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Anybikebought.com take a look at the new ULEZ which hits our capital city on 1st April 2019.
This is a subject which is very much at the fore front of every biker who uses their motorcycle as a means of transport into London. Rising train fares and the thought of being packed into a sardine tin of a train for the morning commute has led to many a London commuter opting for two wheels. Basically the new ULEZ states if your motorcycle is registered before 2007 then you will have to pay the daily charge to enter the new zone, which at the moment is going to cover the existing London congestion charge zone although unlike the congestion charge the new ULEZ will be live 24hours a day, 7 days a week. This is where confusion could play a part. A bit like when Transport for London announced that motorcycles could use bus lanes but a lot of bikers didn't realise at the time local authorities did not include motorcycles in some of their bus lanes and in turn this led to confusion and a nice hefty fine when caught riding in a local authority bus lane. For further details on the ULEZ please see TFL.gov.uk
The advice from Anybikebought.com is that if you ride into central London make sure you buy a motorcycle registered after July 2007 as from October 2021 the ULEZ will expand to the North and South Circular Roads. All motorcycles within the expanded zone will need to meet the ULEZ emissions standards or pay a daily charge so don't leave yourself having to upgrade your bike for a second time if you don't meet the new ULEZ in 2019. On looking at the exemptions for this it states vehicles built before 1979 will be eligible to apply for historic vehicle tax class.
All vehicles that have a historic vehicle tax class will be exempt from the ULEZ. This tax class excludes any vehicle used commercially (for example, coffee vans or street food vans). So we could well see the capital city awash with old two smokers from the 1950's or 60's ? That is where the ULEZ standards are a little bit mind boggling. Lets face it a two stroke motorcycle is pretty dirty when it comes to pollution we are sure that somewhere along the line TFL will move the goal posts on this when a lot of London commuters start riding RD 350's into the capital. We can smell the castrol 2t from here the best smell in the world ever, yes we are all for cleaning up London's toxic air but an ounce of realism needs to be applied when setting the standards for motorcycles. They are nowhere near as polluting as a car or van. If you find yourself needing to sell your pre 2007 motorcycle to upgrade to meet the new ULEZ standards then you are in luck. Anybikebought.com are currently offering 10% extra than your best quote from other dealers when selling to us. We are running this incentive for anyone who quotes Ride10 in the box at the bottom of the "SELL NOW" page. This is only available for motorcycles registered before 2007.
A lot of bikers local to the London area used to visit Metropolis Motorcycles in Vauxhall for their motorcycling needs but unfortunately Metropolis have now closed down. If you fancy a blast out to the suburbs then the team at Ridedmc.co.uk in Dartford will happily address any of your sales or servicing needs. You will be looked after by Matt and his team @ ridedmc whether it be sales, servicing or just a chat about bikes and a cup of tea. Its well worth the visit.
Copyrighted - Author Martin @ anybikebought.co.uk