I was in Paris last weekend, Sept 30. And it was interesting to see all the two wheelers. I had a ringside seat at a roundabout near La Madeleine and was trying to track the types of bikes. Of course BMW's were a minority. BUT I did see one K75. Still scooters predominated and by scooter I mean Vespa like with floorboard. Would I be wrong to assume this is due to prices? Newer larger BMW's seemed to be more the provenance of the Police. But I don't believe I saw any K100's. Is this correct or did I just not look in the right places? Anyway it was fun to see all the bikes battling it out with cars in the roundabouts. Though from this trip I thought Normandy over toward the ocean/English channel looked like a more fun place to ride a motorcycle.

Around 5 or more years ago half the bikes you saw on weekend rides were BMs. Popularity just went up and up after Ewan and Charlie's TV programme. I'd see a group of four riders and three were GSs. When the S1000 arrived even the he-man sportsbike riders could flaunt their good taste and wealth by having matching roundels on their cars and bikes. That's dropped off a bit since, maybe it's the astronomical cost of a new beemer, or maybe it's the others - Tigers and Mulitstradas - that are catching up?
Don't see too many Ks though. Maybe one other at a hundred bike meet. It's an awful shame but the other day I checked ebay and almost half of the thirty odd K bikes for sale were 'customised'. And of course, you don't see those beauties out and about, ever.

Well, Paris is not a sample of France nor Europe at all.
It's like if you were discovering the Midwest with a journey in New York. Not really representative...
Paris has edicted anti-motorcycle regulations these last years: one about the Low emission zone, that bans XXe century bikes from the city (except on evenings) and the parking that was free for bikes is now to be paid.
This led a lot of users to convert to recent bikes - and even to electric ones.
Last but not least, the speed limit is about to be set at 30 km/h everywhere.
So what's the point riding in Paris, with a K or anything? It was a PITA before, it' worse today.
I was offered last year a job in Paris, with a very decent pay, x3. I declined. It maybe a nice city to visit, not to live in.
Apart from this small asshole point on the map, the rest of the country (and Europe) is very nice to ride with a K, or anything.

BMW owners are prone to think that their bike is the best and that it's the most sold. It's not, Honda and Yamaha scooters still are on the top of the sales. They hate this fact...Nevertheless, Honda sells worldwide in 3 days as much bikes as BMW does in one year.
And most of BMW today are not sold to owners: they just lease it for 3 years, with service included, and their society pays the bill... tax regulations here are very conciliant with independant workers!
So it's also a way to avoid reliability concerns of recent models, by changing the bike once the 3 years term is done. Annual mileage is very, very low in France: less than 3000km (1860 miles) per year. So the bikes are given back with less than 10 000 km...a pair of new tires and the dealer tries to send them as second hand bikes. But their customers are not interested in (they want the last model, the more expensive the best), and those who would buy 2nd hand are very disappointed when the realize the cost of the maintenance and the lack of reliability. BMW dealers backyard sheds are full of bikes, 10 to 3 years old, almost new...but impossible to sell.
The BMW company does not care at all. There's many years they make much more money with financial services than with selling bikes.

But the fact is that on the road, you can see a lot of recent BMWs: their owners are usually able financially to travel, or are retired so they can ride as they like.

Back to the K100 in France: the bratstyle pandemic was very severe here. 90 percent of the remaining K's had to suffer from tailchopper wanabee custom builders assaults. You won't see them in the street in Paris or anywhere: they're only on instagram (oh , yes, once a year at the Wheels & waves cloning disaster festival).
There's a wind of panic now , with the periodical inspection supposed to be in place next year: prices of these beauties are collapsing from 100 times their value to only 50 times their value. Such a bargain!

jbt wrote:Well, Paris is not a sample of France nor Europe at all.

Intellectually understood, but still.
One interesting incident I saw/witnessed, I was walking in Montpellier, another long story, when I came to a road crossing of a street with a divider in it. A young man, possibly African based on skin color, shot by me on a scooter. He was obviously doing more than the speed limit. He had just passed me when a couple of metro police on late model (I didn't have time to discern which models) BMW's came from the other direction. They swooped around the street divider and at what I guessed was full acceleration shot back up the road. I interpreted this as meaning they were going to give the young man a stern talking to. Did wonder if they managed to catch up with him as he had at least a 30 second lead.

