Riding on the opposite side

[BanannaMan]

A question here for those who have traveled Europe....


Having not yet ridden a bike in the opposite lane.....
(except possibily in some corners ) was wondering how much of a transition is it switching lanes.
Does it take some getting used too? Something you have to keep reminding yourself of?
Or is it a non-issue? Something you just instantly adjust too and not really thing about that much.

My mate said it was hard doesn't seem like it would be to me????

Who better than to ask than our own .org riders who have experiance riding on both sides of the road, often in the same day!

It won't take long to get used to it, but it does take a little longer for it to become second nature. There is a lot of stuff that we do without thinking about it and the whole lot has been turned on its head.
You'll be okay.

[garynortheast]

You'll get used to it pretty quickly. Just be careful when making left turns at junctions - it's all to easy to forget and end up driving on the left hand side again.

[Red Herring]

The actual riding on the open road is fairly easy, the problems tend to arise when you pull out of a side road or out of a petrol station etc. You just need to be sure you look the right way and turn onto the correct side of the road. It's a lot easier when there is other traffic about to remind you. A mate of mine pulled out of the hotel early one morning and did almost a mile on a main road before meeting something coming the other way.......

If riding in France there are also some "priority" rules you need to be aware of....

[keith_d]

As others have said, the riding is fine. It's the stuff you do without thinking that stuffs you up. Here's a few of my screw-ups...

* I've been busy thinking about other stuff (maps, hotels etc) and pulled out on the wrong side of the road on several occasions.
* Looked the wrong way on roundabouts lots of times.
* In car parks where there's no road markings it's easy to end up playing chicken

[dizzyblonde]

~~Piece of cake

I actually prefer going round roundabouts 'the wrong way'.
Think about it, your throttle hand is on the outside, and much more comfortable.


When riding in France...well what can I say, watch out for ladies in bashed Renaults that think hiding in narrow side street gives them priority in Rochefort.......cause they is coming out anyway

[the_lone_wolf]

Barely even noticed it when we went to Germany

Off the Chunnel they direct you very well and we did mostly morotway miles, but even in town it was pretty obvious. Strangest feeling was leaning the wrong way on roundabouts, but you don't have them in the colonies do you?

[dyzio]

Originally Posted by Red Herring

The actual riding on the open road is fairly easy, the problems tend to arise when you pull out of a side road or out of a petrol station etc.

Yup, narrow streets, car parks, exits - are the worst ones. You'll automatically drift towards "your side of the road".

[timwilky]

fist time riding in France, I thought piece of cake. no problem staying on the right

Until I came to the first roundabout and turned left instead of right.

Fortunately most silly priority to the right has gone, but I got caught by a car whizzing out in front of me in Nice. Scared to poo out of me and I had to take a 30 min break just to compose myself and get my head back together.

Or you could just ask someone who's been doing it all his life to drive your bike for you.. Wonder where you might find such a person