motorbike wrote:to travel in france ...apart from reflective jackets/ bulbs.oh and if you get stopped not wearing your reflective jacket ,stay on your bike so as to only get an 11 e fine as apposed to a 130 e fine if you are off your bike......you now have to put 4 reflective stickers on your helmet...not only that they must damage the helmet if removal is attempted....tell you what france..keep the odd cafe /bar food shop garage hotel ect open for longer than a hour a day and i will happily comply Rant Rant!!
you do not need to wear a reflective jacket when riding your bike.
the helmet sticke thing has been law in france for years. it's not enforced.
why not stay at home and eat deep fried mars bars ffs
Scott_rider wrote:I like France (thumbs) . But on a recent trip we had bad service on a number of occasions. I'm used to the usual French grumpiness but they seemed particularly more so than usual. Things improved as we got further south. Perhaps it was because the football was on at the same time as our trip?
If ever there was a country that believed everything they see in the papers or on tele, then France is it. They've been told that now the UK has left the EU (which it hasn't, has it)that they'll be sending back all the immigrants that have managed to escape from France and that all the Brits retired here will become a burden on the health service and social services because they'll not be getting their pensions anymore. And the bloody tourists have only come here to gloat!!
As Mike said the helmet reflectors have been law in France for years, just carry the hi-vis jacket under your seat, no need to wear it.
The bulbs are just common sense to carry on a long trip anyway.
Just go and enjoy it and you'll be fine, you'll also see just about every French motorcyclist riding without helmet stickers of Hi-vis as well.
Scott_rider wrote:I like France (thumbs) . But on a recent trip we had bad service on a number of occasions. I'm used to the usual French grumpiness but they seemed particularly more so than usual. Things improved as we got further south. Perhaps it was because the football was on at the same time as our trip?
If ever there was a country that believed everything they see in the papers or on tele, then France is it. They've been told that now the UK has left the EU (which it hasn't, has it)that they'll be sending back all the immigrants that have managed to escape from France and that all the Brits retired here will become a burden on the health service and social services because they'll not be getting their pensions anymore. And the bloody tourists have only come here to gloat!!
joking aside...it can be difficult to find a open shop or bar in the small villages in france..everything seems to be closed and no body seems to be about,even the fields seem to be void of farm workers...could be that i constantly am in the wrong place at the wrong time..used to spend a lot of my bike hols in rural france .sure i like it i just wish it was open...
deep fried pizza followed by deep fried mars bars...washed down with warm iron bru...smashing ffs
Been going to France for the last 15 years and love the place. Went with kids camping but they are grown and gone and now go with bikes buddies and camping.
BUT.....
Most petrol stations are gone. The rest are card or unmanned and temperamental. Rural businesses in many places have indeed closed. But some other places there are absolute gems.
Shops close 8pm on the button except for a small few Auchan that seem to open to about 9.30. They don't have the same exemption like in the UK and some countries like Hungary for small shops to open later or 24 hours.
Really its a good idea carry spare bulbs anyway, law or no law. I for one don't want to be stuck somewhere minus a headlight bulb. If you have the spare bulbs they don't fine you for having a missing light.
Having been caught twice from behind in traffic while on the bike I am a believer in maximum visibility from behind or if unfortunate enough to be off the bike in traffic.
French motorway and highway bike cops are always very friendly and seem only to go for jugular if you take the piss. As a K100 rider many of them have used these as police bikes and they are always out for a look.
I have seen some nasty motorway incidents, many caused by non French drivers speeding with caravans and such like. They make a big mess.
Back in 2001 we could do as we liked on the west side of France, but the death rates were high and it was an EU directive to get these rates down. In absolute terms they are down about 60% despite more traffic and bigger mileages.
1992 K100LT June 2010 110,000 miles
1984 K100RT July 2013 36,000 miles, 90,000
1983 K100RS Nov 2018 29,000 miles, 58,600 miles
1996 K1100LT Oct 2020 37,990 miles, 48,990 miles
1984 K100 Sprint March 2023 58,000 miles, 62,000 miles
I like France and I like Spain. In my view, Spain is easier if you're on a bike because there are more petrol stations. Spain is also easier if you don't speak the lingo. Fortunately, I can speak a bit of French but my riding buddies always find it difficult when we are there.
One thing we noticed this year in Spain was the sheer amount of small towns and villages that seemed to have no-one around in the day...quite spooky.
The French are generally grumpy. The Spanish are generally happy. The French don't like to 'chat' to foreigners but the Spanish seem to be more welcoming. We noticed that the French 'mood' improved as we got further south, for some reason, so I guess it's a bit of a generalisation but we all noticed it :unsure: .
Yeah, I'm in my eighth year of masochism now. Horrible place. I particularly hate the endless empty dirt trails and the irritating smoothness of the roads.
