Surviving the London 2012 Olympics by bike
The London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics have been called “Britain’s largest peacetime logistical exercise” and when you look at the numbers you can certainly see why. There are expected to be over 11 million spectators to the games, and when you add in the number of extra people that the increase in tourism will bring, you can begin to see how getting around London during the Olympics could be a nightmare. Thankfully, bikers will be in a better position than other road users, but there are still some things to look out for.
Two wheels trump four
The sizable increase in people will also mean a large increase in the number of cars on the road, which is almost certainly going to lead to a lot of road congestion and traffic delays. The best solution to this problem is to take your motorbike or scooter and the extra traffic becomes far less of a problem. Research from Transport for London (TfL) shows that travelling by motorcycle cuts a third off your travel time (thank you, filtering). While car drivers are stuck in stop-start traffic and cursing one another, you’ll be able to zip around the city with relative ease. Don’t forget also that, as a biker, the congestion charge doesn’t apply to you, giving you a lot less anxiety and potential road rage than your four-wheeled counterparts.
Preparation is half the battle
The Games themselves are set to run from the end of July to mid-August, but the Olympic venues are open from the end of June up until mid-September. That’s about three months of potential disruption, road closures and route changes. The Olympics Route Network (ORN) means that there are dedicated ‘Games lanes’ to allow athletes and officials to move between venues with ease. It is believed that about 30 per cent of London roads will be affected by these changes, including popular areas such as Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square. TfL have a dedicated page on their site where you can predict potential delays on your route at peak times. Even though travelling by motorbike is still the quickest method of getting around, it pays to figure out alternative routes that stay away from the Olympic hot-spots and to know when the peak times hit. This way, you can avoid the throng of spectators and tourists and shave even more off your journey times.
Be Considerate
Despite the benefits that taking to two wheels has during this busy period, bear in mind that a lot of other bikers will be having the same thought, so expect to see a lot more motorcyclists on the roads during the Games. The extra people will bring with it extra stress, so remember to be considerate to your fellow road users. This is especially true when it comes to filtering in traffic. There is some contention about the risks of filtering and a small percentage of car drivers aren’t keen on bikers doing so, so make sure you keep aware of obstructions and limit your speed when filtering. There will also be a large increase in pedestrian and cycle traffic as part of the ‘ride and ‘stride’ initiative during the Games, so be careful when driving through the more built up areas of London.
Seeing as you’re in the city during the Olympics, take some time and enjoy the atmosphere that the event will bring. It’ll be a busy time, sure, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it.
This guest post was written by Jamie Gibbs, the resident blogger for motorbike insurance comparison site, Confused.com with which UK France bikers.com has entered into a partnership agreement.
If you’re based in France and want to take part in the fight against the Government’s proposed introduction of a compulsory annual environmental and road safety test for motorcycles and their continued policy to ban motorcyclists from filtering through traffic, then contact the Fédération Française des Motards en Colère (FFMC – French Federation of Angry Bikers).
Si vous habitez en France et souhaitez participer aux manifestations contre la proposition du gouvernement d’introduire un controle technique pour les 2 roues motorises ansi que de continuer a empecher la circulation inter files pour les motocyclistes dans les embouteillages, contactez la Fédération Française des Motards en Colère (FFMC).
Please join and support the campaign to stop Westminster Council from stealth taxing motorcyclists to park before their scheme spreads all over the UK and the rest of Europe. For further details, visit http://www.notobikeparkingtax.com/
Rejoignez le groupe de manifestants contre le stationnement payant des motocyclistes a Westminster avant que cela ne se propage dans le reste du Royaume-Uni et l’Union Europeenne. Pour plus d’informations, consultez http://www.notobikeparkingtax.com/
If you have a story you would like to see published on UK France bikers.com, please contact us here.
Si vous avez une experience a partager et que vous souhaiteriez voir publiee sur UK France bikers.com, n’hesitez pas a nous contacter en cliquant ici.
