Guide to Restriction - 33bhp

[Admin]

The subject of restriction comes up time and time again yet there seems to be no definitive answers. This guide will aim to give you basic information on what is expected. This guide has been put together with information gained from other areas of the internet. Please note that advice voiced here or any other area of the site is used at your own discretion, The forum owners and authors cannot be held responsible for any inaccurate information given.

1. The Law. The way you restrict the bike is no concern for the police, their concern is merely that the bike must be no more than 33bhp. This is because if it is more than this you are not riding with the correct licence, ie breaking the law.

Category A - standard motorcycle licence - (aka A2) - this is what you'll obtain if you pass your test on a motorcycle over 120cc but not over 125cc and is capable of more than 100 kph (62.5mph). With this licence you are entitled to ride a motorcycle up to 25kW (33 bhp) and a power to weight ratio not exceeding 0.16kw/kg.

2. Insurance companies - regardless of them wanting to see proof or not expect that your bike is restricted, if not, you have given false details or in fact not told them you are on a restricted licence, and are therefore uninsured. If you have an accident the company will ask for proof of restriction, and without this they will not pay out.

Options available.

1. Get an approved kit fitted professionally to your bike. There are various approved garages all over the country who do this for in the range of £200. You are issued with a certificate should you need it for insurance purposes.

http://www.fiinternational.com/about-us.asp (FiI)

2. Restrict the bike yourself and take it to a dyno to confirm it is 33bhp or less and keep the readout as proof. This option brings with it a couple of issues to consider, but still a viable option.

(a) You need to find out how your bike is restricted... different bikes are restricted in different ways.

(b) You need to buy the kit or get one manufactured to specific dimensions.

© If not restricted correctly, issues around the running of the bike may surface (ie it may run like a bag of spanners)

3. Restrict the bike yourself and buy a certificate off ebay. Same problems a,b and c as above but with additional concern.

(d) I do not understand how someone on ebay can sell you a certificate to say your bike is restricted to 33bhp when they have not set eyes on the bike. In discussions with someone selling these certificates on ebay, he said they are sold under the presumption that your bike is restricted, or as a replacement for a lost certificate. I think this is open to abuse and encouraging people to spend £20 on a certificate and not bothering to restrict, rather than paying FiI for example.

Following is from guy selling these certificates on ebay..

On the basis of the motorcycle in question being restricted then my certificate is sufficient enough for an insurance company to grant a premium. Therefore they serve the purpose they are intended for.

If not, then they will still be enough to convice an insurance company but like i have said before this is at the risk of the buyer and i cannot be held in any way responsible

Also these certificates are exact replicas of the one from FiI... surely this cannot be right??

TMBF believes that if you have spent significant amounts of money on tests, bike and gear, that an additional £200 on restriction to do it properly is not asking much. The option of restricting the bike yourself could be slightly more problematic, but still a viable option. Of course, the decision is yours.

I sincerley hope this helps, if not please dont message me lol... i have looked into this as much as time allows and its driven me to drink! It is now up to you to decide which option you will take, and contact the relevant people to find out where/how it is done.

Admin.

[Guest]

Another post:

 

Some of you may be aware i recently produced a guide to 33BHP motorcycle restriction and posted it up on here (http://www.themotorbikeforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=20647), and it was subsequently moved to the admins section for verification.

Basically, i've since been asked to make specific alterations to the guide as they are not happy to have it up on the forum in it's current form. I would like the admins to know i have taken what i believe to be some excellent ideas provided by themselves, and incorporated them into the guide.

But i do not want to make some of the changes and don't want to ruffle any features (EDIT: feathers) by trying to repost in a form that is likely to cause annoyance, and so have decided that it would be best if i hosted the guide elsewhere.

So here's the link guys, enjoy: http://blackmotorcycle.webs.com/

I just want to take the opportunity to point out that it's not an official guide, and that this isn't a TMBF thing. It's just me, expressing what i want people to know - freedom of speech and all that. By hosting it elsewhere, TMBF won't have to worry about the legalities/correctness of said guide, as it's not hosted on their servers.