Some Months ago I bought a 125cc motor cycle and have since used it for my daily comute. Let me share some of my experiences with you.
In France you are allowed to drive a 125cc scooter with a car driver’s license. In other countries a vehicle like this is considered to be a motorcycle in other countries. So I decided to buy a Suzuki Burgman 125cc scooter for my commute.
Coming from the Western suburbs it takes me about 1 hour to get to work with public transportation. With the scooter however, it takes me 25-30 minutes top.
The reason for the short time is the position of the scooter on French roads. By law a scooter has to behave like a car. However in practice a totally different scene takes place on the roads around Paris…
Scooters sometimes drive up till twice the maximum speed. On top of this, scooters go in between the regular car lanes and pass by all the cars. In practice this means getting from A to B in Paris on a scooter is probably one of the fastest modes of transportation.
When driving my scooter I sometimes felt like being in the middle of a high speed car chase in an action packed movie, or an episode of 24. This feeling even becomes stronger when a police car or ambulance would be leading the way, followed by a group of scooters and motor cycles.
Come to think of it, Jack Bauer never drove a motor cycle, let a lone in Paris traffic. So I must be tougher than Jack Bauer…
