When in Taupo for a few days over Christmas, I see there is one of the motels along the lakefront hiring out those stupid bloody mini-chopper shitters.
They are 50cc which means you don't need a bike licence to ride them.
I observed a couple of "Joanne Bloggs" public riding them through Taupo's main streets, and have a couple of observations to make.
The rider sits so low on the bike that they cannot be seen behind/in front of cars (let alone all the 4x4's that are on the road these days).
And Joanne Bloggs obviously thought that playing in the traffic on SH1 was fun. She (and her friend on the other one) were laughing as they wobbled slowly in front of oncoming traffic when turning right at the traffic lights. Cars coming straight through the lights, that had the right of way, had to stop to avoid hitting these two as they very slowly took their time getting across the lanes. The riders were wearing t-shirts, shorts and sandshoes. Oh yes, and a helmet.
In my opinion, these mini-chopper things are dangerous.
Sure, they are fine in an off-road situation, but please, not on our public roads. I cannot believe that the LTSA licences them for road use. I intend to write to the LTSA expressing my concern.
And let's not forget that when someone is killed on one (and I firmly believe that it's only a matter of time) the death will be added into our "motorcycle" statistics.
My $0.02
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