Sale of petrol motorcycles to be banned by 2035 at the latest

[Jak*]

I think the change to electric vehicles or other ‘eco friendly’ alternatives will happen quicker than people think, because so many vehicles are now bought on PCP. Younger people view cars and to a lesser extent motorbikes like mobile phones. They get them on a contract and want a new one very three years.
Until we take public transport back into public ownership and subsidise it for millions it will not be a viable alternative.
Climate change is real and to be honest quite scary, but so far we seem to lack vision or desire to do much about it. It is whether the vast changes needed in government thinking and individual expectations change quick enough to reverse the damage we have already caused, or whether we carry on until it is too late.

[Tonibe63]

I think the change to electric vehicles or other ‘eco friendly’ alternatives will happen quicker than people think, because so many vehicles are now bought on PCP. Younger people view cars and to a lesser extent motorbikes like mobile phones. They get them on a contract and want a new one very three years.

It is the way they have been trained to think and it is what they are doing ...... they know no difference. It does help keep the economy going and big business to continue to make money but the timescale will be dictated by big business. The change from fossil fuel to 'eco' fuel is ultimately controlled by the big money people NOT by Governments.

Until we take public transport back into public ownership and subsidise it for millions it will not be a viable alternative.

Subsidies cost money which Governments have no plans to put in .......... big business will see to that.

Climate change is real and to be honest quite scary, but so far we seem to lack vision or desire to do much about it. It is whether the vast changes needed in government thinking and individual expectations change quick enough to reverse the damage we have already caused, or whether we carry on until it is too late.

Until the Oil Companies have positioned themselves to replace fossil fuel profits with 'eco' profits then it will be a battle that Governments won't undertake because Oil Company money contributes to Governments and economy.

War, Oil and consumers are what powers the World and until that changes then famine, migration and environmental disasters will continue. I'd like to think it will change but it won't be in my lifetime if indeed at all.

[Jak*]

I totally agree with you, that’s what makes it all so depressing. Much of the stuff we know about environmental damage and how to combat it has been known since at least the 70s and yet governments do nothing. There are a great many individuals who do their bit and some charities and local organisations but big business and governments, who are in their pockets, are sitting back and watching the destruction of the world. If Branson and Bezos had invested the billions they have spent on their vanity projects to get into space, in environmental projects instead, the world might be better for it. One of the worst offenders in this country is the big builders, many of whom (including John Bloor) have donated large sums to the Conservatives, the housing shortage is a myth, there are more empty properties in this country than there are people looking to buy. Whilst individuals are encouraged to make their homes greener they still build new houses without solar PV or thermal. The only reason the government won’t pass a law to make all new homes have solar or heat pumps etc is the builders don’t want them to. Thankfully at least for me, I managed to get solar etc at the right time and I can not only say I am doing at least something to offset the damage I am causing, but the financial benefits are great. Personally I would have no objection to buying an electric motor bike although it is probably less environmentally damaging to keep the old ones I’ve got going, though I do expect that when my wife replaces her hybrid car it will be with an electric one.

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Electric motorbikes are hopeless.
There was a test in Bike magazine of that Harley Livewire thing, Range anxiety is permanent, and you can't use the performance because the battery just runs down in about 10 miles if you do.
Yes, it's got good range around a big town at 'traffic speeds'...but you could probably do the same journey at the same speed at far less cost on an electric-assist bicycle, given the bicycle will go where the motorcycle can't.

[Onenoodles]

So by the time they stop producing petrol motorcycles I will be in my 70's and even if I'm still here I won't be buying a new bike anyway ...... so who gives a rats ass.
As for us plebs being 2nd class citizens ..... what's new?
Lockdown and furlough taught me a timely lesson about how much we need to live and how few miles we do when not having to commute, just need to get a job working 3 days a week that is within cycling distance so we don't need 2 cars. Very few car miles are undertaken for pleasure.

