Yes.. please Geoff.. enlighten us.
Tis only fair that us poor minions be 'entertained'
Besides...you can't mention things like that and not follow through ...Spit it out lad !!!!
Ok. However, I should point out that I do this only under duress.
I am going to regret this I know .....
Firstly, cake. As many of you will know I am currently loosing weight and if I may say so myself having lost a little over 30kg already, I am doing pretty well.
Well, someone very close to me rang me up last night in order to sit eating cake whilst I had to listen .... and it wasn't nice lol.
Secondly, BMF/MAG. These two bodies do a lot of good for motorcycling, I am indeed a member of the BMF myself.
However, I see a lot of things highways and transportation related from the political perspective rather than the media one. I am involved directly, having had to write several pieces of "expert" witness documentation, with both the TRL (Transport Research Laboratory) and transportation law as decided by the European Parliament.
This means that I regularly receive journals and briefing notes relating to transportation directives and I am afraid that a number of the issues/proposals that the BMF/MAG have in some way claimed to have overturned/defeated are in fact pushed aside due to political pressure.
The "defeated" 100bhp limit is an excellent example.
The EC proposed a 100bhp limit for motorcycles in 1991. This was "claimed" to be in order to minimise accidents despite there being no concrete evidence that suggested that accidents and power were directly related.
It was also proposed in order to bring motorcycles in line with Japan where there had been a 100bhp limit for over a decade.
However, the Japanese manufactures hit the roof. They knew that unlike their brethren, us fairly naive westerners considered power and top speed to be highly important criteria when choosing a motorcycle. As such they feared a huge loss in revenue as EC motorcyclists stopped buying large capacity bikes.
The big Japanese four immediately scrapped their own 100bhp "gentleman's agreement" and then threatened the EC with legal action should the 100bhp limit come into force.
It was therefore because of this and the lack of evidence relating to accidents that forced the limit to be dropped.
The actions of the BMF/MAG, although important, were in no way the fundamental reasons for the about turn.
I'd best stop now ........
Firstly: BLOODY HELL MAN! Well done! 30 kgs is no mean feat! Keep up the good work :o) That's over 2 stone.
*impressed*
Secondly: Thank you! A spot of truth is always helpful. Everyone likes to lay claim to little victories, but it's good to know the *real* reason behind them ;o)
If anyone slags you off for pointing out the facts of the matter, send 'em to me, I'm right in the mood for kicking folk in the shins today ;o)
Lol.....thats brilliant Geoff.... !!
puts shame to my 10lb ....well actually only 8lb...i put four back on ...but got two off agen this week! Bloody Yo-Yo dieting!
I mite havta try martial arts too! ...can i start with Origami? lol
Aha...you got there first. I'd delete previous post if could, but it doesn't like that very much.
Geoff, the first rule of media campaigning is to make sure the battle's won before you even start. Just about every newspaper or pressure group campaign is run in cahoots with someone in government who has tipped the wink that they're 99 per cent there with whatever they have in mind, and a final push from the Daily Wail or the Campaign for Real Motorcycles will see them home and dry. Every now and then, of course, someone goes off on a gloriously lunatic tangent and gives everyone a good laugh, but it's not all that often in the serious world of lobbying and spin. Best example I can recall locally of how not to do it was the weekly newspaper in Warrington that started a campaign a few years ago to have the Manchester Ship canal extended across the Pennines to Hull. Oh, glory be..
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