Sounds like the story of the A1 and uk motorway speed limits. At one time the road sign of a solid white circle with a black diagonal bar through meant no speed limit. Many roads in the UK outside of built up areas had these and you could go as fast as your car or bike was able to. Aston Martin decided the A1 near their factory could be legally used as a speed testing route for their cars but doing 130mph around vehicles that at the time struggled to get to 65 was dangerous, so the government changed the signs' purpose and introduced the 70mph speed limit for dual carriageways and 60mph for single carriageways as national speed limits where that sign was in force. Now the nanny state has decided that even this is too fast on some fantastic stretches of old A class roads and are sticking blanket 50mph limits on them (Cat'n'fiddle, I'm looking at you...!). Revenue raisers or increasing safety is a matter of perspective but in these days of prosecuting everyone, if you get caught daring to have fun they do come down hard on you.
This triggered a distant memory of a conversation I had at MIRA in the '80s. Something about an E Type or AC Cobra(?), (edit: Le Mans was mentioned also if I recall correctly - but I may be getting two or more bits of info crossed?),150mph(?), measuring skid marks(?) and subsequent implementation of the national speed limit of 70mph. I thought it was the M1, but it is a very hazy memory and there was a huge amount of more important information being absorbed at the time.
When training, 100mph is often attained on A roads, but not as a target. The speed is in keeping with the prevailing conditions, with safety #1, front and centre. A 10% safety buffer is held in reserve at all stages of the the drive: observation; vehicle dynamics; power/torque peaks; slip trade-off limits; road and weather, etc. Loss of licence is not a factor - or shouldn't be - considering the sight lines at those speeds would enable any other road user's (pedestrian, rider, driver) presence to be acknowledged at an early enough stage to make provision within the drive.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with driving/riding at 200mph where safe. It is only driving/riding at 22mph when it is only safe to move along at 18mph that is the danger. As you rightly state, the "nanny state" has sucked a lot of the enjoyment out of a safe but spirited drive. It seems to be both an attempt to stop death on the roads, which cost approximately 1m to investigate per case and, lower the number of traffic officers required to police, plus bring in revenue (the last is probably the most important
and grubby factor).
The UK has possibly
the most congested yet safest roads in Europe and also the world - driving/riding is a joy compared to most countries. Whenever I get back there I love to find my own little A roads and immerse myself in the well-developed English road systems, amongst generally well-trained drivers. A huge difference between there and here in the Philippines - although here is
the perfect training ground to witness dangerous scenarios on a minute-by-minute basis, rather than the occasional incidence on UK roads.
The result....
UK: 5/6 deaths per 100,000 vehicles
PH: 135 deaths per 100,000 vehicles
So the UK has something to applaud......unless they put a ban on being grateful too...