MP backs MCN Brussels protest

MP Steve Baker has expressed support for MCN’s planned Brussels protest ride over stifling EU measures for new bikes. 

The Tory MP for Wycombe threw his weight behind the campaign before becoming the new Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Motorcycling.

He said: “I am delighted that Motor Cycle News is taking the protest against anti-tampering measures to Brussels. This kind of petty oppression must be stopped.”

German bike mag MO Medien Verlag has also promised to tell its 30,000 readers about the MCN Back Off EU protest.

The magazine’s Maik Schwarz said: “The typical MO reader is not happy with any plans for anti-tampering measures.”

Tuning could become impossible and even home-maintenance severely hampered under proposals.

So-called onboard diagnostic systems on new bikes could detect non-standard parts and trigger a warning light until the ‘fault’ is rectified by a dealer. Routine faults could be reported in code decipherable only be a dealer, preventing home-servicing.

One aim is to prevent any modifications to the ‘powertrain’ which rider groups fear could include anything from the throttle to rear tyre.

New bikes are also to get ABS under EU plans, which are due to take effect from 2014.
MCN’s protest is calling for the anti-tampering measures to be thrown out of the plans. The November 22 action is timed to coincide with a committee vote on the proposals.

It’s backed by the British Motorcyclists Federation, the UK’s biggest rider group, and over 1000 riders in a Facebook group.