Zahid said a ban would affect thousands of Malaysians who use motorcycles for their daily transport.

“About 11 million Malaysians use ‘kapcai’ bikes for daily activities, including going to work,” he said, as not everyone could afford a car, especially those in the low-income bracket and students.

He said a ban on these light motorcycles could have adverse effects on the motorcyle industry which he said had just started to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dealers, distributors and workers would be affected, as well as spare part businesses and workshops, said Zahid, who is head of the Superbikers Association of Malaysia.

The Inspector-General of Police, Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani, had recently expressed concerns over high-performance motorcycles. He said motorcycles were among the leading cause of road deaths.

He had made his comment after his attention was drawn to a recent video clip showing a Suzuki Raider R150 Fi motorcycle hitting a top speed of 177km/h on a “dyno”.

“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 speed limit is 110 km/h,” he said.

However, the motorcycle in the video was shown on a static “dyno” (or dynamometer) test rig.

Zahid said awareness efforts on road safety and law enforcement would be more effective in preventing casualties among motorcyclists instead of banning the sale of high-performance motorcycles.

The Suzuki Raider was recently released in Malaysia and is one of several brands in the 150cc-class of light motorcycles which have become popular. The others include the Honda RS-X and RS150R, Yamaha Y15ZR and Y16ZR, and Benelli RFS150i.

Prices for these machines range from RM7,500 to RM11,000.

However, the most popular “kapcai” or underbone light motorcycles are those in the 100cc to 135cc class.