Le shuttle

[Robbiem]

I too have always struggled with a 2010 GS.
Does one stop start in the queue waiting for the eventual starter motor fade - or sit and idle waiting for the temperature to rise ??
Best I’ve come up with is get off and push!
Out of curiosity do people tend to “filter to the front “ of said customs congestion or wait in line like a true Brit?


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[Wapping]

I went through the Chunnel yesterday, too.

Returning from France to the UK, I always try to go through earlier in the morning, rather than joining everyone else later in the day. I was booked onto the 10:25 train but arrived and was offered (at no cost) a train at 09:25 which I accepted. There were no queues to speak of, nor did I have to wait around in the car park holding area. It was: Arrive at check-in, chose train, passports, train.

Should be a fast track for bikes as waiting in the heat is no joke .

Why not have a fast track for cars with small children, another for cars with panting dogs? Maybe one for the elderly and infirm? Perhaps one for vans, painted yellow?

Why not go abroad in any month but August, which is generally accepted as the hottest month of the 12?

Why not just stay at home, moaning about the state of the UK?

As a radical thought, why not get rid of the passport checks completely? They seem to manage from Calais to Helsinki to Naples to Lisbon, without the world collapsing around their ears each day. Oh, wait a minute, we demand to be a fortress.

 

[Wapping]

Out of curiosity do people tend to “filter to the front “ of said customs congestion or wait in line like a true Brit?

Only if you want everyone to confirm you as a pushy, selfish cnut.

 

[Wegby]

Out of curiosity do people tend to “filter to the front “ of said customs congestion or wait in line like a true Brit?

A bit of both (when queuing for customs).... I don't normally filter if it's relatively quiet, but on the busier returns, I'll often scan the queue to see if there are a couple of other bikes ahead and may often duck in behind them, without trying to take the p too much.

When I'm with my gf, she's not so keen on filtering due to an incident when someone in a car had a proper go at her when she was following me.

There have been a couple of occasions when the ET staff told us to filter right down to the front, however, that was many years ago and unfortunately they haven't told us to do that for a while...

When we're released for boarding the train, I usually filter right to the front of the ramp and then wait there (politely and out of the way of everything), until the last car passes. Saves a load of stop / start, etc.

 

[zerax9]

"the captain needed to balance the ship."

Isn't that a common euphemism for "sober up" ?

 

[zoltan]

I was booked onto the 10:25 train but arrived and was offered (at no cost) a train at 09:25 which I accepted. There were no queues to speak of, nor did I have to wait around in the car park holding area. It was: Arrive at check-in, chose train, passports, train.

Adopted this method now for several years. Only once I had to pay. Book the cheapest crossing, arrive before departure time. If you go early is a bonus if not you just go later.

 

[Arsey]

Why not go abroad in any month but August, which is generally accepted as the hottest month of the 12?

Good advice.
Don’t think I’ve done a bike trip through France in August for decades….if ever.
Tend to always do May/June and/or September/October and even then it can be hot .

But central France in mid August is a no go if the weather is normal-I see it’s going to be 40 degrees plus this weekend for all the bods travelling to Sid’s do.
Too hot for me.

 

[Wapping]

Good advice….But central France in mid August is a no go if the weather is normal-I see it’s going to be 40 degrees plus this weekend for all the bods travelling to Sid’s do.
Too hot for me.

I am not sure that it’s a complete no-no.

My parents were long term residents in Provence, where it gets very hot in summer. The trick, if there is one, is to reset the clock. Start out early, around 06:30 to 07:30. Stop at around noon or a bit earlier and park up in the shade. Restart for a couple of hours at around 16:00.

Drink lots of water….. and then drink some more!

 

[Wapping]

Adopted this method now for several years. Only once I had to pay. Book the cheapest crossing, arrive before departure time. If you go early is a bonus if not you just go later.

It really is that simple.



Likewise going out from the UK on the Chunnel. I aim for departures between say 14:30 and 16:30. Usually pretty quiet.

 

[Pukmeister]

On a positive note, a few years back we were waiting to board the Cap Finisterre at Santander and it was fecking roasting. The dockside Stevedores directed all motorcyclists to park under a large covered area for about an hour to keep cool. Anywhere else and we would have been left to bake.

And in reply to Twizzle and BigCats, did you hear that HUGE rumble of thunder a few minutes ago ?

 

[zoltan]

I am for departures between say 14:30 and 16:30. Usually pretty quiet.

^^^^^That. Late return after 21:00.

 

[wessie]

On a positive note, a few years back we were waiting to board the Cap Finisterre at Santander and it was fecking roasting. The dockside Stevedores directed all motorcyclists to park under a large covered area for about an hour to keep cool. Anywhere else and we would have been left to bake.

And in reply to Twizzle and BigCats, did you hear that HUGE rumble of thunder a few minutes ago ?

I liked Cap F. I did my first few trips to Spain on that ferry.

Santander seems to have spent some cash on improvements for bikes. They have two shelters for bikes now, one either side of passport control and a new toilet block. This year I arrived reasonably early and could park the bike in the shade between check in and passport control, then wander across to the city centre for a spot of lunch. If you do not want to wander into town, the small bar/cafe by check in serves some decent food too at reasonable price.
They have also improved the passport bit, with more booths to process people, using the same ones for in and outbound.

