BBC News
Quote:
Police film of 'hooligan' bikers
North Wales Police's chief constable has posted a video of "hooligan" bikers on his web diary to highlight the problem of speeding.
Richard Brunstrom compared the two motorcyclists, filmed from a helicopter riding at nearly 100mph, to an "episode of the Wacky Races cartoon".
The two were later arrested and have since been banned from driving.
However, motorcycling trainer Neil Broughton said the majority of motorcyclists were law-abiding.
He said that the showing the video would not change the actions of a few "idiots".
Mr Brunstrom, well known for his tough stance on speeding motorists, said in his web diary: "The very vocal motorcycle lobby leaps into action at the slightest hint of criticism, no matter how well deserved, with a defensiveness bordering on hysteria."
He added that when the police enforced the law it was met with "reluctant acceptance at best, and all too frequently by outright hostility".
This attitude was, he said, "puzzling".
He said he had included a video clip of an incident on the A55 dual carriageway in north Wales over the summer to illustrate his point.
"These two lunatics from the Stoke-on-Trent area came to the notice of our helicopter crew in June this year.
"Viewers (of the video clip) should note their almost unbelievably crazy antics (which include undertaking on the hard shoulder), reminiscent of an episode of the Wacky Races cartoon."
The men were caught when the police helicopter landed at a service station car park, where the men had stopped to fill up.
Both were banned from driving after admitting dangerous driving and other offences, which Mr Brunstrom called a "good result and thoroughly deserved".
Neil Broughton from the Anglesey Motorcycle Training school - who has 22 years experience as a trainer - said that the chief constable's comments were unfair to the majority of bikers.
'Sympathy'
He said police statistics also failed to show that although bikers did die in accidents, there had been a massive increase in the number of motorcyclists on the roads over the past 10 years and proportionally few had accidents.
"There will always be incidents like this, but showing a video of these two does not change anything. You are always going to have idiots," Mr Broughton added.
"I have sympathy with the families of people who have died in motorcycling accidents, but the figures don't show that statistically there are few accidents compared to the massive number of people now riding motorcycles."
Paul Knight, sales manager with motorcycle traders Bill Smith Motors (Gwynedd) in Bangor added it was important to remember the video featured the actions of two individuals "who would probably have been doing the same thing if they had happened to be driving a car that day".
They were not the actions of "motorcyclists en masse".
Mr Brunstrom said he recognised that the majority of motorcyclists were "decent law-abiding people, given a bad name by the hooligans".