The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) announces a new offer to help protect bikers facing the expanding ULEZ charge. MAG deal offers members a risk-free method to check if their older bike is compliant. MAG urges riders not to scrap serviceable bikes without first checking whether they are actually compliant.
MAG fiercely opposed the ULEZ charge for motorcycles from the day it was first suggested. Motorcycles help reduce overall emissions by reducing congestion. MAG proved that the majority of pre-Euro 3 motorcycles are compliant with the actual emissions standard for exemption from the charge. Sadiq Khan relented and agreed to a system to allow individual vehicles to be tested for their actual emissions level and registered as exempt if they meet the standard.
Pre-2007 motorcycles can meet the emissions criteria. If a bike produces less than the 0.15 g/km NOx limit Transport for London (TfL) has set, older bikes are exempt – as long as owners can prove their low NOx emissions.
Many riders have since proven that their pre-Euro 3 motorcycle is compliant and registered for exemption from the charge. The individual testing of bikes could originally only be carried out at a single registered testing station. Now there are three, all charging £175 for the test with a £75 re-test fee.
Situated close to Greenwich in South London, The Test Centre is run by Ian Wills. He has invested in a dyno and sourced a new exhaust gas measuring device. Bikes are placed on the dyno, run through the test of various drive cycles (which involves idling, acceleration and deceleration), and an average is then taken. Much like an MOT, the result is a straight pass or fail.
Ian Wills (Director of The Test Centre) says:
“Well-maintained, properly set-up and cared-for bikes stand a much better chance of meeting the standard and passing the test. If a bike passes the test, we upload the results straight to the TfL database and your bike is registered by TfL as exempt the next working day. We are finding most bikes are passing without any work.”
Ian Wills is making a “no pass, no fee” offer to all MAG members. This means that there is no financial risk involved in checking if your bike is compliant. The £175 fee will only be chargeable if the bike passes, and there will be no re-test charge should a little work be needed to get the bike through.
For more information, or to book a test for your bike, go to www.ulezbiketest.co.uk
Not already a MAG member? – join here; it costs less than three days of ULEZ charges! The compliance test equates to 14 days of ULEZ charges and only applies if your bike passes the test.
MAG is continuing to fight against the proposed expansion of the ULEZ charging zone. Sadiq Khan is determined to extend the zone to cover the entire London region in August this year. The plans have met huge resistance from voters and even many of the Borough Councils.
The expansion will impact large numbers of additional riders, many of whom may only ever ride away from Central London on their motorcycles.