Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

I think its ok now we have chip and pin. Coppi. Cool film, but that suit is pervtastic :-)

And some of the advice is suspect.

Does anyone know if british cards work in French petrol stations yet? They never used to.

Yup. Occasionally, the unmanned and very remote ones don't always work with debit cards, CC are fine.

@ Lynx: Really?
On a carburettor bike that was sold all over Europe?
I've checked and none of our bikes are compatible with SP95-E10
Does anyone know if british cards work in French petrol stations yet? They never used to.

I bought my motorbike in France. It was build in 1991. When I bought it in 2003 I heard rumors that I should use plain Super, not unleaded.
I asked my mechanic in Paris at the time, and he said: "what? Bollocks! Just use unleaded 95 (which in french is SP95 = sans plomb 95) That's what I use on that bike since 2003. In france and in UK.

Never had any problems on my bike (enginewise...), although they are rumors that, on my specific motorbike, unleaded is damaging the carburator niddles faster... My current mechanic said he would be very surprised if this was true...

Anyway I do a ridiculously amount of miles per year on my motorbike, so... what does it all means... Dunno

I let you have headaches with this.

Petrol stations in France take my british HSBC Visa card... I used to have problems sometimes, when that very card was not a Visa yet, but a Maestro. HSBC changed that since, don't know other banks...

Loic

I've been away a while. Sorry to miss the France trip, but my parents are having a big anniversary type party thing that weekend. Take loads of pics...

I never knew french petrol was different, but I always try and put premium petrol in my griso. The new one is not so bad, but my first one used to stall at traffic lights if it had 95 petrol in it.

To the French contingent, the ferry is booked and you have been PM'd

Pic from my recent mini-adventure. Nearly at the top of Col d'Agnel - top of the world, ma...etc.....

Very shortly afterwards that cloud rolled right up and over us.

Blimey. That pictures looks like a whole lot of fun.

Shhh don't tell everyone, but motorbikes are fun.

love this

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FRANK-THOMAS-FTW240-QZ-CLASSIC-ORIGINAL-JKT-M-149-/110675321602?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Clothing&hash=item19 c4c36302

malaysian did you opt for leather or textile for your tour/long ride?
what is better and what are you all on the list opting for with experience being your guide? thanks

I bought this jacket after seeing the above post. now I have tested it on a longer wetter trip and it works. it keeps out even heavy rain and the vents work quite well. mind you I have only vintage leathers to compare with and I luckily don't know how it performs in a crash.
I have a litte note on the trip on my humble blog: http://makesaman.blogspot.com/2011/07/my-latest-trip-to-sweden.html

good write up dron. the gaiters are great. 460 kilometres and no fairing,,,, WOW!!

seeing the last picture has reminded me to ask ; do we all need to put tape on our headlights for the jaunt to france?

Looked like a fun trip. Is that suzuki a 750? what model and year is it?

I need to go collect my bike this week, it's been off the road for about a year so i'm looking forward to a bit of late summer biking.

On the jacket tip, i've got a barbour international which looks the same as that one above (or it looks like the barbour...) that is pretty waterproof. I have a sort of armoured under jacket that I wear under it, just in case, and it works pretty well. So if you have a decent jacket that you can use maybe you can just get a mesh armoured under thing to make it a bit more 'bike specific'?

B.

I've just picked up a CG125! W00! It's a bit cafe racered up - clip on bars and the like - but I figure after cycling it'll still feel fairly upright.

It's in Brighton - I'm torn between picking it up and riding it back (I've only just passed my CBT and I'm not sure on the roads especially) or hriing a van and driving the thing up to London. If anyone has any advice on this (indeed for any newb motorcyclists) that'd be ace.

Maybe this time next year I'll even be winding my way to France. Awesome.

Cheers!

good write up dron. the gaiters are great. 460 kilometres and no fairing,,,, WOW!!

seeing the last picture has reminded me to ask ; do we all need to put tape on our headlights for the jaunt to france?

From what I have read, no. MC headlights just dip down.

i would say hire a van and drive it back or have it sent via shiply which could be even cheaper. good luck on the training. what type of licence are you thinking of going for?

i like the armoured under jackets. i have one made by knox. they are good under cotton jackets like you say. i also bought a spine protector that can be slipped over a jacket.

with everything that we need , i think we will be hard pushed to fill a small rucksack each.

has anybody used a camelbak or similar during long motorcycle rides?

i would say hire a van and drive it back or have it sent via shiply which could be even cheaper. good luck on the training. what type of licence are you thinking of going for?

Shiply is a great idea - fine work. Getting a quote now.

I think I'm going to see how I get along with the L plates and 125 action for now - once I'm used to it I'll go from there. Can't wait though, really excited about the whole thing.

sorry if you know this already - be as flexible as possible with the collection time, dont accept the first quote, let it run for a few days. take into account the listing fee which will be around 18 pounds depending on the price you accept.
there are hauliers that seemingly have a auto response set up for everything that is listed.

on the learning front , watch as many of the training videos on youtube as you handle. i bought a training pack on the bay and sold it on after i passed.

Yeah, unfortunately the guy needs to have it collected after 17:00 which I think is going to prove costly, but still, it's a great resource. Many thanks for the heads up, I didn't even know this site existed.

Good shout on the training stuff - I want to pass it as quick as poss and being aware of what I'm going to be asked to do will be really handy.

Looked like a fun trip. Is that suzuki a 750? what model and year is it?

I need to go collect my bike this week, it's been off the road for about a year so i'm looking forward to a bit of late summer biking.

On the jacket tip, i've got a barbour international which looks the same as that one above (or it looks like the barbour...) that is pretty waterproof. I have a sort of armoured under jacket that I wear under it, just in case, and it works pretty well. So if you have a decent jacket that you can use maybe you can just get a mesh armoured under thing to make it a bit more 'bike specific'?

B.

1976 500cc 2-stroke.
I was overtaking an old cabriolet and the driver plugged a finger in his ear. I took it as a compliment. like a fellow motorists way of saying "nice bike" or something.

bleakreference the collection time should not cause a problem. as they will pick it up the night before if need be...... even two nights before.

i would say hire a van and drive it back or have it sent via shiply which could be even cheaper. good luck on the training. what type of licence are you thinking of going for?

i like the armoured under jackets. i have one made by knox. they are good under cotton jackets like you say. i also bought a spine protector that can be slipped over a jacket.

with everything that we need , i think we will be hard pushed to fill a small rucksack each.

has anybody used a camelbak or similar during long motorcycle rides?

I've never had a Camelbak that didn't leak.

^ The tips start to leak after a bit and the only cure I've found is to have the end with the tap on it.

This one -

Want.

^ The tips start to leak after a bit.
.

Wet knees/thighs aren't good when the rest of you is dry.

shipley... I've been trying to remember what that site was called for about a week. Going to see how expensive it is to have my bike delivered from norfolk. Borrowed a mates van last time to drop it off and it cost me 70 quid in diesel and about 3 hours each way. I reckon if it comes in unter 100 it's got to be better than me spendng a day of my life doing it.

I should get the train up and ride it back but I have no idea how well it goes as it was a shitter when i bought it and it's gradually been sorted out. Should be all good now but not sure I want to risk a 3 hour motorway shakedown run straight out the workshop.

I should probably man up - like the bloke in the grensons and gaitors ^ - but the thought of getting stranded half way back is more than I can take.

B.