Jerry_Atrick

I could have done better typos than that

No news is good news they tell us

I agree with most of the above, except if we are to do a tax that takes into account a vehicle tax of the damage done that has to be repaired, then the cost per k would vary per vehicle or attributes of vehicles. And it isn't that simple. Although redicing, the emissions of manufacturing EVs is higher than ICE cars thanks to that battery, and although it has been rediuved from an average of 5 years on normal driving conditions/mileage to 3 years, that is the time, on average that the emissions for whole of life are in balance, after which EV emissions for whole of life drop. Then there is excess weight that damages the roads. But, despite how far emissions controls have come, ICE engines will always spew out toxins/poisons that have an effect on the health of the population and increase health costs, etc etc etc. So coming up with a truly fair formula is very difficult. In the UK, ICE vehicles (outside od trucks/commercial vehicles over a certain weight) are taxed (rego fees) according to their emissions. Pre 2017 HSV Commodores (known here as VXR8s) will be sligged at £720/year. My XC90 is about £400/year. The mini was £260 year. EVs up until the end of this financial year (April 5th in the UK), are zero. The government which is both broke and buying votes at the same time, decided a change so cars post 2017 such as a VXR8 (if there are any) will only pay a higher tax for the first five years of their life, which will equate to something like £700, after which it will reduce to around £245/year. That doesn't seem like a goverment using tax to affect behaviour to meet net zero (but they seem to be more unpopular than the previous Conservative government). EVs road tax went from zero to £10/year this financial year. Next financial year, there will be two tiering of road tax. Those over a certain value will be treated as luxury cars and attain the same tax as an old VXR8. I think the value os over £40k. Those under will be subject to a 3p per mile tax for BEVs and 1.5 p per mile tax for hybrids (in the basis, they will consume petrol/diesel for hald of their journey over the year). At an average of 10,000 miles per year, the road tax is said to average for EVs of £300 and £150 for hybrids. The justification for this is domestic electiricy use is VAT free. They estimated the average distanc per car travelled, the average rate of tax paid, and divided the average rate of tax paid by the average miles per car.. The will work by estimating your annual mileage. When a car is sold, or when it has its annual MOT (RWC), the mileage is already recorded; if they are close, there will be no adjustment; if they are materially different, there will be an adjustment either way - a credit for the next year's tax or you add the difference to the next years' tax. TNote, for the first three years from new, you don't need to get a MOT, so you can submit your mileage or wait to you sell, have your first MOT, whichever comes first, and then you will be slugged or receive a credit. They will eventually roll out the tech to record the mileage - dog knows there are enough camerals already around the place - it would be a matter of a software update I would guess.

I don't know that all states are happy with it: https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/the-gst-is-broken-and-hurting-nsw-and-victoria-badly-20260324-p5tuev.html

Why are you all so critical of Chump. He may publicly be all about fossil fuels and stuff the environment and renewables, but secretly, he is an ardent environmentalist and has shown the lengths he is prepared to go to save the planet by staring a war with Iran. It is about oil, but to stop using it: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/iran-war-fuel-crisis-gives-electric-cars-long-term-boost-2026-03-24/ We all should be thankful for Chump's extraordinary leadership. (pls take it with the sarcasm it was meant).

I think that is what I meant by I trust London drivers more than Melbourne ones (can't really speak for other capital cities in Aus). In London (and on motorways that are backed up), drivers will shift their cars away from riders to give more space. I have never had one move towards the marker to close the gap. Sometimes, because they are trying to get a view, they are already close to the side of the lane and sometimes they don't move when in that position.. but honestly, they are very courteous to motorcyclists over here. Actually come to think of it, on a backed up motorway, a truck driver I was scooting up on a lane closure and did plonk his semi in my way, but there was so much space at the time, I just went around him. I don't know if he did it out of spite or positioning for a lane merge as a result of a lane closure and didn't see me.

You wouldn't be the first to call me yellow... 😉

Whenever we buy most things, we pay tax - GST.. Maybe we should all get PAYE/PAYG tax decreases? Or at least get the same breaks as companies - Other costs such as transport, more formal clothing (regardless of whether it has a logo on it or not), should be able to be deducted? We should be able to contract ourselves out to a no-tax jurisdiction, and charge ourselves a massive amount for our labour out of the tax haven more than we get in our salary to build up the losses, claim that against our salary as a tax deduction and not pay tax at all... Then we are levelling up the playing field.

Where you have untrained, unlicensed, and uninsured people able to operate vehicles that, for the most part, have the same capability as those which come under the road regulations, what should be done? Yes, motorcycles are capable of well over 100kpoh, but we are talking urban use where speed limits are between 30kph and 50kph for the norm. sometimes 60 and 80.. and on the freeways 100mph. Force = Mass x Velocity.. Even an electric scooter and 16 year old hitting you at 60kph is going to hurt and as we have seen, can kill.. I am one that is against spoiling it for the rest because of an errant few, but this has the potential to get out of hand. You should see the issues in cities in the UK. If a notty 15 year old bangs into the side of your car causing $1,000's of damage despite not injuring anyone, I hope you;re happy to pick up the bill.. More and more kids are getting these, and more and more are modding them, the laws of maths tells me this cannot be good without some form of restrictions. And in some cases, banning seems the most appropriate - much easiuer to enforce than checking each bike to see if it has been modded.

Tell me about it. I was going to lay on a TACO trade, but decided even this was too big for Chump to go flippantly into TACO mode. How wrong was I?

High or low sulphur?

A lot of people these days (and I am sure in days gone by) have substituted real happiness with material happiness.

Despite the CBF1000A haviong a notorious reputation for buffet with its standard screen, my short posterior stature must hit the sweet spot, as I don't get any at high speed. Of course, when I am passing a boxy vehicle like a van or a truck, the wholle bike likes to do a minor boogie dance in their turbulence, but I had that on my VFR750 and ER6F as well.. Yes, debris can be a real pain at these speeds.. I have had the odd stone thrown up and hit me, but the protective gear makes it noticeable but not hurt. However, it is rare. The motorways here are really well looked after and there is little of it. In fact, I can't think of any debris that has hit me on the motorways.. it has been on A roads - usually the A303. It is about risk assessment and the Motorways here are brilliant for higher speeds.. Or at least the ones I travel on mostly, which is the M3, M4, M5 and occasionally the M40. When I last rode, I also used the M1, which was also excellent. I must admit, it is one thing I am really going to miss about the UK when I return to Australia. I heard a rumour that some Australian states banned filtering in heavy and slow moving traffic, but a check of Google tells me that it is legal in all states/mainland territories. Phew!Although, I have to admit, I trust London divers far more than at least Melbourne drivers when it comes to filtering.

Anyway, quite timely in my YT feed:

Ha Ha Ha.. Probably both 🙂