Hi Pie Eater - It's not modification of vehicles from before 2015 I'm worried about. I'll probably have another bike then, but as with all bikes, I will modify it in some way. Suppose I have the 2015 Fazer with the crossplane crank and for whatever reason, I want to change it?
From the Government paper included in the consultation document:
"35. Advanced braking has the potential to reduce injury accidents by 1655 annually in the UK, saving over £234 million, when fitted to all motorcycles. However, it can also significantly increase the cost of entry level vehicles. The Government will seek to ensure lower cost alternatives are permitted in these cases. Anti-tampering measures are intended to prevent user modifications that increase pollutant emissions or reduce functional safety. While there is some justification where vehicle performance is intentionally restricted, e.g. vehicles intended for learner riders, there is no evidence that anti tampering offers benefits for larger machines. The Government therefore opposes a blanket anti tampering measure."
I hate it when government's say things like 'saving over £234 million'. That's some pencil pushers projection, and even if it's taken 10 years of research to come up with that figure, it will be wrong.
Good to know that the UK government is opposed though. Will that be enough in the face of the EU? I think not ..
"24. The proposal requires measures to prevent tampering of a vehicle's power-train with the aim of preventing modifications that may prejudice safety and to prevent damage to the environment. Details of the measures are not included in the proposal and will be laid down later in a delegated act."
So, there is a suggestion that the detail legislation will be up to member states, too, but . . .
The EU is a machine for creating legislation, a lot of which is not scrutinised by any elected official. Car safety has been radically improved over the last 20 years not by legislation but by manufacturers - eg Jaguar and disk brakes and then Mercedes and ABS dropped the accident rate hugely, Max Mosely and ENCAP did great work improving survivability with improved safety cells and secondary safety systems. They were all ahead of legislation.
The fact is, the manufacturers don't need legislation to improve safety and emissions, they do it anyway because it sells product. To give a biking example, Dainese's airbag leathers haven't come into existence because of legislation, it's because Dainese want to save lives. And if it wasn't for catalytic converters, cars would be cleaner than they are now because so much development time was diverted from other better technologies such as stratified charge engines like Honda's CVCC. I see no reason that bike manufacturers won't add ABS and improve emissions and mpg without legislation. We should let them get on with it instead of imposing faulty and costly legislation on them.
Brussel's has become a system that serves only itself.
The trouble is, manufacturers are going to be forced to spend a great deal of money on creating bikes which meet these regs for some markets, and I worry that this will mean that they will go for the lowest common denominator and build a single bike for all markets - ie the anti tamper version. There are many current bikes hovering around the 100bhp mark which would possibly have had more power if it were not for France's current 100bhp limit. For example, the last 10 years of VFRs, the current Suzuki GSR 750, ZX 750 and so on, are all built to hover around that limit, so we already have an idea of where this kind of legislation will lead.
Secondly, the idea that future bikes will not require aftermarket add ons and that we should be satisfied with whatever performance we're given will not be born out by reality. For instance, take a look at the dyno graph on the Akrapovic site for the VFR1200, a bike designed very recently and designed to be the template for many more big Hondas.
http://www.akrapovic.com/motorcycle-exhaust/products/honda/model/vfr-1200f-2010/slip-on-1b758943d8/Now, compare that torque curve with that of say . . an Ivanised Fazer ... which has a very flat curve with no whacking great holes in the delivery. The difference is immense.
The VFR1200 has a truly appalling torque curve. I've ridden it, and since all of those troughs and peaks are in the 30-90mph range, it makes the bike really unpleasant to ride. Open the throttle and sometimes you get drive, sometimes you don't. Is that satisfying, is that safe? 170bhp and my Fazer is easily the match for it in a roll on.
Honestly, it is the worst developed torque curve of any new bike made in the last decade, and even makes the standard Gen II torque curve look good! Both bikes could usefully employ a PCIII with a modified fuel map to make them better machines. That will be outlawed by this legislation because it directly affects both performance and emissions.
As I said, virtually all bikes can be improved with aftermarket goodies and the idea that bikes made in the future will be so good as to need no mods is a pipe dream. And what if you want to upgrade the braking system? ABS and OBD will make that impossible too, and it certainly means the end of specials. Ivan, Powercommander, KTech, Ohlins and the rest can kiss their businesses goodbye if this goes through.
Lastly, suppose all new bikes, scooters and EVs are forced to have this technology. It won't be cheap and although it will come down in price, there will always be an up front cost. Right now, a cheap Honda 125 scoot is around 1800 quid but it will doubtless be more expensive in coming years. Now imagine you're 18 - how are you going to afford to buy a scoot or a bike? EU legislation is creating an increased cost for entry to the motorised world for young people. It's getting to the point where anyone 18-23 cannot legally afford private transport and raising that barrier to entry is a rotten thing to do to the young. . .
Course, what actually happens is that they just buy a cheap car and 'forget' the insurance which is why there are 3 million uninsured drivers on the road. What an idiotic system we're creating when it's so expensive to get wheels that we effectively outlaw 3 million people.