Europeans ride bareback

[redken1]

As there has been a lot of discussion on the forum recently relating to the wearing of protective clothing I thought I would share some observations I made during my two week holiday on the continent.

While away I visited Barcelona, Monte Carlo and Rome and a few other lovely locations. During the duration of my break the daytime temperature averaged 82F, 8-) so I’m sure you can imagine all three of the aforesaid cities were heaving with two wheeled traffic of which I have never seen the like before.

I estimate that 99 per cent of the riders of both genders were either wearing very little or no protective clothing at all, excluding helmets of course. A minority were wearing gloves. I counted hundreds of young girls in all 3 major cities, who were wearing thin tops, short skirts and flip-flops. I was sitting outside having a coffee in La Rambla, Barcelona when two big cc police scoots with sirens screaming, raced down the busy street at high speed. Both of the Spanish bike cops were wearing thin blue short sleeved shirts. At that moment I could not stop myself from making a comparison between the two contrasting attitudes between Europeans and Brits (Hi-viz vests national debate springs to mind) towards the wearing of protective clothing. Very interesting.

[470four]

Im thinking they have more of a bike culture so are more aware of scoots & bikes in general??


Doesnt make them any more resistant to tarmac tho... :D

[Squashed_Fly]

Be interesting to see their accident stats. They don't really have the 'fairweather superbiker' culture we have and they encourage bikes a lot more from very young age so people know how to handle them much better.

It doesn't increase their abrasion resistance, but if they fall off less, then they may feel it's worth the risk more?

[Col]

Yeah Ken see that on tv but they have always been like that---would melt in gear in them temps ;D--maybe tarmac melts and is softer :D

Sounds like you had a real good, interesting holiday mate :) Was it a fly around and stay a few days at each place kinda thing in a package ?

[wiltshire builders]

Mainland Europe (I know it bugs you Ken, but we're all Europeans) have a completely different bike culture.
Riding for fun isn't as common as it is in England. Most of the people on 2 wheels use their machines purely as a mode of transport, hence the massive amounts of scooters.
You see hardly any big sports bikes where as in England they are the most popular bikes on the road. When you do see one it usually has foreign plates.

Spain and portugal have very bad road safety and I was shocked by the agressive nature of drivers in Italy. Their attitude was very much move or get mown down.
France is pretty good and the staistics back that up but keep in mind it is 3 times the size of England, with the same population so the chances of coming into contact with someone else is far less.
Honestly I think the difference is that they just don't give a sh*t. Did you notice in Rome, even though they were wearing helmets, they were perched right back on their heads? Don't want to ruin the quiff. ;)

[redken1]

WB, I'm not quite sure why you would think I have a problem with being European - I referred to us as Brits merely to highlight the differences in attitudes. :) I agree with your comments and of course as already stated the weather is a big factor. When in Rome I could hardly walk in the heat let alone wear heavy protective clothing on a bike.

Col, I was on a 2 week cruise in the Med on the Ventura. Had an amazing time and visited 7 ports spending a full day in each. I’m giving serious consideration to selling up and moving to the south of France or Spain sometime in the future. I’m not getting any younger and the thought of being able to ride the bike in warmer climes for longer throughout the year really appeals to me. Council tax is about a tenth of what it is here too. ;)

[wiltshire builders]

WB, I'm not quite sure why you would think I have a problem with being European - I referred to us as Brits merely to highlight the differences in attitudes. :)

I meant in a political sense rather than an Geographical one. What did you think of Barcalona? Busy eh?
Did you go to the Sagrada Familia? That Gaudi was mental!

[redken1]

I have to say that every place I visited surpassed my expectations and Barcelona was heaving. Please don’t give me a hard time for saying this but, I really enjoyed Monte Carlo (“Keep up with the Joneses”) ;D. Rome was truly amazing from a historic point of view – I imagined what it must have been like for those gladiators as they entered the coliseum. Really expensive though. Def going to Europe on the bike next summer. [smiley=thumbup.gif]

[Swanny]

WB, I'm not quite sure why you would think I have a problem with being European - I referred to us as Brits merely to highlight the differences in attitudes. :)

I'm neither British nor European.
I'm English with a bit of Welsh thrown in 8-)

[Col]

I know that big cc 'superbikes' are expensive to insure and get 'on the road' in France hence less than here.

Been invited over there next year so thinking on taking off for a few days bimble after staying with the friends.

Gotta agree Ken about moving and have the same kinda plan as house is virtually paid for. Like WB says more land and less crowded with a way more relaxed lifestyle---it's all positive imo

[Nooj]

It's better over there on a bike. Way, way better.

Last time we were in the South of France we ended up riding round in jeans and shirt sleeves, it was either that or flake out and crash the bikes because of heat stroke.

I love watching the women on scooters in Italy, all those tanned Mediteranian thighs showing as their floppy summer dresses get blown about as they ride by.... :D

[redken1]

It's better over there on a bike. Way, way better.

Last time we were in the South of France we ended up riding round in jeans and shirt sleeves, it was either that or flake out and crash the bikes because of heat stroke.

I love watching the women on scooters in Italy, all those tanned Mediteranian thighs showing as their floppy summer dresses get blown about as they ride by.... :D

+1 :-[

[BladeTriple]

I do know Ze Germans insist you wear a kidney belt under your bike kit if your jacket and bottoms don't zip together , given I passed my test over there , rode for 6 years before returning to Blighty and had a German partner, this is on the level....

So you can go to Germany, destroy your liver and kidneys with fine German bier and schnapps but you can't let them get cold on a motorbike ;)

[Uber Dave]

and I was shocked by the agressive nature of drivers in Italy. Their attitude was very much move or get mown down.


I would fit right in! ;-)

[cornishbob]

protective clothing??? whats that?

if the sun shines t-shirt cut off
if it rains t-shirt and oily cut off
rain-X on the sunglasses so you dont get caught out

what more does a man need?

[Trev]

protective clothing??? whats that?

if the sun shines t-shirt cut off
if it rains t-shirt and oily cut off
rain-X on the sunglasses so you dont get caught out

what more does a man need?

Hi CornishBob, is that an AlpineStars or Dainese cut-off? ;)

Not for me now I'm older and 'wiser' but survived many years of X7 and LC madness with only my trusty Adidas trainers and denim jacket as protection - respect to the cut-off wearer 8-)

[cornishbob]

who cares so long as they're cheap
respect to fleabay