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Old 01-04-15, 10:33 AM   #1
Jayneflakes
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Exclamation Politics - read at your peril!

As many of you will know, I am engaged in political action and as such I have tried to engage many of our candidates in debate to discover what it is that they stand for.

Recently the Green Party were seen to release a rather embarrassing statement that showed them to be opposed to motorcycling. Reading this, I decided to confront our local candidate over this and have now received his replies.

I was greatly concerned because what I got back could be percieved as open hostility to us as riders and I have continued to debate this with him. This is what I have so far discovered and with the usual backtracking and blatant electioneering that these people are currently do, I remain cautious.

Firstly I asked him why I should trust the Greens, this was his reply.

Quote:
Why should you trust the Greens?

Maybe you shouldn't. No human individual or organisation is perfectly trustworthy; not me, not you, not anyone. We are all imperfect. In groups, we can be even worse than as individuals, because groups and parties have their own issues of organisation, personalities and relationships. The Green Party is not perfect. Parts of it are excellent. Parts of it are wobbly. Our policy document is huge, because it is produced democratically; any group of members can put policy forward, and it gets voted on by Conference after a process. As a result, it is a large, but not infallible document.
I then asked him about Green party policy on motorcycles.

Quote:
There are many things said about the Green Party that are untrue. We are in favour of motorcyling as a fuel efficient and less congesting alternative to the car. It is true that our policy is against the use of bus lanes by bikes, but in fact Brighton overruled that.

I have been thinking hard about motorcycling since the MAG meeting last Wednesday and hope to find the time to write to the DoT about it, because Parliamentary candidates have the same access to Govt departments as MPs.
A couple of days later I recieved this rather confrontational message.

Quote:
I wanted to discuss with you a letter from me, at Parliamentary
Candidate, to the DoT on the MAG issues - mainly training (cost and
complexity), bus lanes (use of) and parking spaces.

As a Parliamentary candidate, I have equal status with a real MP, so I
have privileged access - the DoT is obliged to reply.

The thing is, that I would suggest to the DoT in my letter that they
should negotiate with your 3 points above.
However, I would suggest that the DoT would ask MAG to accept more
stringent regs on silencers in exchange.

At the Burrington meet we failed to really discuss noise, though it was
mentioned, and I noticed someone say "loud pipes save lives".

Loud pipes also ruin lives. The fact is that one motorcycle crossing
London at 3 am will wake 50,000 people.
I truly find this unacceptable.
If the M/c community is ready to trade noise for the 3 points above, I
will work with you.

What do you say?
I am personally not in favour of full open pipes and engines so loud they cause a disturbance, but there are limits as to what stops being a noise issue and what then becomes a civil liberties issue. So I questioned further and asked him what levels he considered to be too loud? I also asked him what research he had done into the noise levels produced by modern motorcycles

This was my reply.

Quote:
I am not, repeat not, hostile to m/cycles.
I am not a stranger to Nempnett Thrubwell.
I am however aware that loud noise is a real stressor. So it needs research.

I'll try to do the research, but corruption in Westminster is going to take most of my attention right now.
Hardly a reassuring statement, one hopes that should he get into power, he will indeed do the research before he implements policies that directly impact upon us.

I shall be forwarding his replies to my local MAG rep.

In the mean time I have still heard nothing from two of the other three parties standing in my area. I shall keep you updated if I hear anything more on the Greens view on motorcycles, should we have any Green voters on here.

Cheers,

Jayney
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Old 01-04-15, 10:40 AM   #2
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Default Politics - read at your peril!

Stick it to 'em Jayne!

Honestly though, the fact I can ride in bus lanes is probably the single biggest factor in my choice of transport for my daily commute (20 mile round trip across Bristol and back). If the greens implement their plans to ban us from bus lanes, they'll effectively push me back into my car, adding to congestion and pollution as a result.

As far as noise goes, I agree that straight pipes etc are just annoying and anti social but common sense should prevail surely? That's why it's at the discretion of the mot tester I'd suggest.

