Over 150 Riders attend RAV event at Bridge Motorcycles Exeter.

Riders from the South West crowded into Bridge Motorcycle’s Exeter showroom on Friday night to listen to, and ask questions of, Conservative MEP Giles Chichester as part of a Riders Are Voters event.

The event, organised by Motorcycle Action Group members from the area, including Jono Broad and John Groves in association with Lee and the team at Bridge, was a huge success and although emotions ran high on occasion, Giles Chichester said it really helped him understand the strength of feeling and the issues in question.

Those issues, all created by the EU Type Approval Regulation COM(2010)542, include the prohibition of modifications to a bike’s power-train and perhaps some cycle parts. Central to concern, apart from the fact that there is absolutely no evidential base for the proposal, is that since the Lisbon Treaty was signed, the technical heart of the proposal (which components will be affected) is to be contained in what are called ‘Delegated Acts’. These will be completed AFTER MEPs in the European Parliament have voted to accept them! Hence the uncertainty of exactly what will be affected.

Giles tried to explain where EU accountability lay and not surprisingly, had some difficulty, but he did compliment those riders attending, on their depth of knowledge of the issue, which he admitted was more than his own.

MAG is grateful to Mr Chichester for his attendance, who said it was possibly the largest public meeting he had experienced in his South West Constituency.

We are also delighted that the editor of RIDE Magazine, Colin Overland not only attended the event but also joined MAG as a full member.

See pictures from the event below…..

Calling RAV activists in the South West – MEP Surgery 30th March 2012.

South West MAG have set up an MEP ‘Super Surgery’ to take place on Friday 30th March at Bridge Motorcycles in Exeter. This is your chance to have your say – if you live in the South West please support this event.

Giles Chichester will be attending a MAG South West Region ‘Super Surgery’ at 19.30 at Bridge Motorcycles in Exeter.

This is an opportunity not to be missed, Giles Chichester is a South West MEP, and one of the MEP’s that can influence the EU on their proposals.

Paddy Tyson, MAG Campaigns Manager will be attending, as will the South West MAG Reps. However, if we wish to demonstrate how strongly we feel and how opposed we are to these proposed regulations, and give him the information and knowledge he needs to make an informed decision, we need to fill Bridge Motorcycles show room to capacity.

We had 80 riders attending the last RAV Question Time event to meet prospective Exeter City Councillors, this time we need to fill it with 200 riders or more.

Location: Bridge Motorcycles, Alphin Brook Road Marsh Barton, Exeter 01392 260200.

www.facebook.com/events/196459237125773/

Riders Are Voters 2012 lobby of Parliament

Riders Are Voters organised another Lobby Day of MP’s which took place on Wednesday 7th March. ‘Riders Are Voters’ is a coalition representing riders, industry and sport. The event was sponsored by Steven Baker MP, of the Associate Parliamentary Motorcycle Group.

Activists were invited to contact their MP’s to make appointments to see them in their place of work and lobby them on specific issues currently affecting motorcycling. This was very much a targeted event and the three main issues that were highlighted, amongst others were:

• EU Type Approval regulations (particularly anti-tampering)
• Further restrictions on new riders (mostly DSA related)
• Importance of bikes to individual mobility and the economy

A number of MP’s dropped in to the Committee Room where the lobby was taking place and the majority of activists in attendance successfully made appointments to see their MP’s to talk about their concerns. The day as a whole went very well and the feedback from the MP’s concerned was really positive and they were impressed with the level of knowledge and the passion of their constituents in attendance.

We still need you to write to your MP’s and MEP’s with your concerns regarding local and national issues. They’re not mind readers, so need their constituents to highlight these issues and bring them to their attention. Thank you for all the letter writing that has already been done.

MAG member and Dep Gen Sec Louisa Smith with her MP Nadhim Zahawi.

MAG member and Mid Devon MAG Rep John Groves with his MP Mel Stride.

Suggested letter template for writing to your MEP’s

Here is a suggested letter template to send to your MEP’s regarding the proposed EU regulation on Type Approval and market surveillance. If you don’t wish to use it, please do try to use some of the points within it. It is also always a good idea to personalise the letter slightly.

Please click on the  ‘Find Your MEP’ button in the left hand column.

Remember, you probably have 6 or 7 MEPs so please write to each one of them.This takes you to the write to them web tool to contact , if preferred you can email them individually – details can be found at http://www.europarl.org.uk/view/en/your_MEPs/List-MEPs-by-region.html .

‘Dear …………….

As a constituent, I would like to raise my concerns regarding the content and progress of a piece of European Legislation, currently timetabled for Plenary vote in April 2012.

The proposed EU Regulation on Type Approval and Market Surveillance of two and three-wheeled vehicles passed its first reading, Committee stage, on 5th December even though an impact assessment on many elements of the proposal was ongoing.

Some new text adopted by the (IMCO) Committee, especially the extension of mandatory ABS to all scooters and motorcycles, the introduction of a new Article 18a (see below) and the Delegated Acts (drafts of which are now available), appear to have moved well outside the scope of the Commission’s original proposal. Article 18a also relies on Member States to establish National policing.

ABS is being adopted by some riders, but the technology is not as advanced as for cars and there are many riding conditions where it is not suitable, or where combined braking systems (in which the industry has invested heavily) are more suitable, especially with smaller scooters. The Commission’s mandating of ABS is therefore inappropriate for both the market and manufacturing.

Articles 17 and 52 also directly impact on motorcyclists as consumers, controlling the sale and availability of after-market parts within the EU and the modification of certain aspects of the machine to suit riding conditions.

The Plenary session vote has now been timetabled for 14th March, which is too soon to enable sufficient discussion beforehand and which permits no time within the chamber for debate.

This debate is necessary, as there are many parts of this Regulation which I, as a rider and consumer, welcome, so this cannot be a yes/no vote on the acceptance or rejection of the proposal as a whole.

It is welcome for example, that Article 22 will lead to CO2 emissions being published at point of sale for every model. Similarly, paragraph 9 (page 11) which aims to over-turn the earlier decision to introduce power limits for motorcycles (1995), on the basis that no evidence can be found of a correlation between safety and power. This assertion rather undermines one of the central tenets of the whole proposal, that speed or ‘tuning’ has a detrimental effect on safety, again forcing the assumption that the Commission’s proposals appear not to be evidence led.

I urge you to read the Regulation COM (2010) 542 and the consolidated text post the IMCO Committee vote, which is not in the public domain and use your influence to delay the Parliamentary vote.

Could I respectfully ask that you send your reply to Central Office of the Motorcycle Action Group who are compiling replies in order to monitor voting behaviour. This can be either electronically to: campaigns-coordinator@mag-uk.org

or by post to
MAG (UK)
PO Box 750
Warwick
CV34 9FU

Yours Sincerely,
…………………………………..

Article 18a- Measures and Proceedings regarding modifications to L-category vehicles by the users or those acting on their behalf
1. If substantial modifications are made to the powertrain components by the user or by those acting on his behalf the vehicle shall comply with the technical requirements of the initial vehicle category and subcategory, or, if applicable, the new vehicle category and subcategory, which were in force when the original vehicle was sold, registered or entered into service. Those modifications shall be inspected and approved by the competent authorities in the Member States.
3. A modification is substantial when it affects the safety of the vehicle or its emissions to the environment. A modification is deemed to be substantial when it renders the original type approval obsolete.’