New Motorcycle Test - an insight

As most of you are now aware the ‘New’ Motorcycle test will be instigated from the 29th Sept 2008, this is not an option it is happening! (or a fine from the European busy bodies of 500 million euros will be levied).

Now this may not concern most of you as you have already passed your test. However with the DSA only managing to build 17 of the 66 so called super centres countrywide with effect from the 29th Sept 2008 the motorcycle industry is going to grind slowly to a halt. And NOBODY seems to CARE.

Why, you may ask, is it gonna grind to a halt? Well none of the training schools will be able to book tests for months in advance as there will not be enough places to cover all the areas so in some cases they will have to travel nearly 50 miles to take a test (and a return journey) and that could take upto 1-1 1/2 hours depending on traffic (not quiet within the 20 miles and 45mins the government are claiming to be available me thinks!!).

So how does this still impact on you? Well since no one can get a test people will not be inclined to go for a bike there for bike sales will decline (I spoke to one dealer recently who fully expects his show room to be selling carpets within the next 2 yrs). So Dealers will start closing. So what you say still not really effecting me. You will then have to travel further to buy a bike, get it serviced or repaired, costs are gonna go up because they now have a monopoly on the area as no competition. So you will be less inclined to look to upgrade.

You will then finally get round to saying that ‘nevermind I’ll keep the bike for Sunday’ and use the car more. Not that I am an enviromentalist but your now adding more to the UKs Carbon foot print. So you see it does affect you more than you think. The government could have argued for a reduction in the speed of the exercises by 1MPH and all the exercises could have been done on the public road (like they are now) but no they wanted a 31MPH limit to the exercises. So for the sake of 1mph the governemnt have NOT managed to acheive anything (not unusual), over spent on the building budget which was set for the whole 66 sites by only building 17 of the sites(wonder what the cost is for the remaining sites?), have managed to start shutting down a complete section of the motor industry that they want to get off the road anyway (because we are a liabilty to the NHS, police and councils).

And why because who cares if they upset 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 bikers, whose gonna listen to them? Start writing to your MP NOW, demanding action for the future rights of you children to have a freedom of choice to ride a motorcycle and to contirbute to the carbon saving of the country.