I heard of this some time ago. It seems that Ken knobweed has missed the extra revenue that he thought the congestion charge would bring in by a few million quid. The rumour goes that he thought that no one would actually use the public transport to avoid the charge (which proves in itself that it was designed to raise revenue rather than ease congestion) but people have either gone to two wheels or are indeed using the public transport. So the only way to raise the cash that is missing is to charge all the motorised two wheeled vehicles.

I live in the congestion charging zone. My road is a far more pleasant place since congestion charging. My journey to work (in Barnet) is quicker and more pleasant.

I like getting all the advantages without paying anything - long may it last.

But my point really is: Don't completely knock Congestion Charging - it has its good side.

Sure it's more pleasant, it got rid of all the cars clogging up the roads. What's that got to do with charging bikers?

So can you :lol:

Nothing - I'm a biker, I don't want to be charged.

But don't throw away the baby with the bath water! Congestion charging has a lot of good things going for it.

I'm not suggesting that anyone should break the law, but some sort of clever number plate substitution/obscuring device might be in order? Maybe a small roller blind with a string to the handlebars?

I use the recommended engine oil to lube my chain. Sadly it flies all over the place. All over the licence plate in fact. Sorry Ken. Sorry Officer. Manufacturers recommendations and all that. :twisted:

Seriously though, I doubt they'd do it - the last thing they need is a load of upset people deciding to cheat the system that's trying the cheat them. Look around London and it's clear that the congestion isn't caused by motorbikes. If they did do it, my plate would accidentally be obscured on a regular basis, as a lot of cars and bikes already do. There are plenty off illegal vehicles out there already without driving legal people to do that sort of thing. :roll:

Good old transport system has just wrecked the trains from where I live - half the number of trains to London, taking far longer, not going to the destinations we want and costing a lot more. From the most crime ridden station in Kent. Nice. I don't like being treated like the government piggy bank :evil:

I've kept my old oil for my Scottoiler too... Not that I'm tight or anything :wink: :oops:

Trouble is, if it did happen, some would complain about it, some would even protest. But the majority would grumble and pay up. We, as a nation sit down and accept what we are dealt with.

Sadly I have to point out that this would be a lot easier to implement on bikes then it was for cars.

While biker numbers have increased we are a tiny fraction of the number of cars that were travelling into London before the congestion charge and even now after the congestion charge.

This means that imposing this charge would be pretty easy for Ken to do with virtually zero political risk. It's not like the car driver are going to join us in protesting.

We can only hope that enough car driver have had their fill of Red-Ken and that he'll be out on his ear ASAP.