 

[Pukmeister]

Spare a thought for those riding down to Sids’ bash today, I hope France is free of heavy downpours after the recent heatwave.

 

[Steve398]

And in reply to Twizzle and BigCats, did you hear that HUGE rumble of thunder a few minutes ago ?

I heard it at Goodwood Arro Club, it was followed by lightning and rain. There were other attractions…

 

[Ectopic]

I went through the Chunnel yesterday, too.

Returning from France to the UK, I always try to go through earlier in the morning, rather than joining everyone else later in the day. I was booked onto the 10:25 train but arrived and was offered (at no cost) a train at 09:25 which I accepted. There were no queues to speak of, nor did I have to wait around in the car park holding area. It was: Arrive at check-in, chose train, passports, train.



Why not have a fast track for cars with small children, another for cars with panting dogs? Maybe one for the elderly and infirm? Perhaps one for vans, painted yellow?

Why not go abroad in any month but August, which is generally accepted as the hottest month of the 12?

Why not just stay at home, moaning about the state of the UK?

As a radical thought, why not get rid of the passport checks completely? They seem to manage from Calais to Helsinki to Naples to Lisbon, without the world collapsing around their ears each day. Oh, wait a minute, we demand to be a fortress.

*MUST NOT BITE....MUST NOT BITE...

 

[Wapping]

*MUST NOT BITE....MUST NOT BITE...

There was a very cheery soul in the tea huts on Tuesday morning. Likewise, in the French booths. The latter was staffed by a fellow from some sort of EU ‘passport’ organisation. I noticed only as the chap’s uniform was different.

 

[Ectopic]

There was a very cheery soul in the tea huts on Tuesday morning. Likewise, in the French booths. The latter was staffed by a fellow from some sort of EU ‘passport’ organisation. I noticed only as the chap’s uniform was different.

There was talk of creating an operational Frontex force in the EU before I retired. I strongly suspect ti will involve the same people doing exactly the same work, but in a different uniform and justifying a huge hierarchy of EU officials.

 

[Engineer]

Had the misfortune to have to get the train back from France today what a nightmare sat in 36+ heat waiting to go through the checkpoints,the bike air cooled 1200 gsa was not very happy the engine light was flickering when I let it idle the rocker cover paint looks like it has discoloured the constant stop start meat that I couldn’t switch the bike off ,I had started to,do,that but there was a slow turn over which I thought I’d better not risk it not starting as they wouldn’t allow you to board the train ,
After finally getting through the progress to the train was dead slow and when on there was lots of empty carriages.
This was in contrast to going from folkstone the other day .
Should be a fast track for bikes as waiting in the heat is no joke .

Been there done that, it's no fun once the temp gets into the mid 30s.

 

[Rasher]

It's a lottery, I have used the tunnel over 20 times since 2009, some have been good, others not, the worst was group of 5 bikes, sadly they all followed me into the same check in lane (Amatuers) so only the first 2 bikes made it though within the official check-in time, so two of us crossed, and the other 3 were held back by over 2 hours - despite us going to customer services and politely asking to be grouped together quite soon. Upon boarding there was room for at least another 5-6 bikes on the back of the train.

I find UK always slow, went away Mon - Fri last week, Monday going out got offered earlier train and took it, then my mate did not want to even start putting his lid on until we were called (I suggested heading up at "imminent", then after going through UK customs he selected the left most lane - a tip for bikermates is never do this, they pull all the camper vans and coaches from all lanes coming through UK controls to an area on the far left for checking, then filter them back into the leftmost lane so it moves much slower - after all this we missed the earlier train.

As this is always slow I just push the bike to save the risk of a flat battery from 50 stop / starts, or the heat from the engine building up and melting me.

Coming back the French side was really good, typically I find the French side to be a little better, but have had issues on both sides over the years.

Flex tickets are an insurance policy, but bloody expensive, and often would not save you much more than a few mins, and have used them in the past only to be on the same train as some bod who checked in alongside me on a standard ticket.

They could have a dedicated bike check-in queue, charge an extra £20 for "fast track" and then just line them up for the next train, but I suspect this is not done as they hope we all spend a fortune in the mall whilst waiting?

Also, like most businesses in the world these days they don't really want us, but are OK with taking a relatively large chunk of cash for a relatively shit service.

We were also warned of bikes falling over by a very helpful member of staff, apparently this is a new phenemenom, he said they know some trains have fucked suspension (obviously nobody factored in the need to maintain the rolling stock when budgeting for this service and assumed mechanical things just last forever) so they only put bikes in cariages with working suspension, but maybe they are all getting shagged now - or he said it may be an issue with the section of track, and they are investigating.

The "fix" will probably be to ban motorcycles altogether, welcome to the 21st century bikermates.

 

[adventuredon]

Used the shuttle 2 weeks ago in the car. Arrived an hour earlier, got offered a free earlier slot, duly accepted. No problems. Return leg, we got asked where we had been, had we been to Spain. Could we show proof of said cigarettes purchased and proof we went to the beach. Quick look into back window, customs happy. Boarded only to be delayed by a faulty engine for 45 minutes. Still better then the boats