Q's about bikes in Blighty

....and other drive-on-the-left countries such as New Zealand.

1. Do they have the throttle on the left and clutch on the right hand
side of the bike? (ie, mirror images of the North American arrangement?)

2. If the throttle is still on the right, how do you wave at other
bikers?

3. Do you wave at other bikers at all? Or are there so many on UK roads
that you don't bother.

4. Is the kick stand still on the left?

5. How easy is it for a North American to get used to riding
on the "wrong" (for us) side of the road. Does it feel like Alice's
Looking Glass world?

6. From pix I've seen on the Net, sidecars in Britain are generally
to the left of the bike. Is this true? My Dnepr's hack is on the right,
and apparently neither KMZ nor IMZ makes a left-hand version. So are
there Dnepr and Ural rigs on UK roads with the sidecar to the right?

See http://tinyurl.com/yajcyr6 -- tiny for:
http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/...aAustralBritishSideCar.jpg&target=tlx_picbopu

TIA, Sean Quinlan (of Bog Irish descent, but stranded here in Canada
since the potato blight of 1845. Have never even smelled the fragrance
of a peat fire. Some day maybe...)
'06 Suzuki S40 / '85 Dnepr MT-11 hack rig / various derelicts in triage

 

With far more skill than usually seen in NA

Personally I tend to nod, unless they are on Hardleys.

Yes (at least on all the bikes I've ever owned. TOG may have something else)

Depends on how stupid the American is, I would suppose. FWIW I'm
perfectly happy driving on the right as well as the left (obviously not
in the UK)

I shall leave this one to that small percentage of the insane.

You're not missing much IME.


--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 GTV TS 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

Good lord no. Just the same as in the pedal position doesn't change in
their cars.

Generally with the left hand, or by taking your hand off the throttle
for a moment.

I'm no longer in the UK so different rules apply here.

Well, I grew up in the UK and learned to ride and the drive their. I've
never had a problem riding on the opposite side of the road. If you are
used to roundabouts, that might **** with your head the first few
times, but otherwise just follow everyone else.

.... reserved for the insane.

 

Throttle on the left was so American cops could make progress while waving
a pistol at fleeing felons.

ISTR an episode of Happy Days that mentioned a Brit bike with a left
hand throttle. Can't remember if it was a real bike though.

 

Google reports left hand throttle as something usual on snowmobiles (no
clues), amputee's bikes and typical of shite olde Indian septic bikes.

http://www.wgby.org/localprograms/indian/pages/hatfield.html

Indian's Engineering Firsts

Indian, over the years, was either first or the first manufacturer of
significance to adopt a number of features. Electric starting for the Indian
in 1914 was the first in the world. Rear suspension on the Indian was not
the first but certainly was the first motorcycle of stature and of any
significant sales to have rear suspension. That came about in 1913. The
first footboards on American motorcycles and probably in the world were in
1912. As a consequence of Indian's victory in the Isle of Mann international
race, they came out with what they called a "tourist trophy" model that had
a starting mechanism which was one of the earliest and these footboards
which was the first in the industry. I think they probably were the first to
use some kind of twist grip control. On the earliest engines, the speed was
controlled by adjusting the status of the ignition system. You would do what
is called retard the ignition, make the spark occur later if you wanted to
slow down. And you'd make the spark occur faster by twisting the grip
towards you if you wanted to go faster and that was the right hand grip. So
the very first Indians, the speed was controlled by the right hand. The odd
thing is when they decided to add a throttle, they already had the ignition
control on the right so they put the throttle on the left. Over the years,
the throttle became the speed governing mechanism. Indian never bothered to
move the throttle. So they went from right hand control of the speed with
the ignition to left hand control by the throttle and they just kept it that
way all the years running. They were the only motorcycle to in the world
with a left hand throttle.

And yes, policemen did shoot and drive:

http://www.brandchannel.com/features_profile.asp?pr_id=7

Indian had individual consumers but also the endorsement of organizations
such as the French and US governments during the war years and the New York
City police who appreciated the left hand throttle system, which allowed the
rider to shoot and drive at the same time.

 

Nope. Same layout as in the US.

We don't. Those of us who are polite, nod.

A lot of them don't seem to bother, mainly the fair weather
squids. Those of us who are stupid enough to ride all year round usually
acknowledge other riders.

I learned to drive on the continent and ride in the UK. I do tend to
take the bike abroad at least once a year and I don't have a problem
switching sides. You have to be careful and if you're not used to it,
work against your ingrained reflexes when it comes to navigating
roundabouts, but it's not that hard.

IIRC they're not legal here. One of the sidecar pervs might be able to
comment.

 

Was it really?

Yeah, I saw the same one. The Fonz proved that the accused wasn't guilty
of the bag snatch as he couldn't have taken his hand off the thorttle to
grab the bag the way it was described.


--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 GTV TS 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

*boggle*

 

Same as US. Brake/Throttle on the right, clutch on the left. For feet, gears
on the left, brake on the right.

There are some older models with the controls reversed though.
Nortons and stuff.

Why would we wave? A nod's normally enough to acknowledge other bikers.

No, we tend to nod.

Dunno, I've never ridden on the wrong side of the road.
I've always driven on the left, you might get a better answer to that one
from the euro-touring-isti.

 

LOL YTC

See above

**** me.

You people need to get out of that country of yours more you know.


--


Nige,

BMW K1200S
Range Rover Vogue

 

Unless you're in France then you get the "sideways V" or leg waggling.

French bikers tend to be more civilised than Brit bikers.

 

Ive heard of that but only on certain models of Indian AFAIK

 

Only the gears and brakes. And not only old brit stuff.

 

The French attitude towards bikers is generally more relaxed that the
Brit one or the attitude you find in German-speaking countries[1]. I
like riding in France...

[1] As measured by the plethora of 'Bikers welcome' signs in Germany,
Austria and Switzerland.

 

Thanks for the info. Re cars, I suppose that a floor-mounted gear shift
would still be in the middle, operated by the left hand. (*That* would
seem very strange at first. On a standard I'd likely grind off all
the gear cogs getting the hang of it.)

What about steering-column-mounted gear shifts (standard or automatic)?
Do they protrude from the right side like here, or on the left?
(And where is the turn signal lever?)

I don't know what's so insane about a sidecar. My g/f categorically refuses
to ride pillion, no matter what bike. Why not? Don't ask me. (Women
weren't designed to be understood.) So I got a hack rig. She thinks
it's fun.

SQ

 

They banned l/h chairs some time in the 1980s, on some spurious 'safety'
excuse. Despite the fact that they could produce no accident stats for
them.

 

A what?


--


Nige,

BMW K1200S
Range Rover Vogue

 

Column shifts are rare here. I haven't seen one in years.

Turn signal levers vary from car to car. Most are on the err, left, I
think. I struggled just then to remember which side it is on my
current car.

 

Correct, but it won't take long to get used to. Except the occasional
time where you try to shift with the door handle.

As far as I am aware, that's a phenomonen not typically found in
Blighty or Europe. I have an automatic and the shifter is in the same
lace as you would find a manual gear lever.

On a stalk behind the steering wheel. Could be left, could be right,
depending on brand.

See, insane.

 

Err, does l/h mean 'for riding on the left' or 'chair mounted on the
left'? If the latter, then something's wrong!

Are they actually banned outright or can you no longer buy/fit a wrong
side chair but existing ones are OK?