Letters
Your thoughts, opinions & adventures
Is it me or what? I bought a new Sportster 1200 a couple of years ago. Since then I've fitted various odds and sods to change it from the standard factory model into something personal. I've had nowt but encouragement from all my mates for everything I've done until now.
I'd got increasingly fed up with the lights being on all the time so I bought myself an auxiliary switch and, with a careful study of the wiring diagrams and some nifty snipping and clipping, I've now got control of when I have my lights switched on. All well and good, you might think, but no. Just about every time I tell someone what I've done I get a response that varies from the loftily patronising "Well I always ride with MY headlamp on," to the incredulous "Why?"
"You're not supposed to be able to switch them off. It's for your SAFETY, don't you know?"
These responses are not from ROSPA or BRAKE evangelists, they are from people who are otherwise like-minded mates.
So what is it with the headlamp thing? Have we become unwitting victims of some Orwellian propaganda nightmare? Should we anticipate what the safety lobby might want and introduce rules to comply in advance?
As a start we should draft a set of regulations saying all motorcyclists must wear twinkling Christmas tree lights festooned around our all-over body armour with flashing amber beacons attached to our compulsory £500 Power Ranger helmets. We could lobby our MPs to rush these new rules through Parliament, to ensure that everyone knows we bikers take safety seriously. God forbid we should pause to collect any proper data to support the benefits of these new rules, or have any debate or risk analysis - it's just common sense, you know! In fact, let's not bother with Parliament, we'll just get the manufacturers to only manufacture bikes with high visibility impact-resistant cages. Let's add a couple more wheels, so no more falling over. Anyway, my mate Big Al D (aka Lord Dorrington of Batheaston) has just bought a new Night-Rod and we're going to wire a switch into the lighting circuits. Bollocks to people who disapprove. If we'd have wanted a reduced-risk road experience we'd have bought bloody Volvos. By the way, great mag (and MAG, I guess!).
Col (Dimly-Lit) G.
Bristol.
Big brother welcome!
Ian Moore writes about Britain becoming a spy state (The ROAD3). Well let it, I say. I have no objections to having any of my particulars on a government/police/military/health/inland revenue or any other database. I hope we will all have to possess identity cards complete with eyeball configuration/etc embedded within them. I also hope telephone-tapping evidence will soon become admissible in court. I would have all bank accounts available on the web and that includes MPs and royalty.
Mr Moore says "Terrorism is not the enemy of democracy, our own government is." I say that terrorism is quite capable of destabilising a democracy and must be confronted with all the powers at our disposal. Only the government has those powers and if it means keeping a check on everybody, then so be it.
The DVLC admits that up to one third of its vehicle records are inaccurate. This is probably because in the past old and new owners failed to send in the logbook after a transaction in order to avoid traceability. The logbook was mostly ignored by the police because of this. Tighter application of the rules in future will ensure that this problem diminishes. The time will come when ALL vehicles in GB will be on record via a tiny hidden 'chip installed by the manufacturer. Automatic high-speed recognition and GPS will pinpoint its position. A computerised check will reveal if the owner has reported it stolen, and fast recovery of the vehicle and arrest of the driver is then possible. The records will reveal if the vehicle is Sorn'd/ taxed/ MOT'd/insured. (Keeping an untaxed bike in the garage is not a 'crime' if the authorities are informed - which isn't very hard to do).
Babies should be DNA'd at birth. This would assist crime investigation in later years when everybody's DNA will be on record. Hard-line serial offenders will find it increasingly difficult to follow a criminal career. All money transactions will be recorded up to the time when actual money is abolished and all monetary transactions electronically processed via an encrypted impossible-to-counterfeit card. No transactions will be possible without it.
Finally, Ian Churchlow, wades in with: '...the law-abiding citizen is now on the back foot and I predict the next great fight will be for the simple democratic right to enjoy a private life...'
When we get to grips with all the crooks, usurpers, swindlers, murderers and terrorists who make so many lives a misery we can all sleep safe in our beds. Only by knowing from collected info and then dealing with the enemy will we bring about that blissful scenario.
Ken Partington
Ed, Hmmm I can see where you're coming from Ken but all the surveillance in the world won't work because after the police risk their lives catching the real crims the courts let them go and the courts have to do that because the prisons are full. Meanwhile the law cracks down on soft targets who pay fines.
