BMF News round up for February

[Jaws]

BMF NEWS ROUND UP – February 2024

The monthly news round-up, brought to you by the BMF

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Meetings attended for the BMF by Paul Morgan and Anna Zee in February



Anna Zee:

RoSPA National Road Safety Committee
Featured a presentation from TyreSafe which demonstrated yet again that too many drivers pay too little attention to the condition of their tyres. Note that motorcyclists, if the evidence from MOTs is anything to go by, are not a lot better than car drivers.
The RoSPA NRSC will be working with other road safety organisations such as the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety to produce a road safety manifesto for the General Election.

Motorcycle Theft Meeting, London
Organised by Colin Brown on behalf of the Motorcycle Crime Reduction Group. Attended by MCRG members, Deputy Mayor Sophie Linden, two representatives from the Metropolitan Police and, of course, a number of motorcyclists. Amongst other things, riders described their experiences of how thefts had been handled by the police, asking whether best practice was being followed and whether best use was being made of available CCTV and/or tracking information. Main takeaway was that the resources simply aren’t there e.g. the Met’s Vehicle Crime Unit used to number 60 staff, now just seven.



Paul Morgan:

Bill Esterson MP, Shadow Roads Minister

A very good meeting with a positive vibe throughout. We talked about Labour’s previous work on a government motorcycle strategy and Mr Esteron’s view was positive. He confirmed that Labour is open to the core ‘ask’ of NMC/BMF to develop a fully rounded and effective motorcycling strategy for government. We agreed to keep in touch.



Election Planning

Work on a joint manifesto and our wider election strategy with MCIA. Finalisation of the core joint manifesto document is almost complete – publication 16th March. A shorter NMC/BMF document will be produced and copied to members and other partners. We have purchased a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate database to target parliamentary lobbying over the coming months.



MOT Consultation Webinar (hosted by Institute of the Motor Industry and DVSA)

Covered the recent MOT consultation and plans for the MOT system. The Government announced on 25th January that there would be no change to the current MOT testing period for cars, bikes and vans. The meeting discussed plans for future MOT testing that would be more customer service focused, potentially cheaper and maximized to deliver greater road safety and air quality. Also, greater efforts to clamp down on MOT fraud. The advent of electric and fully autonomous vehicles will need a revision in the future MOT test to consider developing technologies.



In Other News:

Can it be true? Yamaha announced that the R1 and R1M will not be available as road bikes, at least in Europe. It’s decided not to update the iconic sports bike to Euro5+ emissions standards, so it can’t legally be registered for the road once existing stocks have been sold. But it may not mean curtains for the one-litre flagship – Yamaha may offer it as a track-only tool, as it already does with the 600cc R6.

Right, onto potential bans. We have one proposal to ban chrome-plating and another (by a single councillor) to ban bikes and scooters from Paris. The chrome ban (being pushed by the EU) makes some sense, as the traditional process is a noxious thing using heavy metals which can be harmful to health. However, the ban would only apply to new bikes and there are cleaner alternative methods of applying chrome. Same with the Paris ban – thousands of Parisian commuters ride to work on two wheels, so a ban looks extremely unlikely.

Finally on bans, there’s a proposal to stop pavement parking in England – it’s already illegal in London, and Scotland followed suit in December 2023. Now that makes sense – unobtrusively parked bikes and scooters shouldn’t get in anyone’s way, but a big 4x4 certainly does.

On to happier matters, and the motorcycle with a 600-mile range. Reiju’s new Aventura 500 has twin tanks with a total capacity of 40 litres – engine is based on Honda’s frugal CB500 twin, so we reckon 600 miles might be conservative... While we’re on unusual bikes, another stab at the two-wheel-drive machine comes from France. The Motowatt W1X is (you’ve guessed it) electric with a motor in each wheel – far easier than trying to sort out chain or hydraulic drive to the front...and people have tried. Not to be outdone, Kawasaki has built an H2R-powered helicopter, using the 998cc four for a small unmanned chopper which could airlift supplies to mountainous areas (says the big K).

A German/Czech consortium is working on a hydrogen fuel cell bike, promising a prototype for 2025. But as Jim Freeman, Chair of the BMF put it, “Hydrogen cells have often been compared to nuclear fusion – lots of promise but always about 10 years away.” But for the ultimate statement in piston engines, how about a 48-cylinder Kawasaki made up of 16 KH250 triples? It runs, is road legal and was auctioned by Bonhams in February.

Back to more mundane matters on UK roads, where Devon & Cornwall Police say that Operation Snap has been a success – nearly 10,000 drivers and riders have been reprimanded after being caught on dashcams by other drivers. Meanwhile, moves to improve safety on Smart Motorways are going slowly with only 13 of the planned 150 Emergency Safety Refuges built so far. And how is the Welsh 20mph speed limit going? An independent study has found that average speeds really have dropped, though we don’t know yet what the effect on casualties will be.

Down in the South West, Trago Mills is expanding its motorcycle sales by adding SWM to Lexmoto, Sinnis, Sym and Keeway. The big discounter, which sells everything from food to garden furniture, claims to have a different approach to traditional motorcycle dealers.

And finally, sad news that Dave Myers – one half of the Hairy Bikers – passed away in February. Along with Si King, he not only presented an entertaining TV series with great recipes, but showed motorcycling in a positive light to a mainstream audience. Thanks Dave.





Written by Peter Henshaw – Editor BMF editor@bmf.co.uk



Anna Zee – Political Technical Services Director anna.zee@bmf.co.uk



Paul Morgan – Government Relations Executive paul.morgan@bmf.co.uk