riding a bike from the uk

plonker

I'm looking at buying a bike and riding it over,whats the best way to book the ferry in advance online or pay at the ferry when you arrive,is there much differance in price?,i dont really want to be rushing up from london in bad weather to make a booked ferry?

leeroybrown

For a Motorcycle, I doubt it would make a huge difference in terms of cost but personally I'd like to have some guarantee that I had a place on a ferry to get back. That said I doubt that they will be oversubscribed with bikes this time of year.

Another point to note is that this time of year the fast ferry has a tendency to get cancelled due to higher winds (and possibly Kerosene prices) so I'd factor that into my travel plans.

Duzzie

I've been across on the bike a few times. I prefer to book so i know i have a place. You cant really guess how busy it will be. On some trips i've been the only bike, on others there have been more than 50 bikes. Never tried to pay at the door, so to speak.
The weather is deffinately a consideration this time of year, I had a crossing cancelled this time last year due to high winds, fortunately they phoned me the night before to say it might be cancelled and sent a text through the night confirming the cancellation. Saved me a wasted trip.

Duzzie

murphaph

I've bought 3 bikes on eBay and ridden them back to Holyhead with no ferry ticket and gotten on no problem for around £30.

They can squeeze bikes in just about anywhere on the car deck tbh. At this time of year especially I'd say you'll be assured a spot with no reservation. I've only bought in and around the summer and I still had no bother.

I wouldn't like to have a deadline to make. Better late than never. Worst case scenario-B&B in Holyhead. There's a sailing at 2am anyway so you wouldn't even have to do that, just have a few pints in the pub and get that early morning sailing (kidding).

I've never ventured as far south as London to buy a bike though. I find I've always found a suitable one within an hour of Manchester airport which has the advantage of Ryanair and Aer Lingus running an early flight (06.30) fom Dublin so the cost is always reasonable and you can be in (for example) Sheffield of Liverpool by 9.00 by getting a train directly from the station in Manchester Airport.

You can do your deal and be on your way by 10 or 11 and the M53/A55 are great roads, pretty much motorway standard all the way to Holyhead whereas the A5 is nowhere near as good coming up from London. The A55 will have you in Holyhead from Manchester in under 2 hours tbh. Need to watch the speed though-LOTS of Talivans on it.

Pigeon Reaper

Did it over the summer. I booked the Ferry but there wasn't any real need. I found the deadline a bit tight as I was coming from London and could have done with a bit more breathing space for stops and rests. I made the ferry with an hour to spare which is a bit close considering the distance I rode. If the weather had been bad or even a few traffic jams it would have been too close. The roads are good from London up with only a few miles of single lane carriageways. All in I averaged around 90KPh including stops. I wouldn't advise trying for anything more than that.

Chunkylover

I did a trip at the end of the summer (a trip round wales), I rang up and asked if there was a need to book and was told outside the peak summer time there is plenty of room, on the trip over there where about 20 cars and a couple of coaches, on the trip back i wish i hadnt booked cause i got to holyhead 3 hours early and theres sweet fa to do there except wait, atleast the weather was good, and ther were only about 40 people on the ferry
But as was said you can fit a bike in almost anywhere, i was in the right and there wasnt room for a car to park so youll be ok

Also if you dont book you wont be waiting as long if you miss the 1st ferry cause you can take other carrier, irish ferries of stena

If you havnt done it before id go for stena, cant say how well i was looked after on it and the lads on the car deck are decent enough and know what they are doing

murphaph

The A5 within Wales is nearly all single carriageway and is not of a great standard whereas the A55 is almost all HQDC....

Map

You probably didn't feel like you were on single carriageway roads for all that long as you'd ridden the M40->M6->M54->A5(Shrewsbury Bypass dual carriageway) before you rode across Wales on the single carriageway A5.

The A55 option is much more reliable regardless of traffic conditions and/or weather. Living in Dublin means buying a bike in Manchester involves an easier ride home than buying one in Galway! That's how I look at it anyway.

Duzzie

M1->M6->M54->A5 is the route I use from London to Holyhead. Cant be a bit teadious to be on dual carriageways for so long but it is much quicker that using the single carriageway route. The A5 runs all the way from London to Holyhead, albiet a lower standard of road going through villages on the way.
Duzzie

galwaytt

don't need to book for a bike at this time of year, just turn up........

btw, watch your speed across Wales, especially N. Wales. Been pulled and fined once (48 in a 40), and warned once other........

Tails142

You can buy a premium ticket which allows you to change your ferry sailing - I have arrrived after the ferry has left and changed it to the next ferry in the past.

It also gets you into the 'club' area where you get free juice/tea muffins and papers. Is only about 20 quid more expensive.

Duzzie

galwaytt wrote: »

don't need to book for a bike at this time of year, just turn up........

btw, watch your speed across Wales, especially N. Wales. Been pulled and fined once (48 in a 40), and warned once other........

Sorry for going off topic but just curious whether you were stopped on Irish or UK plates. I get the impression the police/Gards are less inclined to stop a vehicle in the UK on Irish plates, and visa-versa. Means extra paperwork for them.

Back to the topic.

Duzzie

Dub13

This time last year I bought my first bike in the UK and I saved a fortune and will never buy a bike here again.I also did the drive up from London and its a great road all the way up.

murphaph

Duzzie wrote: »

Sorry for going off topic but just curious whether you were stopped on Irish or UK plates. I get the impression the police/Gards are less inclined to stop a vehicle in the UK on Irish plates, and visa-versa. Means extra paperwork for them.