It would have been interesting to have had a chance to speak with the motorcycle mounted police though they did seem a bit intimidating. And speed traps, oooh la la la.. My brother and his wife make this trip almost yearly. She is French, five siblings, and likes to get the family gossip at the source. But my poor brother says he gets at least one ticket per trip due to the automated speed traps. And this was no exception. Seems he got into a situation of needing to pass another vehicle for some reason at or near a roundabout - I was trying my best to be a bobble head in the back seat and didn't catch the action - only to get the flash indicating he had been made by the automated speed trap. Of course the locals know where they are and so out of towner's are the primary target. According to my brother the tickets get doubled in price due to the car rental companies taking a cut.

@jbt
merci infiniment for your solid advice on where to go NOT (soixante-quinze)

and guys, I do totally agree with your experince w/ speed cameras - they are just all over France 
qu'est que la France est devenue, sacré nom du chien

There are so many Ks around in sheds and places like that. Near me I know of a shed with 3 K75s in it, another with a very low miles K1, another with 2 K1100LT in it. I ride in some places and see a K outside a house. I go out and in random places am approached by people.....I had one of those, or 'I have one of those at home'.

Even my RS, from 83, it came from a shed near me, 17 years in it. I go camping in France, local to there is a K1 4465km on it from new, a mint showpiece. Next village sees a K100.

Yesterday I washed and polished 4 Ks. I took one out today. I will take a different one out tomorrow.

At last count I believe we have approximately 20+ K's in our Kluster of K Kronies in Brisbane and surrounds and it's still growing.
Regards Martin.

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:There are so many Ks around in sheds and places like that. Near me I know of a shed with 3 K75s in it, another with a very low miles K1, another with 2 K1100LT in it. I ride in some places and see a K outside a house. I go out and in random places am approached by people.....I had one of those, or 'I have one of those at home'.

Even my RS, from 83, it came from a shed near me, 17 years in it. I go camping in France, local to there is a K1 4465km on it from new, a mint showpiece. Next village sees a K100.

Yesterday I washed and polished 4 Ks. I took one out today. I will take a different one out tomorrow.

Hello Olaf,

I got my L100 LT from a 'shed' some time ago and it is in a pretty sorry state.

It needs quite a bit of rebuilding but the cost of parts seems to prohibit this for me, being retired on what the British Government laughingly calls a, 'Pension', so it may have to be modified and what parts are salvageable sold off to others who can refurbish their bikes.
 
There is a chap with a K75 just up the road but he has modified his into a sort of street scramble, with knobblies on.
 
Don’t seem to see many K models in this area.
 
All the Best,
 
Rob54.

Olaf wrote:I go out and in random places am approached by people.....I had one of those, or 'I have one of those at home'.

When I dock my Brick in a parking lot, friendly strangers will often approach me and ask "Do you braid that beard yourself?" but none of them have told me they had one at home.

A question for JBT.  These horrible speed cameras that you talk about in Belle France, are these the ones that are about one metre high that are mounted just back from the side of the road or are there more advanced types?  What are the chances of them actually sending out a fine to a non-EU country if they do not recognise the country of origin registration plate?  

Here in sunny Kweensland we have some relatively new average speed cameras mounted on poles to catch traffic in both directions.  I have seen them on both the Cunningham and Warrego highways in 100km/hr zones.  They also have warning signs up as well and cover distances of between 10 & 30 kms.  I was caught a couple of years ago, the bast*rds.  

The ones I have seen are between Dinmore and Yamanto, Willowbank to Warril View and the Toowoomba bypass road coming out at Charlton.  Must be others out there.

Laitch wrote:

Olaf wrote:I go out and in random places am approached by people.....I had one of those, or 'I have one of those at home'.

When I dock my Brick in a parking lot, friendly strangers will often approach me and ask "Do you braid that beard yourself?" but none of them have told me they had one at home.

September last year I was doing marshal at a Mobylette ride out in the village I go to. They start early in France, meet up 7am and on the road for 9am. So my K bike [the 83 K100RS] is in the village square and about 60 of these lovely Mobylettes were gathering. In all I think 10 of those guys were showing me photos of their K bikes and some had more than one.

