Antiquated Motorcycle Laws - France

[HardBoiledEgg]

Yes, they do exist, specially in this country (France). A couple of decades ago, the socialist government decided that French motorcyclists were having far too much fun on their motorcycles. So they put in a law that forbade motorcycles from having more than 100 hp ! It was OK if you were an 18 year old kid, and you could buy yourself a 100,000 hp car, and drive around in that, but as a 21 year you could not ride a motorcycle with more than 100 hp !

So, despite the European Union wanting equality between nations, France continues "downgrading" motorcycles to 100 hp. So far, not really a big problem, since you could quite easily reinstate your motorcycle to the original power.

So, now that the center-to-right political party is in the power, you'd think that we should be OK. WRONG ! The French Parliament voted a new law yesterday night (in stealth mode), that if you're caught with a motorcycle over 100 hp, you'll get 2 YEARS PRISON,
€ 30,000 fine and your motorcycle is gone !! Obviously this only applies to French registered motorcycles. If you got a foreign one, you can come here and use your 180 hp bike at any time. !

I would love to see some lawyer bring the French government to the European court ! Whatever happened to personal liberty, equality and all that shit.... not in France !!



define french registered motorcycle. does this only apply in france or where ever in the world the bike is imported to.

[colin1]

daft
they wont be limiting the power of cars, so why bikes ?
because bikers are a minority and its easier to pick on them
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[Zimbo]

Could it be that over 100bhp on the road is unnecessary, and that the only benefit you get from a 180bhp bike over a 100bhp bike is an increased top speed, you can do 200mph rather than 160mph?

[alains]

it's not 100 Hp it's 99 . and you've a 33 Hp law and a 15 Hp law . all are very confusing if you do not live in the country . it's false to say that france is out of european common laws , because agreements says that for your nationals you can apply the laws you want inside your country but you must accept foreigners with their own's . why the french government is tightening the laws ? only because a big part of the death on the road are on 2 wheels especially young people . the french ridding licence has been reformed in 1993 and revised time to time . actually age 14-16 you are allowed a mopped until 80cc , 16-18 (or with 2 years of driving licence) 125cc with 15Hp limit , 18 and + licence A1 limited to 33 Hp then after 2 years of A1 , licence A limited at 99 Hp . it's true that if you are caught with an overlimit bike it will be confiscated and you will get a penalty with your licence take off and may be a suspended sentence of 2 month in prison . but all bikes bought before 1993 and which not are inside these specs are not subject to these laws . for exemple in 1992 i bought a second hand NSR125R type JC20 which has 30 Hp , i had no ridding licence but only my driving licence since 1965 , so the new law was not applyable to me . in 1998 when i bought my new NSR , it was restricted at 15 Hp , now it's 32-33 Hp but no one in france is able to see that . this is the same for restricted 99 Hp bikes , a big problem can appear if you have a serious accident and if the bike is going to be expertized . fortunatly we have in france an association called "les motards en colère" which can influence the government decisions , but despite that you cannot stop youth to ride as fools on the road , this why i agree on these restrictions
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the worst day fishing is better than the best day working

[dXm]

I've been wondering, how are the Police gonna know if you have a 180HP bike (assuming it's all stock in external appearance) if you don't get caught breaking any traffic laws, involved in an accident ??

As with anywhere else... you can usually get away with doing anything you want... as long as you don't get caught.
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