With just one month to go before the first round of the French presidential elections, at least 90,000 bikers gathered this weekend in every town and city across the whole of France to remind candidates that they had better come up with a robust road safety policy if they don’t want to see the whole nation brought to a complete standstill on a regular basis and during their presidential time.
The thousands of bikers, represented by the extremely powerful French Federation of Angry Bikers (in French: Fédération Française des Motards en Colère), demonstrated across the whole country this weekend and blocked all cities and towns for hours to demand from the government a motorcycling road policy focused on safety rather than the constant implementation of stupid and meaningless measures designed to treat motorcyclists like cash cows. According to the impressive 90,000+ angry bikers who demonstrated this weekend, the French government has so far failed to recognise that motorbikes and scooters are the SOLUTION to transportation, pollution and congestion issues, certainly not the problem. The angry bikers want their government to recognise that motorcyclists, like any other motorists, are responsible road users and it is therefore totally inappropriate to constantly and blatantly punish them with repressive measures. French bikers demand the introduction of a new module in the driving test to make motorists aware of the presence of motorcyclists on the roads and teach them how to share the roads with them in a safe manner. Why does the motorcycle training programme teach riders how to take care of cars on the roads whereas the car driving training programme does not teach how to take care of motorcycles?
French bikers also demand the introduction of road safety courses in school education, the improvement of road conditions and maintenance nationwide as they claim there are too many hazards on the roads making riding unsafe and dangerous. They also demand from the government the full and permanent scrapping of a proposed legislation to force all riders to wear 150m3 of reflective clothing around the arm in an attempt to make them more visible on the roads, when statistics clearly show that the vast majority of accidents involving motorcyclists are caused by car drivers not paying attention or not looking into their mirrors due to poor or no training.
France was the scene of angry bikers blocking the roads nationwide and everywhere, including motorways, city/town centres, ring roads, flyovers and express roads. Even the smallest towns saw at least 100 bikers protesting and expressing their disgust at the existing government’s attitude towards motorcyclists.
Because of the time difference with mainland France, the first demonstrations took place in the French overseas territories including the beautiful volcanic island of Réunion (located off Madagascar and Mauritius) where 500 bikers took over the roads between Saint-Denis and Saint-Paul and gathered outside the local council offices. The demonstrations continued with hundreds of bikers gathering in other French overseas territories, including the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe in the Carribean and also New Caledonia located off Australia and New Zealand.

Hundreds of bikers' demonstrations took place all over France on Saturday 24 March 2012 and in Paris on Sunday 25 March 2012. There was not a single town or city that was left out!
The demonstrations then hitted mainland France with more than 90,000 angry bikers protesting nationwide on Saturday and Sunday (including – to name a few - 10,000 in the second largest French city of Lyon, 7,500 in Bordeaux, 6,500 in Lille, 3,000 in Strasbourg, 1,500 in Nantes, 4,500 in Brittany including Brest, Rennes, Quimper and Saint-Brieuc, 650 in Cherbourg, 2,000 in Clermont-Ferrand and Saint-Etienne, 2,000 in Tours, 1,200 in Dijon, 1,000 in Grenoble, 690 in Nevers and 680 Auxerre). Paris alone saw more than 15,000 bikers on Sunday, blocking the whole traffic and making the heart of the French capital truly theirs!

More than 15,000 bikers gathered on Place de la Concorde in Central Paris shouting at the goverment in a carnival atmosphere and reviving their engines to express their anger and remind the authorities that bikers are voters and are entitled to have their say in transport and road safety policies.

More than 15,000 bikers join the protest ride in Central Paris to express their anger at the government's existing measures to treat them like cash cows. "The government must replace their money-grabbing measures with robust road safety policies and we will go away, otherwise they must be prepared to see the whole country brought to a complete standstill until we obtain what we want" said a protestor whilst reviving his engine in fury and anger.
The bikers’ demonstrations made the national news on television, radio and newspapers throughout the weekend. The ball is now in the court of the government and all presidential candidates for them to come up with a revised road safety policy that satisfies the angry bikers, otherwise France will continue to see enormous demonstrations that have the power to humiliate the government and bring the whole country to a complete standstill. No retreat, no surrender!
