Where has common sense gone?

[Mom]

Rhetorical question I agree, but honestly some days you really have to wonder.

Enjoying my morning coffee and browsing the NZ Herald online this morning, I saw a picture of a woman on a scooter.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10669175

Now I am always interested in anything biking so I clicked in and read an article about Aucklanders slowly getting greener. This is surely a good thing to happen? Auckland is a big, busy city and suffers the problems associated with being so. Congestion comes at the top of the list. I read that The Ministry for the Environment estimates that congestion in greater Auckland costs the New Zealand economy about $1billion a year. $1billion! That is an enormous amount of money, we each and every one of us should be concentrating on reducing congestion.

That is where as bikers we are already doing our bit, it is a proven fact we cause less congestion and less pollution than 4 wheeled road users. People should be encouraged to ride a motorcycle; there should be a big push towards increasing the numbers of riders on the roads. Motorcycles should be promoted as a legitimate and “green” alternative to the private car in the same way that walking, cycling and public transport is currently.

I read in this article that scooter use has skyrocketed, with a 123 per cent increase in registrations but, and it is a big but, this increase has dropped significantly since ACC levies were raised for two-wheeled vehicles. The example used in the Herald article states that the registration costs for this woman are in fact more expensive than her annual fuel bill. How can this be justified?

We must take action to ensure that the powers that be acknowledge and support motorcycling and respect the transport choices we have made. I encourage you all to write to your MP’s, write to Nick Smith, contact your councils demanding our voice is listened to.

[Bikemad]

say what?????......common sense!!!!.........in local or national government............
mwahahahaha..........your crackin me up Mom...........

[simpy1]

I hate to be a downer here but the only situation where motorcycles reduce pollution is if they are replacing one person driving an older, large-displacement car. Motorcycle engines in general are not terribly clean, and most bikes lack catalytic converters! 2 people on bikes is usually worse, pollution-wise, to two people in one car.

But in terms of congestion, yes they're a good thing!

[NONONO]

I hate to be a downer here but the only situation where motorcycles reduce pollution is if they are replacing one person driving an older, large-displacement car. Motorcycle engines in general are not terribly clean, and most bikes lack catalytic converters! 2 people on bikes is usually worse, pollution-wise, to two people in one car.

But in terms of congestion, yes they're a good thing!

Hmm, not sure you're on the mark there cocker..
Think I read somewhere once that 1 gallon gas burned by internal combustion produces 5 lb carbon in the air...
Bikes doing 40-50 MPG, scooter double that.
Cars, use bout double the amount of fuel, more depending on size, which is roughly 4 times more than scooters...
That math would suggest 2 wheels produce much less carbon (reduced by a factor of 2 for bikes and 4 for scooters).
Not so?

[MSTRS:Me]

That math would suggest 2 wheels produce much less carbon (reduced by a factor of 2 for bikes and 4 for scooters).
Not so?

Not so. The burnt petrol contains the same waste. Put it in terms of mileage travelled and bikes produce less.

[NONONO]

Not so. The burnt petrol contains the same waste. Put it in terms of mileage travelled and bikes produce less.

Yep, was my point, but badly put....

[simpy1]

It's not as simple as fuel burnt. How it is combusted makes a difference. More NOx is bad - NO2 for example is 298 times more potent than CO2 in affecting climate change. Plus, think about how people ride bikes/scooters - not tamely like granny in her Daihatsu Move.

Here's a link to the research:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0101155000.htm

In saying all that, China is building one new coal-fired power plant per week. So don't worry, it's all insignificant and we'll all be underwater soon. Might as well enjoy our time here eh?

[Banditbandit]

ACC were told exactly that in a submission - that the cost of the ACC levies on the scooters would be more than the fuel bill .. hence fewer scooters, more cars, more pollution. more congestion

But guess what .. that was ignored.

[jafar]

I hate to be a downer here but the only situation where motorcycles reduce pollution is if they are replacing one person driving an older, large-displacement car. Motorcycle engines in general are not terribly clean, and most bikes lack catalytic converters! 2 people on bikes is usually worse, pollution-wise, to two people in one car.

But in terms of congestion, yes they're a good thing!

I find it difficult to believe that a person sitting in traffic in their toyota corolla will use less fuel than someone riding a nifty 50 down the bus lane to the same destination.
Same goes for a rider & pillion making progress through traffic would use considerably less fuel than 2 people sitting in a cage.
A fair amount of bikes DO have catalytic converters, it is only a small minority of us that replace them with aftermarket pipes for performance or other reasons.

[Spearfish]

Even with high rego bikes/scoots are still cheaper than a car for inner city work, quicker across town than cars or public transport and free to park.
There is no speed difference across town between good scoots and bikes given the same rider, the only difference is true running costs.

One of the side effects of the ACC saga was the fear it generated of being seriously hurt. For people still kicking tyres and a little undecided at the time they couldn't see the point of the high risk for what is essentially just transport to work.

[PirateJafa]

Meh.

I'd rather keep "commuters" off bikes anyway. It's these people who are uninterested in any form of biking bar getting to and from work that provides the Govt with some of it's best ammunition against us. I don't want to be further associated with those idiots.

Keep bikes for those who ride them from enjoyment.

[Bald Eagle]

Meh.

I'd rather keep "commuters" off bikes anyway. It's these people who are uninterested in any form of biking bar getting to and from work that provides the Govt with some of it's best ammunition against us. I don't want to be further associated with those idiots.

Keep bikes for those who ride them from enjoyment.

You missed a point there pj. I ride to work every day 'cos it provides enjoyment to soften the economic shackle of having to go to work. I also ride on weekends for 'extra' enjoyment.

[Eyegasm]

I agree with BE here.

I ride daily. The best thing about my job, riding to and from work. It's the 8 hour wait in the middle that I hate.

Then the weekend excursions give me the freedom of having no determined destination.

"The road goes that way.....OK"

[neels]

Seems pretty simple to me.

My options are a big v-twin bike doing over 40mpg or car doing around 30mpg or 4wd doing around 25mpg, less time on the road on the bike, bike must be more environmentally friendly. If you conservatively double the fuel economy for a scooter how the hell can it be worse than a car?

[PirateJafa]

You missed a point there pj. I ride to work every day 'cos it provides enjoyment to soften the economic shackle of having to go to work. I also ride on weekends for 'extra' enjoyment.

You miss my point. You also ride for enjoyment, which makes you a biker. It's those whose only interest in motorbikes is cheap commuter transport that often (not always, but often) give us a very bad name. I've talked to several who have zero interest in even buying any protective gear above their battered open-face helmet, as "I bought the scooter to save money, I don't want to spend more money!"

Still, I'm sure their view will change after a visit or two to the local medical centre.