OK, have had a discussion with another LBer recently and naturally, they wouldn’t post this question themselves (you know who you are ;)) and they stated that they would support all motorbikes having a compulsory 100bhp restriction.Curiosity calls - what do y’all think, LB???
No. 
nope.
I would support doing away with the DAS and making every new rider have to have 2 years on a less powerfull bike, but then I think that should be the same for cars as well.
But I don’t feel a 100bhp limit would be a good idea, the aftermarket industry would love it, loads of lightweight parts to make better power to weight ratio’s. And of course where would all the bragging rights go??
Don’t really know what it would achieve. Different bikes lay down their power differently due to how they’re tuned.
Also, in terms of safety the more powerful bikes tend to have better brakes and handling which compensates.
Smaller bikes are geared accordingly so the speed off the mark is very similar, its only at higher speeds that the power comes into it.
Most ‘incidents’ occur at junctions where speed / power is not an issue. So where would the limited power be an advantage.
Also, with bikes the bhp is a too variable figure compared to performance. For example, a big twin cylinder doesn’t produce very much bhp since the rev’s do not go high enough (bhp = torque x revs). Instead they rely on the big torque produced.
France has that rule.
Bike are only restricted 1 day a year tho… 
Tell that to Ducati;)
i would hate my SV to have less than 100bhp! many big twins hover around 110-112bhp, standard bikes.
Ducatis are often a bit more as are tweaked superdukes, and the infamous TLS;)
I wondered how long it would take you to find this 
If u start thinkin like that then everything should be restricted to 70mph
Have said the same for years 
Bring back the 250’s so folk can learn the basics before jumping on a rocket ship
Hear Hear:)
When they restrict cars to, say 100 bhp/ton, I’ll consider a cap on bikes. Till then, s*d off.
Don’t start me on the riding/driving tests thing again or I shall have to indulge in a rant. Something on the lines of four stages to getting your unlimited licence, but only after yoiur 21.
(If JimC is reading this, yes, I still think it should all be progressive starting with the pedal cycle, the mandatory year on a motorcycle and so on.)
Blimey. Got close to my rant there.
+2
400-500 bhp/ton is more fun on a car
As for bikes - half of the problem is peoples mentalities. No substitute for road experience though. I was on the roads for around 15years before I bought a bike. It has over 100bhp, but then as someone has said, a lot of the accidents are had well within the limits of a 100bhp bike. On the flip-side, if you have no road experience whatsoever, within a week you could be riding an R1… yep, form a condolences queue here… 
yep - went from zero to hero :hehe: in a week back in 98 via direct access - cbt on monday - full test on cb500 friday!!! :w00t:
Unbelievable that I could of got straight on an R1/GSXR1000!
I had enough sense to be scared of litre sportsbikes (in fact - any bikes! 
) at that stage in my career and got a 600 bandit which I learn’t loads on.
Have to agree with the car comments, where are the restrictions for new drivers? Limit them to a 1L car for the first 2 years with no more than 75bhp.
100 bhp limit, can see it coming. You only need ~30bhp to do 70mph on a bike, and then ~50bhp to do 100mph.
There are going to be more and tighter restrictions on bikers in the next 10 years, and yet there will be nothing for car drivers.
Perhaps there should be mandatory testing or reassessment every five or ten years.
I’m not surprised your friend is remaining anonymous :crazy:
I did my CBT and DAS all in the space of just over 2 weeks - no time on 125 and had already bought my bike, an older 600cc sport tourer (Thundercat) before even doing my test. 3 months later I got my R6 and 1 year after that I got my R1. I would have got an R1 sooner if somebody hadn’t persuaded me otherwise (thanks Adz) but I think it’s up to people to buy what they want and take their own risks.
No offense, but I always find it’s the older school of rider that had to do things the old way that think the old ways should be brought back. Are there really proportionately more accidents now than there were back in the day??? Actually, that would be interesting info if anybody has it.
I’ll see if I can find the report I downloaded from the DOT many moons ago.
When I did my DAS, there was a guy that the instructors sent home because he couldn’t keep it upright in the car park. I’d hate to think that in a week’s time he could be on a litre bike. I didn’t mind, as I ended up with one-to-one training for the remaining 3 days.:hehe:
I think everyone is different though, and the emphasis should be more on those training and testing. Maybe introducing two levels of testing. One which will accommodate people on restricted bikes, the other to prepare people for more powerful machines and the surprises you may face jumping from the learner bike to something with potentially 100bhp more on tap. Big difference.
Who knows, this debate will always go on, as people’s opinions vary.
No!,there was a time when 250cc bikes were banned for beginners because of the appalling power that they had, allowing learner riders to reach speeds of almost 100mph!, this forced a lot of people out of biking as they used the 250cc bikes for longer distance commuting on an “L” plate, the 125cc bikes were not really up to it at the time and cars were cheaper and more attractive than getting a full licence and a bigger bike (although there were plenty of seriously cheap 250’s about ;P) at about the same time manufacturers instituted a voluntary 100BHP limit, this status quo held for a while untill biking became a leisure “sport” activity rather than a economical transport choice, these new and “born again” bikers wanted and had the money to pay for more power, and more speed, the death rate went up and the politicians and safety czars started to panic, hence the constant revising of the tests. the problem is that now a limit of 100bhp on a modern sports bike will have zero impact on its ability to out perform its rider, all that will happen is that the manufacturers will remap the engine to deliver that 100bhp lower down in the rev range, making it more accessable to the average rider (what a lot of people have been calling for anyway) this will still leave rider inexperience/lack of training as the biggest killer of riders.Make people spend time on lower powered bikes 30-40bhp, once they have done their time they will most likely be either be safer riders, bored and stopped riding or dead. A 100 bhp limit is pointless and serves only as a “we have done something” headline for the politicians, while giving a precedent for the next reduction in BHP.