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Does the 100hp limit apply to motorcyles registered in the UK?


DS19
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[quote user="Bugbear"][quote user="Patmobile"][

Thank you,

In choosing to compare your bike with a Ferrari or Bugatti, you make my point far more convincingly than I could.

Why don't bikes have catalysts?  Why are the standards for noise emission less strict than for cars?  Why do owners of  noisy bikes fit aftermarket exhausts deliberately tuned like trumpets to make an even louder noise?

[/quote]

Come on Patrick, at least read whats been said and do some research before making such comments.

Perhaps you just don't like being overtaken....................[:D]

I didn't actually compare my bike with those cars, my reference was with full-blown sports machines of similar performance levels. 

My bike, if you're interested, is completely legal, 106bhp and fitted with a factory exhaust system.

I've never felt the need for more power than I currently have and don't choose to wear the 'penis-extension' that some individuals feel 150bhp gives them. Some car drivers, of course, suffer the same illusion..............[:)]

Modern bikes DO have catalytic converters fitted and have done for some time. They also have some of the most advanced fuel-management systems currently available. One example is injector management that completely shuts off the fuel in closed-throttle, over-run situations. Thats why you can't smell them when they've just passed you.

Gary.

Live and let live perhaps.........................................[:)]

 

[/quote]

Gary

I find it interesting you dare call my comments silly and then go and talk such drivel about how environmentally friendly your restricted bike is due to its advanced fuel management system. If it has been restricted in the way mine was you may as well remove the entire system and throw it in the bin. Modern bike engines are controlled by an ECU which  manages the amount of fuel pumped into the cyclinders using various sensors, whilst the ECU can make minor adjustments for changes in local air density it cannot compensate for massive bungs fitted to the intake as was in the case of my bike, the ECU's have such limited authority they need to be reprogrammed or replaced if you fit such things as an aftermarket exhaust or airfilter. Sports bikes are considered polluters due the the low MPG they usually deliver compared to a family car, especially as you can only take a maximum of 2 people, but once the good old french bureaucrats have got hold of them you may as well drive a Sherman tank.

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[quote user="oakbri"][

I find it interesting you dare call my comments silly and then go and talk such drivel about how environmentally friendly your restricted bike is due to its advanced fuel management system.

[/quote]

Where exactly did I say my bike was environmentally friendly exactly ? I was simply explaining to Patrick some of the technology to be found in modern motorcycles

Oh and by the way I'm neither a loser or pathetic, that is just being rude, did I touch a nerve perhaps?

I'm just someone who doesn't have to wear my horsepower like some sort of  badge. 'Bike' or 'Ride' magazine did an extensive test of what horsepower was actually used in a real-life road test using data-tagging and various riders, from beginners to racers. The average used was..................................................45bhp.

If you are truly a 'riding god' and one of the few who can actually use all that horsepower why not come down to one of our trackdays at Vigeant where you can no doubt impress us all with your prowess.

Sort of put your money where your mouth currently is..........................

 

 

SD, you could be right, I'd forgotten that thread. brum, brum............................[Www][:)]

 

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Hello again

Yes, it's true I don't like noisy bikes.  What's the point of them?

All my cars for the last 20 years have had catalysts and injection systems that completely cut off fuel on the overrun, so there's nothing very advanced about that.  I might ask, "Why have bikes been using old technology?"

OK, maybe I didn't interpret the OP's smiley correctly.  I thought it denoted a smug tone - I'm sorry I didn't understand it.

I'm not against bikes, but the idea that they are some sort of less-polluting alternative to the car is truly laughable.  Somehow the bike lobby has become so strong that politicians and the press, and maybe the bikers themselves, have swallowed this lie.

Just for my information - I'm really not picking a fight now - do bikes have to undergo a regular MOT/Controle Technique test?  Do advertisemants and showroom stickers for bikes have to carry mandatory information about fuel consumption and CO2 emissions?  Is there any legislation on the way to make very large gas-guzzling bikes pay more road tax than smaller economical models?

Patrick     

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[quote user="Patmobile"]

Hello again

Yes, it's true I don't like noisy bikes.  What's the point of them?

All my cars for the last 20 years have had catalysts and injection systems that completely cut off fuel on the overrun, so there's nothing very advanced about that.  I might ask, "Why have bikes been using old technology?"

