Bike Road Tax

[weimieman]

Being a veteran of these forums now with 30 posts under my belt (heh heh), I thought I'd add my two penneth and give it large as per forum demands.

I might be talking out of my backside and if I am please go easy on me when telling me so, but what the hell is going on the road tax for bikes????? As far as I can gather it's all still cc based and looks like it's going to be for the foreseeable.

The tax system changed for cars on the 1st March 2001 and you pay as per your CO2 output which seems fair as if you choose to run a gas guzzler, you pay more. Up until four months ago, I ran 4 ltr V8's averaging 12.5 to the gallon but that was my choice and nobody had a gun to my head. To be honest, I was getting fed up of the prices at the pump so rather sensibly (getting too close to 40) I chose a very nice sensible diesel, over 50 mpg and only £125 road tax.

Now the whole point of my rant (and obviously wondering what you all think) is that I bought a new tax disc holder for my main bike and being a saddo, I keep all the old discs as I love service history even if its a receipt for a bulb. From when I bought the bike in 2003, the tax has steadily gone up each year to the point where this year's jump is from £66 to £70. My next door neighbour's Focus diesel has gone from £35 to £30??!?!? Surely his vehicle pollutes more than my bike. I could be wrong and that's why I'm wondering what others feel about this.

More strangely though is that the DT I have just got is £16 for the year and when I last had one in 1991, it was £12 so that is a nice steady increase. Don't get me wrong, I don't want the DT to go up in line with larger bikes and cars!

So besides the pump prices, do you think we're getting it stuck to us with the tax system as well?

Maybe I'm just so peeved at the fact I was looking forward to taxing my new car for £125 and it had gone up to £130 the ~@~@@:##s

[nayruf]

Being a veteran of these forums now with 30 posts under my belt (heh heh), I thought I'd add my two penneth and give it large as per forum demands.

I might be talking out of my backside and if I am please go easy on me when telling me so, but what the hell is going on the road tax for bikes????? As far as I can gather it's all still cc based and looks like it's going to be for the foreseeable.

The tax system changed for cars on the 1st March 2001 and you pay as per your CO2 output which seems fair as if you choose to run a gas guzzler, you pay more. Up until four months ago, I ran 4 ltr V8's averaging 12.5 to the gallon but that was my choice and nobody had a gun to my head. To be honest, I was getting fed up of the prices at the pump so rather sensibly (getting too close to 40) I chose a very nice sensible diesel, over 50 mpg and only £125 road tax.

Now the whole point of my rant (and obviously wondering what you all think) is that I bought a new tax disc holder for my main bike and being a saddo, I keep all the old discs as I love service history even if its a receipt for a bulb. From when I bought the bike in 2003, the tax has steadily gone up each year to the point where this year's jump is from £66 to £70. My next door neighbour's Focus diesel has gone from £35 to £30??!?!? Surely his vehicle pollutes more than my bike. I could be wrong and that's why I'm wondering what others feel about this.

More strangely though is that the DT I have just got is £16 for the year and when I last had one in 1991, it was £12 so that is a nice steady increase. Don't get me wrong, I don't want the DT to go up in line with larger bikes and cars!

So besides the pump prices, do you think we're getting it stuck to us with the tax system as well?

Maybe I'm just so peeved at the fact I was looking forward to taxing my new car for £125 and it had gone up to £130 the ~@~@@:##s

A Fellow Saddo

I too keep all my previous tax discs, but I am puzzled that your DT is only £16 where as My DT 175 is £37 go figure!

My oil burning PUG is £110 and your Neighbours derv ford is £30

I'm being robbed!

[Cynic]

A Fellow Saddo

I too keep all my previous tax discs, but I am puzzled that your DT is only £16 where as My DT 175 is £37 go figure!

My oil burning PUG is £110 and your Neighbours derv ford is £30

I'm being robbed!

Er, nayruf? my TDR 250 is only 35quid, same as my 175, 151cc to 400 ish cc band.

