While I was in Paris, it was impossible for me not to get distracted by the sheer amount of scooters and motorcycles around. So I made sure to keep my camera with me and try to snap pictures of any interesting motorcycles I could see, much to the chagrin of anyone that was walking with me at the time. I thought you might be interested in seeing some, so here are a few of my favorites.
Child seat on the back of a Vespa.
Got very excited when I found bikes that weren’t available in the US, even with “scooters” like this BMW C1.
Giant windscreen.
Cagiva 125 military bike.
Cagivas at work.
Gendarmerie!
I never seem to see these in the States. The new CB1100 is not bad looking at all!
A little Suzuki Van Van:
Sadly, Gilera’s name seems to only be on 50cc bikes and larger scooters, but I thought this looked good:
Possibly my favorite bike from the trip:
Helmet around your arm in busy traffic? Why not?
Motorcycle Taxi.
KTM Duke 125:
Yamaha BT1100 Bulldog:
BMW K1300R – a bike I wish they brought over to the US.
Someone having a little fun with the Harley logo on their Honda chopper.
Yamaha MT-01.
Peugeot TL56, a little 125cc beauty.
Alright, it’s not a bike, but I found this helmet in a motorcycle shop and was so intrigued that I ended up buying one (though in white).
Couple of more trinkets from the shop:
Found on a 50s Triumph (and as you might guess, it had a puddle of oil underneath it).
No idea what this Suzuki is – any thoughts? Thought it was a GS500 but it had an incredible fairing. Unfortunately I couldn’t get my camera out in time to catch it.
Custom Harley
Custom TW200
Nice looking custom BMW R-bike.
Yamaha XS1100 with quite the fairing.
Honda FX650
Though it’s not the focus of this site, here’s some interesting cars, as well:
Working vintage Ford in Versailles.
Renault Twizy:
Doesn’t matter what country you’re in, apparently you can always find a Land Rover on a flatbed!
And because I was there for Bastille Day, here’s some bonus military coverage. Because how often do you get to see tanks in the streets of Paris?
Tanks in Paris.
If you want to see more, you can check out the full set here in a Flickr album.
12-17-2015 Update: Reader JHelle shared three lovely photos from his most recent time in the city. In his words:
“One is of a young guy selling expresso cafés from his 1973 Honda 350 four with a hand pressed machine and a camping oven. He uses the money to repair/restore the bike as he tags along. Never has the moniker “café-racer” been so appropriate, has it?”
“The other two are from “retro-tour” a company that offers rides in side-cars. They look like Ural (or Dnepr) machines to me. Knowing that these soviet-era bikes were copied on BMW German army machines from the Second World War and that these guys are waiting in front of what used to be the “Kommandantur” headquarters during said war, there’s a zest of irony here…. And you got to love the “tricolore” rainbow!!!”
If you really enjoy pictures of motorcycles out on the streets, you might want to follow Bike-urious on Instagram or on Facebook.