When word that a new law was being drafted to introduce motorbikes to the Island that would lessen the negative impact on the environment, a good deal of excitement was generated.

After all, we are all in some way affected by the emissions that infuse our air.

There have been many changes to the type of bike you see on the roads now. Let’s face it, a bike similar to the world renown Harley Davidson is not for commuting to work, it is a stallion.

You polish it, stare at it in your backyard for countless hours and ride it for pleasure.

You also use it to measure your own riding abilities, the same way you would measure and expand your driving abilities if you owned a Ferrari or Porche.

In fact, many of the larger bikes are purely for weekend cruising, giving you corners that summarise what these bikes are all about.

But all this is possible because Environmental Protection in conjunction with the Transport Control Department (TCD) has allowed larger stroke and larger engine size bikes into Bermuda.

Their reasons for doing so were many, not only to appease the weekend cruiser or everyday commuter, but by their partnership they have been making a positive contribution to the environment.

“It has opened up a whole other import side, allowing us to bring in a much larger range and type of bike,” says Steve Holloway, director of Cycles International.

“We were quite restricted when the upper limit was 100 cc because there are not many bikes available on the market now around that figure.”

He adds: “The rest of the world was getting environmentally-friendly and moving away from two stroke bikes and moving to a four stroke bike.

“The problem was that we couldn’t find any four strokes under 100 cc, so somebody had to initiate a change if they wanted to make the island cleaner.”

And that change has been made. Dr. Thomas Sleeter, director of Environmental Protection, has long been working on an ongoing phasing out of the two stroke motorbikes that began four years ago in conjunction with TCD.

There are now restrictions on motorcycles imported to the island of 150 cc and 15 horsepower, to encourage larger, cleaner and more environmentally friendly bikes on Bermuda’s roads.

The idea is that the four-stroke engine, with the piston moving up inside the cylinder four times instead of twice is a much cleaner burning engine.

“The four stroke bike represents about a ninety-eight percent reduction in exhaust fumes over a two stroke,” says Dr. Sleeter.

“In a two stroke exhaust there is a lot of un-burned oil that comes out so the environmental benefits of using the larger four stroke bikes is not only reduced emissions in the air, but also reduced oil on the roads.”

When the residue from the two-strokes fall onto the ground, it not only enters the atmosphere but it makes the roads slippery and dangerous as well.

When it rains, the residue and oils run off into the inshore waters creating a negative environmental impact.

Because of the presence of oil in the two stroke bikes, a fair amount of smoke was being produced, which not only looked and smelled bad, but according to Dr. Sleeter these bikes give off very fine particulate matter, products of incomplete combustion (a combination of soot and unburnt fuel and oil) that can be breathed in by everyone.

The appeal of the four-stroke engine is the way in which it runs. “It is a completely different engine altogether,” says Mr. Holloway, “the two stroke is burning oil and that clogs up the catalytic converters, whereas the four stroke is a much cleaner engine even before they put the catalytic converter in.

The emissions that are released into the atmosphere are down to 1.5 and 2 parts per million, on these new bikes whereas on a two stroke the level of emissions would be much, much higher.”

He adds: “You can see smoke ploughing out the back of the two strokes...you don’t get that problem with a four stroke bike.”

We are definitely heading in the right direction in helping to reduce emissions into our environment. Let’s keep it up, and keep Bermuda beautiful.