Can someone give me a breakdown of what's needed for a day trip to France? We all know what the French are like..
A huge bundle of Euros for when you get pulled over by the cops for speeding. It saves you being dragged to the nearest cash point. Not sure why they haven't got mobile card readers like the Spanish police have for taking fines.
We found that out when we did lemans.. to be fair the run to lemans for the brits is pretty much the cannon ball run lol
Strangely Google has a lot of out of date information which is very unhelpful. IIRC the must haves are driving licence on your person, physical evidence of insurance, actual V5 and your passport. If you wear glasses you are expected to carry a spare pair and most recently you need an environmental tax disc especially if you expect to visit Paris and a fair few other major cities. The carrying of a hi viz jacket is compulsory and the wearing is mandatory if you are broken down and on the carriageway. Reflective dots (4 off) on your helmet doesn't seem to be enforced for visitors nor does the carrying of a breatherliser. I understand that soon to be introduced (maybe already) is the compulsory wearing of gloves. In my experience, French traffic police tend to enforce speed limits in town and through road works and will only stop you if you are being stupid, high speed, weaving on overtakes, pulling wheelies and such like. Might be worth an enquiry to one of the motoring association. Andy
Exactly what I was finding (out of date and conflicting) - thanks for your indepth reply buddy, appreciate it! Thinking of doing the v2 sites etc and maybe see if there's anything nearby worth looking at..
In the 13 years living here: Never carried spare glasses nor been asked to show them. Never heard of environmental tax discs. Perhaps it is a northern thing. Never been asked to show a hi vis jacket, where would you put it on an 848? None of our local club carry them either. Breathalyzer not needed as there is no penalty for not carrying one. Proper motorcycle gloves are compulsory as is a helmet now, but most bikers don't bother. You might find that the cops are not as friendly up north, but the Gendarmes are military personnel and, providing that you are polite, can be really friendly towards bikers in the rest of France.
In recent years the French have cottoned on to the money making opportunities presented by speeding drivers/riders and there are now many more speed traps set up on N and D roads. Approaches to towns and villages are the most common sites but you will also come across them on fast stretches in the countryside. Also, speeding tolerances may vary from region to region but a French friend on mine was fined 90 Euros for exceeding the speed limit by 2 kph. On the toll roads they are most commonly found between the last regular exit and the final set of toll booths where all vehicles have to stop. Fixed cameras are not too much of a problem since there is currently no reciprocal cooperation between the French and British police authorities on this (at the moment). On the Le Mans MotoGP weekend motorcycles use the toll roads for free but you will not ride from the channel ports to the circuit without encountering at least one speed trap.
I have been reading that as of May 1st there will be an agreement in place to allow access to the DVLA database, might be worth checking out?
Hopefully we can get rid of it again once this brexit thing is sorted. Or do what a friend of mine does.... rides with a different plate abroad that he annually purchases on eBay :Muted:
I've ridden in France twice in my life and the Police were no problem either time. I'd heard of all of the horror stories prior to travelling.
The speed limit here is the speed limit. It it is 90 kph and you get done for doing 92 kph then your speedo would have been reading over 100 kph. I would not recommend riding on false plates to avoid anything as the fines can be huge, way more than your bike is worth.
No problems for me with a loud can, as long as you keep the revs down in towns and villages. The environmental disk is a brand new thing. You need to have one if travelling to Paris, Lyon & Grenoble so far. Other towns and cities are likely to follow. I have been stopped twice now, once for a routine document check (try that with a false number plate) and once for failing to become stationary at a Stop sign prior to pulling out of a junction, in a village in the middle of no where. The fine for the latter wasn't very much.
Been riding in France pretty well annually since 2010. Have been stopped by the gendarmes once but as soon as they realised that we were brits we were given a breathalyser test and sent on our way. And when I say given a breathalyser, I mean that they gave us a kit to test ourselves which we did at the campsite later that evening after a few beers Going over twice this year, can't wait. My 996 riding buddy has termis and has never had a problem.
Driving in France | AA Advice for driving in France | RAC Drive Photo all your documents & then email them to yourself. Espceciallly health issues
The French people are very tolerant of what others do for pleasure and leisure, and very few people would complain about a loud can. They are more likely to look and wave as you ride past. I doubt if the cops would bother stopping you for just a loud can either, you should hear the Worx cans on my 848, if they do stop you for something else and you are not cooperative then you might start looking at your noise levels.
