New motorcyclists have been paying up to £80 to get a certificate they do not need and which is not recognised in law. Suppliers have been incorrectly claiming the certificates, which state a bike has been restricted to 33bhp to meet power limits for new riders, are required by insurance companies and police.• There is no legal requirement for riders to have a so-called 33bhp certificate.
• Insurers say categorically a claim will not be rejected because you don’t have one.
• Neither police nor insurers regard them as proof a motorcycle is restricted.
• There is no industry standard on what they look like or who can issue them.
• Examples can be bought on eBay for any bike for £18. The certificates are supplied when bikes are fitted with power restriction kits. They include the name of the owner at the time.Simon Jackson, Commercial Director of major bike insurance broker Carole Nash, said: “Are they required by insurers? The answer is no. They are no more than a receipt to show that work has been done.”  A spokesman for underwriting giant Aviva said: “It’s highly unlikely you would ever be asked to provide one of these certificates and a claim would not be rejected because you were unable to.”
                                                                                                                                                                             

I was lucky to save myself a lot of money on this issue when I needed my virago 535 restricted for two years after taking my test on a 125.   I rang my insurance company and they said as long as I had proof to say my bike was restricted to 33bhp or less that was fine it didn't matter what paperwork it was so all it cost me was a dyno test print out.                                                                                                                                                                             

Annother way to rip off the unwary biker then mmm... Great post BJ                                                                                                                                                                             

when i was knocked off my gpz500s 5 years or so ago, the 3rd party insurers asked for my certificate AND they went to the scrappers to check my bike was fitted with one (They were trying everything to get out of paying for their idiot client)                                                                                                                                                                             

Hate to see anyone trying to scam those who maybe dont know the law so well,  as for insurance companies they will try pwt not to pay out so not surprised there unfortunately !!!                                                                                                                                                                              

Well that's good news that they don't require a certificate from the likes of FI International but what exactly do they (the police and insurance companies) require as proof a bike is restricted?   Would be helpful if they imparted that information too.                                                                                                                                                                              

    Excellent post Jackie, cheers for that.   I feel like goin over to the rant thread and venting!!lol bloody rip-off merchants!                                                                                                                                                                               

I think you'll find that they do need some form of proof that a bike is restricted and the certificate provides just that.   Whether it should cost £80 is another matter altogether.  Our local dealer offered to fit a kit complete with paperwork to Roachy's bike for £150 if we'd bought the bike from him or £200 otherwise.   However, many dealers are charging bikers up to £300 for exactly the same service, often if you've bought the bike from them as well.  I'd suggest therefore that the dealers are often taking advantage of the 33bhp laws and ripping off young or new bikers as well.   The fact that FI International have, from what I can tell, the sole right to import these restrictor kits is also appalling.  The certificate and registration of the fitting of the kit may cost £80 at the moment, but I guarantee that if just one further company was to start importing the kits, this price would instantly plummet.  Of course, this would require approval from the DfT, but I can't believe this would be difficult.                                                                                                                                                                             

  I sense a petition brewing, and I won't hesitate to add my name to it. This is just the kind of thing we could all do without, well all except the folk who run the garages.                                                                                                                                                                                    

Great post bj.  When I needed my restrictor I just sent an email to all the VSOC centres up and down the country to ask if anyone was removing them from a Virago 535 and managed to pick mine up second-hand and a mate tack welded them into the bike for me, this saved me pounds on what the garage had quoted me which was a little under £200.  Since coming of restriction I was able to remove and clean up the restrictors and sell them on to someone else wanting to restrict their 535 so save them a lot of money to.   So may be worth thinking about if any of you are taking or have already taken restrictor out of your bike you might earn youself some money back by selling yours on. Try an owner site and look on the wanted pages thats what I did.                                                                                                                                                                             

