High-performance kapchai bikes should not be banned in Malaysia – Zahid Hamidi shares his four reasons

High-performance <em>kapchai</em> bikes should not be banned in Malaysia – Zahid Hamidi shares his four reasons

Earlier this month, a viral video showing a kapchai topping out at 177 km/h on a dyno caught the attention inspector-general of police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani. The bike in question was the 2022 Suzuki Raider R150 Fi that was launched last month.

The IGP expressed concern with the latest trend of low cc, high-performance underbone bikes. “This (fast kapchais) is among the largest causes of mortalities among motorcyclists and rempits. Vehicles such as this should be illegal in Malaysia because there is no basis for it to do 177 km/h on the highway, considering the maximum national limit is 110 km/h,” he said, suggesting a ban on supercubs, as reported by FMT.

Now UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has come out to share his views on the matter, saying that high-performance kapchais should not be banned. The former DPM share a couple of points to support his stance.

“Without belittling the suggestion (of the ban) from any party, I believe that there are a few issues that have to be looked at closely. First, motorcycles – whatever the performance – if ridden safely, prudently and in accordance to traffic regulations, the chances of staying safe is high.

High-performance <em>kapchai</em> bikes should not be banned in Malaysia – Zahid Hamidi shares his four reasons

“Unless there are unexpected factors such as the negligence of other drivers, a fault on the motorcycle or unsafe road surfaces. That is why riders have to ensure that their motorcycles are in good condition and always stay safe on the roads to avoid risk,” Zahid said on his Facebook page.

“Second, the motorcycle market in Malaysia is reported to be among the highest in ASEAN, even the world, before the pandemic hit. It is feared that a ban on kapchais will disrupt the industry that is now just starting to breathe again. The effect will be felt by those in the industry, from the distributors to the retailers and the workers. Related sectors such as spare parts and workshops will also be affected.

“Third, it is estimated that 11 million Malaysians use kapchai for daily activities including to commute to work. Reasons include not yet being able to afford a car or to buy more than one car; either the husband or wife will have to use the motorcycle. Other factors are to save on transport costs, and to escape from traffic jam and parking issues.

“Also, tertiary students. Not all parents can afford to purchase cars for the children to go to lectures and classes,” the Bagan Datuk MP said.

High-performance <em>kapchai</em> bikes should not be banned in Malaysia – Zahid Hamidi shares his four reasons

“Fourth, we’ve heard of kapchais, even with 110 km/h speed cuts, can be modified to be faster. That’s why we hear of kapchais reaching 180 km/h for illegal racing. This means that even if high-performance kapchais are banned, the real issue of unsafe speeds will continue to happen.

“Therefore, the most important aspect in tackling the issue of road accidents involving motorcycle riders is the attitude of motorists, to strengthen their awareness on the importance of following laws and focus on safety when riding. To plant the element of care and mutual concern among road users to combat selfish actions. Also, the aspect of enforcement of rules and the role of the family in preventing youths from getting into illegal racing,” Zahid said.

The politician ended his opinion with the Malay saying kerana marahkan nyamuk, kelambu dibakar. So, what do you think of this issue of high-speed kapchais and dangerous riding/illegal racing? Surely a ban on underbone bikes is too heavy handed – as Zahid pointed out, two-wheelers are essential tools for many people. But at the same time, is education enough? Education is ideal, but is it effective, and are those involved even receptive? It might seem straightforward, but this issue is anything but.

Anyway, this is not the first time that “kapchai” and “ban” have appeared in the same sentence – more on the topic here as we picked racer-turned-team principal Shahrol Yuzy’s mind.

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • “Unless there are unexpected factors such as the negligence of other drivers”

    I see what you did there, blaming others again.