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL FRENCH BIKERS FOR STANDING UP AGAINST THEIR GOVERNMENT AND HAVING THE COURAGE AND DETERMINATION TO SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
We now leave you with a series of videos that will give you a good idea of how French bikers demonstrate and cause complete chaos when they are angry.
If you’re based in France and want to take part in the fight against the Government’s proposed introduction of a compulsory annual environmental and road safety test for motorcycles and their continued policy to ban motorcyclists from filtering through traffic, then contact the Fédération Française des Motards en Colère (FFMC – French Federation of Angry Bikers).
Si vous habitez en France et souhaitez participer aux manifestations contre la proposition du gouvernement d’introduire un controle technique pour les 2 roues motorises ansi que de continuer a empecher la circulation inter files pour les motocyclistes dans les embouteillages, contactez la Fédération Française des Motards en Colère (FFMC).
Please join and support the campaign to stop Westminster Council from stealth taxing motorcyclists to park before their scheme spreads all over the UK and the rest of Europe. For further details, visit http://www.notobikeparkingtax.com/
Rejoignez le groupe de manifestants contre le stationnement payant des motocyclistes a Westminster avant que cela ne se propage dans le reste du Royaume-Uni et l’Union Europeenne. Pour plus d’informations, consultez http://www.notobikeparkingtax.com/
If you have a story you would like to see published on UK France bikers.com, please contact us here.
Si vous avez une experience a partager et que vous souhaiteriez voir publiee sur UK France bikers.com, n’hesitez pas a nous contacter en cliquant ici.
Who would have imagined that someone could possibly come up with the idea of banning motorbikes and scooters from city centres, when the same motorbikes and scooters are the transport solution to ever increasing congestion and pollution issues? Well, only one politician has come up with such a ridiculous idea and that is Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet (left) from the French green party, who has successfully submitted proposals to ban all vehicles manufactured prior to 2004 from city centres, including motorcycles.
Riders who commute on bikes that were manufactured before 2004 may not enter French city centres or else see their machines immobilised and issued with a fine of 65 euros payable on the spot. The same rules apply to their car counterparts in an attempt to reduce congestion and pollution in all cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. The French government has recently approved Kosciusko-Morizet’s proposals although no official date has yet been announced for their implementation.
One could wonder how long it may take a French citizen or organisation to start legal procedures to sue the French government in the European Courts for discrimination against those who cannot afford to buy a new vehicle, especially during the present economic downturn that is causing thousands upon thousands of job losses across the whole of France. We have indeed heard of plans to sue the French government in Europe in an attempt to force Kosciusko-Morizet to scrap, or at least revise, her stupid and possibly discriminatory plans.
Whilst other European countries have taken a series of measures to reduce pollution and congestion in city centres, none has so far taken measures that consists of banning motorcycles. The congestion charge in the British capital does not affect motorcycles nor does the low emission zone measures. Whilst London’s Westminster Council decided a few years ago to treat bikers like cash cows by introducing a unique pay-by-phone bike parking tax (the method of which is currently being challenged before the European Court of Human Rights), other councils across London, the rest of the United Kingdom and beyond have thankfully not followed suit, mainly because of the socially exclusive aspect of charging bikers by mobile phone in the absence of any other suitable on-street charging method.
Not only may Kosciusko-Morizet’s proposals be discriminatory towards those with financial difficulties but they may also be detrimental to the French economy as many car and motorcycle dealers may not be able to sustain their second hand business any longer. Has she thought about the wider implications of her proposals rather than concentrate solely on green issues? We suspect that such proposals have been made by a politician from the comfort of her own office and who has never sat on a motorcycle before.
