Government may still ban big motorbikes from roads

While Taiwan has committed to open up its domestic market for motorcycles above 150cc, a recent government decision to retain a policy of keeping them off the road is expected to enrage motorcycle manufacturers and big-bike enthusiasts alike.

The news comes from Chinese-language media that yesterday reported the Ministry of Transportation and Communications recently said that the decision to open up imports of heavy motorbikes six months after WTO entry, is not tantamount to its approval for riders to "go motorcycling" on the road.

Taiwan joined the WTO on Jan. 1 and the nation's major motorcycle producers -- including the top three, Kwang Yang Motor Co (光陽), Sanyang Industrial Co (三陽) and Yamaha Motor Taiwan Co (山葉) -- have been preparing to try to grab a share of the domestic market for imported motorcycles.

It is estimated that the sale of large motorbikes will reach between 10,000 and 12,000 per year , the report said.

But the alleged government-created predicament -- being able to buy motorcycles you can't ride -- will violate Taiwan's WTO commitments with the US, and thus seriously damage the nation's image in the world, said the report, citing unnamed sources at the Industrial Development Bureau under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

While the issue is not expected to constitute the reason for the US to impose trade sanctions on Taiwan, as some have expressed, it still represents an about-face for the nation on the market opening, the sources said.

To deal with the matter, the Industrial Development Bureau convened a meeting yesterday afternoon with relevant government agencies and domestic motorcycle makers in a bid to come up with solutions that are acceptable to all parties, the report said.

The government outlawed the importation, use and registration of bikes larger then 125cc in 1982. Prior to this, people could import big bikes, register them at the Department of Motor Vehicles and drive them legally on public highways.

The 1982 change in government policy may have resulted in a decrease in the number of big bikes driven on the roads, but it certainly did not see a sudden halt in the imports of big bikes.

Smugglers, especially those with connections to the Japanese underworld realized a lucrative trade could be had by "importing" bikes that had been stolen off the streets in Japan. The surprisingly large number of local motorbike enthusiasts willing to pay significantly more than the original retail price for a stolen big bike has meant that, along with Hong Kong, Taiwan is one of the leading destinations for hot hogs in Asia.