Was just checking the rate of duty for my 700 Tracer on the DVLA website and I see that bikes over 600cc are rated at £85 per annum (or more if you pay half yearly or by instalments).
Now I run a small car a Fiat Panda Pop 1.2 with an emissions figure of 119gms C02/km. This is the latest version of the car with the Euro 6 compliant engine & the VED is £30 per annum.
This got me looking at the V5c for the Tracer and I see it doesnt state a C02 figure but seeing as its a 2016 model with fuel injection,catalytic converter etc and with better fuel consumption than the Panda (DVLA quote 54.5mpg for the car), regularly returning 65plus mpg I wonder why bikes are penalised so?
This wasnt the end of this story as I then looked at the VED rates for new cars first registered April 2017 onwards and it appears they have new criteria for calculating duty rates which mean that the motorist once again is going to be mugged by the govt.
There are several different tables for VED based on age of vehicle(date 1st registered) and I accept that older vehicles are going to be more polluting than new ones but there is no fairness in the present system and I assume that they tax us motorcyclists on the basis that they see us as hobby riders or leisure pursuers not as a class of road user that actually helps reduce pollution & congestion.
And finally why all this emphasis on C02 emissions? In my opinion diesel particulates represent a far more immediate & significant threat to our health & well being but of course diesel was "sold" to Joe Public as the way forward a few years ago and now we have 50% of cars diesel powered, many of these being used for short stop-start journeys rather than for their intended purpose-long distance travel.
Crazy world isnt it?
Now I run a small car a Fiat Panda Pop 1.2 with an emissions figure of 119gms C02/km. This is the latest version of the car with the Euro 6 compliant engine & the VED is £30 per annum.
This got me looking at the V5c for the Tracer and I see it doesnt state a C02 figure but seeing as its a 2016 model with fuel injection,catalytic converter etc and with better fuel consumption than the Panda (DVLA quote 54.5mpg for the car), regularly returning 65plus mpg I wonder why bikes are penalised so?
This wasnt the end of this story as I then looked at the VED rates for new cars first registered April 2017 onwards and it appears they have new criteria for calculating duty rates which mean that the motorist once again is going to be mugged by the govt.
There are several different tables for VED based on age of vehicle(date 1st registered) and I accept that older vehicles are going to be more polluting than new ones but there is no fairness in the present system and I assume that they tax us motorcyclists on the basis that they see us as hobby riders or leisure pursuers not as a class of road user that actually helps reduce pollution & congestion.
And finally why all this emphasis on C02 emissions? In my opinion diesel particulates represent a far more immediate & significant threat to our health & well being but of course diesel was "sold" to Joe Public as the way forward a few years ago and now we have 50% of cars diesel powered, many of these being used for short stop-start journeys rather than for their intended purpose-long distance travel.
Crazy world isnt it?