Europe is one step closer to anti tampering laws

How would you feel if you were told that you are not allow to beef up your cam or put large bore pistons in? What if you were told you couldn't change sprockets to change your torque range or how about increasing airflow by having your heads ported and polished...

If the European Parliamentary committee on anti tampering laws has anything to say about the situation that is exactly what will happen in Europe.

The Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee wants to ensure that if you do modify your bike for power improvements that you have to submit your bike for testing before being allowed to use it.

Other measures they are calling for are stricter emissions control and mandatory ABS.

The British Motorcyclists Federation says there will be a battle royal over these tough new restrictions.

MCN Magazine interviewed Malcolm Harbour Malcolm Harbour, Chair of European Parliament’s lead committee on anti-tampering proposals not only could the man not say who or what the new anti tampering laws would apply to but he tried to side step his lack of knowledge by saying he had lots of dossiers to follow, one of which is tractors.

Pretty hard for the lay person to understand what's going on when the head of the committee doesn't appear to know. And this man headed up the voting!

I hear it time after time - I don't get harassed for my pipes or being on a motorcycle, so I feel no need to get involved in protecting my rights - I don't feel violated or restricted.

But what if these proposed anti tampering laws come to North America?

Would that be enough to get you involved? Nah, I didn't think so. I am not sure there is anything that government could do to us to make motorcyclists unite in this country. ( And if there is a topic that could convince people to unite and work together I WOULD DEARLY love to know)

In the US there are gated communities that ban the use of motorcycles, they won't even let you ride your motorcycle to your home, you must park outside of the community, now, imagine, entire cities that restrict the use of motorcycles and in fact ban them on many highways in their areas.

From Wikitravel: For example, motorcycles are banned from downtown Guangzhou, Dongguan, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Hangzhou, and there are restrictions in Beijing and Shanghai. Riding a motorcycle into these prohibited areas can lead to fines and possible confiscation of the bike. There can also be licensing complications; for example in some cities (such as Beijing,) only cities registered within the metropolitan area can be legally ridden." End Quote

China has an estimated 200 cities and regions that ban/restrict motorcycle use with the rationale that motorcycles are prone to accidents and motorcycles are used largely for robberies.

In China there is a call for the government there to loosen the restrictions in municipalities regarding motorcycle use on highways and inside cities.

Li Bin, secretary general for the The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers - Motorcycle Division, at a recent industry summit quoted European studies which showed that if 10 percent of automobile drivers in any given city rode motorcycles, said city's traffic congestion could decrease by 40 percent.

Begin Quote: "China is the only country in the world to restrict motorcycles," he said, adding that it was municipal authorities, not the central or provincial governments, who have authorized the restrictions. End Quote

Mr. Li discussed the fact that safety is about the operator not the type of vehicle, and he points to Taiwan where almost every person owns a motorcycle save for the very young and the elderly and that that you would be hard pressed to find a rider who does not wear a helmet. He says education is the key.

He also denounces the whole motorcycles are used largely for conducting robberies rationale as ludicrous.

Begin Quote: According to Mr. Li, the CAAM is currently in discussion with several government bodies regarding the topic. The CAAM is providing the authorities with foreign research on motorcycle usage with the aim of loosening restrictions on the Chinese motorcycle market. "We hope to see the market for motorcycles open up [and develop], allowing motorcycles and automobiles to share the road equally." End Quote

I am positive that every motorcycle manufacturer in the world has their eyes trained on this topic because the demand for motorcycles in China could go up in dramatic fashion if these restrictions get lifted.

But I again wonder - what would it take in this country to become PRO ACTIVE and work towards never seeing these types of restrictions come to Canada or the US?

There are a lot of other items of interest in the news feeds today like the article on the member of the Relic Riders in Newfoundland that was killed when he feel from a float

Visit www.beltdrivebetty.com to read more about what's happening in motorcycling across the country and around the world...we sift through the news so you don't have to!

Our web site move has been completed but Ali still has modules to turn on, components to check for issues when the data was moved over etc. It will be a few more days before everything returns to a state of normalcy but I know one thing I am super impressed with the speed of the site now!

I am excited about this move, not only will the new template allow us to make our site easier to navigate, but it is also state of the art for mobile use so that should improve your experience when using your smart phone to view the site.

Bare with us for a few more days as we get everything tweaked and if in your travels through the site you find anything out of whack - be sure to let Ali know (ali4evr@gmail.com) Your telling her what you encounter will help us make sure that the web site is better and easier to use than ever!

I am going to leave you with a couple of funnies from my friends on Facebook and from emails I have gotten because I truly think a good giggle makes the day go better!