Australian legislation/regulations/ADRs

[HybriPed]

My advice for defending use of motorised bikes is taking the well trodden path and showing their history .. then showing a modern bike that's economical,quieter,and somehow a way of showing speeds can be regulated. Not forgetting to add that ordinary pushbikes are designed to do the speeds they are doing (brakes tyres and safety helmet)

Truly, music to my ears.

Pushbikes have a safe operating speed of 60 kph in competent hands. Any ADR for a motorized bike with a design operating speed of, say, 50 kph does not need the same rigour as, say, a 150 kph V8 supercar.

 

[jahmonn]

well naturally I ride a motorised bike for cost effectiveness (no registration is a huge plus) .If the powers that be make them illegal..I will probably get a Sachs madass 125 or a 250cc motorbike.But it'll take me ages to save that money (full time student).

 

[jahmonn]

well look at the speeds bicycles in olympics and tour down under do..those are going at over 100kph at times.

 

[jahmonn]

I'd suggest baby steps (crawl before walk before run) ... you really will have a hard time going straight for 50kph ...I'd suggest the 30kph limit to be something the powers would like to hear.With the reduced speed more sensible mufflers make sense.The speed limit is easy to police as is noise pollution.

 

[HybriPed]

well naturally I ride a motorised bike for cost effectiveness (no registration is a huge plus) .If the powers that be make them illegal..I will probably get a Sachs madass 125 or a 250cc motorbike.But it'll take me ages to save that money (full time student).

Thanks.

I think we need to establish an advocacy group. I think the big 3 issues are Active Transport, Economy and Peak Oil. I certainly need to understand the air quality bogey a bit better, because that is the one that the 2-strokes are most vulnerable. GruBee does market a catalytic converter which any intelligent consideration fo the pollution issue should regard as an acceptable first step.

I don't feel that climate change is a strong advocacy point, although it is very topical.

Unfortunately, any regulatory change will be a long haul.

 

[HybriPed]

I'd suggest baby steps (crawl before walk before run) ... you really will have a hard time going straight for 50kph ...I'd suggest the 30kph limit ...

I agree in principle, but the problem would be that 30 kph is what e-bikes are governed to. I believe that petrol bikes naturally fit into a different niche - long distance commuting up to 25 kms. My personal experience has been 20 kms each way for the past 18 months. You get out on a 60 kph for 10 kms, do you really want to be stuck doing 30 kph?

 

[jahmonn]

It would be well worth including the Sachs madass 50 and 125 in your research..these are very similar to mountain bike design.Google it.They also have alot more power than the 48cc HT.Their brakes are necessarily large disc due to their weight...and this brings us to inertia which should be mentioned.The police officer stated to me that my brakes were insufficient..even though my bike weighed less than 15kg more and was going the same speed as I could pedal it.Also that my helmet was inadequate.

 

[jahmonn]

Noone will say whether legislation changes to outlaw are afoot..my guess is that they are. My local MP is the best way I can see to perhaps prevent outlaw and shift to regulation..which is better than nothing.Once there is a stable acceptance..the boundaries may be explored.I just want to be able to ride my bike and not see it prohibited like pocket rockets and stand up scooters (skateboards with motors).
Electric is novel concept but it too requires fossil fuel to power the grid in order to plug the bike in to charge..and the range is woeful.And batteries need to be replaced and are really heavy.

 

[HybriPed]

... Sachs madass 50 ... alot more power than the 48cc HT.

Unfortunately, there is a fundamental problem with how most 2-strokes HTs have been used.

My bike is set up as a serious pedal cycle - Hybrid style bike and wheels, 24 gear derailleur, cassette hub, rapid fire gears. The engine is a 48cc, I've had it for 3 years, but used it intensively for over 18 months to climb the Mountain outside Hobart to Fern Tree. When I bought the bike new 4 months ago, the difference having good gears was unbelieveable.

I'd be happy going with 48cc (any more would bring it into conflict with current legal mopeds) and maximum 1.2 kW (which they say that their output is)

 

[HybriPed]

Noone will say whether legislation changes to outlaw are afoot..my guess is that they are. My local MP is the best way I can see to perhaps prevent outlaw and shift to regulation..which is better than nothing.Once there is a stable acceptance..the boundaries may be explored.I just want to be able to ride my bike and not see it prohibited like pocket rockets and stand up scooters (skateboards with motors).
Electric is novel concept but it too requires fossil fuel to power the grid in order to plug the bike in to charge..and the range is woeful.And batteries need to be replaced and are really heavy.

Current situation is that anything over 200 watts is illegal and the only sticking point is that the police have no way of knowing whether they are 200 watts. I suspect that the reveiw by RTA will sort that out.

I've really enjoyed this chat. I think we should call it a day. However, how about having a look at 'Policy Maker' on the HybriPed website and let me know what you think about my suggestions regarding a policy framework?