Biking in France

[madman]

I understand that the law has just been changed. DVLA will now give out info to the French police. The French system does not yet give driver information to the UK authorities, but that bit is in the pipeline and will introduced soon.
I am not sure what the French police will do with the info at present, but I believe that soon they will be able to pursue a UK driver through the UK courts.

[winger]

You may or not be right but pursue them for what!!! i wasn't rideing the bike i loaned it to a mate,the French wouldn't even know i was in the country,there's no bloody check when you go into France,christ the law have a enough hassle makeing things stick over here!!!.

[Me-109]

Do I need a beam deflector?

Actually if you wanted to you just need to get access to the back of teh light unit and you can undo the three screws that hold it in, turn it 45 degrees or so and you're set for mainland Europe. The dip beam sits in a frame with left and right hand drive positions. RTFM!

[Boxered]

You may or not be right but pursue them for what!!! i wasn't rideing the bike i loaned it to a mate,the French wouldn't even know i was in the country,there's no bloody check when you go into France,christ the law have a enough hassle makeing things stick over here!!!.

Too true, a good friend of mine has a 21 year old son ( a bit of a jack the lad) who has successfully avoided 12 points in the last 18 months from gatso's pureley by ignoring the n.i.p's and knocks on the door! even with these offences hanging over him, he is stopped regularly, ('cos he's a dickhead) and yet is still allowed to continue driving like a tw@t

The little shit needs teaching a lesson, but no matter how many lectures he gets from his dad (& me), if he keeps getting away with it, he'll keep getting away with it!
As has been said before on this forum, they only tend to punish those who usually obey the rules

anyhow, if I ever get a n.i.p from france, I'll be giving his details

Steve

[winger]

You may or not be right but pursue them for what!!! i wasn't rideing the bike i loaned it to a mate,the French wouldn't even know i was in the country,there's no bloody check when you go into France,christ the law have a enough hassle makeing things stick over here!!!.

Too true, a good friend of mine has a 21 year old son ( a bit of a jack the lad) who has successfully avoided 12 points in the last 18 months from gatso's pureley by ignoring the n.i.p's and knocks on the door! even with these offences hanging over him, he is stopped regularly, ('cos he's a dickhead) and yet is still allowed to continue driving like a tw@t

The little shit needs teaching a lesson, but no matter how many lectures he gets from his dad (& me), if he keeps getting away with it, he'll keep getting away with it!
As has been said before on this forum, they only tend to punish those who usually obey the rules

anyhow, if I ever get a n.i.p from france, I'll be giving his details

Steve

That was exactly the scenario i was thinking of,although the person i had in mind is 61!!!!,it's a bit like global warming it'll all end in tears for future generations,but in the mean time make the best of the weather !!!

[EST51]

As daft as it sounds, petrol is one of the biggest issues in France. You'll probably be aiming for the twisty back-roads and there's a distinct shortage of petrol stations on those. Even when they're there, they'll be tucked away in some village back street where you can't find them, so fill up wherever you see an open station. Although I can muster enough school-boy french to ask for directions to a petrol station, the answer is usually too fast and accented for me to understand the answer!

The other thing to keep in mind is that France is still very agricultural and, although the roads are very quiet [about the same population but the country is 5 times bigger than here] you will come stonking around a glorious corner to find a sodding great combined harvester in your way. Or you'll find mud slewed across the road from a nearby field and that will be mid corner [when you're nicely cranked over].

Lastly [although they are disappearing fast] there's sometimes a right of way for people joining the main carriageway from a side road. Check up on the facts but it's something like a black lozenge on a yellow sign. The guys on here who live in France can probably clear this one up.

Aside from those issues, I'm voting for France to be the best biking country nearby. Well maintained roads, very little traffic, very bike friendly drivers, good wine, cheap houses, excellent food, nice people [bloody hell, I think I need to move there!].

By the way, you'll know if you've strayed into Belgium as their road surfaces are pretty much like ours - crap and full of pot-holes.

Cheers, Steve

[Stevie]

I think the sign you mean like this one


It's pretty common throughout Europe, not just in France, but certainly in Germany and Switzerland too, and if you see the sign, you have right of way over traffic coming from the right. If you don't see the sign, or see it with a black line through it, the you must give way to traffic coming from the right.

This is still pretty common in rural areas.

[BlueBoxer]

I've just got back from a week driving up the west coast of France, Santander to St Malo.

I've got to agree with everything that's been said above. You would need to be blind to miss the speed camaras, they're very clearly signposted. The roads are empty, and the people welcoming and friendly.



We stayed in small hotels out of town, so I wasn't too bothered about theft, but I'd guess it'd be worth locking the bike down in a town. I don't know what bike theft is like in France, though I did notice that the R1100S in Royan wasn't U locked or chained.

Steve

[madman]

The funny give way system is not too difficult. If you see the sign above then you are on a priority road and don't need to give way. If you see a sign showing a crossroad which does not indicate any priority then you must give way to the right. Having said that most drivers will slow or stop coming out from the right at minor junctions, and as said before, the give way to the right rule is slowly disappearing.
Fixed speed cameras have a 6 foot tall sign saying that they are there before you come to them, and that sign is no more than 200 to 300 meters before the camera. The mobile speed cameras are set up randomly and oncoming motorists will flash you when there is one ahead. It is very rare to see mobile cameras out of towns and villages, apart from occasionally on the motorways. Don't believe the stories about being timed between motorway toll booths as this can only happen if there is a cop at each booth and they are timing you, it is just another wives tail, like the one about needing Hi-Vis jackets and bulb kits on motorbikes.
If you plan to use any motorways then put the route into www.mappy.fr and print it out, it will tell you the cost of tolls (remember to put moto in as they are cheaper) and also tells you where all the fixed speed cameras are on that route.
I have never seen mud over the road here like I used to see in East Anglia. If there is a diesel spill, there will be warning signs saying "Gas huile" put on that section of the road within hours of the spill happening.
Dark visors are completely legal here, so if you have one and want to bring it with you, that is no problem.
When you come to stop and park, do not park in normal car parks, leave the bike in an area where it does not block a pavement or a car parking slot. I have used pay car parks, not that there are many, where the attendant has asked me to park behind a bench as it is free and does not take up his slots!
I can't comment on the cross border chasing of speed offenders, I just know that there is now a rule in place.

[FLASH]

Latest news from France:

1) petrol rationing has now been relaxed and you are allowed 20 litres in any 24 hour period.
2) The Gatso people aren't putting up the warning signs and are very upset about them
3) All automatic petrol pumps have had their card-readers changed, at vast expense, purely in order to ignore British credit cards
4) There is NO speed limit in France. The only people stopped are people from Luton
5) The gastronomic capital of the world is that London
6) All French women have red hair
7) No French waiter uses deodorant
8 French roads are the worst in Europe


HTH

[Rob B]

And really take care in some of the tiny villages when you're off the beaten track. Some still use the "Right of way from the right" rule to speed calm. You'll see these areas marked by a cross on a triangle or the yellow board.

Quote:

The old rule of "priority to the right" still applies if there is no road sign at the crossing. This means that you must give way to traffic arriving from the right hand side. This can be a dangerous trap for people. No matter what the excuse, if you collide with traffic arriving on the right hand side, where there was no road sign, it is your fault...

This is a good site too http://www.abelard.org/france/first-arrival.asp




Rgds,

Rob

[FLASH]

Actually (serious post now) the law has changed. "Priorité à droite" still exists but in the event of an accident the blame is now shared. It stops people with previous accident damage having it fixed FOC (you can just imagine them lurking at a crossroads).

It used to happen