Is Dublin a good place to drive a scooter?

Agnius

Hey guys

I live and work in Dublin not so long ago.

I want to ask is Dublin a good place to drive a scooter?

Is it safe to leave a scooter parked in the city centre? (with brake lock etc)

Is it safe to leave a scooter parked close to my house per night?

It's really popular transport in the rest of Europe (France, Germany, Italy etc.), I am surprised to see just a few scooters in Dublin, though I wouldn't like my scooter to be stolen.

Thank you very much

punisher5112

So many questions you can only answer yourself.

Get something suitable and not a pissy 50cc.

City is full of filth looking for an easy rob so lock it good and if possible out of site like car parks underground etc. 3 locks minimum I would say.

Roads are dangerous as all the cagers don't see anything on 2 wheels and if you ride with that always on your mind you should most likely get on OK.

Bus lanes are not allowed to be used but the cops turn a blind eye once your not been a total numpty.

Agnius

Thank you sir

Zipppy

I've always been surprised that scooters are not hugely popular in dublin like they are in major cities on the continent. Traffic here is brutal, public transport awful and many people need to live a long distance from their workplace. So why not a motorbike / scooter?
Cycling is being pushed and pushed..millions being spent on cycling infrastructure and yet it's very dangerous in the city.
Really needs a Govt initiative to encourage motorised 2 wheels.
Less traffic, less pollution, Happier workers...it's a no brainer.
Could lack of secure parking be an issue?
Is the cost of getting on the road and issue? (Gear / Ins etc)
Would be interesting to assess how much scooter ins tax and gear would cost to get started...

yer man!

I live in Dublin city centre and just got into motorcycling recently. All in I have spent €4k on, theory test, learner permit, IBT, gear, insurance, tax and a bike. Ended up being a good bit cheaper than I thought. I
It really saves me a lot of time getting through the city and is miles more fun.

Lumen

Zipppy wrote: »

Cycling is being pushed and pushed..millions being spent on cycling infrastructure and yet it's very dangerous in the city.

No it isn't! Cycling is even safer than motorcycling.

I would consider an e-bike as an alternative to a scooter for buzzing around the city. It's probably faster and cheaper.

Del2005

Zipppy wrote: »

I've always been surprised that scooters are not hugely popular in dublin like they are in major cities on the continent. Traffic here is brutal, public transport awful and many people need to live a long distance from their workplace. So why not a motorbike / scooter?
Cycling is being pushed and pushed..millions being spent on cycling infrastructure and yet it's very dangerous in the city.
Really needs a Govt initiative to encourage motorised 2 wheels.
Less traffic, less pollution, Happier workers...it's a no brainer.
Could lack of secure parking be an issue?
Is the cost of getting on the road and issue? (Gear / Ins etc)
Would be interesting to assess how much scooter ins tax and gear would cost to get started...

The fact that most European countries allowed 14 year old ride mopeds means that the majority of people's first transport was a PTW. In Ireland, and the UK, our more restricted laws meant that most people went straight to 4 wheels when they were old enough to get a licence.

Security is also an issue. Was parked up in a hotel in the Alps and next morning of all the bikes in the garage only the 2 Irish bikes had chains.

Blanchy90

Lumen wrote: »

No it isn't! Cycling is even safer than motorcycling.

I'd have to completely disagree with cycling being safer. I cycled cross city on a Dublin bike twice a day for 6 month. I wore a helmet and thankfully never had an accident but that was dow to my quick reaction time lol. No exaggeration I was nearly knockded off the bike at least twice a week.


Now Ive been on the motorbike goin the same route every day for 4 months and it is miles safer than the push bike. I still have people pulling in on top of me etc but its easier to get out of the way and people do notice you slightly more.

Lumen

Blanchy90 wrote: »

I'd have to completely disagree with cycling being safer. I cycled cross city on a Dublin bike twice a day for 6 month. I wore a helmet and thankfully never had an accident but that was dow to my quick reaction time lol. No exaggeration I was nearly knockded off the bike at least twice a week.

Now Ive been on the motorbike goin the same route every day for 4 months and it is miles safer than the push bike. I still have people pulling in on top of me etc but its easier to get out of the way and people do notice you slightly more.

