I would let this change in the law settle into the freeway-users conciousness for a while. A few friends of mine have strayed onto the freeway on a bike, either by accident or intention, and most of them reported the same thing. One in about 100 car drivers would take it upon themselves to let them know they weren’t supposed to be on the freeway… by trying to run them into the barrier. I think I’d let these knuckle-draggers get used to the idea of there being bikes around before I went and mixed with them. I don’t really think it’s any more likely that there is going to be a collision on a bike on the freeway, but the consequences are going to be lot more serious given the speed everyone is going and the (lack of) separation they are used to maintaining. You drop your bike, you get squished by the truck that’s sitting on your ass. :help:
First of all we can foget about the Freeway…it’s taking years for bikes to be allowed on the expressways. And that hasn’t started yet.
When I ride on the expressways “not so legally”…I have had the odd person tail gate as if to say I don’t belong. When on my scooter I do the speed limit and people leave me alone. I’ve ridden on the expressways about a hundred times. I’ve never had a close call on them. Or anyone too overly aggressive bother me.
Mordeth and I were out on the 68 this morning, and actually I was very pleasantly surprised at the civility the car drivers were showing toward the big bikes.
Enough to think for a moment…Wow, this isn’t really much different than being on I-5.
From there we moved on to the Go kart track and ran a few laps before I was overcome by the heat. This is the best track layout I’ve seen in Taiwan yet, and I’ll be going back there for sure. Karts are 4-strokes, but plenty fast enough to spin out around the corners ( I did a pretty impressive 720 after coming in a “tad fast” into one of the corners).
We really should organize a weekend outing down there…Serious fun.
Coming back was a bit different, with the expressway being overrun by speeding bikes anxious to stretch their legs. 140-160kph seemed about the average speed for these guys…I felt like an old lady at 120. I did open it up a bit (for break-in purposes only, mind you) on an open patch.
I’m torn about riding up there…Of course there is the Yeeeeehaaa factor from a long, relatively safe place to open the bike up, and the realization that this is a test bed for judging the future of big bikes on the ever-improving Freeway infrastructure here. For the most part, I took it easy.
Then back to the big bike meeting place in Kuanshi for some cold coffee and to admire the non-budget bikes. There are some damn nice machines floating around this island now.
All in all, a very good day…Thanks Mordeth 
I just had a marathon driving weekend on the freeways and expressways between Changhua and Taipei and have to agree 110%. I’d also like to add that opening up the expressways but not the freeways is backwards logic at its finest because I sure wouldn’t like to ride a bike on the nasty little expressways I just took on the way home. I would feel as safe riding on the Taiwan freeways as their UK counterparts (which is - not very, but a lot safer than regular highways).
A bit off-topic but I was stuck behind some woman tonight who had obviously missed the Overtaking 101 Class. She was desperately trying to move from the middle lane into the left lane but seemed incapable of anything but the ‘brake until everything else behind me slows down so I can slip in’ method. There was plenty of road ahead to overtake but for some reason it was apparently necessary to get in behind the fast-moving cars, thus forcing a whole chain of vehicles in the fast lane to brake with her.
I also saw a very very nasty smash between two intercity buses between the 1 and 76 tonight. God knows how they managed it but one bus had ploughed head first into the back of another. The former was smashed up so badly that I’d be very surprised if there wasn’t a dead driver and/or injured passengers - there was certainly a good number of police cars, ambulances and those special investigation units. Seeing the front caved in almost right to the back of the driver’s cab gave me the willies and slowed me down a bit for the rest of the journey.
The moral of the story: tired, aggressive bus drivers and panicky car drivers are more dangerous than big bikers at any speed.
[quote=“plasmatron”]I think the core of the problem with this decision is that those who are charged with making it haven’t the slightest notion of what it is they’re legislating… they are looking at the pros and cons of the situation from the position of a totally uninformed outsider, since I doubt anyone in the Legislative Yuan has ever ridden a high capacity motorcycle and I think we can say with 100% certainty that they’ve never ridden one on Taiwan’s freeways… so any allusions to the dangers or suitability of big bikes on Taiwanese freeways is necessarily just idle amateur speculation…
…snip[/quote]
Hi Guys,
I’ve been riding here for about 5 years.
Right now #68 and #72 are opened to any yellow plates.
My bike club (CRC) says that the limit won’t be 650 but 751. I takled to couple of stores who also refered to 751cc to be the min. engine size for highways rides.