A series of enormous demonstrations designed to bring the whole of France to a complete standstill by more than 100,000 bikers are scheduled for 24 and 25 March 2012. The demonstrations, organised by the most respected Fédération Française des Motards en Colère - FFMC – (French Federation of Angry Bikers), will be to show the bikers’ opposition to Kosciusko-Morizet’s proposals but also to express their disgust at the French government’s attitude to treat motorcyclists like cash cows by imposing measures designed to make riding difficult and expensive (e.g. the continued ban on traffic filtering or lane splitting, obligation to wear a small reflective strap around the arm even during day light when it is not reflective at all). Let’s hope that the demonstrations, which will take place less than four weeks before the first round of the presidential elections, will be a real slap in the face for a number of presidential candidates for whom road policies and safety are nothing but an opportunity to grab as much money as possible from motorcyclists who are keen to relieve congestion and pollution by using a mode of transport that is greener and less congesting than its four wheel counterparts.
If you’re based in France and want to take part of the fight against the Government’s proposed introduction of a compulsory annual environmental and road safety test for motorcycles and their continued policy to ban motorcyclists from filtering through traffic, then contact the Fédération Française des Motards en Colère (FFMC – French Federation of Angry Bikers).
Si vous habitez en France et souhaitez participer aux manifestations contre la proposition du gouvernement d’introduire un controle technique pour les 2 roues motorises ansi que de continuer a empecher la circulation inter files pour les motocyclistes dans les embouteillages, contactez la Fédération Française des Motards en Colère (FFMC).
Please join and support the campaign to stop Westminster Council from stealth taxing motorcyclists to park before their scheme spreads all over the UK and the rest of Europe. For further details, visit http://www.notobikeparkingtax.com/
Rejoignez le groupe de manifestants contre le stationnement payant des motocyclistes a Westminster avant que cela ne se propage dans le reste du Royaume-Uni et l’Union Europeenne. Pour plus d’informations, consultez http://www.notobikeparkingtax.com/
If you have a story you would like to see published on UK France bikers.com, please contact us here.
Si vous avez une experience a partager et que vous souhaiteriez voir publiee sur UK France bikers.com, n’hesitez pas a nous contacter en cliquant ici.
London: motorcyclists welcome permanent access to bus lanes but still say NO to the bike parking tax
We are delighted to say that as of today, motorcyclists are given permanent access to all bus lanes that are under the management of Transport for London (TfL). The Conservative Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, announced his decision a few weeks ago to grant bikers permanent access to bus lanes after two successful experimental phases of 18 months each.
Boris Johnson’s decision has been very welcome among the motorcycling community as it shows a strong commitment to protect the safety of bikers and the recognition that the use of motorcycles is to be encouraged as a mode of transport that considerably cuts congestion and pollution in large cities such as London. Boris Johnson’s predecessor, Ken Livingstone, had been heavily criticised for his continued refusal to open bus lanes to motorcyclists on the grounds that it would make them unsafe, particularly for cyclists and pedestrians whilst crossing the road, despite numerous studies that revealed the exact opposite. Among other issues, Livingstone’s continued decision to keep bus lanes closed to bikers had cost him his re-election, a massive mistake that he is now without a doubt severely regretting.
Boris Johnson’s decision comes at a time when Londoners are thinking about who to vote for at the next Mayor elections in May of this year. Let’s not forget that these elections are not just open to Londoners who are British nationals, but also Londoners who are nationals of any member state of the European Union or the Commonwealth, as long as those Londoners are registered with their council’s elections department. For some bikers, the choice is already made: they will vote for Boris based on his recent decision to open bus lanes to them. For other bikers, the choice is not totally made yet. Although Boris has clearly demonstrated strong support to the bikers in opening bus lanes to them, he has so far failed to support the same bikers in their fight against Westminster City Council’s most hated motorcycle parking tax introduced some three years ago in central London for no obvious reason other than that of stealth taxing the use of a congestion-free mode of transport to bring extra revenue to the council. Whilst Boris has put an incredible
amount of pressure on Westminster City Council to successfully force them to scrap their plans to charge motorists to park in the evenings and weekends in the sole purpose of bringing extra revenue which could have had a desastrous impact on the local economy, he has so far not shown any support to the No To Bike Parking Tax campaign designed to put pressure on Westminster Council to scrap their deeply unpopular motorcycle parking tax.