The law (quoted from direct.gov.uk): [Law MV(DL)R regs 42(1) & 69(1)] Light motorcycle licence (A1): you take a test on a motorcycle of between 75 and 125 cc. If you pass you may ride a motorcycle up to 125 cc with power output up to 11 kW. Standard motorcycle licence (A): if your test vehicle is between 120 and 125 cc and capable of more than 100 km/h you will be given a standard (A) licence. You will then be restricted to motorcycles of up to 25 kW for two years. After two years you may ride any size machine. Direct or Accelerated Access enables riders over the age of 21, or those who reach 21 before their two-year restriction ends, to ride larger motorcycles sooner. To obtain a licence to do so they are required to have successfully completed a CBT coursepass a theory test, if they are required to do sopass a practical test on a machine with power output of at least 35 kW To practise, they can ride larger motorcycles, with L plates (and/or D plates in Wales), on public roads, but only when accompanied by an approved instructor on another motorcycle in radio contact. You MUST NOT carry a pillion passenger or pull a trailer until you have passed your test.the important part is in italics, notice all it says is You will then be restricted to motorcycles of up to 25 kW for two years. Nothing about restriction certificates, nothing even about how to restrict your bike, in short, paying £200 to have your motorcycle restricted is a complete farce.
                                                                                                                                                                             

Don't forget BJ that DirectGov, although a very good website, does not offer you full details regarding the law!   What it does is offer you very brief details of what you can and cannot do.  If you are looking for something on DirectGov as specific as type of certificate required then you may struggle.   To find these specifics you have to read and cross-reference a number of Acts.  In this case probably the Road Traffic Act, Highway Act and possibly even the Road Traffic Offenders Act.                                                                                                                                                                             

My advice to anyone buying a secondhand bike from a dealer would be to request proof of restriction.   If you're buying privately, then again ask for proof of current restriction, not proof that a restrictor kit was once fitted.  Getting a new certificate off FI international does nothing from what I can see other than line their pockets as all it shows is that a kit was once fitted.   Proof of the bikes weight (remember there is a maximum power to weight ratio as well) and proof of power at the back wheel (dyno run as others have said) should suffice as far as the law is concerned to prove that you are riding within the terms of your insurance and your licence.   However, I may know a bit about highway law and traffic regulation law, but I don't know a lot about type approval laws and the like, so don't take my word for it lol!!!                                                                                                                                                                             

Great post Jackie,   Its the yes you do no you dont attitude thats one of the reasons for me doing my big bike test so that I did not have all the agro of proving something.   With my SV its just a unit that plugs in lol very easy to remove & I think thats one of the reasons when I was looking at insurance there was hardly any change from a restricted SV650 to an unrestricted one.   Proof of restriction does not always mean it has been, I have the cert for my bike that says it has been ... the restrictor bit is in a carrier bag in the garage                                                                                                                                                                             

The worry to me is how many novice riders are out the on unrestricted inappropriate machines. If they have an accident there insurance will be void.                                                                                                                                                                               

Blue its just the same as the number that are out there on a restricted bike that is too big for them to handle.   However with there being a big gap in the market & the big name bike makers not filling it with 33bhp bikes there will always be those who ride a bike that is either restricted & to big/heavy for them or ride unrestricted, both are as dangerous as eachother imo                                                                                                                                                                              

To be out there on a bike that is too big and heavy is as far as i know not against the law. But You could argue that the rider isn't in full control of the vehicle If they had an accident.  If it was that bad they wouldn't get it out of the garage and not all learners are that small. I understand that this number is increasing. though.  It's just as inapropriate to have 100 bhp on tap to a learner on a bike that is niether big or heavy. which is why restrictors should be fitted IMO.  In any case If restrictors are left off it leaves them open to prosecution and other road users and pedestrians at risk becouse their insurance is void. Do i want people on the road who are willing to do that.  NO!                                                                                                                                                                             

do we need anymore than 100bhp really ??? just a question ???                                                                                                                                                                             

No, we don't need any more than about 40 or 50 bhp, but it's nice.                                                                                                                                                                             

I see a lot of posts on another forum from young riders who are getting rid of their restrictors before their 2 years are up. Mainly young lads it has to be said.   I won't be getting rid of my restrictor kit before I'm legally allowed to.   I could have bought a bike lighter than mine - a CBR600RR for example which weighs in at 154.7kg. I'm not sure that's an entirely appropriate bike for a beginner even though I could probably push it about.