Rob54 wrote:

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:There are so many Ks around in sheds and places like that. Near me I know of a shed with 3 K75s in it, another with a very low miles K1, another with 2 K1100LT in it. I ride in some places and see a K outside a house. I go out and in random places am approached by people.....I had one of those, or 'I have one of those at home'.

Even my RS, from 83, it came from a shed near me, 17 years in it. I go camping in France, local to there is a K1 4465km on it from new, a mint showpiece. Next village sees a K100.

Yesterday I washed and polished 4 Ks. I took one out today. I will take a different one out tomorrow.

Hello Olaf,

I got my L100 LT from a 'shed' some time ago and it is in a pretty sorry state.

It needs quite a bit of rebuilding but the cost of parts seems to prohibit this for me, being retired on what the British Government laughingly calls a, 'Pension', so it may have to be modified and what parts are salvageable sold off to others who can refurbish their bikes.
 
There is a chap with a K75 just up the road but he has modified his into a sort of street scramble, with knobblies on.
 
Don’t seem to see many K models in this area.
 
All the Best,
 
Rob54.

Body parts for a K100LT [K100RT will also do] are not hard to come by, lots of them from guys making cafe racers. Brexit is an issue though, I get new parts from Europe much cheaper than UK prices, things like fuel pumps, brake discs, all the consumables are much cheaper than UK prices for the used equivalent. I got a price of £140 [about €160] plus VAT for brake discs for my K1100LT, exact same discs from Europe cost me €104 plus VAT. I got a brand new fuel pump delivered tro me in France for €69 plus VAT, including shipping from Germany.

Maybe post up a few photos and look at some of the Facebook groups for parts.

TacKler wrote:A question for JBT. 

Well I'm not a specialist about radars, but I'll try to answer.

There are plenty of radar types here: check this webpage to onsider the creativity of our country in this field https://www.radars-auto.com/info-radars/radars-fixes/

The trend is to install permanent panels warning about speed cameras on roads...but only one mobile autonomous radar is placed erratically. They're armoured trailers that can be installed anywhere. And so autonomous that they're prone to spontaneous combustion, or sometime disappear to go to swim in the nearest river (they prefer those with high cliff, they love diving...)


If the plate can't be recognised automatically, then a human (well...not really) checks it visually to identify the country of registration.

Most EU countries and some other european countries non EU (Switzerland...) have an agreement for transmission of automatic speed infractions to the country where the vehicule is registered.
Most of these agreements only refer to automatic cameras.
I've been controlled by police in Romania in 2017, did not pay (I did intent to, but had no way to pay here and there) and still had no news about the fine.


Despite the huge efforts to enhance this technology, less than 50% of flashes are eventually adressed to the owner of the vehicle...most of them are cancelled because of the poor quality of the picture, or because 2 vehicles can be seen on it. New generation radars are supposed to be able to discriminate precisely the speed of each vehicle.

The inflation of speed traps in France is a real scandal: most drivers may soon be obliged to watch the road instead of their phone!

Never understood why speed cameras weren't installed at the pavement edge in metre high fibreglass dummy children.
Yep, at that height they'd definitely be less efficient at photographing number plates, but by Jesus Christ above, your average motorist would become red hot at spotting children at the roadside.

And I should've added - it would empower a nation's children to make traffic pay attention and slow down....just by standing still 

Not really a money-maker though is it 

ride around the west midlands most week ends for some years , no sign of another K in all the bike meet places , they are just not hip unless cafe raced 

Suzi Q wrote:Never understood why speed cameras weren't installed at the pavement edge in metre high fibreglass dummy children.

Well...maybe to avoid that speed camera shooting enthusiasts develop their aiming skills nearby schools?

Thanks JBT.  

I am familiar with the way those damn things work and your diagram pretty much answers my question.  That is an Aussie registered bike is unlikely to receive a French Letter if visiting    We used a Dutch system over here and the training manual showed the installation of one in the front headlight/grille area of a VW car.  The sneaky buggers.  

The only place I encountered a hand held device was entering a sleepy Austrian village where I was travelling at the local speed limit.  

Do you know if there is much use of hand held devices in the EU or is it mostly automated?  

Cheers.

Well it depends of the country in EU. Some are cribbled with automated speed traps, but with a variable percentage of empty boxes...North Italy for example.
Others prefer good old school speed control with real humans, with the same variable percentage of empty boxes.