Congestion charge for bikes in London

[bramble43]

TFL in their infinite wisdom propose too charge bikes registered before 1st july 2007 £12.50 per day to travel in to the cc zone.

As far as i can see, this has nothing to do with emission control and all about ripping off another sector of transport.
Most pre 2007 bikes already conform to the proposed lez regulations and spend a significant amount less time standing still in traffic pumping out emissions yet will be subject to the charge.

You can put forward your views for tfl to ignore at the link below.

https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/environment/ultra-low-emission-zone

[Steve Lee]

I've been waiting on this
Interesting demographics is that bikes (motorcycles) make up less than 1% of traffic
LESS THAN 1 percent
We (motorcyclist) actively reduce congestion, parking and make far less road surface damage ....
We (motorcyclist) should be 'PAID' to use London roads rather than the 4 or more wheelers
Ok - I'll get off my soapbox now

[EnsonExpress]

The mind just boggles (although I thought I read that your bikes don't last too long, so it shouldn't affect courier bikes?). Presumably TfL is made up of people with less brain tissue than all the rest of the population.

(PS, Nick, shouldn't that be £11.50 - the current charge. Or will it be going up again?).

[bramble43]

personally, i buy older, low mileage bikes, the current one was on 29k when i got it 2 years ago, it's on 108k now despite all the time off after having had a stoke, crashing it etc, the average i do is 60k a year and never had one exceed 150k, buying new at £15,000? for it to do 120k and be worth £1000 at the end of 2 years isn't good economy for me.

Buying one for £1500 that lasts 18 months and doing 90k on it makes much more sense, especially as they are still selling for £500-700 with blown engines.

Bikes are not like vans, customers wanting bikes wouldn't care if you turned up on a motorised turnip as long as the goods got there on time so <3yo isn't essential.

[Mike George]

customers wanting bikes wouldn't care if you turned up on a motorised turnip

I'd like to see that

[brad eufc]

Dont new motorbikes come with 2yr unlimited mileage warranty ?

[EnsonExpress]

Didn't I read somewhere that they've withdrawn the Congestion Charge exemption from LPG vehicles? And I've recently heard they will be charging it to motorised turnips after Christmas.

I used to think it was a congestion charge, but obviously it's just a neat little extra tax gathering scam.

[bramble43]

Dont new motorbikes come with 2yr unlimited mileage warranty ?

Quite possibly but not a guaranteed used value at 150,000 miles and 2 years old.

Mine is/was a very tidy and lot newer looking 1989 model.

Apart from usual tyres and servicing, in the last 2 years it's had a stainless exhaust system put on, a starter relay and a set of front wheel bearings.
Breaking down isn't the issue, as long as the 1100 version of pan european can still be obtained easily, i'll carry on using them.
The bits that go wrong are few and i carry spares in the pannier.
Apart from a puncture resulting in using avon tyres, i haven't needed recovery anywhere, i carry a kit for plugging bridgestone tyres on the roadside and even tyre levers for those that won't seal properly and i can put a mushroom in it from the inside.

[brummieadam]

Like car tax and VAT it starts out as an idea and once implemented it gets altered to become a revenue stream stealth tax

[jjmurphy]

Just to clarify: The proposed Ultra Low Emission Zone will (may) come into force in 2020 so any pre-2007 bikes will be 13 years old by then.

[GMC]

MAG the leading riders rights organisation have always implimented with an arguement that you cannot charge bikes the congestion charge, because bikes dont cause congestion, cannot be a part of congestion problem therefore cannot be charged, this has been discussed and kicked out many times, so when bikes cause congestion then and only then can they be charged..

Ive just had a look at TFL site, and there get out clause is emmissions and not congestion.., even though bikes are 1% of emmission they are being charged the same as cars/van and minibuses, looks like MAG are on it again as its on there website news.. if it happens then the cost will be passed onto the customer.