Once again it appears the Internet is awash with Type Approval misinformation, this time a rumor that there is to be an “EU ban on choppers”. That rumor is false. MAG Ireland, via our colleagues in FEMA have been following the type approval situation closely.
The rumor began on the back of a number of articles in the mainstream motorcycle press, most notably MCN, regarding a “steer-ability” or cornering test, supposedly part of the delegated acts under Article 18 of the type approval regulations, which would allegedly be impossible to complete on a bike with stretched forks.
In this context, we bring you the following statement from Aline Delhaye, General Secretary of FEMA on rumors that choppers might be banned in Europe:
“In the discussions along the type approval regulation, FEMA and its member organizations are working hard to convince members of the European Parliament and Member States to make sure that individual vehicle approvals apply in particular “to unique vehicles built by private individuals.” FEMA is also trying to exempt private built vehicles from stricter type approval rules in order to keep costs to an acceptable level. These exemptions should of course also apply to hand-built choppers.
Besides, in the discussions on test procedures to be defined in the delegated acts, the Commission is proposing to include testing of steer-ability, cornering properties and turn-ability into the type approval requirements for new motorcycles. These ideas have not only been criticized as not justified and too strict by FEMA but also by the Motorcycle Manufacturers in Europe (ACEM) and representatives of Italy and the UK. These concerns have been taken into consideration by Commission’s experts. FEMA is closely following the discussions.
In any case, overlong forks should be addressed by individual approvals, which means that exemptions will hopefully be granted, therefore we expect that the approval of overlong forks will remain at the discretion of each Member State. As soon as we receive any signals that the regulation is going otherwise, we will of course act immediately and accordingly alongside with FEMA member organizations ”
MAG Ireland continues to work with and through FEMA to monitor the developments around type approval regulations. We believe it is unhelpful to speculate on issues relating to the delegated acts in the absence of any published data as to what they are to contain.
MAG Ireland can therefore confirm there is no formal ban on choppers proposed by the EU at Parliament, Commission or Council level.