You guys got any update about that ?
cheers,
Sly-
I’ve heard both stories.
The first being 600cc and over, and the second being 751cc and over.
Both are stupid, but I hope for my sake that you are wrong 
A 636 and a 1000cc bike are in the same tax group. Which is higher than the 600cc tax group. And by paying more…we are extended more privelages…hence the 601cc and above tax groups will be allowed to use the expressways. There is no way they are going to tax a 650 like a 1000 and then not give it the same privelages (sp?). They only way they could have 751 as the cut off would be if they started a new tax group for 601cc-750…which would at least mean a tax break for those of us with 650s.
See quote below regarding Amercian freeways. If they could just go with something commonsense like this or they should remove 1300cc and below cars and all the little blue trucks from the freeway. Same difference. Little guys not allowed.
[quote]
Q11. Minimum engine size for highways in the USA?
(A.) Contrary to popular belief, there is no one single standard that governs all federal interstate highways as to minimum speed. Nearly all speed regulation in the USA is done by individual state authorities, and thus there are 50 different answers to this question. [color=blue]In general, you must have at least a 150cc engine to operate on any major highway in the USA, along with the ability to not impede traffic, no matter how fast a speed that may require. In most cases, it’s highly advisable to have at least 200cc for any highway driving at all and preferably more.[/color][/quote]
whilst I completely agree with the spirit of your point here, you have several serious flaws in your thought process… what on earth makes you think anyone in the TW govt. is aware of, let alone capable of logic and reason and it’s application to the passing of laws, especially those regarding big bikes?.. secondly we are not extended privelages by virtue of paying tax, we are taxed, often outrageously and in return we receive nothing or something very close to it… lastly there will be no tax breaks, ever… any reductions will be made up for in other areas like import duties etc… I for one think it’s highly probable that the new law will restrict freeway access to bikes smaller than 756cc and bigger than 984cc… except on Tuesdays, unless Tuesday falls on a lunar Wednesday… and the big bike lane will be on the outside of the oncoming traffic side of the freeway so as to see approaching cars more clearly…
as a rule of thumb, imagine the most arsebackwards, utterly nonsensical, counter intuitive, “mad hatter in loony land” approach to legislation, and rest assured the TW govt. will come pretty damn close… I mean just look at what they are saying boils down to… “in most countries bikes of about 150cc to 200cc are legally allowed on freeways… but in Taiwan, our freeways are crowded and dangerous and our drivers/riders are incompetant and reckless… therefore we only want to allow bikers with super fast, very powerful, big displacement bikes onto the freeways…” 
for what little it’s worth I think 400cc for a bike is more than enough to be allowed on the expressways/freeways…
plasmatron, if you are ever able/willing to run for public office I’ll take up citizenship just so I can vote for you.
Hi Guys,
I called an importer friend who knows some gov poeple.
He said that at 95%, from 07/01, only bikes with an engine over 751cc will be allowed on highways. The plate will be with a different color.
Seems that the taxation system will NOT change.
The rider will be required to have an EXTRA LICENCE. The TWese heavy bike licence (250cc up) will not be enough to be allowed to ride on highways.
Intl. driving licences will work without problem and you still can get your equivalence with a valid ARC/licence
and about the taxes…I’m pissed, I pay taxes for a 750 (equiv. to any bike under 1200cc and over 600)…but I won’t be allowed to go on highways…great 
cheers,
Sly
ps: 95% cuz the bill hasn’t passed yet. but it’s highly probable that it will.
pps: taxes here sucks, in my place, we tax on horse power, not on engine size…
Why would the cc matter at all. I have been leagally on the Autobahn with my 50cc. I think as long as you can get up to a certain speed, let’s say 80km/h, you should be fine?
But of course, TW government might think differently.
[quote=“Sly”]Hi Guys,
I called an importer friend who knows some gov poeple.
He said that at 95%, from 07/01, only bikes with an engine over 751cc will be allowed on highways. The plate will be with a different color.
Seems that the taxation system will NOT change.
The rider will be required to have an EXTRA LICENCE. The TWese heavy bike licence (250cc up) will not be enough to be allowed to ride on highways.
Intl. driving licences will work without problem and you still can get your equivalence with a valid ARC/licence
and about the taxes…I’m pissed, I pay taxes for a 750 (equiv. to any bike under 1200cc and over 600)…but I won’t be allowed to go on highways…great
cheers,
Sly
ps: 95% cuz the bill hasn’t passed yet. but it’s highly probable that it will.
pps: taxes here sucks, in my place, we tax on horse power, not on engine size…[/quote]
Hmm, well that’s pretty close to what Plasma predicted. The stupidest bunch of horse shit anyone could think of.
