January 20, 2013 3:05 AM PST
United Kingdom : Ride defensively all the time, but, when you can filter ride aggressively through, they dont like you passing slowly if they made room for you, be direct and positive...When riding and splitting lanes dont watch the cars ahead of you, look at their mirrors to see if they notice you there, if they notice you and make room-go through, If you get no signs that they have seen you rev the engine, make noise (its good to have loud pipes...lol...) Filter through with MAIN BEAM ON then you have made sure they have seen you and proceed to see what way they react... ( I personally look to make sure they have seen me before I go through at any kind of speed, that way you can see if they are making room or blocking room, if they block the room I angle myself right to take off their mirrors, dumb sh*ts deserve it!!!)
Germany : Ride defensively all the time, When riding in Germany (anywhere in Germany), They will see you and they will give you room, as a general rule they notice you and make room for you, there is obviously the exceptions, the dumb*sses that just aint thinking etc...ALWAYS Thank them with either a wave or a foot off the peg wiggled, they appreciate it...
France : Ride defensively all the time, I personally hate the place and I hate the total arrogance of the French people toward the English and English speaking, BUT, having said that, when riding through if they have seen you they will make room for you to pass on either side...Always Thank them with either a wave or foot off peg wiggled, but you can see their reaction when they realise they let an English bike through...lol...
Brittany : Ride defensively all the time, Sometimes regarded as a province within France-but dont tell them that!!! If you are riding in Brittany you will find helpful Bikers everywhere who will join in with you, take you to their clubhouse's to feed you, to give you a bed, to treat you like a Brother, show you shortcuts-in fact, I would say that Brittany is the friendliest and most Biker observant Country in the World...the people there all speak English as their second language and are always apologetic that they think they are getting it wrong, they love the English and all who speak it, when I have been riding there ordinary Bikers as well as Club Bikers will always come up and say hi, it has never been any different than that, people off the street are genuinely interested and will have no hesitation in coming over for a chat, riding in Brittany is a real pleasure, oh sure, you still have the idiots and drivers without concentration, but the people there more than make up for the shortfall of the idiots...
Spain : Ride defensively all the time, I find it easy riding there, as long as it is not rush hour or siesta time they will see you and make room.....
Portugal : Ride defensively all the time, I like riding in Portugal, as with France, the majority will see you and make room, but again, if its siesta time or rush hour pick your moments carefully before going through.....
Holland : Ride defensively all the time, Same as Germany above.....
Belgium : Ride defensively all the time, Same as Germany above-apart from regions close to France,.....
Italy : Ride defensively all the time, BUT, You really dont want to ride or drive ANYTHING in any Italian city or main area unless you have a suicidal tendency or have NO FEAR of maniacal drivers who see a space somewhere in front and they all aim at it at the same time, you will be deaf with the sounding of horns even on a road that seems quite empty..... I Enjoy Driving in Italy...lol...but then, I am as crazy as they are!!! (and that space I can see in front of me - ITS MINE!!!), ALWAYS remember to use plenty of hand gestures and make full use of middle finger etc, stand your ground...
Most European Countries : Ride defensively all the time, When riding in MOST European Countries you will need to observe a combination of info from Germany and France, generally in most Countries they are very tolerant of Motorcycles, but having said that, the further East you go in Europe the worse the driving becomes and life becomes a lottery even if you are driving a Tank!!!
ASIA, MIDDLE EAST, CHINA etc : Unless you are prepared to totally ignore every traffic signal, every traffic light, every priority right of way DONT DRIVE or RIDE THERE until you have been there observing how to commit vehicular suicide for at least a week before attempting it yourself, lol, go take a ride in ANY Taxi there and you will see what I mean...lol...
USA : It would take a whole generation for the whole of USA to become tolerant of Motorcycles filtering through traffic after it became legal to filter through/split lanes, I have witnesssed first hand on my first ever riding trip in USA the attitude of drivers in CT who blasted their horn and tried their hardest to cut me off, I didn't know you couldn't filter through traffic there...it was one of the cops I was riding with came up and told me about it...lol...good job he was in uniform or I might have ended up in a ditch or worse...lol...Apart from truckers, and drivers who have had bikes or know someone on bikes the general attitude toward Bikers and Bikes in USA sucks, if you are riding what they consider close they stab at the brakes, if you are close to either side of the lane you are in they swerve to make you move over, but having said that-that was only on the East Coast side (within 200 miles of coast)... I found Chicago and Milwaukee fine to ride in, but then, it was at Harley's 105th Anniversary week, so I guess everyone was aware that bikes would be everywhere...
Having said all that about USA, If you can ride in ANY of the major Cities there you can ride ANYWHERE in Europe, in fact, if you ride in Europe they will think you are being grossly over-cautious.....
Everywhere I go in the World : I go at road speeds of the 3rd fastest to pass me, I drive whatever I consider normal until I have at least 3 speeders pass me, that way the cops get them instead of me, that way I am not slowing anyone down and not likely to be in the "pulled for speeding" bracket, but I make good headway on whatever journey I am on by doing that...the only place I have EVER got a speeding ticket was in USA..... 2 in Pennsylvania, 1 in Massachusetts...Nowhere else in the World.....
I hope this info helps at least one of you if you ever come across the pond to do some serious riding, just watch their mirrors, you can see if they seen you or not, if they aint seen you be careful, if they have seen you and they show signs of making room you can reckon its safe to go through.....
I know a lot of you are going to react badly to what I said about USA attitude toward Bikers (I am stuck in traffic and now you are too hahaha), but in the 14 years of regularly coming over and riding there I have found it to be the most unpredictable Country in the Western World regarding Bikers...I enjoy riding in USA (anywhere), but this is the observations I have made over all the years of coming over there.....