[mervin]

it is a job creation scheme they need to employ more people too keep up with thew ins and outs of the tax system, yo hear of cuts in everything else but they do not seem to be laying off taxmen,

motorcyclist are the scum of the earth, riding noisy machines scaring babies and grannies so they deserve to be taxed more,

bunch of fucwits that rule us need lining up against a wall and shooting, Vive la revolution,

[NEV]

A Fellow Saddo

I too keep all my previous tax discs, but I am puzzled that your DT is only £16 where as My DT 175 is £37 go figure!

My oil burning PUG is £110 and your Neighbours derv ford is £30

I'm being robbed!

LPG conversion was the way I went, cheaper tax, and it pays for itself after a year,no congestion charges as it's classed as a hybrid (London at the minute, but most cities are thinking of bringing charges in,in the near future),the money you save on the difference between LPG and petrol, basically makes it free road tax each year anyway, the only problem is the initial cost of installation, it cost me £1700 quid 3 years ago, but I hear it's gone right down in price nowadays.

[weimieman]

LPG conversion was the way I went, cheaper tax, and it pays for itself after a year,no congestion charges as it's classed as a hybrid (London at the minute, but most cities are thinking of bringing charges in,in the near future),the money you save on the difference between LPG and petrol, basically makes it free road tax each year anyway, the only problem is the initial cost of installation, it cost me £1700 quid 3 years ago, but I hear it's gone right down in price nowadays.

Yep went down the LPG route myself several years ago. I only do about 5k per year in the car now and 1500 on the bike (DT will be about 250 max) and when I started off on lpg it was 39.9p a litre, I gave up when it turned 72.9p in February this year as I couldn't really justify it anymore for the mileage I did. I only saved £15 a year on road tax registering it as Alternative fuel but I think I spent that on the phone finding out how to do it as neither the main post office or my village post office had a clue. I do miss the big 4x4's and the visability they gave you but I do get a kick out of putting £35 worth of diesel every three weeks even at £1.36 a litre. Don't tell the government that

[mervin]

LPG conversion was the way I went, cheaper tax, and it pays for itself after a year,no congestion charges as it's classed as a hybrid (London at the minute, but most cities are thinking of bringing charges in,in the near future),the money you save on the difference between LPG and petrol, basically makes it free road tax each year anyway, the only problem is the initial cost of installation, it cost me £1700 quid 3 years ago, but I hear it's gone right down in price nowadays.

Dunno bout lpg Nev do you find the mpg is reduced on LPG my view is i can buy a lot of fuel for that extra £1700, and if anything happens or wehn you sel the car it will not be worth a lot more really, and some of the agro i have heard with LPG conversions i am staying well clear,Diesel and used chip fat is the way to go that should be taxed as alternative fuel as it is recycling

[NEV]

Dunno bout lpg Nev do you find the mpg is reduced on LPG my view is i can buy a lot of fuel for that extra £1700, and if anything happens or wehn you sel the car it will not be worth a lot more really, and some of the agro i have heard with LPG conversions i am staying well clear,Diesel and used chip fat is the way to go that should be taxed as alternative fuel as it is recycling

Deffo not, you get maybe 3-4 mpg less using LPG but at half the price of petrol, last time I worked it out petrol worked out at 24p a mile, wheres LPG its 11p a mile, and like I say it was 3 years ago I paid £1700 for the conversion, its around the thousand pound mark nowadays, and kits have become much better with most teething problems fixed that the earlier conversion kits had, plus I went with the added flashlube kit, added protection for valves etc, I get where you're coming from with the diesel mind, last car was the Omega Elite TD, with the 2.5 BMW diesel engine not the 2.2 Vauxhall one, but looking at changing fuel pumps, filters and converting rails to take bio-fuel, I don't think ther'ed be much difference in the price of the LPG kit cost nowadays. If you can guarantee you're keeping the car then aye it's worth doing, as after 3 years and 50k in mileage, mines more than paid for itself.