Agree with a lot of that but "very few car miles are undertaken for pleasure" is huge sweeping statement if you don't mind me saying?
I live pretty close to the M5 ... I can tell you that almost every weekend it is packed with cars / motorhomes / campers / bikes and cars with caravans and many of them have bikes attached, kids in (staring out the back window waving ) canoes or luggabe boxes on roofs and so on ... many looking like they are off somewhere for pleasure I guess?
I think many people use their motors for outings and often ... I also think that life would be pretty miserable if people were 'forced' to live out most of their lives walking or cycling to their local park as a 'treat' ... I am in my 60's now and I might just duck the bar for a lot of this but breaks my heart to think that my grandkids might be thrust 50 years backwards when the best you could wish for was a train trip to the seaside once a year

[Jak*]

At the moment electric bikes are viable as commuters, for half day trail rides and coffee shop outings. When you look at the mileage of a lot of second hand machines and ask riders what they use their bikes for you realise that electric bikes already meet most riders needs. They are not perhaps suited to most riders on this forum at the moment.
Before last summer I would have agreed with the comments about public transport but after talking to my cousin’s daughter I am less sure. Her and her husband have four kids and do not have a car or a license to drive one. All their local journeys, including commuting are done by bicycle (they are fortunate enough to live in Canterbury where there is apparently a good network of cycle routes. For family holidays and they have a couple a year, they plan ahead and take the train. You do have to plan in advance and be internet savvy to take advantage of the best deals, but they have been all over the country and to France on the train. She has worked out what they save by not having a car and even with our relatively high train fares it still saves money. If this moronic government had spent the money they have wasted on HS2 on renationalising public transport and investing in the existing network trains would be viable for more people.
In the future hiring driverless electric cars for some journeys and holidays may become a more viable option.

[Onenoodles]

I think that it might be viable for some people like your family member but I don't think such trips twill be on the cards for many of the familes from estates in Leeds, Newcastle, Carlise etc ... they will be limited to a packed 2 carriage train to Whitby maybe (tis lovely though )

I don't know and it might all pan out ... they may be really progressive and do a one off winner whereby anyone can hand thier old car in (like a knife amnesty) and be give a small bog standard electric car as a one off and to get them on that path and after that its down to them?

Might cost a few billion buy hey ... as the last 18 mths have shown, there are 'Billion' trees in abudance if they want one now ... be cheaper than the months / years of social unrest when it dawns on the average joe what they are going to be forced to give up!!!!

[Jak*]

I thought the idea was that post Brexit was all us plebs would be spending our holidays picking fruit and veg like the good old days.

[v8mark]

I will carry on drag racing Riding off road using gallons of petrol and diesel till the day I die all those the have brought electrc thanks. I don’t have to

[garyboy]

Don't forget the vagaries of life.
*Unity.
*U-turns.

*there would need to be unity of thought, purpose and direction, as well as timing ... in UK, EU, Europe, Asia etc, where vehicles need to pass borders and then abide by local and country-wide laws. So the same or at least compatible energy for mpv,s needs to be in place.
This is not going to be any easy thing .. just look at the squabbling and vindictiveness between UK and EU.
Even within the UK borders there are inequalities and differences of direction for transport ..... Wales .. no new roads to be built, no M4 relief road, increase in cycle tracks and pedestrian ways .... Cross the border (which somehow seems to be getting stronger?) from england and you will have to dress like a bank robber.
So compatibility issues will have a hard time ... charging points throughout the european mainland, asia etc, Access to batteries or hydrogen or whatever, mechanics skilled in ripping us off in an electrical way, some sort of equalisation of laws etc etc etc

*To me, hybrids seem the way ... and in any case, motorbikes are notoriously Low poluters, despite the victimisation by notoriety of deeming a freedom.
I am surprised the big companies are taking these changeover dates seriously, but they must be getting huge `incentives` ... surprised as these changes are proposed by a U-turn government that may well not be in power by 2024, let alone 2030=2035 ... and in any case, there is still plenty of time to change ones mind or create a hostile environment for petrol or diesel or hydrogen or batteries