Hereward MAG AGM
Thanks to Andy and Hereward MAG for their warm welcome when we attended their AGM. The Palmerston Arms in Oundle Road, Peterborough is a great pub serving a wide range of real ales (unfortunately we were both riding). The pub is well worth a visit for a pint on any day even if you can't make the Wednesday MAG meeting (1st & 3rd Wednesday of every month). The young lady behind the bar is a MAG member so you will always be welcome. There isn't a car park though. We look forward to seeing you all again soon.
Selina & Pete
West Norfolk MAG
Bikesafe
As the Government has pledged to spend £110 million of the money raised annually from speeding fines on road safety you might expect funding for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) National BikeSafe initiative? With the admirable exception of London, where Transport for London heavily subsidise the scheme, BikeSafe is desperately under funded to the extent that in some counties it is not available. Surrey for instance is totally reliant on volunteer observers from Wey Valley Advanced Motorcyclists who give 1500 hours annually free of charge to Surrey Police to enable the scheme to function.
The scheme is enormously successful and areas in which the scheme is run have seen reductions in motorcycle casualties.
The Bikesafe scheme appeals to riders because of the acceptance of the skill of Police Motorcyclists.The courses are also enjoyable and informative. I note with amusement the quote from the Lord Chancellor:
"What people are looking for is plainly a fair process but one that is more speedy, simple and more summary where appropriate," he said.
More Speedy?
Ride Safe,
Peter Scott
Chief Observer
Wey Valley Advanced Motorcyclists (IAM)
Cash cows
Between J3 M40 and J7b of the M6 there are 96 cameras. Between J5 and 6 (Solihull and NEC), there are 8 per gantry. There are now 276 digital specs cameras which measure your average speed over this stretch of motorway, and they have a 2mph tolerance. You won't see a flash off these, just the rattling of the letter box when the fine comes through."
Ride Free
Andrew Dicken
(Life Member)
Quad heads
Quad magazine has decided to campaign for helmets to be made compulsory for quad bike riders and has petitioned the Transport Minister who has had the common sense to ignore them. I have written to the editor stating my opposition to this pointless little crusade and stating that I will no longer purchase Quad Magazine. I would be grateful if MAG would take up this issue and petition both the Transport Minister and the magazine editor. Helmet compulsion is just plain wrong and in my view actually illegal on religious discrimination grounds (well done you Sikhs).
Adam Chandler, London
Orwell's Britain
May I complement you on two excellent articles in your last edition of The ROAD, namely Hugo Miller's piece about the EU and Ian Churchlow's piece about ANPR.
This country is fast turning into a place where I don't want to live. Isn't it time that a mass demonstration was organised with all the different motoring organisations pulling together? George Orwell's hellish vision of the future will be with us in a very short period and we will have only ourselves to blame.
If the British had the French's passion for demonstration then this government wouldn't dare try and implement those sort of policies.
Mark Downing
Ed, We can't put the IT jeanie back in the bottle and the prospect of the police abandoning ANPR is around about the square root of nil. The challenge for us is to set the limits to which surveillance can be deployed. The Mullhouse Declaration in the last issue succinctly represents where we stand on this with regard to road vehicles. As for the French I think you'll find that they are facing much of the same stuff as us.
Windscreen pillars
I'm not a bit surprised about thick car pillars, ref your article in Road3. My husband and I have been complaining about this for sometime.
Recently we had to change our 13 year old Toyota Corolla, (which we could see out of), for a 2004 model.
It was terrible! You couldn't see out of the corners of the windscreen, especially at junctions. The car was a bad ride too, and made me feel sick after only a few miles, yet it was supposed to be "this and that safe" Really, for whom?
We have a classic bike that is 33 years old and we still have to tax it as it was made a few days after the tax-free deadline. Can't the government be lobbied to bring in the 25 year historic vehicle no tax rule again? Also, take tax off smaller scooters, such as the continentals do.
Mrs Teresa Sheppard
Ed, The rolling 25 year old exemption was great but sadly the government got wise to the fact that by the end of the 20th century many 25 year olds bikes were viable high mileage mounts, so they figured these bikes could be covering high mileage and the spirit of the concession was misplaced. I guess they may have a point but if we can prove that bikes of this age cover very few miles we might have a chance of reinstating the deal. Certainly we want small bikes zero rated and have campaigned on this. In the wake of the latest budget the issue is topical again and MAG is making its views known. If you want to join the email army you can help us in this.
