Revenue Generation

[Curvey_Brunette]

Although the weather reports aren't good in the UK for the time being, there will once again come a time when the police start revenue generating.

The sun will come out and so will the bikes, as will the patrol cars, static and mobile speed traps, 'routine check' stops and all the other little tricks the police have up their sleeves to catch naughty bikers.

Over here in North Yorkshire we have some of the greatest landscape views in the world as well as some of the best roads in the whole of the UK. Twisty windy roads where dropping it down a couple of cogs to use engine braking then winding it back as you hit the corner to sling shot yourself around it is too much of a temptation for 90% of bikers.

I was out in the East Riding the other day and they've put up "To die for?" posters with a picture of someone on a bike leaning into a corner.

What a great idea, like a poster is going to stop anyone who wants to cane it into a corner from caning it and the possibility of coming off.

Every biker knows, from the fair weather bikers to the hardened bikers who ride all year round in all conditions, that on every bend there is a risk of something slow moving to an obstruction being just around the corner.

All bikers know the risks, what the injuries are and that it's very likely if you come off at speed or you hit something then you could well be killed or seriously injured.

It's part and parcel of riding a motorcycle from a little 50cc to a huge 1,300 Kawasaki that if you come off then you'll get hurt. Your bike will be damaged and you'll have to pay the price for being less than cautious.

But it's a sad fact that under the umbrella of "road safety" the police and the authorities will generate millions of pounds of revenue from bikers for going a tad too fast or because they might have a tail light out.

Of course there's a small percentage of bikers who simply couldn't care less about themselves, their bikes or who they hurt/kill and they should rightly be targeted to be taken off the roads. Their attitude toward tax, MOT and insurance is contemptible.

But the majority of bikers are decent and sensible people who enjoy biking for the hell of it and the social side of it. After all, if you stop at a pub on a bike and there are other bikers there, they'll all get together and be chatty with each other. You don't see car drivers doing that unless it's in custom cars.

Many bikers aren't even a 5th as bad as some people make out, two wheels does not equal trouble but it does seem to mean more money into the governments purse for very minor offenses such as having the wrong type of tyre or having an exhaust that's perhaps a little too loud even though that exhause went through the MOT without problem.

[SM]

Yes, the whole world is driven by targets, including police, traffic wardens and hospital staff. Really quite sad when the motivation to do a job is to get over a percentage bench-mark, rather than doing it for the good of it.

Hey-ho..