Back to the topic.

Duzzie

North Wales Police will stop you regardless. They are notorious for operating speed traps. The A55 has (I think) just 1 GATSO because they have so many mobile checks on it.

I ran out of petrol on a new bike just outside Conwy and before the bike had rolled to a stop there was a NW police traffic car stopped behind me asking me if I was ok.

colm_c

If you've thinking of getting a bike in the UK, you should also take a look at Germany, there's some very good deals (and a larger selection) to be had on some bikes particularly BMWs/Honda's.

www.mobile.de is a good source for browsing.

It's also only about an 1-2 hours more to come from germany than the south of england/wales.

Pigeon Reaper

1-2 Hours! Are you nuts? What speed where you driving? Give yourself an extra day at least. You'll need it unless you plan on travelling for a long time in one day.

murphaph

colm_c wrote: »

If you've thinking of getting a bike in the UK, you should also take a look at Germany, there's some very good deals (and a larger selection) to be had on some bikes particularly BMWs/Honda's.

www.mobile.de is a good source for browsing.

It's also only about an 1-2 hours more to come from germany than the south of england/wales.

Of course being good motorists we need to be aware that at least some motorbike headlights are sided so they dip to the left or right depending on what side of the road they are intended to be driven on....



Riding a bike with the above lights on the wrong side will result in potentially dazzling oncoming motorists. Buying in Germany can be a bit awkward (though maybe not from a dealer) as the current owner may well not want the bike to leave with his plates on it! You'd then need export plates. It's a system based on registration and deregistration and is difficult to 'work'.

The UK system is almost identical to ours and a decent skin will even give you the full V5C if you fill out and sign the "permanent export from GB" portion so you can literally get off the ferry and ride to the revenue office in Swords/Tallaght and get a number for your irish plates that same day! Then nip to a platemakers and get them made. You really can buy a bike in England and have it on irish plates in the same working day. So many people perceive it to be difficult or "too much hassle" so they let themselves get ripped off here. I wouldn't say every bike here is a rip off but there are so many heaps of sh!te even in dealers windows here it's unreal. Loads and loads of fairweather bikes in GB because insurance is dirt cheap and you can afford to let a bike sit in a garage most of the year!

Hotblack Desiato

murphaph wrote: »

Buying in Germany can be a bit awkward (though maybe not from a dealer) as the current owner may well not want the bike to leave with his plates on it! You'd then need export plates. It's a system based on registration and deregistration and is difficult to 'work'.

Yes, as insurance is linked to plates in Germany you will almost certainly find that the seller will remove the plate.

In practice, there is nothing stopping you bringing the number plate from your Irish bike with you and using that for the ride home.

Insurance won't care as you can get your bike covered over the phone on the VIN regardless of the plate.

German cops won't care unless you do something really stupid.

Gardai won't care unless you do something really, really, really stupid or hit a road tax check, the "I've just bought it" excuse would probably work there (don't correct them when they assume you bought it in Ireland...)

All you're doing really is playing along with the German system where the plate is linked to the owner more so than the vehicle. As long as the plate you use is registered in your name and the bike is insured, you're not deceiving anyone.

Agreed though that UK importing is easy, lots of dealers over there with bikes a few years old they can't shift off their showroom floors even though they're in perfect nick. Buyer beware as always though, the UK MOT system is very vulnerable to fraud.

MrPudding

murphaph wrote: »

The A5 within Wales is nearly all single carriageway and is not of a great standard whereas the A55 is almost all HQDC....

Map

You probably didn't feel like you were on single carriageway roads for all that long as you'd ridden the M40->M6->M54->A5(Shrewsbury Bypass dual carriageway) before you rode across Wales on the single carriageway A5.

The A55 option is much more reliable regardless of traffic conditions and/or weather. Living in Dublin means buying a bike in Manchester involves an easier ride home than buying one in Galway! That's how I look at it anyway.

Bah, but the A5 is so nice. I would not use it the whole way but the sectoin through the mountains is well worth the effort. Plenty of chances for a bike to safely overtake.

I reckon the only time you will have trouble getting a bike on a ferry is close to a large bike event.

As for cost, the price for bikes is fixed at teh beginning of each year and does not change no matter how late you book.

MrP

Kat1170

I reckon the only time you will have trouble getting a bike on a ferry is close to a large bike event.

You are far more likely to have trouble if there is some big match on. Ferrys can only carry a certain amount of people so a larger than usual number of coaches will have ferry company saying sorry full up, even though the vehicle bays may be only half full.

KildareMan

MrPudding wrote: »

Bah, but the A5 is so nice. I would not use it the whole way but the sectoin through the mountains is well worth the effort. Plenty of chances for a bike to safely overtake.

I reckon the only time you will have trouble getting a bike on a ferry is close to a large bike event.

As for cost, the price for bikes is fixed at teh beginning of each year and does not change no matter how late you book.

MrP

+1 on the A5 through the national park. It's superb, makes wicklow gap look pathetic by comparison.

Rainman1

I think that you are much better off just driving to the ferry, I do this all the time anyway and have never had a problem, even in the peak season AND when various bike shows such as the NEC or classic shows were on in the UK. It makes even more sense when you are buying a bike, I had one occasion when all three bikes that I had lined up to look at turned out to be nails, simply got a train up to Stanstead and flew home, no real drama, having a ferry to catch just adds more pressure to the day.