Call for motorbike speed limiters

[Mal]

Reported on the BBC website here, MP's are to urge the government into doing a study on the possibility of fitting motorbikes with speed limiters due to accident rates and pollution.

Discuss...

[stinkwheel]

They bring this up every so often, trial a few bikes with speed limiters then drop it because they are bloody dangerous.

They also need to look into why these fatal accidents happen, which they probably haven't done yet, then find they almost always involve a collision with a car at a junction.

They also realise that if they fit speed limiters, people will just bypass/remove them. The NC30 is a classic example of a bike with a speed limiter, I bet there isn't one in the country that hasn't had it tampered with.

I suspect the BBC has creatively misquoted the report to make a story but it isn't up on their website yet so I can't check.

No doubt MCN will be reporting that all motorbikes are to be banned in their next issue.
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[LeeR]

Yeah, that BBC article really doesn't say much does it? But that's the BBC for you... Anyway, two points in the article stuck out, mini-motos and growing off-road use. Well if these are contributing to the casualty figures then surely this is where attention needs to focus. On limiters per se, what are they going to do? Say limit all bikes >1000cc only in which case everyone will buy 900cc or the new 800cc that'll be out in the next few years following on from GP. Or do they restrict bhp, but as Stinkwheel said restrictors are easily bypassed...I think this is just another knee-jerk reaction to deflect attention from the increase in expenses the MPs have receive recently.
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[map]

[innominate]

Surely this would just lead to two things...


1. Everyone tampering with their bikes to remove the limiters.

2. Uninsured incidents will increase, as i am sure the Insurance industry will see removal of the limiter as just another reason not to pay out.
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[gavin]

another article

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/29032007/325/motorcycle-top-speeds-capped.html

from the sublime....

[SonicTheHedge...]

This has finally been the thing that makes me want to spam my MP with hardcopy - I've been looking for some stats to back me up and make a coherent document, and, oddly enough, it appears the government already has some...

https://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/research/rsrr/theme5/indepthstudyofmotorcycleacci4784
(PDF file)
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[Kickstart]

[Giffer2]

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

Yes, that very same tit end has also beeen quoted as saying why does anyone need to ride a bike bigger than the learner machines. i.e. 125's!!!
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[iooi]

[map]

As a side issue has anyone any costings for the GPS technology?
Will it be retro fitted?

If not retro fited then old bikes are going to keep their value

I was also doing a little thinking on the costs as I was riding into work.
Now my bike has carbs. So it's quite difficult with that sort of throttle control to fit a limiter. I can get a cruise control (as an example of a speed limiter) but it costs around £400 to £500 (plus fitting). Now add onto that the cost of a semi decent GPS system that'll have update facilities for speed zones and memory for the whole of the UK. Ballpark estimate on that say £200 to £300?

Now I know it's easier to limit bikes with injection systems. All new bikes have this to meet EC emission control. So it would be cheaper to add to these machines. Still not cheap though.

Plus it's the buyer who'll end up paying the bill.

One last thought. How will this effect imported bikes? Ok, the government could make any law saying it must be fitted on any bike sold in the UK. That may cover grey imports. However, that may leave private imports. I know in the 70s and 80s this was useful for cars as could be got a lot cheaper from Holland, Belgium, etc.

Which then begs the question, will this technology by EC wide?
If not then why are UK citizens possibly going to be penalised when others are not. After all aren't we supposed to be one big Europe with equal rights for all?

Ok, going now. Sorry if the post is a bit rambling and asks more questions than gives answers. Just wanted to get some thoughts down.


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[LeeR]

Hey I love the FIAT 500 and have owned one, and a 126 and a Cinq good commutes, but you have to drive 'em

Anyway I digress; I object to speed limiters because unless they're going to rectify all the speed calming measures they've implemented in the last 20 years we're going to be a nation going nowhere fast.

Take the main road past my village (well not my village but you get my meaning), this is a 'B' road and it was a nice NSL road with twisties and some safe overtaking places and some short overtaking places, but you had to know a) your car/bike and b) what you were doing. Now the road is a constricted mess of road signs, 30/40/50 limits, double white lines except in two places, and a speed camera. If you get caught behind "farmer John" or "auntie Mabel" doing 43.5mph (in every zone I might add) you're stuffed.

