The motorcycles have become the last refuge of the maximum sportiness expression that we can see in the streets. Faced with increasingly heavy cars and monitored by the European Union, motorcycles continue to maintain low weight maximum (relatively), stratospheric acceleration and tip speeds that take away the hypo.
And, of course, there is an open debate.
“With head”. The statement is the renowned Italian pilot and journalist Nico Cereghini who pointed in the Italian media Moto.it That “as bikers, if we only thought with head, today we would all be with 20 or 30 hp of maximum power under the back.” Then he points out: “But every passion has little rational, as is known. Emotions are sought, they are chosen with the stomach and with the heart.”
In his column, Cereghini says that it will not be the users who opt for rationality, so he wonders if manufacturers should not “take care of establishing limits, before the legislator does it in their place.” “They are very busy packaging dreams, deceiving the consumer that they can run very fast, it is not known where or when.”
A debate that is not new. Cereghini’s reflection is striking for his weight in the public debate of motorcycling but is not new. In the 90ssports motorcycles were completely dismembered with maximum infarction speeds that exceeded 300 km/h. The most striking were Japanese motorcycles, excessive powers and an electronics that almost shone due to its absence.
Aware that this could be a problem and that they began to enter a crazy race to reach 400 km/h on a street motorcycle, someone decided to put some sanity and A gentlemen’s pact was signed To limit power … at 299 km/h.
The DGT has its opinion. And, of course, it is not very close to that of speed fans. Pere Navarro, director of the DGT, I already pointed out last year that “a 200 -horsepower motorcycle with 200 kilos is Made for the circuit and on the road it has a special danger, everyone has to be aware of it. “
From there, the bulles shot up. As usual with the DGT, social networks were filled with comments ensuring that traffic was going to ban this type of motorcycles but as they remembered in Motorpasion motorcyclethere was nothing on the table and, in fact, they cannot make this decision for themselves.
Has any measure been taken? These motorcycles with a supercar power weight have always been in the spotlight but almost surprising that, seeing the efforts that have been taken by self -limiting cars in Europe with a Arsenal of ADAS systemsthe focus on this type of machines has been minimal.
Already in 2008Pere Navarro made statements in which he was favorable to apply a limitation to 100 hp for motorcycles. This proposal was studied in the European Parliament at the request of France, which already applied the measure, but did not go ahead.
The French exception. In France, Motorcycles have been limited to 100 hp between 1985 and 2016. In the 80s it was considered that this 100 hp barrier should not be overcome, establishing a red line that they considered too dangerous. Then the market was saturated with motorcycles between 50 and 70 hp and safety among motorists was minimal.
In 1995, Europe decides that countries that want to take advantage of this limitation are in their right to do so but only France follows this path. After many debates and resources, the European Union established in 2012 a New regulation for motorcycles and eliminates the French exception that rises in 2016 by European mandate.
An anachronistic situation. The world of yield represents something almost exceptional right now. We could say that it almost seems anachronistic that a motorist can reach infarction speeds when damage is usually much more serious in a motorcycle accident than in the car for obvious issues. Of course, the European Union has done everything possible to limit the latter.
But it is not only a matter of regulations. Among cars manufacturers too They begin to be common Limitations at increasingly low speed. Good for technical reasons (electric car) or claiming security reasons (like Volvo) But it is evident that speed begins to see with bad eyes.
With such bad eyes that even in Germany There are more and more favorable voices to the limitation of speed in the mythical autobahn.
Photo | Sling
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