Last edited by dkid; 01-04-15 at 10:44 AM.
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Old 01-04-15, 12:57 PM   #3
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Default Re: Politics - read at your peril!

If only all candidates were as up front.

Not that I agree with his policies.
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Old 01-04-15, 08:57 PM   #4
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Default Re: Politics - read at your peril!

Why is he making a point of noisy bikes? is he going to propose they're to be shot on the spot?

Bike's exceeding the noise limit are MOT failures, therefore illegal and you'll receive 3 points. So what his point? It's like people who call for the speed limit to be lowered to tackle speeding, why? people will still speed, you're not achieving anything just punishing the people who already abide it.

People with loud bikes will still have loud bike's
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Old 02-04-15, 08:28 AM   #5
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Default Re: Politics - read at your peril!

"The fact is that one motorcycle crossing London at 3 am will wake 50,000 people."
I think if that really is a fact, it needs proving. Trains are far noisier than most bikes and there are houses built along very many railway lines in London. And he doesn't specify a motorcycle with a loud exhaust either. The stock SV exhaust would struggle to wake a wired ferret.

Thinking about it, the engine noise from an HGV is louder than the average motorcycle as well. Perhaps he also intends to address this issue?

Having said that, the noise regs are a bit loose. I know of some bikes which are louder with their baffles in than mine with its baffle out, and they pass MOTs like that.
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Old 02-04-15, 08:57 AM   #6
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Default Re: Politics - read at your peril!

Buy that's down the mot'er Passing it when he shouldn't. Again another problem he would have no way of solving.

With the amount of hot air he's producing he'll need some sort of emissions regulations for him and his homeboys in Westminster.
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Old 02-04-15, 09:06 AM   #7
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Default Re: Politics - read at your peril!

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Buy that's down the mot'er Passing it when he shouldn't. Again another problem he would have no way of solving.

With the amount of hot air he's producing he'll need some sort of emissions regulations for him and his homeboys in Westminster.
I think the exhaust regs say something quite vague, like "no noisier than an exhaust should be on that model of motorcycle".

If elected, he could submit a bill to restrict MOT passes to specific noise levels, introduce stringent checking on MOT passes to ensure the MOT garages aren't taking the michael, and introduce greater powers for catching and punishment of noise offenders. Oh and double the MOT fee to fund it all. The rest would be down to parliament.
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Old 02-04-15, 01:14 PM   #8
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Default Re: Politics - read at your peril!

I have tackled him on the noise levels of other vehicles and have raised the issues of trains already. I used to live next to a railway station and during the summer I could not have my window open at night because the drivers would leave the engines running while they waited in the sidings, often for two hours or more!

I have also tackled him about noise levels from cars with very loud stereos and noise from trucks and buses. If you have ever lived on a busy road, you know how loud trucks and buses are.

The sound of one single motorbike in the dead of night is frankly pathetic. When I was a child staying with my Grandparents, I heard their neighbour pull up late at night (about half nine) on their super loud bike and for me it just made me want a Honda C50 just like theirs!

I agree that overly loud exhausts can me a menace, there is a local Harley rider who has a bike with a big bore and short drag pipes. That is above acceptable levels of noise as far as I am concerned, but at the same time what about his civil liberties?

More legislation does not automatically make for a better society.

Another message has popped into in box from him and I think that I may be starting to wind him up! I will report back once I have read it.
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Old 02-04-15, 06:34 PM   #9
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Default Re: Politics - read at your peril!

Only thing I'm going to add is that some people need winding up to function properly - worth seeing if this works on politicians, because they don't seem to function at the moment
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Old 03-04-15, 07:01 PM   #10
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Default Re: Politics - read at your peril!

Bit a motorcycle isn't as fuel efficient as a car. My car happily does 40-55 mpg and can carry 4 people and stuff doing that whereby my bike returns around 45mpg and only carries me. Where's the efficency in that? Admittedly most cars are used by a single user and probably sit in traffic more. Again my car has start/stop so produces no emissions in traffic.
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