R1200R's in Paris, France

[SDMAX]

The motorcycle stores are all in a long block below the Champs Elysee; Paris is nuts with motorcycles and scooters. Especially scooters with two front wheels.

The BMW motorcycle dealer has more R1200R models for sale than any other model. I really saw no other models other than 1200 RT's the whole time. They all ride oilheads. They have something called a MotoTaxi; you call and book it and a guy pulls up on a 1200RT with coveralls and a helmet for you and pops you into a huge back seat and off you go.

Lane splitting is bananas. We came into Paris from a road trip in a rental car and we got split on both sides at speeds that were 50 MPH over the rush hour drivers. Sometimes 50 or more motorcycles would fly by on either side. Leather jackets are in evidence; all wear helmets; but, boots and protective pants not so much. The scooter nuts are as fast at lane splitting as the motorcyles but wear style conscious cloth coats and the scooters often come with an apron affair that covers the legs.

You really don't see side cases. Everyone seems to be going for "narrow"; Givi top cases rule.

Our embassy friend said that there are 400-600 plus deaths per year on the local urban Paris roads. I believe it.

We got up into Germany as far as Stuttgart; didn't see nearly as many motorcycles. Glad to be home. JWH

[D-Rider]

Interesting stuff. Good description of a slice of life I probably will never experience.

Quite a contrast to the dearth of 1200R's here.

[r12gecko]

Good post - interesting!

[AllanCook]

The motorcycle stores are all in a long block below the Champs Elysee; Paris is nuts with motorcycles and scooters. Especially scooters with two front wheels.

The BMW motorcycle dealer has more R1200R models for sale than any other model. I really saw no other models other than 1200 RT's the whole time. They all ride oilheads. They have something called a MotoTaxi; you call and book it and a guy pulls up on a 1200RT with coveralls and a helmet for you and pops you into a huge back seat and off you go.

Lane splitting is bananas. We came into Paris from a road trip in a rental car and we got split on both sides at speeds that were 50 MPH over the rush hour drivers. Sometimes 50 or more motorcycles would fly by on either side. Leather jackets are in evidence; all wear helmets; but, boots and protective pants not so much. The scooter nuts are as fast at lane splitting as the motorcyles but wear style conscious cloth coats and the scooters often come with an apron affair that covers the legs.

You really don't see side cases. Everyone seems to be going for "narrow"; Givi top cases rule.

Our embassy friend said that there are 400-600 plus deaths per year on the local urban Paris roads. I believe it.

We got up into Germany as far as Stuttgart; didn't see nearly as many motorcycles. Glad to be home. JWH

Cool. Thanks for the information. My partner and I are planning a trip to Paris next year to visit my daughter, who will be studying at the Sorbonne.

[tobes]

I was in the HD dealership there a few years back. It was a fun time. Splitting lanes here in LA can sometimes get a little hairy but it takes a special kind of crazy to do that in Paris traffic.

[Sander Abernathy]

I lived in Paris in 1998 and 1999. A BMW 323i was my company car and my first BMW. It was then, and on annual trips since then, that I got the confidence to ride a motorcycle in traffic. I figure if they can ride like that and survive I can ride in the style prevalent in the US and survive. By "ride like that" I mean all the lane splitting. It is truly insane what they do there.

Roundabouts are fairly common there and I'm very comfortable with them. Once you learn the protocol and who is required to yield it's not a big thing. A few years ago I rented a car (BMW 3 series diesel wagon) at aeroport CDG and drove into Paris. I went around the Arc de Triumphe and was in the scrum trying to exit the roundabout onto the Champs Elysses. A guy on a dirt bike tried to squeeze into the space in front of my front left fender while I was trying to move forward and a small delivery truck was trying to squeeze into the same space as the bike. The bike and the rider got sandwiched between my car and the delivery truck.

The panel truck eased forward, the rider and bike fell. I thought this isn't going to be pretty. I knew the guy wasn't badly hurt but he had been sandwiched and something had to give and I'm pretty sure it wasn't my car or the delivery truck. I was sure there was going to be a lot of paperwork as well.

Well the rider gets up yells a few sentences at the panel truck because the bike had the right-of-way over the truck. He turned and apologized to me because I had right-of-way over the bike. He picked up the bike, didn't even look at it and drove off.

Bikes and scooters are really a necessity there as there simply isn't enough road or parking to physically hold all the vehicles if they are all cars. The focus on taxing carbon usage through high gasoline taxes and auto taxes based on CO2 output drives the higher rates of motorcycle and scooter usage. Since commutes are relatively short there and in some places such as France electricity production produces very little CO2 output, I fully expect electric motorcycles and scooters to become very common there long before they are accepted in the comparatively wide open spaces of the US.

[AndyRR]

I enjoyed watching all the motorcycles and scooters in Paris. It's really the only way to go. I love how they all just park on the sidewalk.

[AndyRR]

Bike spotting in Europe is fun. Here's two more spotted in Roussilion in the south of France.



non BMW, but beautiful:

[goo]

[thepeacebullgrunt]

France ! Paris !
Born there...grew up there and yes diversity of transportations mode is equal to its...lets say...pluralist tradition and creative spirit.

I would not choose an R1200R in Paris for everyday use.... 800GS maybe...or a light nervous bike & non luxurious dirty scratched smelling poo...DR, KLR and such bikes maybe.... if your bike is shiny, new & costly in Paris you increase your chance of theft or vandalism...part stealing....fairing also tend to disappear very fast in Paris etc etc reason why those old 125cc Vespa scooter always did the trick very well in most European city's.... ah ! duke's also are appreciated in Paris but also by parts robbers.

Particularly since 10 yrs many Frenchy's in Paris don't use their bike for the same reasons or with the same experience than.....let's say academically trained motorcycle riders. They just ride to save time and money which happen to be the best way in Paris... in addition to that they want "to look nice" which explain also why protective gears are so disregarded... not by everyone but mostly by all those riders which happen to use bike mainly for convenience.

Should I also mention how much riders must pay for their motorcycle license in France ? this also affect all the other expenses...

I live in Los Angeles since a while... beside the drivers psychology that are not at all prepared to deal with motorcycles it is way much safer in Los Angeles than in Paris... and poorly intentioned peoples would rather finish you first rather than taking anything on your transportation.... in fact its sad to say but the shinier and $$$$ your bike look the most you get some kind of respect around LA.

Italians ! invented the best motorized low coast urban transportation... and here is an example of its spirit and the pleasure it provide---> Nanni Moretti 1994 --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5p7tjyT ... re=related

But quintessentially below are the French !
(La petite Reine 1891)

FrenchReine by ThePeaceBullGrunt, on Flickr