OK, maybe I didn't interpret the OP's smiley correctly.  I thought it denoted a smug tone - I'm sorry I didn't understand it.

I'm not against bikes, but the idea that they are some sort of less-polluting alternative to the car is truly laughable.  Somehow the bike lobby has become so strong that politicians and the press, and maybe the bikers themselves, have swallowed this lie.

Just for my information - I'm really not picking a fight now - do bikes have to undergo a regular MOT/Controle Technique test?  Do advertisemants and showroom stickers for bikes have to carry mandatory information about fuel consumption and CO2 emissions?  Is there any legislation on the way to make very large gas-guzzling bikes pay more road tax than smaller economical models?

Patrick     

[/quote]

Patrick

Modern sportsbikes don't, as far as I know use any more modern technology than cars but they are not lagging behind either. Bikes in themselves are not usually less polluting than cars the opposite in fact, small scooters are an exception, but in the case of larger bikes, an R1 for example does about 40 mpg (from memory) whereas say a Ford Fiesta will do around 50 mpg and carry more passengers. Where bikes come into their own and reduce pollution is due to the fact they don't cause traffic jams. The Paris peripherique would be totally impassable if it wasn't for the high volume of commuters who brave the rain on a bike rather than sitting in a car.

Bikes do have to do an MOT, every year. They don't have to do a controle technique - YET. When I bought mine it had information on the showroom sticker regarding fuel consumption etc. Bikes, as with cars, don't pay road tax in France.

The bhp limit was introduced without any real forethought as a kneejerk way to try to reduce France's dismal motorcycle road death toll ( which is far higher than the UK, despite having better, less congested roads and better weather) All the evidence I have seen so far has shown it to be a failure, the death toll is still higher here than the UK despite the brits riding round on penis extensions of 185bhp+. I guess this may be because many of the accidents are between a bike and a car, which is very one sided, and the biker almost always comes off worse. However as the new rules are only against the biker the car drivers carry on as before, which is why the death toll is not dropping. I guess the next step will be to reduce the bhp down to 45bhp, apparently we don't use any more than that anyway.

 

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[quote user="oakbri"]

 I guess the next step will be to reduce the bhp down to 45bhp, apparently we don't use any more than that anyway.

[/quote]

Pedantic...................or just another mis-quote?.

At the risk of repeating myself, the article I mentioned measured actual horsepower usage in real-life road-riding conditions.

Perhaps you should take the time to read it. Ride Magazine, June 2006, page 8.

quote from the article by Bob Gray (works in optimising performance for several British Superbike teams)

"Sorry guys, but even though the big bikes feel faster (and are often more fun) the truth is that even a 600 has far more power than you'll ever use on the road"

Another point of correction.

Fuel management changes where the fuel flow is totally non-existant on overrun has not been in use for many years. It was only introduced in the last couple of years in order that machines could comply with Euro 3, and now Euro 4 emissions.

Lean-burn has been around longer but that is no longer sufficient for many machines.

.

 

 

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[quote user="Bob T"]Overrun fuel cut off device was fitted to my 1981 Golf GTI as it is on my 2007 diesel 4X4. Has been around for years.
[/quote]

I was referring to bikes Bob, and anyway you're wrong. That car was fitted with the Bosch K-Jetronic fuel-injection system and as such did not have the overrun fuel cutoff programmed into the ecu. It simply went on to a very basic 'lean-burn' mode.

Ask me how I know that.............[:)]

Derek, totally agree, torque is where its at.

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Hi Oakbri

I did ask but no one has come back to me, it did say in your post that bikes have to have a MOT every year. I knew they did not have to have a CT but where do they go for a MOT as I did think that a CT was the same thing? As I am looking at getting back into bikes in the near future.

Cheers

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[quote user="Bugbear"]

[quote user="Bob T"]Overrun fuel cut off device was fitted to my 1981 Golf GTI as it is on my 2007 diesel 4X4. Has been around for years.

[/quote]

I was referring to bikes Bob, and anyway you're wrong. That car was fitted with the Bosch K-Jetronic fuel-injection system and as such did not have the overrun fuel cutoff programmed into the ecu. It simply went on to a very basic 'lean-burn' mode.

Ask me how I know that.............[:)]

Derek, totally agree, torque is where its at.

