Riding in Spain & France | Speed Limits and things to watch out for! 

I breathe a sigh of relief when I get off the ferry in France or Spain, to get away from the agression on English roads. I have lived in all three countries and English roads are the scariest.

When next in Switzerland a similar video might be helpful, incredible speeding and overtaking fines. Cameras placed high on mountain roads monitoring the lower road overtaking etc usually no turn offs, corralled into a fine “factory,” all Police ready with video and card readers for the eye watering on the spot fine. Norway is equally tricky if caught and the police can be very devious.

I used to have a place in France, and regularly toured all over Europe, haven't been back for years, though planning a September trip. Gone are the days of going as fast as you like, used to cruise at 100mph for 100 miles, but then the camera's arrived, along with the cops that set up hidden cams with a road block around the corner. The UK is festooned with camera's and 20mph limits now, so I did the sensible thing and downsized. I am actually enjoying rides again, 500cc is more than enough, cheaper to run, and I can enjoy the scenery rather than look at the tarmac in front of me.

As a resident of France I can only add that the death rate on roads here is still too high in particular bikers,one thing I’ve noticed is actual speed traps have almost disappeared,yes cameras have massively increased,it can be a challenge I must admit all I can say is don’t speed in France🇫🇷

Thanks for the vid 😎 Nothing worse than having to focus too much on your speedo. Keeping yourself aware of your surroundings is going to keep you around a lot longer than worrying about being a few km/h over the limit. Oh well, I’ll keep playing the game 😉

i discovered you, since today i will look you through over

Really fascinating comments Toby. I have just returned from a three week touring holiday in France, having not driven/ridden there since 2013, and you comments explain the behaviour we found. The chopping and changing speed limits and speed tables were a bit of a pain. Also noticed a lot more speed cameras. Very little tailgating. Your points about covert cars rings true and may explain why people didn't always overtake us when we slowed to let them past. Great video, ride safe and have fun.

Great, informative video. Thanks.

I found France to be pretty chilled; I stayed on the minor roads which are far more interesting. Police bikers followed me twice for about 5km's, then sped past with the usual arm-out acknowledgment. Other drivers were aware and much better behaved than in the UK. I didn't spend much time in Spain this time, but the drivers appeared in a rush. No lane discipline on roundabouts and passing of cyclists near San Sebastien was dangerous, with many oncoming cars on my side of the road. Great to hear your points and advice!

There has been way to little research done on the danger of exceeding the speed limit vs the dangers of excessive speed. They are two different things that are all too often confused! It's interesting that the French saw no noticeable reduction in accidents when the limits dropped from 90 to 80kph. Even so, France and Spain are wonderful places to ride and every biker should ride there. Thanks for the video

Thank for the video. Nothing focuses the mind like a fine through the letterbox. Before setting off to France on my VFR1200x I checked how to change the dash from Mph to Kph. Much easier than bits of paper with a conversion chart.

Great video thanks i love touring the EU have done for may years not been since lockdown so looking forward to getting back there next year.

So conversely the things that narked you off made your ride more enjoyable 😂. Up and down limits would do my head in. I'll find out next month! 😂 cheers for a great vlog

I have driven through France many times heading down to where my parents live in the North east of Spain near Barcelona. I find France to be a relaxing time and don't usually have any problems both on the toll roads and the national routes. But the moment I get into Spain I have to switch into defensive mode as the driving style is very different and I have to be on alert all the time. We are hoping to take our bikes down next year, so will see how that goes.

Very interesting. Here in the U.S. most everyone travels 5-20mph over the posted limit typically.

Just an FYI. The speed sensitive traffic lights in a town are popular in France as well. I have just come back from Cornwall and indeed took a picture of your bike at Ocean BMW. Spooky 😁. The roads down there are terrible for 30mph for a few feet then, 40mph then in 3 car lengths back to 30mph. Another favourite seemed to be 50mph on a clear straight road out in the country.

I used to do France-Spain most years between 1988 and 2019 either by car or bike, I even learnt fluent French and Catalan. I never encountered any dangerous or scary driving on those unsupervised roads, but now I'd be constantly on edge riding with these crazy cameras everywhere so looks like they've said au revoir/adéu to my tourist £. Ah well, fun while it lasted. I just feel sorry for youngsters starting out with bikes now, the maddest irony being that supposedly the roads are much safer so why tfh has insurance gone up SEVEN FOLD in real terms???? 😢😢😢

Hi Toby, thanks for those nuggets of information, definitely helpful for many of us. Do you maybe have a plan to broaden a bit this type of topic and do a video, or series of them, about specific laws pertaining to motorbikers (or cars as well) in different countries? For example I've heard in France you need to have a yellow vest in your car in side and you cannot use cameras to record traffic or for safety? Is that true? Same for Spain and maybe some other countries you and Mark have traveled through and have experience with? It might be strange question but I was planning to visit France and maybe Spain on my motorbike but many pages I can find about such information are old and not sure about their value in today's post Brexit climat. Thanks!

Mark, what visor clip on are you using in the video? I am looking for one to fit to my new GSA. Phil

hey man i have a cardo packtalk edge (+mic), and will be getting like a 4k helmet cam from amerzon, how do I record my voice to a video? will it depend on the devices?

