If you couldn’t speed, would you own a bike?
Discussion
Ignoring the political, practical and technical issues, if from 1 Jan next year you could only register a bike for use on the road if it had a GPS enabled speed limiter so that you couldn’t break any speed limits (and assume the law was properly enforced so you couldn’t just disable it and carry on riding as you do now), would you still own a motorbike?
Answer for me would most likely be no.
The bike(s) I own or have owned have pretty much all been sportsbikes or super nakeds and I can’t imagine owning one and being forced to keep within the limits. I suppose there are other types of motorbike for which speed limiters would be less of an issue eg 125s, cruisers or trail bikes. Could I live with trying to have fun at low speed? Not sure.
Other views?
Answer for me would most likely be no.
The bike(s) I own or have owned have pretty much all been sportsbikes or super nakeds and I can’t imagine owning one and being forced to keep within the limits. I suppose there are other types of motorbike for which speed limiters would be less of an issue eg 125s, cruisers or trail bikes. Could I live with trying to have fun at low speed? Not sure.
Other views?
Yes, I probably would.
Would it be frustrating? Probably.
Do I speed now? Of course not, don't be ridiculous, the very suggestion.
Going fast is fun but it isn't the main attraction. I'm all about the simplicity and directness of the experience. If there was a less complicated way to move a human with an engine, I'd be all over it.
k
I used to ride a sports tourer and ride a tourer now, but have hardly ridden my bike for years now for various reasons.
When I did ride more often I never got the high speed thing and would pretty much keep to below a speed that would either keep me out of double digit points or a ban if caught.
With speed restrictions I would still get the challenge and fun of effectively dealing with a set of twisties, and the feeling of independence you get from the small size, vision and power, but the last of these would be fairly heavily dented by the inability to use acceleration beyond a (fairly low) point or not being able to use acceleration up to beyond legal limits to increase the safety margin on an overtake.
I could still probably see myself having plenty fun on the right road on a much lower powered bike though - it's challenging yourself and pushing the boundaries a bit that is entertaining for me, and if you just reduce the boundaries it might still work.
When I did ride more often I never got the high speed thing and would pretty much keep to below a speed that would either keep me out of double digit points or a ban if caught.
With speed restrictions I would still get the challenge and fun of effectively dealing with a set of twisties, and the feeling of independence you get from the small size, vision and power, but the last of these would be fairly heavily dented by the inability to use acceleration beyond a (fairly low) point or not being able to use acceleration up to beyond legal limits to increase the safety margin on an overtake.
I could still probably see myself having plenty fun on the right road on a much lower powered bike though - it's challenging yourself and pushing the boundaries a bit that is entertaining for me, and if you just reduce the boundaries it might still work.
s2kjock said:
I used to ride a sports tourer and ride a tourer now, but have hardly ridden my bike for years now for various reasons.
When I did ride more often I never got the high speed thing and would pretty much keep to below a speed that would either keep me out of double digit points or a ban if caught.
With speed restrictions I would still get the challenge and fun of effectively dealing with a set of twisties, and the feeling of independence you get from the small size, vision and power, but the last of these would be fairly heavily dented by the inability to use acceleration beyond a (fairly low) point or not being able to use acceleration up to beyond legal limits to increase the safety margin on an overtake.
I could still probably see myself having plenty fun on the right road on a much lower powered bike though - it's challenging yourself and pushing the boundaries a bit that is entertaining for me, and if you just reduce the boundaries it might still work.
Depends on the roads near you. I have some brilliant ones near me here in NZ but being honest there are not that many that would be interesting at 100 kmh and under. And then you wouldn’t be able to overtake so the few interesting corners at 100 kmh or less you would probably be stuck behind a car going even slower. When I did ride more often I never got the high speed thing and would pretty much keep to below a speed that would either keep me out of double digit points or a ban if caught.