    Also ‘kerana marahkan nyamuk, kelambu dibakar’ seems like you are asking us to give face to the motorcyclist (aka the ‘nyamuk’) even though they are the one causing nuisances.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 30 Thumb down 41
    • the driver on Apr 15, 2022 at 5:41 pm

      The problem is that you won’t accept it. Problems always have more than one reason, fix the obvious or easily fixed then tackle the other.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 21 Thumb down 5
    • Mazlan on Apr 17, 2022 at 5:48 am

      All the point given are fact but the point here is, it seems to me that you dislike any motorcyclist so much, everytime you sees one. Please take your leave, rest or go to somewhere peace. Remember pointing one finger to others, but the other three are pointing out to you. Don’t let the anger be your devil.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 3
    • he also continues saying ‘fault on the motorcycle or unsafe road surfaces…’ wtf u only take that part??cannot read ah?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
    • Readers on Apr 27, 2022 at 9:18 pm

      Lol cherry picking. Pointing out one statement and leave out the other statements. Cant you read the other whole sentences? Oh how convenience…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
  • newme on Apr 15, 2022 at 2:13 pm

    Points well articulated. So much empathy shown.

    Only if they have the ability to articulate equally well on alcohol and gambling and other things they don’t get to enjoy.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 19 Thumb down 7
    • policeman on Apr 17, 2022 at 12:15 am

      When those UMNO goons rooting for Mat rempit and more bike deaths otr. With ill gotten monies, he got dem many bikes.
      12. Harley Davidson (JLC 38) – RM250K
      13. Harley Davidson (G1M 38) – RM250K
      14. Ducati Diavel Carbon (QMR 38) – RM150K
      15. Ducati Hypermotard 796 (BEA 38) – RM80K
      16. BMW R1200GS (JHD 38) – RM130K
      17. BMW R1200RT (AFU 38) – RM130K
      18. BMW C600 Sport (SAS 38) – RM70K
      19. Kawasaki KLX 250V (WEX 38) – RM25K
      20. Honda C100 (WVH 4851)

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 0
      • Rasputin on Apr 17, 2022 at 8:35 am

        All community heads should adjourn a road safety awareness programme for the benefits of modified capchai mat(s) on illegal racing.The DOE sho uld step fwd gv a lecture on noise pollution n excessive carbon fumes.Road transport dept should divert illegal racers to alternate racing venues if none can regulate the nuisance.Jabatan Penerangan should present slideshows at hotspots on all drastic n fatal accidents involving illegal racers ,keep on inducing the fear factor for general public to react Major insurance agencies can penetrate the untapped hi risk riders wt extra loading on the P.A.note:illegal logging cn b curbed,illegal vice den n gambling cn be arrested, illegal bit coin process busted….wonder why tis late nite circus on the road given the ignorance over the decades.Instead of banning capchai why not ban the bikes modified against the manufactures customized spec or rather spare the decent capchai owners mode of transport.harley is mostly for filthy or mighty rich topguns

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • Malaysia for Malaysian on Apr 15, 2022 at 2:21 pm

    No wonder M’sia became the laughing stock for the world with this is the “standard” of our politician,

    1) Dtak faham ke yg dicadangkan ban ialah “Super-cub” bukan semua kapcai.

    2)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 25 Thumb down 30
    • And do you understand that even if you ban supercub, the problem doesn’t go away because even a stock 125zr can go at least 140kmh? What’s the point banning something that doesn’t fix anything?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 36 Thumb down 3
    • “Fourth, we’ve heard of kapchais, even with 110 km/h speed cuts, can be modified to be faster. That’s why we hear of kapchais reaching 180 km/h for illegal racing.”

      Tell me you didn’t read all the way without telling me you didn’t. You have the attention of a fish, it’s not hard to assume you also have the same span on road.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 0
    • “we’ve heard of kapchais, even with 110 km/h speed cuts, can be modified to be faster. That’s why we hear of kapchais reaching 180 km/h for illegal racing.”

      Tell me you didn’t read all the way without telling me you didn’t. You have the attention of a fish, it’s not hard to assume you also have the same span on road.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • Dong Gor on Apr 15, 2022 at 2:52 pm

    lu olang cakap semua lar.
    u say ban what can we say. u say no ban, we can’t say anything also. asal no 6 yr jail.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 18 Thumb down 8
  • OwnerOfProtonCar on Apr 15, 2022 at 3:01 pm

    for once in his lengthy political career, he said something that make sense… surprised that he is able to come up with such view on his own…. didnt expect he is capable to do anything decent actually… oh well

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 16 Thumb down 13
  • why PT publishing zahid hamidi opinion… want to get some of that sweet GE ad spend?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 16 Thumb down 10
  • Kapchai on Apr 15, 2022 at 3:13 pm

    Kapchai mag be replaced by electric EV Bike and EV-scoot.