Helmet overload
In nearly every issue there has always been some piece on the helmet law. Campaigning for free choice is admirable but I feel this point has had enough space. I wear a full facer. Even at 30mph, a slight drizzle over just 10 miles would have you soaked. I've seen the damage tarmac has done to a biker who wore an open facer. Anyway, it was with great interest that I read Ian Churchlow's, 'Directors Cut.' This is what we, and MAG should be really focussing on, how the government treats not only bikers, but all motorists. If it means joining forces with other like-minded organisations to fight government greed and their relentless persecution of the motorist just to get a fast buck and swell the coffers, then so be it.
Oh yeah, good mag.
Dave Cartwright
Ed, I appreciate that reform of the helmet law might make little difference to many but the principle is common to other issues. As the very right to accept risk in return for mobility and pleasure is threatened it becomes more important than ever to confirm first principles. Don't worry we are not neglecting other areas simply because the ROAD mentions helmets often. It takes me negligible time to run a letter, publish a news item or make a comment. I recognise that this might convey an impression about the group's allocation of time that is quite misleading.
Bus lanes
The 3 lane main road in Plymouth, has one lane designated for buses though private hire vehicles and bicycles may use it, but on my ZZR I can't. During rush hour I can't join the road due to the location of my driveway and the mass of inconsiderate drivers not giving way to me. Yesterday I built up speed in the bus lane with my signal on trying to get into lane but no-one gave way to me. I only needed the following left turn so I powered up the bus lane taking the left. Next thing I know I've got a transit full of coppers behind me giving me verbal for riding in a bus lane but thankfully no caution or points. Why can I not use it
and where do the rest for our councils stand. Best regards and top marks on the mag.
Anthony
Ed, We're winning slowly
Infernal Confusion
I am a fan of the Peelers Patch, but his comments on off -roaders and perceived problems are indicative of a lack of facts. 'Off road' is exactly that, and to be 'off- road' one would be on private land with or without permission. If without, the rider may be in breach of the Road Traffic Act, or guilty of tresspass. However, Green Laning/ trail riding is done on legally defined routes on machines which must comply with the same laws that apply to all road going vehicles because they are very much 'on road'.
The NERC Bill reduces the once available network for trail riders from around 5% to 1.8% of all unsurfaced Public Rights of Way. This move has been propelled by anti motorcycling groups with false information and guided by powerful politicians.
The claim that green lanes were never meant to support the internal combustion engine has been coined by the former Minister heading DEFRA who introduced the Bill. The same could be said of all roads except Motorways, as nearly all were conceived before the internal combustion engine.
Illegal use of vehicles will continue as the perpetrators have no regard for laws. However, the legal rider, who can still ride for miles without seeing, or disturbing a soul, is persecuted and denied his hobby. On average, over one year, 850 people climb Snowdon each day producing erosion on a grand scale. Put a little engine in a frame, and you are the devil incarnate.
Derek Reynolds, Herts.
Why crush 'em?
In "The Peelers Patch" we are told that possibly 80% of bikes ridden on waste ground were stolen. Why do police confiscate and crush these machines then? Surely the machines should be returned to their owners while the thieves are fed slowly through the crusher (preferably goolies first but I suppose you should edit that out?)
Mike Baker Cornwall
Ed, Yeah I guess I should. I think toes first so the mincing of the Goolies can be anticipated for a while.
Mobile scrutiny
The latest Road devotes a lot of column inches to the government and its growing control, together with concerns about the possibility of chipping ID cards.
Bad news, guys, they don't need to. Stash a spare mobile phone under your saddle, then if your bike is stolen you can track it on a website.
Out of curiosity I checked it out. For 18p a throw, or £10-£15 per month for multiple calls, not only can you pinpoint your stolen bike via satellite, but bosses can track up to 50 employees, worse still the wife can track her husband who's officially gone to BSB.
And that's only the public side of it. If you have your mobile in your pocket, what the hell can the authorities do?
Titsman
What crime?
Just been reading May's issue of The Road. I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments expressed in your article 'Director's Cut' regarding the state v. privacy but have a couple of questions:
What crime am I guilty of if I keep a bike in a garage uninsured, assuming it's SORNd?
How can restoring a non-runner at home get me fined or potentially imprisoned?
Suzi
Ed, Actually there's no crime so long as you are SORN'd.
Ferg's carer
My thanks go to Cecil of Lincoln for his kind offer to look after Fergus. Meet me at Caenby Corner, he's all yours!
