Paris, France moto report - imagine a world where……

firstbuell

firstbuell

GO! 04,16,23,31,64,69,95
- there are a ton more scooters than motos
- Japanese restaurants way outnumber Chinese ones
- FZ07/09 Yamahas are popular in every livery
- Moroccan hash is much easier to score than weed
- Triumph twins are common & triples are rare
- all ages & genders wear slant-zip ‘motorcycle‘ jackets
- Hyundai & Lexus vehicles are exceptions, with ZERO[!] Honda autos
- alternating storefronts are bakers, chocolatiers or eyeglass vendors
- the Harley population exceeds Honda motos [especially new]
- BART-style subways [sub-$2 fares] run city-wide every 2-5 minutes
- motos/scoots park damn near anywhere with no ticketing
[local parking practices would provide evil SF MTA a DOD-level income]


other observations:

- maxi-scooters with aftermarket muffs can sound superb
- more femme riders here – be it Vespas, Bonnevilles, or city bicycles
- filtering happens & 2-wheelers often gather ahead of autos @ red signals
- fueling stations, separate from being rare, aren’t obvious in this town


===============================================


Tuono Joice’s work has us AirBnB-ing it here for awhile -
with any luck, I’ll be live at LeMans next month for MotoGP !!

srsly, anybody else also planning to be in Paris - barf meetup?
 
dittoalex

dittoalex

Too much lean angle...
Your every interaction as a customer is first in broken French and then confirmed by the vendor's summary in fluent English :laughing
 
clutchslip

clutchslip

Not as fast as I look.
GOTFPS
French ladies on scooters
GOTFS
attachment.php

Paris Scooter Gangsta!
3193662-dsc_0196_1gang.jpg
 
berth

berth

Well-known member
Every time I've been to Paris (twice), my throat gets raw from the air pollution. Other than that, it was a neat place.
 
amazighlol

amazighlol

'
- there are a ton more scooters than motos
In paris. As soon as you get out of paris, the opposite becomes through.

- Japanese restaurants way outnumber Chinese ones
But own but Chinese

- FZ07/09 Yamahas are popular in every livery
I miss my Fazer 600...

- Moroccan hash is much easier to score than weed
we call it "shit" for a reason...

- Triumph twins are common & triples are rare
Simply not true

- Hyundai & Lexus vehicles are exceptions, with ZERO[!] Honda autos
Yes because we have 3 huge brands and strong economical policies: Renault, Peugeot and Citroen.

- the Harley population exceeds Honda motos [especially new]
Lol, that's a new trend then. When I left, in 2012, way more japanese bike than Harleys (for the price mostly).

- BART-style subways [sub-$2 fares] run city-wide every 2-5 minutes
Two differents thing: you are talking about metro which is MUNI. BART equivalent is RER which sucks, is as late as bart (if not more) and often off due to social issues.

- motos/scoots park damn near anywhere with no ticketing
[local parking practices would provide evil SF MTA a DOD-level income]
You can indeed park on sidewalks, but... You can get a ticket. I used to get a ticket once or twice a year (end of the year mostly... I let you figure out why).
 
R

RTW Reno

Well-known member
-"there are a ton more scooters than motos"

Getting your moto license in France is difficult, and very expensive, a lot of people decide to get a bigger 500cc scoot.
I'm still dreaming of brapping around Paris round abouts on a xr650r supermoto and raise hell
 
amazighlol

amazighlol

'
919 said:
-"there are a ton more scooters than motos"

Getting your moto license in France is difficult, and very expensive, a lot of people decide to get a bigger 500cc scoot.
I'm still dreaming of brapping around Paris round abouts on a xr650r supermoto and raise hell
Click to expand...

You still need a motorcycle licence for a 500cc. You don't for a three wheeled piaggo :nchantr.

And you don't for anything under 125cc.
 
amazighlol

amazighlol

'
There are way too much scooters/motorcycle there lol.

A video I made in 2012, when I used to commute to work on my RF600r.
Start the video at 3:52, just to get an overview of what it is to commute on a motorcycle in Paris.
I don't miss it.

youtu.be/0Fe9O4KLXgA

We are so used to lane split between 3 and 2 than when I lane split here, I really annoys me when riders are lane splitting between right lanes.
 