With speed restrictions I would still get the challenge and fun of effectively dealing with a set of twisties, and the feeling of independence you get from the small size, vision and power, but the last of these would be fairly heavily dented by the inability to use acceleration beyond a (fairly low) point or not being able to use acceleration up to beyond legal limits to increase the safety margin on an overtake.
I could still probably see myself having plenty fun on the right road on a much lower powered bike though - it's challenging yourself and pushing the boundaries a bit that is entertaining for me, and if you just reduce the boundaries it might still work.
No.
No point at all. Biking is a dangerous activity and also an expensive one. The risk/finances vs reward is not there for me.
I don't speed everywhere especially in built up areas, but on 60 plus roads I do like most of us do. Overtaking would be almost impossible as well.
Might as well buy a fun low weight/powered sports car. Safer and less faff.
No point at all. Biking is a dangerous activity and also an expensive one. The risk/finances vs reward is not there for me.
I don't speed everywhere especially in built up areas, but on 60 plus roads I do like most of us do. Overtaking would be almost impossible as well.
Might as well buy a fun low weight/powered sports car. Safer and less faff.
Yes, I mainly green lane so generally doing sub 30 mph anyway, that’s dangerous enough! Biking is nice and cheap in comparison to cars at least.
I don’t enjoy riding fast on the road (albeit I haven’t got the bike for it at all), I’ll be getting a Moto Guzzi V7 next year, 50 odd bhp is plenty on the road.
I know a fair few lads who have up road riding, only do track days now, quite common for those who ride sports bikes I’d guess?
I don’t enjoy riding fast on the road (albeit I haven’t got the bike for it at all), I’ll be getting a Moto Guzzi V7 next year, 50 odd bhp is plenty on the road.
I know a fair few lads who have up road riding, only do track days now, quite common for those who ride sports bikes I’d guess?
Yes: I try to stay there or thereabouts to the speed limit nowadays, a habit I've dropped into in recent years on four wheels as there's too much traffic and too many cameras, not to mention dashcams. On NSL's I try to focus on enjoying the twisties and avoid bombing it down the straights and there are roads near me where I can have fun without going over the limit (much) but on more open roads that speed limit is very low, I try to maintain my licence.
Seight_Returns said:
Absolutely yes. There's a joy that comes from motorcycling that you don't have to break the speed limit to experience.
As others have said - it would impact my choice of bike though.
Same here, I just enjoy being on a bike and the speed is an added bonus. I imagine an awful lot of the modern classics barely break the speed limit on most of their rides.As others have said - it would impact my choice of bike though.
KurtFlew said:
Probably not, I'd probably get a classic bike for a bit then get bored of that. This current relentless obsession by those above to replace all NSL roads for 40s and 50s makes it hard enough as it is.
i am thinking about doing trackdays a lot more for that reason. I get little pleasure doing 40 on a country road that used to be an NSL. Living in South London it takes me ages to get to decent roads as it is - the emasculation of the A29 is a terrible case in point. I think Kent still has a decent number of NSLs but Surrey and Sussex don't. Surfaces in Kent near London can be awful though - I suppose neglect is cheaper than signage! At some point when there's a COVID vaccine I suppose I'll have to go back to commuting to work. The bus/tube combo is ghastly anyway and why I got a bike in the first place - can see myself going to a trackbike and an electric scooter in due course.
Esceptico said:
...if from 1 Jan next year you could only register a bike for use on the road if it had a GPS enabled speed limiter so that you couldn’t break any speed limits (and assume the law was properly enforced so you couldn’t just disable it and carry on riding as you do now)...
eventually this will comethe full control of everything - money (electronic CB is already discusses in several countries), speed (interval speed checks like in Belgium), your behavior and personal freedom (electronic health path where without green light you can't even get into a grocery store, like in China, or social scoring connected to covid test, maybe soon connected to obligatory vaccination with some unknown fluid containing modified RNA), etc etc, this is all coming sooner or later.
but since you pose that question about GPS speed limiter, is it something already coming in NZ?
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