Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Herring
Lozzo, it's all very well you getting on your pedestal and saying what's wrong with the system but how about offering an alternative solution? Are you suggesting a 17 year old should be able to ride an R1 straight after passing his test or did you have some other way of introducing experience to riders in mind?
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We had a perfectly good system before when I passed my test in 1979 and the actual road death figures are not much different to pre-restricted licence days, so what does this tell you about the stupidity of the new tests and the difficult to comprehend laws surrounding them?
A 17 year old couldn't ride an R1 nowadays because no-one would insure him, so it's not so much a licencing issue anyway - 99% of people under 21are at the mercy of insurance companies and can't afford to buy and insure faster bikes.
When I passed my test I was riding one of the very first 140mph CB900Fs that same night (borrowed from a good mate) and I survived and so did the vast majority of the people I rode bikes with back then. My first big bike was a Suzuki GT750L Kettle and it taught me alot about how to ride. 17 year olds will hurt themselves on whatever bike you sit them on, so restricting the bike's power is a bloody stupid and discriminatory way of forcing them off two wheels. I don't see or hear about any planned legislation stopping 17 year olds from driving 500bhp Ferraris, so please tell me why we are discriminated against as motorcyclists.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Herring
The current legislation with regard to 'restricted" bikes isn't perfect and it's a nightmare for the police to enforce, as has been seen here, but the principal is fairly sound.
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So why was it introduced without any form of a nod towards practical policing of it? Surely the police know it's a farce and ignore it. If it were me out on the streets doing your job I'd be understanding of the stupidity of the law itself and the near impossibility to police it, so I'd not even bother asking about or checking for restrictions.
My personal opinion is that if a 17 year old passes his test he should just derestrict the bike anyway, cos no-one can outwardly tell if it's restricted or not and it's not up to the rider to prove it is anyway. 33bhp is a bloody ludicrous restriction designed to put young people off getting motorcycles