Riding in France (for Dummies)

[mikeoold]

Adamski 49

D roads are excellent seem to be less police presence but thats based on my route from Caen to La Chatre via LeMans and Tours
nearly all good fast D roads.

TIP If any drivers car or bike FLASH You beware usally means SPEED TRAP ahead


Enjoy the traffic free roads is all I can say

mike o

 

[adamski49]

Cheers Mike

I'm in holiday mode already.

Just seen on the weather maps that it's 38 deg C in some of the areas we are visiting... damn hot!

I've got various riding gear but nothing to cope with that sort of heat. Won't stop me enjoying it though.

Cheers

Adam

 

[Martyn B]

French Riding - Brittany Variation

I have a place in Morbihan (South East Bretagne) which I go down to every six weeks or so. During peak season I always take the bike if for no other reason than to save money (it gets bloody hot though!) I can't say that I can relate to any evidence in an increase in policing apart from in town centres.

The A84 which cuts across Normandy and Eastern Brittany and the N24 from Rennes to Vannes are fast and, in my experience, virtually police-free. Get off these "A" and "N" roads (they are mega-boring on a bike) onto the D roads and, never mind about police, you rarely see a car!! (- apart from "rush-our" when you have to negotiate the tractors and school buses).

Perhaps I'm just lucky (and very rural).

Martyn

oh - yeah, the French Bikers in this part are serious head cases as well. Don't even think about following 'em.

 

[Mike Werner]

Something that I forgot to mention (kind of important). Normal radars are pointing to the FRONT, since the French have a point system and they want to be sure that the person driving the car is the one being docked points. So on a bike, no problemo. (however, they are talking about changing the law to make them rear facing again).

On autoroutes, very frequently you'll see one or two people on a bridge over the motorway. Slow down, they're cops, measuring your speed and phoning ahead to the next toll road. You'll be stopped there. If you see the cops on the bridge and where going to fast, I'd pull over and pretend you're broken down, and wait it out for an hour or so until they have forgotten about you.....

Secondly, last year a bloke won a court case against the cops when he was photographed going through a red light by an automatic camera. He stated that the law says that only a Gendarme can "see" a traffic violation being occured. hence the judge ruled that if a speed camera is placed anywhere, it will need to have a Gendarme posted next to it in order for a police officer to see the event, but can be assisted by a radar. To my knowledge that is still the case. So if you see some people close to the road, slow down.

BTW, for the newbies to France, on the Motorway that have tools (peage), you will always need to take the manned booths, ie, you can not go through the credit card lanes, unless there's a specific motorbike lane (to my knowledge, that's only on the A14).

 

[guitarman]

Thanks Mike, I reckon you've picked up most of the important stuff there. I'm at a loss as to how anybody can think it's like England though.

For f'cks sake, bikers are treated like human beings in France, cars move out of the way, there is less traffic. Turn up a restaurant here in leathers and you're likely to get shown the door in France they'll find somewhere safe for your bike.

I've just come back from 1800 miles in France and it is completely different to the UK. We had a wonderful time in the Auvergne. Empty, well surfaced roads and a "sympathetic" climate. I'm hoping to set up a GS trip there next year as it really is GS heaven.

Wasn't aware of a particular police presence but we had lunch with a French biker mate in the Beaujolais who told us that not only do we need to watch out for radar guns now there are also "informers" in unmarked cars who radio any "extreme" behaviour to their mates further up the road.

Anyway, I'm not sure GS/motorway/speeding is really a problem anyway. Are there any GSers out there that can seriously hold over the ton for any length of time? 10 minutes at anything over a ton on the GS is enough for me. Me and the bike are both more comfortable at 85-95, fuel consumption is better and I arrive less stressed.

Here's to the next time.

Cheers

Dick

 

[John Armstrong]

Tolls

BTW, for the newbies to France, on the Motorway that have tools (peage), you will always need to take the manned booths, ie, you can not go through the credit card lanes, unless there's a specific motorbike lane (to my knowledge, that's only on the A14).

Just used them for about 1000 miles and had no problem with the credit card only booths. However one French vey old gent was completely confused by the idea. It was a bad sign when he stopped his car as far away from the booth as possible, got out and then the pantomime started!

 

[Mike Werner]

Re: Tolls

Just used them for about 1000 miles and had no problem with the credit card only booths. However one French vey old gent was completely confused by the idea. It was a bad sign when he stopped his car as far away from the booth as possible, got out and then the pantomime started!