Interesting thoughts Toby, not found it an issue but their driving standards are still better than here, always feel safer on the continent than here. Love France but they do change their laws regularly and it’s poorly publicised to the public..

Thanks, Toby. I've now done 4 weekish-long bike tours in Spain (Andalucia, Extramadura, plus a few days into Portugal - not nearly so good) and love riding there. Roads are great, landscape great, weather great, food great, people lovely. Spanish drivers, however, are rubbish. Never trust them to do what you expect/think - especially on roundabouts! Driving a car doesn't feel massively safer when dealing with other drivers (I'm married to a Spanish woman and have therefore spent quite a lot of time there over the last 16 years). Do go, it's amazing riding, but, as Toby says, don't trust the cars. Tbh, I find the Spanish speed limit changes also far too frequent, and sometimes bizarre, but it's a small frustration overall. You've also got to learn to stick to the outside of the road on narrow, blind, left-handers, if you don't want to be taken out sooner or later by an oncoming lorry or bus on your side of the road. Quite hard to do...

We lived in south east Spain for 6 years and then in south west France for 10 years before returning to the UK 6 years ago. We honestly thought the Spanish drivers were bad with their blatant ignoring of road signs and traffic lights but the French drivers took the gold medal with their constant tailgating (despite it being a serious offence) and cutting off blind corners. In Spain we used to see if we could see any Spanish registered cars without a dent or scrape whilst in France we saw at least one accident every time we went out in the car. In both countries favour is the quality of their roads which far surpass the decaying crap we have to contend with in the UK.

Great video. Just wanted to ask a question. If someone from the UK that is traveling to Spain/France has an aftermarket decat exhaust with the baffles in on an MT07/MT09, is there a chance they could get in trouble?

Hiya guys, my friend and I rode down through France to the Pyrenees and in to the Picos this year. The French bit was mostly tolls and motorways to get to Spain. Do you tend to use D roads through France or are you the same, motorways as a means to an end?

I never have a problem with speed limits in France, if it’s a road with a 90 limit it’s always clearly marked. 30kmh zones in towns are where they make sense. Driving on D roads in general is a worry free experience with virtually no need to spend too much time looking at the speedometer. That Garmin XT you have will legally warn you of any upcoming speed camera zones and the unmarked cars operate within very tight guidelines, they are not allowed to induce you to break the law and they have to follow their specific planned route. I spend a huge amount of time motorcycling in France and Spain and to be honest I’m always a bit more concerned in Spain. Ride safely in either country and you can enjoy empty open roads that simply don’t exist in the British Isles.

Another reason I’m not touring through Europe anymore.

Can you ride in Spane all year round?

Had a fine in the post for doing 86 in a signed 90 zone the day after the change. 90 signs were still displayed!!!

Dont mention roundabouts in Spain even though the law has changed.

Alto Aragon is god’s own country ❤

_"They're going to go back to 90 kph."_ Erm, yes and no. It depends on the Département (County) and a lot of Départements are still 80 kph and they probably won't revert until a different political party wins in that Département (if ever). Also, 90 kph is not on all the roads in a Département which has reverted to 90 kph. Again, it depends on the Département but, Rural roads can be 80 kph and not signposted. This is typical French administrative thinking. Speed limit signs on rural roads can be few and far between at times. Use an up to date GPS to check the speed limits or an app like Waze (usually more accurate but roaming charges may apply) which is also more accurate for Speed Traps (Danger Zones). Note: results show the speed reduction to 80 kph did result in a decrease in road deaths of 15.5% in the 12 months between 2017 and 2018 in mainland France. They do have the "Radar Controlled Traffic lights" in France. A lot of smaller towns have installed them and are installing them along with innumerable speed humps (as you mentioned). They are popping up like a rash everywhere. Also the speed limit in towns and villages is often now 30 kph (sometimes even 20 kph), so 50 kph will trip the lights and speed cameras (Radar). The Mayor decides on the speed limit. Leaving the town, the town sign with a line through it is the "national speed limit" sign for that Département unless otherwise indicated but, in true French style, you have to guess what that speed is for that Département. The zone 250 m outside the town boundary is 70 kph (unless otherwise indicated) whether indicated as 70 kph or not (entering and leaving). Quite often in this zone the road surface is a reddish colour and there can be rumble strips. The Radar Cars are causing a lot of controversy in France and I'm surprised there haven't been "incidents" involving them yet. I think it's only a matter of time before someone does something stupid to one. Just look at the number of vandalised Speed Cameras to get an idea of how much these are hated. I fully agree with you that people are now concentrating on their instruments and not watching the road.When we get someone in court saying, "I was checking my speed in the 20 mph zone when the child ran out in front of me."?

Nice work Toby! Did you encounter any of that priorité à droite nonsense? Haven't used their roads in a while and was kind of hoping it's died a death, non?

Mate. Britain is no longer part of "Europe" as long as you roughly stick to the speed limits and ride safely , if they clock you and you receive a fine through the post 2 weeks later , IGNORE IT ! that's what i do every year when i ride to Europe

speed limits are for getting as much money from tickets as possible, nothing to do with safety and logic.

Get a 500cc/a650cc absolutely no need for these monster bikes.