail on the head there, if you start giving in to ideas like this, how long until the electronic speed limiters issue crops up again, it's just the thin end of the wedge.

There is already a self imposed top speed limit put on by the manufacturers anyway, that is why no new bike does over 300Km/h (186mph) and now they're trying to bring that down further. Just wait until they want to restrict all bikes to 30 mph, it'll be just like being 16 again (except my Fizzy did 50 )

No we don't need the absolute top speed and we don't see a big problem with setting it the same as performance cars at 155mph.

However, I really don't think that these pressure groups would be proposing a top speed anywhere near 155mph. I have seen that some of these groups have suggested that 125cc machines are big enough for all and that all larger bikes should be banned. I would imagine that top speeds would be no more than the national speed limit.

I think that most of us would have a problem with proposals this limiting. Bikes limited to this degree would certainly not be much fun on trackdays or be that useful touring the German Autobahn network or the unrestricted roads in the IOM. (..... be pretty boring too on our normal roads - for any that may occasionally creep beyond the limit )

Trouble is when you introduce any limit it just becomes the thin end of the wedge ...

D-Rider wrote:No we don't need the absolute top speed and we don't see a big problem with setting it the same as performance cars at 155mph.

However, I really don't think that these pressure groups would be proposing a top speed anywhere near 155mph. I have seen that some of these groups have suggested that 125cc machines are big enough for all and that all larger bikes should be banned. I would imagine that top speeds would be no more than the national speed limit.

I expect you're right, but then a lot of these people who want bikes restricted obviously still drive Citroen 2CV's and so should be used to everyone and a bicycle overtaking them without victimising them.