Kit, (previous carer, now dazed and confused)
Drink-Drive: No Limits
The trouble with a legal limit is that people think of it as a safe limit. IT ISN'T. No amount of alcohol is safe. The only sensible legal limit is zero. This sets a problem for monitoring. The breathalyzer should have its pass level set to the lowest level it can reliably detect. This should correspond with far less than one pub measure of any alcoholic drink. Failure should entail a fine. Gross failure should entail a severe fine.
If I am riding I adopt '24 hours from bottle to throttle.' So, no drink at rallies.
John Osborn, Bristol.
Ed: Absolute zero isn't practical as the body will show an ambient alcohol level even in a teetotaller due to fermentation of food.
African Deja vu
Ooooops, a serious dose of deja vu in The Road No.4.... or did they actually cross the Sahara twice? Good on 'em if they did. And it was nice to read it again anyway.
A brilliant magazine, and I wonder if MAG is prepared for what may lay ahead. To my mind there's a good chance of the editor receiving an offer he can't refuse, to go and work on some glossy mainstream big-circulation publication, whether about bikes or politics or philosophy or common sense or whatever. Hope someone equally talented is in the wings ready to take over on The ROAD should this happen.
In reply to Pat Faulkner, I've all but given up travelling to central London by bike now as after 10am it's impossible to find somewhere to park.
After my third parking ticket, I'm an expert on off-peak trains into London. Heard recently at my local station, where we now have a brand spanking new fleet of modern trains: Pat says ".....think bike, we have RoSPA to take care of that." Pat should look at what these safety organisations have done to the tradition of family swimming. Try being a Mum and Dad with 3 small children. It's now impossible to take them all to a public swimming pool together. Deemed too dangerous, it's now banned at most pools. With absolutely no records or statistics (as these organisations now admit) of children drowning in pools whilst with their parents. God forbid these organisations ever take a look at motorcycle statistics...... Even the government's own Health and Safety Executive have said this is over the top, but most public swimming pools still blindly follow Loughborough's guidelines and insist on one adult per child. (If anyone's interested, the BMA collected stats for 1999. Two children drowned in public pools, twenty-five children drowned in their own baths at home).
Pony Clubs are having similar problems with these so-called "safety organisations".
So, please keep up the good work, on ALL battle fronts!
Ken Thomas
Ed, ROSPA have been on our case for years Ken, Pat just means we shouldn't be duplicating their work.
SVA
Have just read Tim Allen's letter in the latest (excellent by the way) copy of The Road. The main hurdle people building customs from scratch have to deal with is Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval (MSVA). This has been around for over two and a half years now and seems to have settled into an accepted part of the custom low volume/grey/parallel bike scene. If anyone needs any info on MSVA I'm here to help.
Keep up the good work.
Chris Corker
MSVA Technical Officer VOSA
EU Praise
Dave Elrick's praise of the EU makes me wonder how we managed for so long without it and the thousands of regulations it dictates every year. He maintains all these directives are only decreed for our own good so that everything is standardised and we know exactly what we are buying. But surely the International Standards Organisation does this already and we don't have to pay them 12 billion quid per annum for the privilege.
The latest diktat on motorcycle licenses proves the EU isn't listening to us on this or anything else and the sooner we join Norway and Switzerland outside the EU the better.
Dave Pearson
Wirral & Chester MAG
We're being watched
Assuming one is a law-abiding citizen, why should one care if the state watches? But why should the state want to follow a law-abiding person? I've read Orwell's 1984. At least when I was paranoid I had an excuse. Now I know I'm being watched. Best tae smile!
My 1200 Sportster refuses tae tell me where the light switch is. So, my life-chances whilst riding back-to-the-sun may be lessened. I have less control over my fate (ach well, enshala).
We are, as yet, free tae speak oor minds and I'm free tae ride ma bike . . . even with that damn wedge chasing me . . . freedom eh! . . . love it!
Morph
Intelligent?
Intelligent Speed Adaption! Utter nonsense! There is nothing intelligent about it, it is yet another bankrupt philosophy based on the inability of the authorities to properly target their audience. Blanket speed limits and hidden cameras are silly enough, but then to rigidly enforce it all is just crazy. Have they forgotten the appropriate speed debate already? They want to put leg irons on all of us just in case we might one day get it wrong! How convenient! THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! This policy of enforced compliance is a first, and is surely the death knell of our hard won freedom.