During one of the many bikers’ demonstrations against Westminster’s motorcycle parking tax, we recall Boris threatening the bikers of losing access to bus lanes if they carried on with their weekly demonstrations (see video below). So what’s Boris’s views on the use of motorcycles in London? By granting motorbikes and scooters access to bus lanes, he seems to be in favour of their use as a cheaper, greener and anti-congestion mode of transport, but at the same time, he has done nothing so far to help the bikers get rid of the most unpopular measure that has been taken against them and that is of stealth taxing motorcyclists to park in the central London Borough of Westminster.
So, Boris, where do London motorbikers stand? Are you fully supporting them or not? Elections are coming soon…
Please join and support the campaign to stop Westminster Council from stealth taxing motorcyclists to park before their scheme spreads all over the UK and the rest of Europe. For further details, visit http://www.notobikeparkingtax.com/
Rejoignez le groupe de manifestants contre le stationnement payant des motocyclistes a Westminster avant que cela ne se propage dans le reste du Royaume-Uni et l’Union Europeenne. Pour plus d’informations, consultez http://www.notobikeparkingtax.com/
If you have a story you would like to see published on UK France bikers.com, please contact us here.
Si vous avez une experience a partager et que vous souhaiteriez voir publiee sur UK France bikers.com, n’hesitez pas a nous contacter en cliquant ici.
France: be visible or get done!
Claude Guéant, French Interior Minister, has just announced one of the most ridiculous and absurd pieces of legislation that will force all bikers in France from 1st January 2013 to wear at least 125 cm2 of reflective clothing between the waist and the shoulders. Not only bikers who reside in France will be obliged to comply with this policy but also all those who visit France by motorbike/scooter. If you are caught not wearing the required reflective clothing, you will be liable for a fine of 68 euros payable on the spot and at least two points taken off your licence.
This is one of the most laughable and absurd pieces of legislation we have ever heard of because a) reflective clothing is precisely not reflective during day light and b) those who ride machines of up to 125cc will be exempt from wearing any reflective clothing on the grounds that they don’t ride a powerful enough bike to be considered dangerous on the roads! Let’s not forget that a very large number of motorcyclists who ride a moped or a 125cc bike are precisely those who don’t hold a full motorcycle licence and have only attended at the very most a one-off 7 hour training course all together. But for the short-minded French transport authorities, bikers who ride larger machines are the ones who cause most concern on the roads because they have been much better trained than every other biker!
Despite three enormous demonstrations during 2011 attended by more than 100,000 bikers and that brought the whole of France to a complete stop, the French government still doesn’t get it. Or, to be more accurate, the French government seems to be willing to see the whole country brought to a complete standstill again by angry bikers in no later than this coming spring and during the presidential elections campaign. The very famous and respected French motorcycle pressure group FFMC (Fédération Française des Motards en Colère) has already warned the government of their plans to organise extremely disruptive demonstrations across the whole nation. FFMC’s Frederic Jeorge said “It will be considered almost as bad as driving without a helmet, even if you are wearing full leather armour, on a bike with the headlights on and knowing that our helmets already have 4 mandatory reflective stickers… Also, it will NOT include the mopeds and 125cc, where’s the logic?”
Whilst it makes perfect sense to educate bikers to be more visible on the roads to minimise the risk of collisions resulting from car drivers not seeing them, it also makes sense to educate car drivers to share the roads with bikers and make them realise that they don’t own the roads. Why are car drivers not forced to apply a yellow sticker at the back (and front) of their vehicle to make it more visible? Why are riders and drivers not treated equally on the roads and, more importantly, why are bikers being constantly treated as irresponsible and rogue citizens?
If a series of enormous demonstrations had not taken place throughout France in 2011 against this policy, it would not only be 125 cm2 of reflective clothing that would be required on all bikers but their entire chest, arms and back would have been to be covered! Sadly, we all very well know that the whole point of this policy is for the government to catch as many bikers as possible who don’t comply and take 68 euros of their hard earned money. Rather than investing in adequate training for both riders and drivers, the government prefers to impose stupid rules and make money out of them.