Yep, What a bunch of horseshit that is!..please!..and if this is really the bill being proposed, I’d like to know where and how they came to this conclusion!..If every other country in the world with motorcycles allows riders on all roads with all bikes but scooters, then what special discovery did the local Taiwanese government do to place this limit?..I can understand how they could make the lowest limit at 250cc based on the current plating system, but how does one get this 750cc limit ?..My bike is 1200cc, but only puts out 100hp at best…most of today’s 600s put out 110hp~130hp…so I guess this basic logic is out the window!..
I guess I have to learn to think like a backwater cronie to understand this! 
[quote]Yep, What a bunch of horseshit that is!..please!..and if this is really the bill being proposed, I’d like to know where and how they came to this conclusion!..If every other country in the world with motorcycles allows riders on all roads with all bikes but scooters, then what special discovery did the local Taiwanese government do to place this limit?..I can understand how they could make the lowest limit at 250cc based on the current plating system, but how does one get this 750cc limit ?..My bike is 1200cc, but only puts out 100hp at best…most of today’s 600s put out 110hp~130hp…so I guess this basic logic is out the window!..
I guess I have to learn to think like a backwater cronie to understand this! [/quote]
In Belgium you can legally drive on the freeway with even a scooter, motorcycle, if it’s over 50cc and carries a license plate, is insured, you have a drivers license for said bike … and you don’t go in the fast lane at 60 Km/h 
no serious, can go over the set minimum speed limit, which is around 70-75 Km/h.
And of cours when your mother allows you to and you are willing to risk your life … well, not for the big bikes, but under 125cc it’s still an adventure to go on the freeway … 
even in Belgium
Some questions:
Who are these people making this decision(s)?
Can anyone contact them to offer input?
[i]HAS[/i] anyone here contacted these people?
Wil anyone here contact these people and express some of the concerns so far listed?
Bitching about rumors is fun and all; but how about some of the above?
Just a suggestion.
Big bike rider groups have been campaigning about this kind of stuff for some time. You may recall the photos of demonstrations in the newspaper.
I can’t say it’s an issue that bothers me very much. If big bike riders in general started to ride in a more mature and safe way, I think they’d have a better position from which to campaign. Probably still wouldn’t get them very far, though!
[quote=“joesax”]If big bike riders in general started to ride in a more mature and safe way, I think they’d have a better position from which to campaign.[/quote]Ding ding ding. WinnAr!
Wonder why the 4wd guys are getting zero sympathy from Joe Public? Because many of them (the most visible ones) behave like asshats. Joe Public says, “You’ve got a x million bucks to blow on a pointless toy with wheels and want to complain about what?”
Taiwan coybow thanks very much!
I thought I would keep “bitching around” 
but hopefully you are here with your great suggestions
I’m concerned by this issue and just raised some questions in the forum to try to get some answers and so, avoid rumors.
Yes our importer friend got meeting sessions with those lawmakers (who actually don’t ride motorbikes…that’s why they are asking for inputs)…doubt it will change anything. it’s pretty much money oriented, about import tax and polution tax…
But yesterday they told me that they are doing everything they can to lower the limit down to 601cc up or cancel/avoid the bill.
Joesax you really think that car, bus, taxi (annything beside motorcycle) drivers are very mature, safe and responsible here…???
ok maybe different topic/forum
BTW, Taichung cruiser clubs coming up to Taipei on June 04. Anybody interested?
[quote=“Sly”]Joesax you really think that car, bus, taxi (annything beside motorcycle) drivers are very mature, safe and responsible here…???
ok maybe different topic/forum[/quote]This thread’s fine. People were discussing the same thing a few pages back.
Very briefly, no, I don’t think that most other drivers are very mature, safe, and responsible. But many big bike riders have been riding in particularly aggressive and idiotic ways that puts them in a bad light when they campaign for something that legislators may see as a privilege, not a right.
[quote=“Sly”]BTW, Taichung cruiser clubs coming up to Taipei on June 04. Anybody interested?[/quote]Cruisers eh? What kind of bikes are they? There are a couple of Harleys around, right? If I were up for a cruiser I’d get a Japanese one though. Functionality over authenticity for me!