You can just get past on the two short overtaking stretches left but you are going to have to hit 60 mph to do it, only now you can't because it's not NSL any more. So whereas once upon a time it would have been a perfectly safe and acceptable manoeuvre, now it's a hazardous and illegal one. Add a speed limiter to the mix and we're all going to be following the crawlers at 43.5mph

Now I'm not what you'd call a fast driver/rider, my wife drives faster than me but won't ride a bike, and neither am I a safety Nazi, I like to think I fall somewhere in the middle. I sometimes wear a fluorescent jacket, and I always ride in all the gear top-toe. But I like many other people enjoy having a machine (car/bike) capable of speeds in excess of the NSL, it gives you and the engine a margin to work with.

And finally sometimes it's nice to have a squirt on the throttle and have a giggle, I suspect Stephen Plowden has never had a giggle in his life. He's been banging on about environmental measures and traffic calming for over ten years now he appears to hate every form of transport that is not his personal choice, why can't he respect others? I respect his...

PS> I don't object to environmental concerns or traffic calming per se either
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[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

They can't fit limiters, it's an invasion of privacy/ free will. Be have the right to speed, but the responsibilty to take the concequences when/if you get caught.

Coaches and Lorries are the businessmen of the road so restrciting them is techinically imporving safety, if a coach crashes 50 odd people are affected and if a lorry crashes it collects a greater number of other road users and we don't get our groceries on time.
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[Kickstart]

Hi

Stephen Plowden is one of those who would happily see us on, at best, buses.

Such speed limiters are closer than most people think, and are likely to be compulsory and fitted to all vehicles (but probably phased in over 5~10 years). If so likely that having a bike that cannot have one fitted will just mean you don't have a bike that can be used on the road.

The GPS based limiters are pretty far advanced for cars. The initial trials were done about 5 years ago.

Don't think it will make things safer. Didn't for lorries, and there are claims it made lorries more dangerous.

All the best

Keith
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[keyser soze]

just a random thought... merc's and some other cars have a limiter. some are set at 84 (smarts) (my work van has one set at 105) and all the way up to 150. its down to the ecu so you can get it remapped and taken off. so if they do it on the bikes its most likely be this way as its cheaper the tec is already there. also they'll probably do this to the silly fast bikes to get them down a bit.

[gilbert7]

the hayabusa is restricted to 186

i think limiters are dangerous because sometimes you need to be able to break the limit like when overtaking. i know you shouldn't have to break the speed limit but i think it is safer to break the speed limit for a second or two and get back into your lane and out of the way of any on coming traffic. also it may have been safe to overtake when you puled out and you may have looked at the manover from every possible angle but still something can and will happen like a car breaks and you lose the gap in the traffic you were going to use so you have to speed to get a gap further up the traffic.

[st3v3]

how would you like to be going down a duel carriageway and whilst overtaking a chap in a car, your bike tops out due to the restrictor and you can't complete the manouvre? Imo even the safety nazi's don't trundle along at the speed limit, so we'd be stuffed. if it did come in, does that mean police bikes would be restricted too? thought not so even re-mapping wouldn't help cos the G'ment would make it an offense and the cops would know you were going over your 'restricted speed'..
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[demoNSR]

The wankers who think of these ideas, are just hypocrites. They just don't like it when they get cut up on the M,way by an R1 or a gixxer 1000. As mentioned before, would they really, seriously consider driving a car with a 500 cc engine? I think not. They just want the poor people off the road. That is why we pay so much tax on fuel etc.
We have a right to our machines, regardless of size and power. But we also have a responsibility to use them sensibly. I can't see a problem doing a 120, 140 down the M,way, if the road ahead is clear, and free from debris etc. But to speed in heavy traffic is just asking for trouble. Some "responsible" car drivers may even take down your reg No. and report you. Simply because they are stressed out, stuck in the traffic jam, and let their jealousy get the better of them.
So the bottom line is, be sensible, and we might see a drop in motorcyle related accidents, and the govt. scrap this shitty idea.

[Kickstart]

[Walloper]

ALL MOTORCYCLES ARE FITTED WITH SPEED LIMITERS!

They are known as 'Throttle Stops'.

Mine's cuts in/limits my speed at about 155mph..
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[lukamon]

if you can find one moped over 3 years old that isn't derestricted...well........
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