[/quote]

As standard you are correct of course. In about '82 or '83 my car was played with by the main Bosch garage in Bielefeld and a number of things were done to the engine including a cone fitted to the airflow sensor, overrun cutoff and a load of fueling and mapping things. These were all done free of charge as my uncle was the manager of the place, it can be useful having a German mother! I never noticed if they made the car much more economical as, with duty free fuel, I used to thrash the little thing to within an inch of its life every day.

The engine finally gave up at just over 160,000 kms because I had changed the oil and fitted a pattern oil filter which had no bypass valve in the bottom of it. I now always use oil filters from the vehicle manufacturers.

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[quote user="Thebiga"]

Hi Oakbri

I did ask but no one has come back to me, it did say in your post that bikes have to have a MOT every year. I knew they did not have to have a CT but where do they go for a MOT as I did think that a CT was the same thing? As I am looking at getting back into bikes in the near future.

Cheers

[/quote]

Thebiga

When you posted you asked about MOT's, CT's and then mentioned road tax so I didn't know if you were referring to bikes in the UK or France so I answered for both. I should have been a little clearer. In the UK bikes need an MOT every year as well as road tax, I don't know if bigger bikes pay more tax but I don't think so. In France there isn't currently any road tax. Bikes do not need a CT, but that is probably about to change.

 

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[quote user="oakbri"]

In France there isn't currently any road tax. Bikes do not need a CT, but that is probably about to change.

[/quote]

oakbri,

Can you please post a link to the specific information on this probable change as I'm sure it will be of  interest to the many bike owners on here.

Thanks

Gary.

 

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Thankyou Sunday Driver

I didn't see it on this forum before. I first heard about it from the FFM at circuit Carole, they had organised a petition against it. There seemed to be a lot of signatures! Personally I don't have anything against it, unless they want to charge €100 for it.

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  • 2 months later...
So over 100bhp or nay, my view on motorcycling for what it's worth.... Long sweeping bends, warm tarmac, good company who you trust not to do anything untoward, line astern at ahem mph/kph, trailing the throttle towards the apex and getting on the power settling into the next arc, aiming at the next vanishing point, hearing the crackle of my micron (Legal but tasty can) as my wee fazer does what it does best....makes me chuckle. Am I a bad person for not wanting a homogenised, regulated, sanitised biking experience?......OK maybe I am.
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It's not just bikes BM, the future of anything with an element of fun is slowly being eroded. It won't be long before bikes are banned and everyone is forced to wearing olive green suits and driving 'starter-motor', 300 air-bag vehicles at under the tarmac, government-controlled speeds.

That said, an awful lot of the current 'powers that be' response has to be laid firmly at the door of the mindless few that insist on riding at stupid speeds in the wrong conditions, giving rise to all bikers being tarred with the same brush.

Riding within the speed limits has its own pleasures, perfecting that awkward bend, actually enjoying the views of the passing countryside, the clean, brakeless overtake, smiling smugly in your helmet after correctly anticipating the actions of some muppet in a cage with his phone in one hand and filofax in the other.

It's also much less expensive than the ninety euro 'tolls' that the boys in blue seem to increasingly want to charge at every opportunity.

Want to go really fast on a bike today, a trailer and a 'track bike' is the way to go .

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[quote user="BIG MAC"]........Long sweeping bends, warm tarmac, good company who you trust not to do anything untoward, line astern at ahem mph/kph, trailing the throttle towards the apex and getting on the power settling into the next arc, aiming at the next vanishing point, hearing the crackle of my micron (Legal but tasty can) as my wee fazer does what it does best....

[/quote]

And all with a mere 72kW.....

Proves you don't need over 100bhp to enjoy good riding skills.  [;-)]

 

 

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Hi Big Mac

Your description summed up biking quite well and I found myself grinning as I read it.

As Bugbear says, anything that is any fun is being eroded and legislated against, and France is already one of the most over legislated countries in Europe.

That is why I can't agree with the people whose attitude is "biking is still fun at 100 bhp", yes it is, but I think it gives a green light to the morons who make up these stupid laws and only draws even closer the dreaded day they finally ban motorcycling forever. The 100 bhp law has done nothing to reduce motorcycle deaths, and France still has a far higher rate than the UK, which has no bhp limit, so what next?

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