That's because you've just paid the full monty..... bikes pay about 1/3, but in the credit card lane, which is not manned, you pay the car tariff.

 

[Mike Werner]

Thanks Mike, I reckon you've picked up most of the important stuff there. I'm at a loss as to how anybody can think it's like England though.

For f'cks sake, bikers are treated like human beings in France, cars move out of the way, there is less traffic. Turn up a restaurant here in leathers and you're likely to get shown the door in France they'll find somewhere safe for your bike.

I've just come back from 1800 miles in France and it is completely different to the UK. We had a wonderful time in the Auvergne. Empty, well surfaced roads and a "sympathetic" climate. I'm hoping to set up a GS trip there next year as it really is GS heaven.

Wasn't aware of a particular police presence but we had lunch with a French biker mate in the Beaujolais who told us that not only do we need to watch out for radar guns now there are also "informers" in unmarked cars who radio any "extreme" behaviour to their mates further up the road.

Anyway, I'm not sure GS/motorway/speeding is really a problem anyway. Are there any GSers out there that can seriously hold over the ton for any length of time? 10 minutes at anything over a ton on the GS is enough for me. Me and the bike are both more comfortable at 85-95, fuel consumption is better and I arrive less stressed.

Here's to the next time.

Cheers

Dick

I just came back to Normandy from Paris and noticed the cops have a new tactic. They post cops on a bridge with a laser gun. Cars (and bikes) slow down, and then hit the accelerator when they've passed, only to find that at the following 2 bridges they have posted cops as well..... nifty, since they caught a hell of a lot of cars....

 

[wessie]

Earlier, well yesterday, I travelled from just north of Geneva (Bellegard) to Calais, then home to S Wales. 700 miles.

All on autoroute/motorway.

From Geneva to Reims we saw 1 police car - in a reduced speed area (roadworks).

However, further north, either side of San Quentin there was a coordinated affair. Tripod mounted radar jobbie hidden behind a barrier. We pulled into the Aire about 2km north for a slash, gendarme van plus 2 pursuit bikes were lurking. They were doing good business. Those that went past the Aire were chased by the bikes, those that dived into the Aire with a guilty conscience were dealt with by the occupants of the van.

Bit silly really, as the roads were pretty empty and you pay a huge fee for the privilege of using the Autoroute. No wonder French villages are clogged by toll dodging traffic.

There has been some talk about similarities with the UK. The one that stands out is the cash generating opportnity that some UK and French local authorities have lathced onto.

North seems to be a common factor. N Wales, N Yorks, N France.

 

[adamski49]

France is still a top place to ride!

Returned to the UK on Saturday after a near 2000 mile jaunt around France.

Autoroute to Troyes then D roads to Thiers, Barcellonette, Gap and back via Briancon and the Route des Grande Alpes... how cool are these roads. Highest temp was 40 deg C on Sunday afternoon (too hot really) and the lowest about 25 deg C at 2658m altitude with the snow

We saw four speed traps (all 1km range laser types), 3 on the autoroutes and one on the outskirts of Troyes but if you ride as you would in the UK (i.e. not speeding on motorways or in 30, 40 and 50 limits) you should be able to avoid getting nicked.

The only upset we had was my mate bottling it on a corner and riding his VFR offroad and through a barbed wire fence still on the brakes. We then had to nurse both him and the bike the next 600 miles to home on the N roads and autoroute. At least he waited until we had come back down out of the Alps before getting off.

Glad to be back? Not really. British car drivers really are a bunch of tossers in comparison to our European counterparts.

Adam

 

[Iain Hogg]

Returned last night from an all top short 5 days down to the Auvergne.

We (mostly ) behaved ourselves and stuck to yellow and white roads on the Michelin maps - terific surfaces (mostly) and zero traffic.

Always remembered to slow down and enjoy the villages and saw no speed traps and very few gendarmes - who all smiled and waved back!

Had to be a little bit naughty on our return to Le Havre when we somehow found ourselves 40 miles south (mostly back roads and towns) with only 25 minutes to the ferry check-in.

Thankfully, all the "blue RT's" were having a siesta at the Honfleur bridge and the GS with panniers certainly split the lanes all the way to the port.

Checked in 14 minutes before the ship sailed and wern't even asked to hurry up - full marks to P&O!

All said and done, if you like excellent country roads with nothing but teh occasional combine harvester for company, get across to France, enjoy yourselves and stay off the autoroutes and N roads if you possible can.

Iain

Oh yes, and buy fuel on Saturday night! The 24/7 stations ONLY accept French cards