Let’s replace the ‘kapcai’ with low-speed electric bikes


We should go back to the original reason the underbone motorcycle was developed, to provide low-speed transport for short distances. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, September 30, 2019.

WHETHER we realise it or not, the kapcai is the No.1 killing machine of kids, as young as 6, up to adults aged 25.

Police statistics show that many children aged between 6 and 10 were killed for riding a kapcai, while the most deaths every year among all age groups for any type of vehicle are recorded among young people aged 16 to 20.

Many underbone motorcycles below 250cc, commonly known as kapcai, today are equipped with a sturdy engine fitted within a reduced tube frame or simplified wheelbase. Kapcai nowadays are lightweight, economical, fast, nimble and offer good handling. 

Unfortunately, these are among the contributing factors that allow youngsters to speed and ride recklessly. In the first place, they should never be allowed to ride such fast motorcycles.

It breaks my heart to learn about crashes and deaths among schoolchildren due to their recklessness, or rather their naivety, when riding a fast, nimble kapcai.

We can’t rely on enforcement authorities all the time. Hence, there is a need to cut off youngsters from kapcai.

For a start, teenagers and young adults from 16 to 25 should be permitted to ride only electric motorcycles with a top speed of 70kph.

The authorities should make it compulsory that those with a P riding license are allowed to ride only these low-powered electric bikes.

It is estimated there are nearly 11 million kapcai on the roads in the country. On average, in the past 12 years, around 4,100 kapcai users die on the roads annually.

Malaysian Institute for Road Safety researchers have concluded that economic losses from injuries and deaths involving motorcycle users from 2015 to 2017 were RM18.15 billion.

We need to be bold and we have little choice. Malaysia must retire ‘kapcai’ or motorcycle below 250cc in stages. 

I reckon the phasing out of kapcai can be done within six years. 

I believe this can be achieved by introducing an additional tax structure or some unfriendly policy for kapcai sold in this country.

As a replacement for kapcai, the country can introduce incentives or a fresh automotive policy package to encourage more low-powered electric motorcycles of top speed ranging from 60kph to 90kph to come in or to be manufactured here. This will lower the price.

Electric motorcycles are the future, it is the way forward. This is your chance Malaysia to be the hub for electric motorcycle production in the region. 

Electric motorcycles are flooding east Asia.

Hanoi with a vast population of eight million has announced to ban on two-stroke bikes in 2025, and a complete ban on all type of motorcycles by 2030.

My sources tell me Vietnam is seriously looking to invest into electric motorcycles as the affordable mode of transport to tackle the pollution issue.

There are around 47 million motorcycles in Vietnam, and our neighbour is ready to retire low-powered motorcycles gradually in the next seven years.

Imagine seeing at least 30 million low-powered electric motorcycles to be “Made in Vietnam” and our neighbour becoming the distribution hub for Asean?

Do we want to miss this opportunity on the shift to electric vehicles?

For Malaysia, the proposed retirement of kapcai is related to safety and appalling road deaths statistics.

If we phase out kapcai, this is more about curbing the motorcyclists’ attitude of “I-am-always-in-a-rush” during commuting and the prevalent racing culture. 

It is said that no biker can survive a crash impact of more than 50kph. 

This is supported by research on the effectiveness of safety helmets by Dr Akira Shibata and Dr Katsuhiro Fukuda of Kurume University School of Medicine in Japan. 

They found that the “helmet is definitely protective at a low speed of 50kph, but ineffective at high speeds of over 50 koh”.

We must go back to the real purpose of the underbone moped, which was to transport people safely travelling below 60kph.

I am sure many of us remember the good old days of the Honda Cub, which offered low-speed performance, served us well to reach short distances and was not viable for long-distance travel.

If we value lives on the road and want to reduce deaths, especially among youngsters, Malaysia must decide on the characteristics of affordable motorcycles of the future.

What do we want actually from a kapcai or entry level motorbike in the next 10 years?

Do we want kapcai as a workhorse?

Or kapcai as a racehorse? – September 30, 2019.

* Shahrim Tamrin is a road safety activist from Kuala Lumpur. He reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.


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