Petition: Abolish road tax on Motorcycles

Clov!s said:
If you do some research, you'll find very little money we pay which is classed as 'Road Tax' goes on any roads at all..

It's mostly put into a big government pot which is spent on whatever is needed..
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My reply was aimed at the facetiousness of "whats road tax" - nobody calls it VED ;)
 
Firestar_3x said:
I can only assume the almost 7k worth of people who signed that have as little idea about road tax as the petition starter?
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Yup... such as it being VED, now! ;)

wazza300 said:
smaller engines than cars,most of them with far superior mpg how can they pollute more?
just get rid of the tax !!!!!!
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Depends what they measure for VED.
Bikes use less fuel and kick out less CO2... but emit more things like carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide, due to not having loads of catalytic converters and stuff bolted on like cars have.
Studies have shown, scientists have proven, etc etc...

billysielu said:
Um, well, I'd sign a petition to abolish motorcycles, but I'm not signing this.
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Abolish my motorcycle??!!
You honestly don't want me getting behind the wheel of a car on any given day and you REALLY don't want to force it on me!!!
 
Why doesn't my VED rate change when I put on a different exhaust that affects emissions?

Or why does somebody with less emissions who drives daily pay less than me when I only drive once a month?

etc.

Obviously VED/Road Tax/Fairy fund doesn't go directly to the roads. Local councils don't get a cheque from the DVLA every month do they? But it's not the point the petition was getting at. It's more about the inequality and messed up bands I imagine.
 
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Motorcycle tax is cheap as chips compared to my car. An R6 is like £60 a year whereas my Fiesta ST costs about £250 a year.
 
Meh, even as a biker I'm not really bothered about this. If you really want parity then it should be done on individual bike emissions rather than cc's, but that would only benefit much newer bikes. For example a 2006 CBR600 puts out over 130g/km, which would put it into the £130 per year car bracket. Ironically my 2012 GS would just fit into the zero tax bracket.

It's cheap enough as it is though - especially if you ride a 125 lol.
 
My Ducati 899 is rated at 140g/km with the stock cans, Termis remove the catalytic converters and remap the ECU so that figure probably jumps right up :eek:

A stock 1199 is 190g/km

I am pretty happy to pay 80 quid a year!
 
but everyone likes something for free:D

look at all the old classics,donkeys years old and pollute like chimneys yet they make those tax exempt lol
 
Yer leave as is.

Research has already said that co2 isnt really an issue when it comes to air quality its the hydro carbons etc which is why all these low co2 diesels are actually making the air quality in built up areas worse!

I'm happy paying just £80 thanks.

I want a petition for all bikes to be able to ride in all buslanes, that's only a thing in some cities. Very annoying
 
wazza300 said:
smaller engines than cars,most of them with far superior mpg how can they pollute more?
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Because until fairly recently (in car terms) they weren't even fitted with cats from the factory, and even now the MOT test doesn't test emissions so you can rip the cat out as soon as you buy it.

Smaller engines don't necessarily mean less pollutants either, a 600cc 100bhp sports bike engine pumps out a similar amount of exhaust as a 1.6L 100bhp car engine when producing the same power. However with minimal emissions control systems compared to a car, and the engine being in a far higher state of tune, a bike engine it will contain higher levels of nasties like CO and HC.

I think it would be fair to bring in a zero or ultra low VED band for modern commuter bikes that meet some set emissions targets, but older bike and even the more powerful sports bikes would never justify cheaper tax on 'eco' grounds. Anything like this would obviously go hand in hand with emissions testing at MOT time, something I suspect most bikers would rather avoid.
 
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^JP^ said:
My Ducati 899 is rated at 140g/km with the stock cans, Termis remove the catalytic converters and remap the ECU so that figure probably jumps right up :eek:

A stock 1199 is 190g/km

I am pretty happy to pay 80 quid a year!
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This.

As motorcyclists, we pay pittance for the performance we get. Motorcycles do pollute more, that is a fact. We should be thankful that they haven't looked at us, yet.
 
I don't mind paying the tax especially monthly I just wish we had better roads. Way too may potholes and uneven road surfaces. Oh and better parking in London too please especially if we're paying for it.
 
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