However, as an alternative to losing your license for four silly technicalities, yes, it is a much more sensible option. And I do think that licensing should be tougher, especially for today's high powered vehicles. But to treat us all as default morons before the facts is totally wrong. We are innocent until proven guilty, remember? The courts must be much tougher on those that fail. Speed is rarely the cause of accidents, they are actually caused by an unforeseen event and speed just affects our chances of avoiding it.
The best way to police irresponsible drivers is to allow public reporting, there will always be more of them around than police or cameras, the cameras should be on our vehicles not the ISA kit.
Peter Calvert
Into the Valley
Thanks to everyone who made the 2006 ITV such a good do. Being only our second time it compared well with last year's memorable event, which we also enjoyed despite it being slightly damp.
Long term rally goers will probably take MAG rallies for granted, but from our perspective such events are to be cherished. Our limited experience certainly makes us feel we've been missing something during over 40 years of continuous motorcycling. Long may the pleasure continue.
On another note can we say how much we enjoyed visiting Sledmere House itself during the rally. Whilst appreciating such places are not everybody's scene, suffice to say that we enjoyed looking around and enjoying lunch in the cafe. The bonus was the welcome from several lady stewards, all of whom were most welcoming. It's just a pity that they couldn't manage to supply the requested glass of wine as we sat by the log fire listening to the organ recital. Maybe next time ?
John & Pat Procter
Huddersfield
Feeling better
I want to thank MAG for bringing to our attention the continued attempts from all sides to try to control more and more aspects of our lives & our liberty. I refer to the articles on the Legislative Reform Bill, and vehicle speed control which threaten the biker lifestyle. I believe that the right of the individual to choose the manner in which they live their life is sacrosanct. I do not smoke & am against smoking, but it is not my decision whether someone else smokes. They have that right to choose for themselves. So when I go to a bike rally I will never complain if I am in a marquee full of smokers. I chose to go to that event and can leave.
We should have the right to choose how and when we ride our bikes, what bikes we ride, and as stated "My hand on my throttle, no buts". We should also have the right to a fair democratic process from those WE elected, not to have unfair and unnecessary legislation thrust upon us by some high handed autocrat who thinks he knows best & who seems to think he is touched by the hand of God! That is not fair representation, that is dictatorship.
I am a lazy sod who pays his MAG subscription and leaves the work to others. However, I've emailed my MP, It only took ten minutes and I feel better for making the effort.
No name sorry, Ed
Lend a hand
I helped out on the MAG stall at Thundersprint last weekend, and it has got me to thinking about a few things.
I am a recent MAG member after lots of time declaring I did not want to join a club (yes I know, MAG isn't a club. But I did help at the Blackpool F'in Rally last year, and have supported lots of rallies over the thirteen years I have been attending them.
The thing is the Thundersprint made me realise WHY I did not want to join a club and how fustrated it makes me. APATHY! in truck loads. Who helped at the Thundersprint - the Regional rep, the Area rep, a non-member (she will join as soon as she gets a job) and me. Now Blackpool MAG has on a regular basis over fifteen people at each meeting. Tony, the North West rep and Wooly do a great job of trying to get people interested in events and trying to get them to help, but apathy strikes. What really got to me was that one of the members sent a text message to most Blackpool MAG members declaring a ride out somewhere completely different and in the opposite direction on the day of the Thundersprint. Why not do a ride out to the Thundersprint and show a bit of support for MAG while you're out enjoying the ride.
There are other MAG meets in the area of the Thundersprint and although one person turned up to say hello no-one actually came down to give us a hand.
Now don't get me wrong, anyone who joins MAG does not necessarily have to be an active member and I'm sure there will be events throughout the year that I will not be able to get to, to help out. But surely it wouldn't be too much to ask a biker, who is a MAG member and attends meetings on a regular basis, to give a little bit of help even if it was just for half an hour so we could have a proper break and something to eat.
Will this apathy put me off helping at the next event? Not a chance I will be at NABD next weekend to party but I will still go to the MAG stall and give those who are working a break.
Titch
P.S. I had a great time, met some great people, and got very wet on my bike on the way home!
Ed, stay with us Titch, we need more people like you.
40th thanks
Thanks to everyone who came to my 40th birthday party and helped me raise £150 for MAG.
Cheers
Pete
BSE Mad Cows
Ed, Thanks to you Pete, could everyone do this please.
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