Ducati in Paris, France

[Raux]

Well just got back from a trip to Paris (not Texas).

WOW, is that place a 2 wheel city. there has to be double the amount of bikes (scooters and motorcycles) to cars. well technically then even on the number of wheels

anyway. saw 6 S*R, 1 M900, 1 ST and 1 SS900 (early 90s model)

but what a crazy city. we took the train in, thank god.

[IZ]

Have you ever been to EUR before? 

[mitt]

I have a cool poster from the Paris Ducati shop on my wall 

mitt

[Raux]

It is not that we don't believe you, but without pictures it's like it didn't happen.
I hear that traffic in Paris is absolutely crazy and if you are not familiar with it you'll probably die.
From the cites in EU that i have been in - Athens, Greece is the most 2-wheel by far. I had a feeling that there are no cars there (except yellow taxis). At 4am traffic is teeming with every possible method of 2 wheel propulsion. It is  

oh have to agree there.  Athens is a riot... rode  a scooter to the pantheon one year.

i do have pics. but not of the ducati... of a scooter with grass body work 

i kinda cheated, i live in germany. i've lived in italy, germany and portugal so yeah been around europe off and on for awhile.

tried to strike up a conversation with the one S2R800 owner, hmmm how to put this... the french friendliness was shown. but albeit i was on foot and a random person talking up a Ducati owner in a sea of 2wheelers. though he did point out the s4R sitting next to us.

[ArguZ]

2Wheel city of my choice is Milan.
First your got a lot of sexy chicks on scooters all over the place and second its totally socially accepted to split lanes..
Every scooter,Duc and Speed Triple (I saw more Speedies than Ducs will find its way to the pole position on traffic lights.
And its even better in smaller towns around Milan with all the roundabouts..
Worst and most scare 2wheel experience was Thailand...
They give you a pretty fast scooter, no helmet, flipflops and a lot of Mehkong and off you go.
Its especially interesting at night driving home from a restaurant or club...
I think I will put on my leather pants now...and rub them...its all save....its all good 

[stopintime]

Among the craziest cities I've been driving/riding in, my favourite is Rome  [moto]
I guess they all gave up on following the rules and decided to simplify things - the only thing EVERYONE agree upon is "first come, first served".
That means if you're a few feet in front, you're supposed to just go, go, go - NO hesitation. Coming from left or right, stop signs, red lights are all more or less ignored - if you're in front, go, go, go!

Traffic flow is aided, but it comes with a high fatality rate - 4 times the average European rate and 10 times my country's (Norway).

[z0mb1e_DUC]

craziest 2 wheelers by far is Seoul.  If they hit too much traffic on the smaller ones, they just jump the curb, ride to the intersection, cross on the cross walk, then continue on their way.  It's not unusual to see a 125 with the back half of the seat chopped off, with a cargo rack bolted on, running down the sidewalk at 20-30 miles an hour.  They use these things as delivery services.  Once saw an 8ft palm tree strap'd to the back of one, on top off several boxes.  Only place other place is Thailand that is even close to this crazy.

[Mike_D]

Among the craziest cities I've been driving/riding in, my favourite is Rome  [moto]

Rome is not for the faint-hearted or timid for sure.  Reminds me of the joke, "do you know what the definition of a nanosecond is"?  The amount of time between when the light turns green and the guy behind you is honking his horn.

[Holden]

+1 on Rome. Saw guys there drinking beer on their Vespas.

Paris and Rome were really bad after the subways closed. Who ever heard of subways closing? All-night traffic jam.

I can imagine that Southeast Asia is the worst, though.

P.S. Every girl I saw in Milano was wearing overalls and other extremely loose-fitting and otherwise disgusting clothing.

[Blackout]

I went to Amsterdam and Paris about 5 years ago just after buying my Ducati. Damn, all the bikes, especially Monsters  really made me want to get back home and ride. Europe seems a much friendlier place for cyclists. Parking on the sidewalk? No problem.

[greenohawk69]

craziest 2 wheelers by far is Seoul.  If they hit too much traffic on the smaller ones, they just jump the curb, ride to the intersection, cross on the cross walk, then continue on their way.  It's not unusual to see a 125 with the back half of the seat chopped off, with a cargo rack bolted on, running down the sidewalk at 20-30 miles an hour.  They use these things as delivery services.  Once saw an 8ft palm tree strap'd to the back of one, on top off several boxes.  Only place other place is Thailand that is even close to this crazy.

[/b][/u]

+2 on Bangkok, Thailand.  Used them for everthing there, especially taxis.  The hot girls in their skirts sat off to the side of the seat on the back of the cycle...and if there were cars ahead, jump the curb and continue on the sidewalk.   

[Slide Panda]

Viet Nam... all of it.  Bikes are used for everything there, and there's utter tons of them.

Check out the Top Gear episode they did in Viet Nam.  Available here:
http://duc.nu/movies/

Also, an interesting picture book about bikes in Viet Nam:
http://www.bikes-of-burden.com/about_the_book.shtml

[zLoki]

Only place other place is Thailand that is even close to this crazy.

+1 on Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indo.  Nothing like the Euros, they are just nuts on that side of the planet.

[dne1810]

It is not that we don't believe you, but without pictures it's like it didn't happen.
I hear that traffic in Paris is absolutely crazy and if you are not familiar with it you'll probably die.
From the cites in EU that i have been in - Athens, Greece is the most 2-wheel by far. I had a feeling that there are no cars there (except yellow taxis). At 4am traffic is teeming with every possible method of 2 wheel propulsion. It is  

I was born in Athens, GR and lived in London for 10 years before moving to Dallas, TX. I can assure you, I feel a lot safer riding my monster in Greece than I do in Dallas. France is the same, all over Europe car drivers are aware of bikes and even though they drive like crazy you don't have the fatalities you see here...

Basically I'm on the tollway and every single one F350 is on the left lane doing the limit... it's so scary it's not even funny!..

[hcomp]

I would have to agree about Italy being on of the craziest places to drive.  I rode a scooter from Milan to Lake Como and almost died no less than 200 times on the way there.  No way would I ever ride a bike in Rome. If you rent a car there it will get dented while you are driving it.