Now you all know that I ride bikes, so I may bit a bit biased. However, I am of the opinion that the punishment is a tad harsh. All the rider was guilty of was going a bit quickly. But the papers focus on irrelevance.
It matters not that the "bike is capable of 220mph" (which, in itself is rubbish). 190, tops.
It matters not that the son wasn't wearing gloves, trousers etc. - the law only says you have to wear a crash helmet.
It appears to not matter that the rider had a full licence and it was entirely his choice to have his 14 year-old son on the back. I very much doubt he put a gun to his son's head and I also would wager that the son wanted his "old-man" to nail the bike. I know I urged my dad to nail the Dolly Sprint. But that's O.K. though, we were in car...
A Suzuki GSX1300R will hit 120mph from a standstill in about 9 seconds. If he was doing 60mph, along with the traffic, before he nailed it, it would have taken only about 4 seconds to reach that speed. This is very different from Dazza in his Fiat Punto taking over 30 seconds to even hit 100mph and then finding out he can't control it. Riding such a fast bike isn't just something you can do (and live) after passing your test -there is a big skill element, unlike Dazza.
The judge then warbles on about "If you had burst a tyre...blah, blah, blah" which shows a staggering lack of awareness. IF his tyre had blown, then even at 60mph, both of them would probably hit the deck with nasty results. I would further wager that the chances of a blowout on that bike are a damn sight less that that of Dazza in his Fiat Punto. Bikers with bikes like that do not scrimp on tyres - your life depends on it. Dazza will doubtlessly be running around on dodgy remoulds to save that extra money to pay for the dustbin-sized exhaust. And when Dazza loses it round a bend, the damage he causes to a wall/shop/bus-queue is going to be far worse than a motorcycle.
Strangely, most papers
do mention that the rider wasn't drunk, drugged-up, inconveniencing other drivers, nor was there an accident. How many "Dazza" stories could boast the same?
So the real bottom line is we have a fully licenced, fully insured, fully road legal, motorcyclist - not pissed or doped-up who has twisted the throttle for a few second, not causing injury or inconvenience to anyone, getting six months in the slammer.
One of the old regulars up the pub was mugged and spent 2 months in hospital. He won't leave his house now.
His attacker received a suspended sentence.
That seems really fair.
