Gday

[jmpower1974]

Hi Everyone,

Im moving into central london, around the aldgate area shortly and have already found myself a suitable bike. Its blue, but hey you cant always have black can ya.
Im a commodities trader by nature and have many vices...

Naturally I am keen to get back into the motorcycling scene on the weekends and am hoping to meet fellow VTR owners in due course. I have a couple of central london specific questions if you care to provide some knowledge:

1. is bike theft a big problem?
2. what is better - chain or disc lock
3. can you park bikes on the footpath or other little hidey holes with relative safety
4. Is filtering legal in the UK or illegal (like oz)... but generally done
5. Know of any cheap but reasonable quality apparel stores around Aldgate you can recommend.

Appreciate the questions are many but I plan on contributing to the forum in many areas, foremost then gossip..

[tinysmall]

Bike theft is a huge problem in the uk, a chain and lock is better and the right one will give you a discount on insurance but they are not always practical. I would only park in designated areas cos London has a lot of traffic nazzis and yes, filtering is perfectly legal. Don't overtake the lead vehicle in a que and stick to 10-15 miles an hour faster than the flow of traffic or less and when filtering in static traffic, go dead slow. Follow this advice and the plod are unlikely to pull you. Welcome to the forum and if you ever fancy a ride out, give me a shout. I'm in south west London (Kingston) which ain't that far on a bike.


Sent from my brain using my hands with that Tapatalk thingemybob on me portable talky box.

[agentpineapple]

hi jmpower
tinysmall is pretty much spot on.
i live about 2 mins away from where you will be relocating to, i'm in whitechapel east london. as far as bike shops go, you have george whites shop on your doorstep, its at the bottom of dalston rd or the top of shoreditch high street, just north of bethnal green road....lol
and i'm a london cab driver you think i would know aswell lol
parking on the pavement is a no no, unless you cover your number plate and tax disc so that the traffic wardens cannot see it, i think the best chain you can get is an abbas chain but they are very exspensive and not to practical.
my bike is being rebuilt at the moment as is my body lol, after an accident towards the end of last year, get in touch when your settled and hopefully my bike will be finished and we can go for a ride out somewhere.
take care mate and if you need any info on london just let me know....

[jmpower1974]

Hey guys thanks both for your replies. Will definitely be hitting south kingston for a ride in the next few weeks and will pop a PM across to arrange a pint or three once Ive found suitable accommodation...

[tony.mon]

Make it a general shout out, you never know I might make it up from Kent for an hour or two torturing the clutch in the smoke...

[agentpineapple]

we can have a bit of fun, i'll map out a course in london, i think the start/finish line should be park lane then around hyde park corner down to buckingham palace, then up the mall to trafalger sq then south down whitehall(slowing down slightly as we pass the cenotaph as a mark of respect) and then around parliment square along victoria street, up grosvenor gdns to hyde park corner again and finally up park lane north bound, not a bad circuit if i do say so myself.............


p.s tony how was brands hatch???

[Kev L]

we can have a bit of fun, i'll map out a course in london, i think the start/finish line should be park lane then around hyde park corner down to buckingham palace, then up the mall to trafalger sq then south down whitehall(slowing down slightly as we pass the cenotaph as a mark of respect) and then around parliment square along victoria street, up grosvenor gdns to hyde park corner again and finally up park lane north bound, not a bad circuit if i do say so myself.............


p.s tony how was brands hatch???

Bloody cab drivers, sounds like a an appearance at the carriage office!!!!

[tinysmall]

Lol. I might live near london but most of my riding is done in the Aldershot/Petersfield/Winchester or Headley areas. I commute but I don't get a buzz from riding in traffic. Bring on the twisties

[lumpyv]

think i read the other day that 37% of all bikes that are nicked are in london!

[agentpineapple]

i thought it was a good route,
it did sound a bit like an appearance up the carriage office hahaha
i could have done with being on the bike today, i was bored stupid in the cab, there wasn't even any pretty girls walking around to take my mind off of the boredom!!!!!!

[jmpower1974]

think i read the other day that 37% of all bikes that are nicked are in london!

faaarggg me... nearly 40% ?? Im going to have invest in a dog or a rattle snake....

[jmpower1974]

Lol. I might live near london but most of my riding is done in the Aldershot/Petersfield/Winchester or Headley areas. I commute but I don't get a buzz from riding in traffic. Bring on the twisties

Similar intent, need a get away device to get out of the city on the weekends, during the week I will be walking mostly.
Might have to plant a couple of anti pers mines around the bike if its sitting up during the week... I would guess the thieves ply their wares during the day.

[Kev L]

Just to add insult to injury MCN published yesterday that the only specialist motorcycle theft unit in the UK, run by the Met, is being axed through lack of funds.

[agentpineapple]

i might be wrong, but i don't imagine gangs of bike thieves, stealing bikes to order would target 10 year old firestorms hahahaha
a good quality chain and a pitbull should do the job.
as far a bike theft in london goes, the only thing i wouldn't do is park my bike in a underground car park no matter how secure they say it is, matey at booth see's a £10.000 bike roll up and he's on the phone to the gang of thieves straight away, happens a lot in london.
park it on the street, nearly every inch of london is covered by cctv these days.
just remember big brother is watching you.......lol

[tony.mon]

p.s tony how was brands hatch???

There's a thread in Sunday runs with pix....

Turns out blue's the fastest colour for tyres.....