Motorway demo over restrictive EU rules
By Steve Farrell - General news 06 September 2011 11:50
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A Motorcycle lobby group is planning to bring disruption to motorways across the country in protest over restrictive new legislation from Europe for bikes.
The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) wants bikers to meet at service stations all over the UK before holding up traffic in 45mph motorway rides on September 25. The group is opposing a raft of European Commission proposals including compulsory ABS and measures to stop us modifying our bikes.
The demo aims to send a "warning" to expect more of the same.
Tuning could become impossible and even home servicing severely hampered under European Commission plans.
All new bikes could get so-called on-board diagnostic (OBD) systems capable of detecting non-standard parts and triggering a warning light until the ‘fault’ is rectified by a dealer.
One aim is to prevent any modifications to the 'powertrain' which rider groups fear could include anything from the throttle to rear tyre.
MAG also aims to show "solidarity" to French riders, who face new requirements for high-visibility armbands and retraining after a five-year break from riding.
Paddy Tyson, MAG’s campaigns co-ordinator, said: "Even 50 bikers together will cause disruption, but happening everywhere this will be powerful and will have traffic alerts discussing it.
"Riders will disperse as rapidly as they appeared but after riding for just a few junctions below the speed of trucks, our impact should be felt.
"There will be no need for marshals and no speeches. The threat that we can do it again will be established."
The demo currently has 62 starting points but the number is growing as more riders arrange to take part. Details are posted on a Facebook page called ‘Action Now! EU Hands Off Biking’ and at www.mag-uk.org.
Jeff Stone of British Motorcyclist Federation (BMF) said there was a danger of the demo’s message being lost on drivers. He said: "It could make motorcyclists feel good about the cause but if the message isn’t getting through it’s just a nice day out.
Read more on this in MCN, on sale tomorrow.
MCNs Brussels protest: "What a superb day!"
By Steve Farrell - General news 28 November 2011 12:48
Motorcyclists have been sharing their pictures and experiences from MCNs Brussels protest ride on a Facebook page.
Around 200 riders travelled hundreds of miles to take part in last Tuesdays protest against EU anti-tampering measures for bikes.
They included Red Dwarf star Danny John-Jules, who plays Cat in the sitcom. He said on the day: "I wanted to support the effort."
Adey Gittins got home at 5.30am after a round trip of 880 miles. He posted on Facebook: "Met some nice people on the way there and the ride through the city was great... Now time for a nice long rest."
The sun shone and the temperature hit 14°C for the ride from Parc du Cinquantenaire, by the European Commission headquarters, to European Parliament.
Police closed roads to other traffic and passers-by stopped and waved to riders.
At European Parliament, MEPs came out to hear our concerns on Place du Luxembourg.
Stuart Walker wrote on Facebook: "Awesome day and Ive made some good friends. Many thanks to MCN and the Belgian Police force for practically shutting down the centre of Brussels."
Richard Lewis posted: "Glad to see so many make the effort to be there. Let's hope the eejits in the parliament got the message. We really lucked out with the weather in Brussels too. November 22 yet the sun was shining and I was eating ice cream."
"The people of Brussels were great. Many were waving to us as we went round the city." Christian Papazoglakis wrote: "I never thought Id see so many of you crazy Brits here. Hats off to you!"
Tuning could become impossible under EU anti-tampering proposals.
One aim of the plans is to prevent modifications to the "powertrain" which rider groups fear could mean anything from the throttle to rear tyre.
New bikes are also to get ABS under the proposals, due to be introduced gradually from 2014.
MCNs protest was calling for the anti-tampering plans to be abandoned.
Speaking to bikers outside European Parliament, George Lyon, Lib Dem MEP for Scotland, said: "It infringes the rights of people who have purchased bikes to make them suit their own needs."
Marta Andreasen, UKIP MEP from South East England, who proposed the protest, said: "It’s a good turn-out and it’s going to have an impact."
Read our full report on the ride in MCN, on sale November 30
Jag ser bara ett stort frågetecken i min Tapatalkklient.Brevet finns i början av min text.
Så hur ställer sig de olika partigrupperna till förslaget i nuläget?Varje MEP röstar, med största sannolikhet, i enlighet med sin partigrupp i parlamentet. Varje partigrupp har en skuggrapportör i frågan.
Men va f-n?
MEPs push ahead with plans to make tuning impossible
En likadan röstning till så är det kört för t.ex. omdrevning och Power Commander för de som gillar det.