    EV-SCOOT and Bike is growing rapidly @ India.
    Rapid e-fueling, Small Battery, swap also can,
    240V House Power can be sufficient.

    Finally, EV-scoot has good torque.
    Pickup ok too.

    But Gasoline car is different, EV pickup torque @ cheaper price is very insufficient compared to Turbo, D-CVT power mode, Hybrid, etc.

    EV car is expensive to be capable.
    But EV-Scoot is as cheap as normal 125cc Bike @ India, yet more capable, summore Bluetooth wireless connectivity.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 4
    • qayyum6jan on Apr 15, 2022 at 11:02 pm

      Ev scooter probably won’t work for majority of Malaysian. Malaysian use kapchai as main mode of transportation, for town usage ev scooter is ideal due to its good torque and pocket friendly maintenance. But for a long distance usage like a lot of Malaysian do ev is everything but practical, mainly because of the battery capacity and a top speed mostly barely any faster than electric bicycle.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 1
  • Bryan on Apr 15, 2022 at 3:19 pm

    Articulate got use meh? who don’t know the issue is at the attitude of the rider?
    what is the propose solution to stop all this, motorcyclist navigating in between 2 car even more fears then car.
    All politician know how to talk, I also know the issue. What we want to see is how you resolve it, how to educate and ensure they ride safely?
    Infrastructure wise we should learn from some country which separate motorcycle less than 250cc in one lane and higher capacity in another, this will help as well. This been issue for donkey years nothing change.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 14 Thumb down 5
    • Hantu Raya on Apr 15, 2022 at 5:38 pm

      I say sell them. Because natural selection. The more these bikes are sold, the more they’re bought and ridden, the more these riders with death wishes die, the better it is.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 7
    • Kambing terbang on Apr 16, 2022 at 8:29 pm

      Cakap rasa takut bile motor lalu tengah2 antara kereta. Tapi bila motor duduk tengah jalan, yang kereta horn2 dan potong sambil dengan sengaja himpit motor. Untuk line berasingan tu, yang aku perasan dekat KL, line bas pun kereta buat mcm line sendiri, kalau nampak polis atau jpj baru gelabah nak masuk line untuk kenderaan selain bas dan teksi balik. Jadi macam mana tu?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 0
  • High performance or not, speed kills, so electronic speed limiter mandate of all B2 bikes.

    Bend against the law by deactivating it, lesen gantung seumur. No more chance, if father buy for son, ayah punya also gantung.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 8
  • We are talking about banning fast kapchai and this fella talked like we are banning all kapchai.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 10
    • Tell me you don’t read all the way without telling me you didn’t.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
    • Zirafah on Apr 16, 2022 at 2:38 am

      What’s the point banning something that doesn’t fix anything?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
  • The issue is not the bike. It’s more to the rider. Any bike can speed exceed the speed limit. If the rider do not follow the law. They need to be educated and making it more difficult to pass the driving test.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 16 Thumb down 1
  • Did he not understand most fatal accidents involve motorbikes in this country…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
    • Spin Too Much on Apr 16, 2022 at 1:10 am

      Bezza songang langgar motor. Salah motor ke?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 0
      • Spin Too Much bodoh on Apr 17, 2022 at 3:39 pm

        ya ya..ban Perodua..ban Proton..Tutup semua kilang keta..naik lembu..naik kapcai

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
  • Khairul on Apr 16, 2022 at 3:23 am

    Bukan semua “pemilik super moped” menunggang melebihi had laju yang dibenarkan. Kebanyakan mereka menunggang pada kelajuan sekitar 80 kmj saja, bahkan ada yang menunggang pada kelajuan sekitar 68 kmj dan 75 kmj saja. Kita dapati, ada pro dan kontra berkenaan isu ini…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 0
  • Road condition among other reason why we have high number of incident involving motorcyclist. Do road users respect them as we should? If we have to ban these kapchai just because it can go faster than 110kmh, it should applied to all vehicles as well.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 1
    • Kambing terbang on Apr 16, 2022 at 8:34 pm

