On the Road Again!

In the UK we have had vehicle testing, known as the MoT, for many years and I guess it is harder for us to understand the unwillingness of our former EU buddies to want the same. It's true that older machines are probably maintained better than the Spotty Herbert on his 125 scooter and so Historic Vehicles (over 40 years old) are exempt here. But the MoT is only really as good as today. It passes today but something could happen to it tomorrow and it carries the risk until fixed or until the next MoT! Read more here: https://www.femamotorcycling.eu/french-motorcycle-inspections/

The weekend is here! But before you start riding, don't forget to join your national motorcyclists' association! You will find them here: https://www.femamotorcycling.eu/about-us/members/ In the UK we have two riders rights associations.  The BMF and MAG. http: rs

FEMA’s first General Secretary Frank Pearson passed away at 71. 'The international motorcycling community lost on of its true pioneers.' I met Frank several times when he came to the bike shows in London when I was working on stands for the Suzuki Owners Club, at the Horticultural Halls in Victoria and at Earls Court. A very nice bloke and his heart was deeply invested in rider's rights.

This is the latest from FEMA. What are the chances of anyone in the European Commission taking a blind bit of notice?  The unelected commissioners do what ever they like and the sheep in the European Parliament simply rubber stamp it. https://www.femamotorcycling.eu/eu-road-safety-2021/

After 20,000 French motorcyclists hit the streets to demand the legalization of filtering between lanes of slow moving or stopped traffic, the government was ready to listen. https://www.femamotorcycling.eu/french-filtering/

A lane splitting experiment showed ‘disappointing’ results, according to road safety experts, but they see the need for a second, more in-depth experiment. A five-year experiment in 11 French departments, allowing motorcyclists to filter between lanes of slow moving or stopped traffic, will end on Sunday 31 January 2021. Filtering – or lane splitting – will again be prohibited on all French roads from 1 February. The experiment, according to road safety experts, showed ‘disappointing’ results. CEREMA (the Centre for Studies and Expertise on Risks, Environment, Mobility and Planning), in charge of assessing the experiment, has submitted its  report  to the Interministerial Delegate for Road Safety (DISR). This report shows that the accident of motorized two-wheelers increased by 12% on the roads where the experiment took place, while it decreased by 10% on the other roads of the departments concerned. ‘The filtering by motorized two-wheelers was well accepted by other road user...

There is no evidence that the technical state of motorcycles plays a significant role in accidents, but still some members of the European parliament want to periodically inspect every bike in Europe, thinking it will improve road safety. Read on - https://www.femamotorcycling.eu/motorcycle-inspections/

There is no better place to test the performance of motorcycles with ABS on gravel roads than Sweden. One fifth of the Swedish road network are gravel roads. Read the full article > http:// femamotorcycling.eu/abs-superior-o n-gravel

Following repeated claims from Transport for London (TfL) that "individually, motorcycles can be highly polluting", MAG has demanded that TfL produce evidence to back this claim.  TfL stalled for many months before finally claiming that they take information from the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory. MAG investigated this "evidence" and discovered that the information from NAEI is, in fact, a modelling calculation; and we can now reveal that this model actually backs our position that pre-Euro 3 motorcycles are not necessarily "highly polluting" and that, by the admission of the software modellers, the figures over-estimate real-world emissions from motorcycles. TfL has chosen  NOx emissions limit of 0.15g/km for motorcycles, based on the figure for this single pollutant in the Euro 3 motorcycle standard.  TfL claim that the evidence for pre-Euro 3 motorcycles being highly polluting is provided by the COPERT 5 data for ...

Reports were flying around parts of the press and social media yesterday of a new EU ruling meaning on-board restricting computers will be fitted to all new motorcycles to stop them speeding.  The reports were not accurate. We immediately contacted our friends at the Federation of European Motorcyclists Associations (FEMA), the European riders' rights organisation.  FEMA General Secretary, Dolf Willigers, confirmed that he had seen a number of reports in the British press that were "just not right". Dolf went on to explain: "The parliamentary committee on Internal Market and Consumer Affairs (IMCO) has adopted a revised version of the General Safety Regulation. The scope of the regulation are M and N category vehicles, not L-category vehicles (motorcycles are category L3e vehicles). The draft regulation talks of an assistance system that cannot be turned off, but the IMCO adapted report states that the driver can always switch the sys...

I picked this up from Twitter earlier today - h ttp://www.fema-online.eu/website/index.php/consumer-information/riding-with-a-trailer/ Back in the 90's I bought a trailer to take my chattels and books to Czech when I was there teaching at a school.  Unfortunately it was probably the only trailer ever fitted to a Suzuki GT750A.  Not a bike anyone would choose to travel across Europe and live with as sole transport for a year before fitting a trailer hitch! I still have both and they are both in need of TLC. TLC = money thrown at them. Although the GT has long been hitchless. Taken in 1994 after return from Czech Although the list on the FEMA site includes countries I have been to with the trailer, both on the GT and a later Yamaha XJ900F, the information is a surprise.   I have ridden in Slovakia after the Velvet Divorce  and wan't stopped by the police or in any way hampered by them. In Germany we were speeding along the A3 autob...

Ian Churchlow, the Motorcycle Action Group's (MAG) representative on a European bikers' rights federation, represented the movement at a major working group on riders' rights in Brussels. MAG Director Ian Churchlow has just returned from Brussels, having attended a full day conference held by the Federation of International Motorcyclists (FIM), to discuss issues affecting bikers across the European continent and beyond. Ian says, "this was a joint working group between FEMA and FIM and we met at FEMA Office Brussels on 18th October (2017).   We identified many areas where we have common interests and shared concerns.  These include motorcycle exhaust sounds and the balance between the damage irresponsible use of the motorcycle throttle and illegal exhausts can make to the image of motorcyclists versus the right to buy an aftermarket exhaust system without undue restrictions." "We also covered the question of self-driving cars and whether this c...

FEMA (the Federation of European Motorcyclists Associations) had their first full meeting of 2013 last weekend in Germany, and I'm pleased to announce that MAG continues its involvement at the centre of riders' rights in Europe with the election of Pat Van Alst as FEMA's Director of Finance. Pat already acts as Finance Officer for MAG UK and has an excellent track record, but his nomination and successful election to the FEMA Board of Directors cements MAG's commitment to FEMA. Pat had the whole-hearted backing of our own National Committee. It's pure coincidence that he rides an ST1100 Pan European! FEMA's current President, Gerard Livett, another MAG UK member and former regional Rep for London, has been in the post for 4 years, but has decided that he should step down. When Gerard was elected to the Presidency he did so on the platform of wishing to protect and enhance motorcycling and he has certainly done that, along with all of the team based perm...