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firstbuell

firstbuell

GO! 04,16,23,31,64,69,95
aarugh!
that traffic looks awful - thx 4 posting

Tuono Joice & I have stayed here 3 different times in past decade, always living within the older City [3rd, 4th & 9th Arrt] & walking a ton or Metro-ing it - the only times we've even seen the Peri is from-or-to CDG.....

RE: scooters - there's a sharing service called CityScoot which offers as-req'd rentals of white electric[?] rides - like bike-shares, with no pedaling - dunno any more
 
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firstbuell

firstbuell

GO! 04,16,23,31,64,69,95
amazighlol said:
[edited]- Triumph twins are common & triples are rare
Simply not true

- the Harley population exceeds Honda motos [especially new]
Lol, that's a new trend then. When I left, in 2012, way more japanese bike than Harleys (for the price mostly).

- Hyundai & Lexus vehicles are exceptions, with ZERO[!] Honda autos
Yes because we have 3 huge brands and strong economical policies: Renault, Peugeot and Citroen.
Click to expand...


thx for yer comprehensive reply - simultaneously informed & opinionated [aren't we all?]
my comments, OTOH, are based solely on my ongoing daily observations - zero facts
that said, after 4 additional weeks walking around this awesome city, I've observed a lot more & am better grounded about the scene here

RE: Turnips - retro twins outnumber modern triples, period ["rare" overstated the case, admittedly]

RE: Hardleys - again, my enthusiasm outweighed my talent, I overstated the H-D and understated the moto Honda population

RE: Honda autos - my 'zero' count has climbed across 5 weeks all the way up to.....3 [one of which sported non-EU plates] - this just looks weird to a motorhead BayArean, so there has to be a corporate or personal or some other angle explaining their rarity

furthermore, a bazillion Toyotas [some 'made' in France], occasional Mazdas, Hyundais, Fords, Lexus, Seats & Suzukis, a reasonable number of BMWs & Mercedes, & simply a ton of Audis - all of these swimming in a roiling sea of the French Big 3

so my retort to the "strong economic policies" comment regarding the French Big 3 is simply, "nope, that's not it", bcz so many other inside-the-EU brands in all sizes are also highly visible - for instance, I've even seen 2 current, crew-cab VW pickups, thus equaling the EU-plated Honda tally - I'm sticking with the "weird" assessment on the rarity of Honda cars


=============================================


I'll close with something completely different - an explosion of attractive, Euro-market, SWM-like 125s, with important differences:

- 5 different brands marketed at some respectable dealer outlets
- some are Suzuki-based, in addition to the expected Honda clones
- familiar vintage styling, in a variety of colors/finishes
- standard, scrambler & cafe versions [zero hardtail CCW Heist-styles]
- Euro4 compliant, with EFI + linked braking [discs F&R in most cases]
- $2800 average price[!] with 1 or 2 yr warranty

these new, appealing mega-tiddlers are simply everywhere & appropriate for putting around a non-freeway world in old skul style - great fun!

:mm4lau revoir, mon amis:mm4l
 
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russ69

russ69

Backside Slider
Probably no Honda cars because Renault doesn't like the competition and is taxed out of the marketplace. People use scooters in large numbers most likely due to road taxes and fuel taxes. How much is fuel per liter?
 
firstbuell

firstbuell

GO! 04,16,23,31,64,69,95
russ69 said:
Probably no Honda cars because Renault doesn't like the competition and is taxed out of the marketplace. People use scooters in large numbers most likely due to road taxes and fuel taxes. How much is fuel per liter?
Click to expand...


RE: fuel - approx $7-8/gal, a rough estimate

RE: anti-Honda taxing - while I'm certainly not well-informed, I'll say, "no", to yer supposition - my assumption is that it's either an EU-sourced car [as opposed to a France-sourced vehicle], or it isn't.....

since all those other non-EU brands are present here, and a plethora of EU autos are about, then something's gotta be weird with Honda's lack of auto presence

with Honda's moto market penetration, it appears to simply be folks liking these non-Hondas & liking those particular Hondas
 
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