There are a number of options available to those who might eventually wish to sidestep any restrictive legislation against old vehicles, including registering your vehicle outside the EU or within the EU, but in more 'liberal' states like the Isle of Man or Estonia, complete with insurance and so on. As few of us park our bikes and cars on the road, the police don't get in the habit of seeing a foreign-registered vehicle being used all the time in their town.
Here on mainland Europe, the open borders policy might be annoying in that we are swamped by unpleasant foreigners begging and stealing while the cops stand on crossroads penalising middle class car drivers to raise revenue for financially and morally bankrupt government, but it also means that one can easily claim to have moved one's foreign-registered vehicle outside the country every couple of months in order to avoid having to register it locally.
When the Eurocrats eventually get around to an EU-wide system, alternatives will have to be explored. Some of us are already 'exploring' them, which is why, as French members have noticed, there is at least one Vincent motoring around Paris on US plates, absolutely legally. They're always up to date, too, so the cops are pretty limited in their options and the day that government in the EUSSR whacks us with limited use rules, there'll be very little they can do to a vehicle registered legally outside the 'community', especially if the rider is in possession of a foreign licence or, failing that, written permission from the person whose name appears on the documents to ride/drive the vehicle.
Most cops leave old vehicles alone anyway. You just have to start thinking 'laterally' and in advance in order to get around the restrictions that will be placed on you in order to pander to eco-nazis and other killjoy elements, ot to 'make work' for bureaucratic drones or generate column inches for the politician who pushes the rule through. Use the rules against the rules. It's the best way. Always has been. And look on the bright side: Vincents will only be worth a few grand once people aren't allowed to ride them more than ten miles a year in pre-arranged convoys.
On a more mundane level, I have always wondered by all these worthy bodies like the BMF and other riders' rights groups don't push the environmental advantages of motorcycles more. In fact, as far as I can see, they don't ever promote this aspect of motorcycles. I used to ask the BMF reps who came to us to whine every time we showed a rider without a helmet in our magazines what they actually did for bikers and I never got a really coherent answer from any of them.
Regarding classic vehicles, the environmental advantages should be pushed for all they're worth too. A 1940s 1000cc or 500cc motorcycle consumes far less than its modern equivalent (side valves aside!) in terms of petrol, oil, tyres and other consumables and won't end up in a landfill site. Yet many of the public see them as quaint but dirty, polluting old things that should be banned.
Plus...modern bike manufacturers (this applies to cars too) see us as an embarrassment and a potential threat because they don't their customers to start asking themselves why they buy a motorcycle or scooter that loses up to 30% of its 'value' as soon as it exits the dealer's showroom, costs a bomb to insure and to maintain and is often obsolete two seasons later because the makers want to sell new ones. That's why, for instance, the publishers of magazines about modern motorcycles ignore older stuff. Their advertisers would get annoyed if they ran any features about old bikes, especially old bikes still in everyday use. I know...because I used to work for these magazines.
I accept that the various classic vehicle groups do some sterling work but I wish they'd be a bit more aggressive. Look what pandering to bullies did for Hitler's victims in the 1940s. All those countries trying to deal with "Herr Hitler", all those Jews obediently lining up to be gassed because they felt it was best not to make trouble. The people governing us might not be fixing to gas us all, it's true, but make no mistake in understanding that they have dictatorial mindsets and will always pick on groups who can't or won't fight back in order to look strong and efficient to the public at large.
PK
PK