Q's about bikes in Blighty
in [UK Motorcycles]
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From: wessie on 22 Nov 2009 07:02 Pete Fisher <Peter(a)ps-fisher.demon.co.uk> wrote in news:FD2Gnki7xRCLFw3r(a)ps-fisher.demon.co.uk: > In communiqu� <1j9kwc3.1s54zdnkzapzzN%totallydeadmailbox(a)yahoo.co.uk>, > The Older Gentleman <totallydeadmailbox(a)yahoo.co.uk> cast forth these > pearls of wisdom >>Sean_Q_ <no.spam(a)no.spam> wrote: >> >>> 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.) >> >>They're mostly there, yes. Some French cars still have them sticking out >>of the dash, I think. >>> >>> What about steering-column-mounted gear shifts (standard or automatic)? >>> Do they protrude from the right side like here, or on the left? >> >>No idea. >> >>> (And where is the turn signal lever?) >> >>Left-hand side of the steering column, at least on all cars I've driven. >>Not sure if that's a legal necessity. >> > > Might be now. My 97 Mazda MX5 has it on the other side (right) to my 08 > Mazda 6. Tends to lead to trying to indicate with the windscreen wipers > the first time if I haven't driven the MX5 for a while. > Early Jap cars had the indicator on the RHS, just like my Mk1 Escort & Capri. Like most recent Mazdas, your M6 is a shared design with Ford and will be using generic instruments from the corporate parts bin which will be biased towards US & EU conventions. -- wessie at tesco dot net BMW R1150GS
From: Grimly Curmudgeon on 22 Nov 2009 07:03 We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "sweller" <sweller(a)mztech.fsnet.co.uk> saying something like: >> Column shifts are rare here. I haven't seen one in years. > >Column shifts tend to be on the right - the last one I had was on a 1975 >SAAB 96 (manual). > >The old Jag autos were on the right too. Conversely, the two I had were on the left, so there's no standardisation.
From: Oily on 22 Nov 2009 07:13 "The Older Gentleman" wrote......... > Sean_Q_ wrote: > > > 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.) Either way suits me, I learned to drive in a Willys Jeep and such bikes as Montgomery, Rudge, Scott, Sunbeam, Coventry Eagle and Ariel etc. to name a few, with gears and rear brake either side. Two of my bikes, right hand tank mounted. > > They're mostly there, yes. Some French cars still have them sticking out > of the dash, I think. > > > > What about steering-column-mounted gear shifts (standard or automatic)? > > Do they protrude from the right side like here, or on the left? Some Austins on the left, but floor mounted old Rolls etc. on the right, some even on the outside of the car! Model 'T' Ford, different combination of floor pedals. > > No idea. > > > (And where is the turn signal lever?) > > Left-hand side of the steering column, at least on all cars I've driven. > Not sure if that's a legal necessity. > Series Landrovers on the right for years.
From: Pete Fisher on 22 Nov 2009 07:06 In communiqu� <1j9kw5a.rsebb01jkpbeoN%totallydeadmailbox(a)yahoo.co.uk>, The Older Gentleman <totallydeadmailbox(a)yahoo.co.uk> cast forth these pearls of wisdom >Timo Geusch <tnewsSPAMMENOT(a)unixconsult.co.uk> wrote: > >> > 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? >> >> IIRC they're not legal here. One of the sidecar pervs might be able to >> comment. > >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. > > <cough> The only time I rode a chair on the right outfit (my old mate's Ural) I had a coming together between chair wheel and car on a narrow lane in the Lake District. The brakes were pretty shite, which didn't help. Silly sod in the car just stopped dead instead of tucking it in as close as possible to the hedge. Never had any such incidents riding the UK rig Mille GT and Squire in France though. -- +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Pete Fisher at Home: Peter(a)ps-fisher.demon.co.uk | | Voxan Roadster Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" | | Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
From: Steve on 22 Nov 2009 07:07
On 22 Nov, 11:41, Andy Bonwick <nos...(a)bonwick.me.uk> wrote: > You can use a rh mounted chair on bikes registered before a certain > cut-off date but not on anything newer > > Apparently bad people buy newer outfits with a rh chair and then buy > an old scrapper and change the frame numbers to suit but I'd never > advise anyone to do something like that. That would be very wrong and such people have no respect for authority. The law says you cannot register a Motorcycle Combination with a RH chair after 1981. However you do not have to notify the DVLA that you have fitted a sidecar and the MOT is tested as seen , so you can remove it , get the MOT and refit it.Totally legal. I don't believe that anyone has ever been prosecuted for a RH chair and i'm not even convinced it could stand up in court now that we are all Europeans and what is legal in one member country is legal in any other. Steve |