European Bikers Can Ride!

[EJamesJr]

I’ve been in France (French Rivera) for the last two weeks and have been blown away by the skills of the riders on two wheels. In the cities the guys/ girls/ men / women lane split and pass on the city streets in ways I would never attempt- rain or shine. Lane splitting is only legal in California in the USA. On the back mountain roads leading to St Tropez I noticed they ride the twisties with incredible speed and control.
I was in Switzerland in 2006 riding the Swiss Alps for 4 days. I remember the locals passing me on switchbacks like I was standing still. Lol. In 2014, I joined up with Road Runner magazine in West Virginia for a weekend of mountain riding. Our group ride leader was from Germany. Trying to keep up with him on his KTM was a white knuckle experience.
I’m from New Jersey USA where it’s pretty flat so I only get twisty mountain experience when I venture away from home, which I do a few times a year. It’s been a lot of fun watching these guys ride.

[KermitLeFrog]

It's what you are used to. I have mates who ride in London all the time. Keeping with them in traffic is an open mouth job. I'm a country boy and when we get to the shitty narrow country lanes, sprinkled with dung and gravel they struggle to keep up.

Expand your options. Take a few track days and, at the other extreme, ride the dirt. Both translate back to fast and smooth road riding.

ps. The Italians are nutters and the French riviera is very close to Italy....

[mik_str]

the contrast must indeed be incredible, especially when you're used to seeing mostly a bunch of posers on Hardleys cruising the freeways (which is also the case here in Canada btw). You could remove the front braking system off most of their bikes and they wouldn't notice, lol Sad, sad, sad,...