[weimieman]

Dunno bout lpg Nev do you find the mpg is reduced on LPG my view is i can buy a lot of fuel for that extra £1700, and if anything happens or wehn you sel the car it will not be worth a lot more really, and some of the agro i have heard with LPG conversions i am staying well clear,Diesel and used chip fat is the way to go that should be taxed as alternative fuel as it is recycling

The reduced mpg is bang on as my Discos used to run about 80% as efficient on gas so 12.5 on gas would be about 15 mph on unleaded. It was such a mine field I think that's I went to diesel. Mind you, a friend of mine uses bio diesel from processed chip fat and buys 400 ltrs at a time and he has just paid 80 per litre for it whereas this time last year he was forking out 60p per litre. Looks like a lot of people are jumping on this bandwagon like LPG and instead if chippys giving you a few quid to take it away, they now charge now to take their waste!!! Go figure. Mind you I've heard some horrific stories about clogged fuel filters etc unless you are using really expensive Bosch ones and changing them every 1K or so.

The temptation is still in the back of my mind ....

I think I'm just getting more stingy as I get older

[NEV]

The reduced mpg is bang on as my Discos used to run about 80% as efficient on gas so 12.5 on gas would be about 15 mph on unleaded. It was such a mine field I think that's I went to diesel. Mind you, a friend of mine uses bio diesel from processed chip fat and buys 400 ltrs at a time and he has just paid 80 per litre for it whereas this time last year he was forking out 60p per litre. Looks like a lot of people are jumping on this bandwagon like LPG and instead if chippys giving you a few quid to take it away, they now charge now to take their waste!!! Go figure. Mind you I've heard some horrific stories about clogged fuel filters etc unless you are using really expensive Bosch ones and changing them every 1K or so.

The temptation is still in the back of my mind ....

I think I'm just getting more stingy as I get older

A mate of mine with a Rocsta jeep thingy, went down the chip fat road, he can process his own chinese takeaway oil now, he heats and filters it somehow,played about with different pumps and filters, found the right type that wouldn't clog up, and he swears by it now, but by christ it stinks, the cool thing though is when he goes into Tescos and gets a couple of bottles of cooking oil off the shelf bangs it into his car, and buggeres off back to Penzance, all for about a fiver

[weimieman]

A mate of mine with a Rocsta jeep thingy, went down the chip fat road, he can process his own chinese takeaway oil now, he heats and filters it somehow,played about with different pumps and filters, found the right type that wouldn't clog up, and he swears by it now, but by christ it stinks, the cool thing though is when he goes into Tescos and gets a couple of bottles of cooking oil off the shelf bangs it into his car, and buggeres off back to Penzance, all for about a fiver

Thats the solution Nev, you've cracked cheap motoring - I need to buy a Chinese Takeaway!!!

[NEV]

Thats the solution Nev, you've cracked cheap motoring - I need to buy a Chinese Takeaway!!!

Aye, the main problem with using chinese takeaway oil, is that after you've filled up, about 3 hours later you feel like you need to put some more in.

[Cynic]

Can't they nick you for tax fraud, well tax evasion, for the chip fat thing?

[weimieman]

Aye, the main problem with using chinese takeaway oil, is that after you've filled up, about 3 hours later you feel like you need to put some more in.

[weimieman]

Can't they nick you for tax fraud, well tax evasion, for the chip fat thing?

Don't hold me to this but I think you get the first 2500 miles (or 5000 miles) tax free and after that you pay tax on it. You have to keep very strict records as well.

Oh, I believe they won't let you on the channel tunnel train like LPG vehicles. LPG might explode (a local metal crusher found that the hard way last year - heard the bang from here) but maybe its the smell of chip fat that keeps them off the train, I dunno

[pilninggas]

Don't hold me to this but I think you get the first 2500 miles (or 5000 miles) tax free and after that you pay tax on it. You have to keep very strict records as well.