Oh well, all we can say is that we look forward to seeing France brought to a complete standstill right in the middle of the presidential elections campaign by more than 100,000 angry bikers blocking the roads in every town and city nationwide. In fact, we can’t wait… bring it on and let’s all have a laugh!
If you’re based in France and want to take part of the fight against the Government’s proposed introduction of a compulsory annual environmental and road safety test for motorcycles and their continued policy to ban motorcyclists from filtering through traffic, then contact the Fédération Française des Motards en Colère (FFMC – French Federation of Angry Bikers).
Si vous habitez en France et souhaitez participer aux manifestations contre la proposition du gouvernement d’introduire un controle technique pour les 2 roues motorises ansi que de continuer a empecher la circulation inter files pour les motocyclistes dans les embouteillages, contactez la Fédération Française des Motards en Colère (FFMC).
Please join and support the campaign to stop Westminster Council from stealth taxing motorcyclists to park before their scheme spreads all over the UK and the rest of Europe. For further details, visit http://www.notobikeparkingtax.com/
Rejoignez le groupe de manifestants contre le stationnement payant des motocyclistes a Westminster avant que cela ne se propage dans le reste du Royaume-Uni et l’Union Europeenne. Pour plus d’informations, consultez http://www.notobikeparkingtax.com/
If you have a story you would like to see published on UK France bikers.com, please contact us here.
Si vous avez une experience a partager et que vous souhaiteriez voir publiee sur UK France bikers.com, n’hesitez pas a nous contacter en cliquant ici.
Some bikers tend not to use their motorbikes or scooters during the winter months, and prior to April this year, it was just a simple case of keeping the bike in the garage and perhaps ending your insurance until you are ready to use it again. The new rules in the United Kingdom however mean that bikers who would have previously done this now either need to keep their bike insured throughout the year or declare it SORN while it is not being used.
Here are some of the points you need to know:
If you’re fully taxed and insured you don’t need to do anything until your tax and insurance run out.- If you’re taxed and uninsured (even if you’re off the road) you must either insure your vehicle or make a refund application with a SORN declaration to DVLA.
- If you’re not taxed or insured you must make a SORN and keep your vehicle off the road.
- If you’re not taxed but are insured you must make a SORN and keep your vehicle off the road.
Failure to insure your bike without declaring SORN means bikers could face a court prosecution and up to £1,000 fine.
To combat this, MotorCycle Direct and Sorn Insurance have been working together to provide a new Laid Up Fire & Theft bike insurance policy which allows bikers to avoid SORNing a bike while its safely stored away but still insured at a lower cost.
Bikers (and car drivers) can find out more about the policy at www.Motorycledirect.co.uk and get online quotes, allowing them to consider which method is most suitable for them, whilst complying with the law.
This post has been written by Josh Evans of Motorcycle Direct for UK France bikers.com
If you’re based in France and want to take part of the fight against the Government’s proposed introduction of a compulsory annual environmental and road safety test for motorcycles and their continued policy to ban motorcyclists from filtering through traffic, then contact the Fédération Française des Motards en Colère (FFMC – French Federation of Angry Bikers).
Si vous habitez en France et souhaitez participer aux manifestations contre la proposition du gouvernement d’introduire un controle technique pour les 2 roues motorises ansi que de continuer a empecher la circulation inter files pour les motocyclistes dans les embouteillages, contactez la Fédération Française des Motards en Colère (FFMC).
Please join and support the campaign to stop Westminster Council from stealth taxing motorcyclists to park before their scheme spreads all over the UK and the rest of Europe. For further details, visit http://www.notobikeparkingtax.com/
Rejoignez le groupe de manifestants contre le stationnement payant des motocyclistes a Westminster avant que cela ne se propage dans le reste du Royaume-Uni et l’Union Europeenne. Pour plus d’informations, consultez http://www.notobikeparkingtax.com/
If you have a story you would like to see published on UK France bikers.com, please contact us here.
Si vous avez une experience a partager et que vous souhaiteriez voir publiee sur UK France bikers.com, n’hesitez pas a nous contacter en cliquant ici.


