bmurphypdx Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I'm planning a trip to see my brother in Scotland. Thinking about "hiring" a motorcycle in London and driving up to Aberdeen. The change to driving on the left hand side of the road seems feasible but, I wonder if my muscle memory will work correctly. I have about 35,000 miles on my bike in the past four years. I'd like to get some feedback from anyone who has done this. Thanks. Link to comment
John Ranalletta Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 the first couple hundred roundabouts will be troublesome... Link to comment
eddd Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I started into the wrong lane a couple of times when pulling out of a parking lot. When I was in the flow of traffic it didn't seem to be an issue. Link to comment
Linz Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I do it successfully when I ride and drive in the US. I don't see why you shouldn't as equally gifted The only real worry for me is concentrating hard on looking left instead of right when turning right at a T intersection or when crossing a road on foot. That one can catch you out. I'd also get a GPS of some description. Getting out of London on the "wrong" side of the road in that traffic would probably be, er... challenging. Cheers, Linz Link to comment
randys Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Tape a big arrow on the inside of the windshield to remind yourself what side of the road to drive on. Link to comment
Survived-til-now Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Hi, As someone who once a year goes over to the continent and has to drive on the wrong side the best advice I can give is to stick a marker in your sight line just to remind you to drive on that side. The times you get caught out are setting off from a stop and pulling out onto a normal two-way road - it's very easy to set off on the wrong side. Most roundabouts are clearly marked and orientated so it takes a real effort to go the wrong way round. That said it was only last year that some "foreigner" came at me going the wrong way round a roundabout but thinking back his error started as he pulled out of a petrol station and immediately turned to join the roundabout!!! London - Aberdeen huh - a trip I have made a number of times. How can I put this... I think you will be disappointed by the direct A1 East side route. Apart from the bit between Scotch-corner (a long way south of Scotland) and Edinburgh, it's a bit boring really unless you plan a route on non-dual carriageway - which most of that journey is. You'd be better off planning a route that took you up the West side of the country, up through Loch Lomond and go bike a bit of the Scottish Highlands before coming across to Aberdeen - the East side is just not as scenic but it is a long way round! Last thought is that bike hire is not that common but there are companies out there. I found one (About Town) that charges £525 per week for a R1200RT plus about another £100 for comprehensive insurance and foreign licence cover. So it can be done. Whatever you decide - enjoy yourself and have fun. Link to comment
Survived-til-now Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Hi again, I had a further thought. I am not sure what average speeds you can keep up on the US roads but over here plan for 10 mph getting out of London, 40 mph on A-roads, 50 mph on A-road dual carriageway and 60 mph on motorways (that is average speeds) - so whichever route you take its a long day from London to Aberdeen. Link to comment
bmurphypdx Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 Thanks, everyone, for the advice so far. I do think an arrow on the windscreen is a good idea. Also, S-t-n, thanks for the routing advice. Sounds like a good plan to me. Link to comment
Paul Mihalka Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 The times I was in places with wrong (opposite of right) side driving, the first few days I did very well because I was paying attention. The problems started when I felt good about it. One mistake I made a couple of times was passing on a two lane road and when I was in the right lane it felt so good that I stayed there. No, I did not crash into anybody. Link to comment
jmseattle Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Lived in Australia for a while and put a few miles on my motorcycle there. It took getting used to at first especially at intersections. Already mentioned above was remembering which direction to look for oncoming traffic when stopped to make a turn. Also for me, LH turns at an intersection found me at times turning into the RH lane out of long habit and having to correct quickly back to the other side. Just requires more self-consciousness riding on your part for a while and avoiding auto-pilot habits based on US experience. And watch out for the wombats. Nevermind, I think that's just an Oz thing Link to comment
VinnyR11 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 I've done quite a bit of driving cars on the "wrong side", and as John mentioned the first few traffic circles are tough. As long as there was traffic I never had an issue. I did have a problem in the UK when searching out nice backroads with zero traffic for some "spirited" driving. After a while of hard driving I caught myself on the wrong side, luckily enough catching myself before hitting anyone. This happened on rural roads with no center line so there was one less visual clue of the shift to the right. Slowing down helped lots. Link to comment
Boffin Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 I find the arrow trick to be invaluable when driving or riding in France - the problem comes with the empty roads that suddenly fill up with a high-speed camion... In the UK, especially rural Scotland, it can sometimes be difficult to know which side of the road you are on:- Andy Link to comment
The Chemist Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 I recently moved to Oz for a several month stint. Last weekend I went for my first bike ride on the other side of the road. In addition to the "wrong side" issue, I was riding an unfamiliar bike (a Harley vs my RT) with the wife on the back. In the end, the ride was magnificent. As others have mentioned, the roundabouts require care, but I didn't have trouble with most other situation as the roads here are more like the US than are those in the UK. The biggest thing for me is to remember to look for oncoming traffic on the right when turning onto a road. If you take it easy at first, you won't have any problems. Link to comment
BIWOZ Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 We did a 5115 km "loop" around the US north-west a couple of years back, on motorbikes. I found riding a bike on the "wrong" side much easier than driving a car. It's probably because the controls on a bike are the same no matter where you are ... you just ride in a different position on the road ... whereas in a car, especially with a floor change, things can take some getting used to ... Link to comment
CarrotNC Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I think as much as we end up passing slower traffic, driving on the other side of the road just comes naturally! Link to comment
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