Oh, I believe they won't let you on the channel tunnel train like LPG vehicles. LPG might explode (a local metal crusher found that the hard way last year - heard the bang from here) but maybe its the smell of chip fat that keeps them off the train, I dunno

First 2500 litres can be made without duty paid on bioderv. I think you still need to register with HMRC and also keep decent records [i suspect that is so that when they remove this exemption, they know what you already use and therefore will pay).

On the LPG thing, i have been running [and converting some too] my cars on it for 10 years [i remember in the day paying 22p a litre, when petrol was 85p!!!! lol]. It's no more dangerous than petrol in real terms, but the best days for lpg are gone. A good diesel that does 60-70mpg is probably the best option now, as LPG prices are being held artificially high by retailers (the secret about LPGs superb value got out when people sussed the whole congestion charge exemption). BTW there are no more than £400 of parts in a modern multi-point LPG system, so the whole £2K conversion cost makes me laugh.

On the original point, motorcycling is seen largely as a leisure pursuit and so we get hit by HMRC. Also the car industry is powerful and pushes for tax-breaks in line with other EU countries. The motorcycle industry is tiny by comparison.

[weimieman]

First 2500 litres can be made without duty paid on bioderv. I think you still need to register with HMRC and also keep decent records [i suspect that is so that when they remove this exemption, they know what you already use and therefore will pay).

On the LPG thing, i have been running [and converting some too] my cars on it for 10 years [i remember in the day paying 22p a litre, when petrol was 85p!!!! lol]. It's no more dangerous than petrol in real terms, but the best days for lpg are gone. A good diesel that does 60-70mpg is probably the best option now, as LPG prices are being held artificially high by retailers (the secret about LPGs superb value got out when people sussed the whole congestion charge exemption). BTW there are no more than £400 of parts in a modern multi-point LPG system, so the whole £2K conversion cost makes me laugh.

On the original point, motorcycling is seen largely as a leisure pursuit and so we get hit by HMRC. Also the car industry is powerful and pushes for tax-breaks in line with other EU countries. The motorcycle industry is tiny by comparison.

Yeah getting back to the original point, we are in the minority which is perhaps why we enjoy a cheary nod to each other as we pass on the roads. Apart from Harley riders. What is it with them? Are other bikers deemed too common to acknoweldge on the road?? (Granted, not all Harley riders are the same, I've seen Goldwing riders snub other bikes).

I feel another thread coming on ... Aaarrgghh, help me, productivity at work gone down since discovering this site, please, help, quick ........

[Cynic]

On the LPG thing, i have been running [and converting some too] my cars on it for 10 years [i remember in the day paying 22p a litre, when petrol was 85p!!!! lol]. It's no more dangerous than petrol in real terms, but the best days for lpg are gone. A good diesel that does 60-70mpg is probably the best option now,

The only negative is that all these hyper milage cars are supemini's. I tow a 27ft caravan and there aren't many options for change. Add into that the drugery of driving a diesel instead of a V8(i'm with clarkson on this) and that leaves me stuck with going on holiday in a 4.6litre V8 Range Rover , someone has to do it....

[weimieman]

The only negative is that all these hyper milage cars are supemini's. I tow a 27ft caravan and there aren't many options for change. Add into that the drugery of driving a diesel instead of a V8(i'm with clarkson on this) and that leaves me stuck with going on holiday in a 4.6litre V8 Range Rover , someone has to do it....

Ah I always wanted a 4.6 in a Discovery. Ho hum, maybe one day

[mervin]

The only negative is that all these hyper milage cars are supemini's. I tow a 27ft caravan and there aren't many options for change. Add into that the drugery of driving a diesel instead of a V8(i'm with clarkson on this) and that leaves me stuck with going on holiday in a 4.6litre V8 Range Rover , someone has to do it....

Wnaa 12 litre 420 bhp Diesel too try it is sitting in my scania doing nowt the boss will not miss it for a few days

merv