Re: Politics - read at your peril!
 

You're confusing motorcycles with forms of transport, as opposed to a leisure activity.

Re: Politics - read at your peril!
 

I have engaged the Green candidate for Weston Super Mud, Dr Richard Lawson over the last few days and have tried to discuss with him the benefits of riding motorcycles and pointing out that limiting the noise of a bike will make little difference when trains, buses, trucks and cars make so much noise already. It is really a bit of a non issues when compared the levels of noise that people living next to busy roads or railway stations have to endure. Dr Lawson is attempting to make a deal with voters, if he tries to reduce the complexity of bike tests, allow us to ride in bus lanes, improve bike parking and reduce vehicle excise duty, we will be grateful and accept a severe restriction to exhaust noise. In this final e-Mail, through the language he uses and with the twisted double speak of a politician he states a concern over after market exhausts and proposes on the spot checks carried out by the Police. Is this then making a loud exhaust a criminal offence that can get you locked up in jail?

Have a read and decide for yourself what it is that he is proposing.

I have also tackled him on his attitude towards GMOs, energy generation, poverty and unemployment. Although he has skipped over most of these questions or answered them vaguely, he has confirmed that he would like to use the unemployed as a labour force to carry out community work. When I asked him why if work needing to be done was it not actually made into a paid piece of employment, he failed to answer the question. So bare that in mind too, this guy is in favour of Work Fair and would like to see it extended to litter picking, gardening, caring for elderly/infirm/disabled people and restoring the towns we live in. To me these all sound like opportunities for real paid employment, rather than schemes to chuck disenfranchised unemployed people into. Having been both an environmental professional and a disability caring professional, I can say that this concerns me greatly.

So with this in mind, I contacted my local Labour candidate and once I had finished roasting him because he and his party have failed to reply to any of my letters for the last three years, I asked him for his views on bike related issues, of which he had not the first clue until he also attended the same MAG meeting as the Green guy. This was his reply.

That was it. At least he was honest I suppose, although I do not know how honest it was to say that he will speak up for us. It seems that attending the MAG meeting was simply a case of electioneering to gain the votes of a marginalised group.

Anyway, that is enough of my waffle. If I am not careful you will all start to think that I am either a Card Carrying Communist or a Pro Fox Hunting Tory! Oh and before you ask, the reason for my not detailing any of the replies from UKIP, I would be happy to do, once he learns to write in anything other than Crayon or with his own poo!

Re: Politics - read at your peril!
 

Jayne

After market exhaust are already regulated under EEC type approval rules and need to carry the markings to indicate what approval they conform to, as is required for OEM. The construction/use requirements are legally enforceable. It only needs a copper who knows what he is doing.

However, having performed noise measurements according to the manual. It is extremely complex and requires sufficient empty space to ensure there is no reflected noise etc. It requires both static and ride by measurements etc.

I doubt if one minor British wannabe politician could shift the eec on noise standards.

Re: Politics - read at your peril!
 

Thank you Tim,

I have tried to put this point across to him, but as an elderly gentleman just about to celebrate his 80th Birthday, he is a little set in his ways. Without being too unkind, I have wondered if he is just trying to leave his mark on the world before he leaves us.

Re: Politics - read at your peril!
 

Hope your guy gets further with the DoT than we have over the last 7 years. What I'd expect is that he'll get stonewalled, and then find out that the actual rules are controlled by the EU Driving Licence Directive version 3 (which brought the AM/A1/A2/A crap).

What we've been telling MPs and candidates is that the number of motorcyclists in your constituency may well be larger than your majority, so it's worth engaging with us. As a result, we're seeing a lot of the events like the one you attended being organised, and usually with lots of candidates attending (typically all 5 English parties, from the ones I've seen).