Furious at 20 mile M1 biker road block ! Get a life !

[Cyrus1971]

I drove from Newcastle to London yesterday (Sunday 24th June) and before Sheffield there was a convoy heading south of circa 3,000 motorbikes of all types blocking off 2 lanes driving at a steady 30 to 40 mph. Absolutely selfish, actively disruptive law breaking 2 wheeled retards – protesting about some EU biker rules. I am sorry but no matter how good you think your cause to be (and it may be) I automatically HATE anyone who has to inconvenience others to grab attention. The government spends literally £ xyz Millions of tax making motorways 3 lanes wide and you think you have some God given right to convert them to single lanes. The tailbacks were massive. It took literally an hour and a half to get past their sanctimonious clown bikes. Many with their hazards on, in the 1st overtaking lane, swerving about from time to time. Cops should have filmed the lot and automatically post out fines for dangerous driving. A Motorway is not a protest zone, it is not like a march on parliament you retards. It is a working resource for the nation and hijacking it just endorses you as a minority who don’t understand the majority.

[Motorrad]

1/10, not enough profanity and your impotent frustration doesn't really come through enough. Poor effort.

[Engineer1]

I wonder if you would be so furious if the changes they were protesting impacted you??

[littleredrooster]

So where were you when the fuel price protests were doing much the same thing 5 years ago? Either:
1. You had sympathy for the cause so said nowt or,
2. You weren't on the road at the time so it didn't affect you.

Hypocritical either way, I think.

Poor rant, BTW

[Megaflow]

Consider how you'd feel if the EU brought in a law which meant you could not fit any non standard parts to your car, including non OE spare parts, which is effectively what the EU are proposing.

[R0G]

What a wste of time - protesting to the UK Govt on an EU parliament issue

If they had held that protest around the EU parliament then maybe it would have had an impact

[Jag-D]

Awww someone inconvenience your life did they? Oh how rude of them nasty biker types

Get a grip

[Dr Interceptor]

You're lucky, I'd have been tempted to shut the road completely.

[rhinochopig]

Engineer1 said:

I wonder if you would be so furious if the changes they were protesting impacted you??

I've no sympathy whatsoever TBH. One of the reasons for the law change is to stamp out the use of noisy cans.

We get at least two threads a year in biker-banter on the topic and there are a usually a raft of "I like the sound so fk everyone else LoL" and "+1" follow-ups. Since I've been on PH the opposing viewpoint has been pointing out the likely consequences of making the countryside - the place were an awful lot of very very affluent and politically well connected people live - sound like Donny or Silverstone on race day.

[stoocake]

I agree with everyone else I'm afraid - sure it's an inconvenience but the proposals are ridiculous and any protest against EU bullcrap is fine by me

[off_again]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I always was taught that the speed limit was just that - a limit. Last time I looked, there is no minimum speed on the motorway. So from my limited knowledge, what they did wasnt illegal...

[Clivew]

I saw something similar yesterday on the M8 heading east. Luckily I was heading west, but didn't have a clue that it was a protest. Surely the point of a protest is to make the public aware of their plight? I think most would have assumed it was the usual Sunday biker's ride out, although on a larger scale.

[off_again]

Megaflow said:

Consider how you'd feel if the EU brought in a law which meant you could not fit any non standard parts to your car, including non OE spare parts, which is effectively what the EU are proposing.

First on bikes, quickly followed by cars.... imagine that. I mean, you can only fit "type approved" parts to your car and any form of performance modification would be directly controlled and limited by the EU? Seem excessive? Well, dont blame me when it comes.

[Dusty964]

Cyrus1971 said:

It is a working resource for the nation

No no, its a piece of road.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Complete twunts.

How does inconveniencing British road users amount to a protest to EU rules?

It's about as effective as an anti EU slogan spray painted on a wall in east Africa.

[Amateurish]

Megaflow said:

Consider how you'd feel if the EU brought in a law which meant you could not fit any non standard parts to your car, including non OE spare parts, which is effectively what the EU are proposing.

That's surely not true. The use of non-OEM parts is protected by EU law and in fact the EU has forced manufacturers to accept the use of non-OEM parts by independent garages.

[KingNothing]

Bunch of wkers need to grow up, and I'm aware of the rules and have a full bike license myself, being dicks on public highways with the aim of causing a nuisance under the guise of being a "legitimate protest" is fking stupid, well done, what did they achieve, did they hold up any important people who are incharge of opposing these laws, i.e. MP's, european MP's, if so, would they actually give a fk? Or did they just hold up regular people and piss them off?

[Pothole]

Is the M1 the only route from Sheffield to London?

Fuller response to follow from home.

[trickywoo]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Complete twunts.

How does inconveniencing British road users amount to a protest to EU rules?

It's about as effective as an anti EU slogan spray painted on a wall in east Africa.

The trouble is if you write to your MP in a reasoned considered way, as I did, you'll just get a reply back to the effect that MPs think it is a good idea and therefore won't speak up about the issue.

[marshalla]

Amateurish said:

That's surely not true. The use of non-OEM parts is protected by EU law and in fact the EU has forced manufacturers to accept the use of non-OEM parts by independent garages.

But now they are proposing to change that rule to prevent bikes being modified. The next logical step is to extend a ban on use of non-OEM parts to tax/MOT test exempt vehicles in the name of safety too. If that "works", they can keep rolling it out.