Cyprus-Forum.com

[MickKnipfler]

Is it worth having a big bike in Cyprus? Are they expensive to buy and run? What are the driving standards like?

[demetriou_74]

would you trust a greek behind one of these??


let alone on a bike

[cannedmoose]

Is it worth having a big bike in Cyprus?

Lots of people do... great weather to ride them. My dad is moving to Cyprus soon and is shipping his old BSA Bantam and Norton with him.

Are they expensive to buy and run?

Probably a similar price to the UK, if not slightly more expensive. As for running costs, petrol is far cheaper. Only thing to consider is that you'll be using it more than you could in the UK so that's factor.

What are the driving standards like?

One word... shocking

You're better off with a big bike as people can see you and realise if they hit you they'll also do some damage to their car. Mopeds are suicide machines over there. Driving standards are truly and genuinely awful, the authorities are attempting to clamp down, but it will take a long time to improve.

[cannedmoose]

I wouldn't trust a Cypriot in one of these let alone a truck...

[MickKnipfler]

Mmmm....I was hoping the standards would be better than the rest of Greece!

[cannedmoose]

Mmmm....I was hoping the standards would be better than the rest of Greece!

I think they're about the same if I'm honest... depends where you are. Nicosia at rush hour is increasingly like Athens. Biggest problems are (in no particular order):

1. Mopeds crossing in and out of traffic or getting in your path as you're turning;
2. Motorcycle riders not wearing helmets/any protective clothing;
3. People not stopping at red lights/slowing down and then creeping virtually all the way across junctions while still on red;
4. Motorcyclists pulling wheelies down main roads at high speed;
5. Boy racers in their suped-up Honda Civics racing at night;
6. People high on drugs driving about without a care;
7. Pedestrians who don't look before crossing

I could go on and on, but you get the point.

[MickKnipfler]

Shame, I love biking but sounds like a good way to shorten your life expectancy.....even for advanced riders!

[Michael Coumas]

Mr cannedmoose has hit on the one that astonishes me every time I drive on the Island. I do a lot of miles and consequently keep within the rules, I need my licence. No.3 - Creeping accross red lights is a corker. I have been stopped at red lights, in neutral, handbrake on and cars, vans or trucks pull up alongside & creep foreward until they are on the other side & steam away. The Ayatollah and I look at each other aghast, I am still sat there at a red light. All it needs is one of the many aforementioned retards to roar down on his Jean pierre loony bike with go faster stripes and baked bean can exhaust & its a disaster. The sad part is the innocents they take with them and the grieving family they leave behind.
My advice is beware & if you have a family think twice.

[cannedmoose]

Shame, I love biking but sounds like a good way to shorten your life expectancy.....even for advanced riders!

If you're planning country riding, i.e. not in the cities, I'd still go for it. But I would never ride a bike of any sort in the city, it's just too crazy.

P.S. I've Christened no. 3 'The Cyprus Creep' in the island's honour.

[rotate]

Beware of country motor cycling, in the villages quite a few under age youngsters drive! If theres an accident there will be enough witnesses to confirm that it was your fault.

Cyprus Creep Remedy.
If your car is the second in the line from the traffic lights and the driver in front starts to creep foreward against the traffic lights, sound your horn. They can't see the lights and assume that they have changed to green, I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

last time I was in London I surprised to see that the 'Cyprus Creep' had taken hold there, wrongly assuming that the driver of the Merc in front of me was a Cypriot I watched as he not only simulated the 'Cyprus Creep' to almost Lefkosia perfection but then decided to drive through the red light anyway only to be stopped a little further on by a police motor cyclist . As I drove past the 'Creeper' I was clearly able to identify the ethnicity of the driver.................he was not Cypriot!