      Yang ini paling betul, nak juga tengok bmw, merc, land rover semua tu bawa 110km/h je. So tak ada la babi2 yang bilanada lori sebelah orang dah bawa sampai 150km/h sb nak menyelik untuk bagi diorg ruang memotong pun masih cucuk seinchi je belakang sambil main lampu dan horn. Tapi kenyataannya speed card tak akan dipasang pada kereta terutama kereta mahal sb bg mereka. Dunia mereka yang punya.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
    • Sultan on Apr 17, 2022 at 5:55 am

      Setuju di sana Tuan. Banning tidak menunjukkan cara penyelesaian. Kalau begitu, banned jer lah semua motosikal yang melebihi speed limit, biar semua orang pakai basikal jer. Superbike pun banned semua.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • Lewis on Apr 16, 2022 at 11:55 am

    If you ban motorcycles that can exceed the national speed limit what about cars?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 1
    • Vasan on Apr 17, 2022 at 11:35 am

      Please enforce motorcycle lanes. Use bicycle lanes in city. Strict enforcement is lacking

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 2
  • Won’t be fooled. on Apr 16, 2022 at 12:54 pm

    Obviously he has nothing else he cares about except for votes from these capcai motor owners.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 4
    • You never ride a Cupchai before obviously, you sound like dirt rich people who can afford a car and looking low at others

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 3
    • Dragon on Apr 17, 2022 at 6:00 am

      Fooled or no be fooled. You dirty rich people only know how to drive a car, and maybe your car also auto transmission that is easy only for noob driver like you.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 5
  • policeman on Apr 17, 2022 at 12:15 am

    When those UMNO goons rooting for Mat rempit and more bike deaths otr. With ill gotten monies, he got dem many bikes.
    12. Harley Davidson (JLC 38) – RM250K
    13. Harley Davidson (G1M 38) – RM250K
    14. Ducati Diavel Carbon (QMR 38) – RM150K
    15. Ducati Hypermotard 796 (BEA 38) – RM80K
    16. BMW R1200GS (JHD 38) – RM130K
    17. BMW R1200RT (AFU 38) – RM130K
    18. BMW C600 Sport (SAS 38) – RM70K
    19. Kawasaki KLX 250V (WEX 38) – RM25K
    20. Honda C100 (WVH 4851)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 0
  • I have a factory-stock Yamaha 135LC bike with a claimed 117 km/h top speed (GPS). But I rarely ride at that speed, most of the time cruising at 90 km/h. You can modify a 97cc EX5 bike to have a 150cc engine with aftermarket parts and exceed the speed limit easily, and is road legal too as long as its crank case is factory stock, they didn’t bother to check if the engine displacement is modified. It’s more of a rider problem, not the bike.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0
    • Shamshir Hassan on Apr 22, 2022 at 10:38 pm

      Surely you don’t think that our government, who is interested in playing nanny and urging people to live life their way, want people to realize that they have self-control and are responsible for their own
      life choices?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Used to kapchais... on Apr 17, 2022 at 11:28 am

    Nak raih pengundi mude lettew… I knew it ;)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
  • Vasan on Apr 17, 2022 at 11:37 am

    Please enforce motorcycle lanes. Use bicycle lanes in city. Strict enforcement is lacking

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 2
  • Normal rakyat suffer, you enjoying life.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
  • Zack Zane on Apr 18, 2022 at 2:29 pm

    Small cc, big cc that’s not the issue. The issue is MODIFICATION. Which is ILLEGAL. This will then lead to BREAKING LAWS ( speed limit, illegal racing and noise pollution). Solution is simple. Whoever gets caught, saman RM3000 and impound bike. 90% of rakyat happy for quieter, safer and serene Malaysia.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
  • Lchan on Apr 21, 2022 at 6:33 pm

    Weak reasoning. Period. More like a political support statement. Why? Because I have no idea why the hell he is commenting and making statements on kapchais when there are more pressing matters at hand.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
 

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