Are you 'rufty, tufty?'

Riders across the UK have reacted with a mixture of amusement and anger after being labelled “rufty, tufty, racers” by a spokesman for the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF).

Jeff Stone’s words have been reported around the world since giving his quote to the Guardian newspaper on Monday (Click here to read the full report – external site).

He was talking about the fact that the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell-powered bike is a silent runner.

MCN has ridden the ENV bike. Read our exclusive report in the March 16 issue on sale now.

“A lot of motorcyclists will say bikes these days are already far too quiet. They want to say ‘look at me, I’m a rufty, tufty racer,” Jeff said.

“Rufty tufty racer?! Who is this twit?” asks Casca on our Have Your Say forums.

And snaefell added: “I saw this. The fact that it’s on the front page of the Guardian with a comment like this just gives more ammo to the anti bike / anti race can / not allowed to drive thru my village type of small minded envious morons. Why can’t he make a positive statement – I thought the BMF were supposed to be promoting the biker image to the less informed public.”

Jeff’s full response is on page two of this article.

motorcyclenews.com user a3rider points out this from the BBC’s coverage of the same story: ‘But anti-noise campaigners said they welcomed the prospect of a motorbike without the usual excruciating roar.’ What ‘usual excruciating roar’ would that be? He asks and says he’s e-mailed a complaint to them. See the BBC story: HERE

Add your views by following the ‘related topic’ link, right.

Here’s what the BMF’s Jeff Stone has to say for himself::

“Some of you might have seen or heard of the Guardian article on a fuel cell powered bike.

“Amongst other things, the reporter was interested in the lack of noise aspect and how that would go down with bikers. He then quoted me as saying “A lot of motorcyclists will say bikes these days are already far too quiet. They want to say ‘look at me, I’m a rufty, tufty racer.”

“The rufty-tufty phrase is mine (but not the racer!) and was a light hearted bit of fun, but what I actually said was that engine and exhaust sounds are part of riding a bike, but bikes as they come from the manufacturer comply with EU rules and are as quiet as a car, it’s only a few rufty tufty bikers who think making a noise is clever and draw attention to themselves by fitting illegal race cans.

“As you can see, he summarised it somewhat so I thought I’d let you know what was actually said.”

“It was a summary of a 5-10 minute telephone conversation. Yes he quoted part of what I said, but not all of it. He wasn’t anti-bike but like most non-bikers, his perception was that bikes are noisy and we all like to make a noise. I tried to diffuse it by making light of it.”