Maybe you were doing it wrong. I commuted every day for 8 years on a bicycle into Dublin city centre, 30km round trip. It was safe, fast and relaxing.

Statistically speaking, cycling is safer. There was a thread on this recently but I can't be arsed to find it.

Blanchy90

Lumen wrote: »

Maybe you were doing it wrong. I commuted every day for 8 years on a bicycle into Dublin city centre, 30km round trip. It was safe, fast and relaxing.

Statistically speaking, cycling is safer. There was a thread on this recently but I can't be arsed to find it.

I was cycling wrong?

TeaBagMania

IMO Dublin is a great city for scooter transport, my only worry would be theft.
Is lane splitting allowed in traffic?

Lumen

Blanchy90 wrote: »

I was cycling wrong?

I dunno. If I posted in this forum that I'd quit motorcycling in Dublin because I was often having near misses, I'd expect that a bunch of people would suggest I was maybe doing it wrong.

Del2005

Lumen wrote: »

Maybe you were doing it wrong. I commuted every day for 8 years on a bicycle into Dublin city centre, 30km round trip. It was safe, fast and relaxing.

Statistically speaking, cycling is safer. There was a thread on this recently but I can't be arsed to find it.

Statistically it's possible to prove anything with statistics. If you get the wrong answer you can just change the statistics. As the old saying goes there are 3 types of lies. Lies, damn lies and statistics.

Motorcycling is more dangerous than cycling but I've rarely heard of a motorcyclist being killed in Dublin while unfortunately ever few months a cyclist is killed.

McCrack

Mopeds were more common in Dublin from around the mid 90s to I suppose 2005ish

I drove them for years in Dublin and never any issues. They are very nimble for getting through traffic so I think they are perfect for a city.

Alkers

Your route will influence how suited a scooter is for your commute. What age are you? You need a proper licence for anything capable of 45km/hr so you may as well look at a 125cc or so if in the city centre but at least a 250cc if you've got any motorway or national roads.

In terms of security, even three locks is no use if they can just pick up your bike and put it into a van! You will need to work out somewhere at your place of work and your house where you can lock your bike to something solid and immovable.

Lumen

Del2005 wrote: »

Motorcycling is more dangerous than cycling but I've rarely heard of a motorcyclist being killed in Dublin while unfortunately ever few months a cyclist is killed.

https://www.google.ie/search?q=dublin+motorcyclist+killed

Alkers

Lumen wrote: »

https://www.google.ie/search?q=dublin+motorcyclist+killed

Most of them appear to be stolen / joyridden bikes as opposed to (reasonably) law-abiding motorcyclists...

Stephen15

Zipppy wrote: »

I've always been surprised that scooters are not hugely popular in dublin like they are in major cities on the continent. Traffic here is brutal, public transport awful and many people need to live a long distance from their workplace. So why not a motorbike / scooter?
Cycling is being pushed and pushed..millions being spent on cycling infrastructure and yet it's very dangerous in the city.
Really needs a Govt initiative to encourage motorised 2 wheels.
Less traffic, less pollution, Happier workers...it's a no brainer.
Could lack of secure parking be an issue?
Is the cost of getting on the road and issue? (Gear / Ins etc)
Would be interesting to assess how much scooter ins tax and gear would cost to get started...

I don't think our weather is really suited towards it to be fair. It's absolutely massive in almost every city in Italy and to a lesser extent in other European cities most places where its popular have much less rainfall than Dublin. Here you'd nearly need to be getting changed a lot of time also the cold weather so you'd need to be layering up.

Lumen

Dublin is not wet. I've commuted 60km round trip about three days a week in jeans for the past year and got uncomfortably rained on twice.

Hotblack Desiato

Yeah it's amazing how cagers think the whole country lives under a permanent monsoon or something. Galway, now that gets something like 250 days a year with rain but IIRC the east coast is about 150, most of that is showers, and if you have a reasonably short commute there's a good chance that even on a 'wet' day you won't be out when it's raining

The right clothing means never getting wet or cold (although heated grips or waistcoat help with the latter, too - depending on length of commute)

In the Dublin area there might be a couple of days a year when it's too frosty to risk the bike, now in the midlands or up the Wicklow mountains would be another story but Ireland has a very mild climate really.

As for fatality rates bicycles vs. motorcycles, it's a few years since I looked at the figures in detail but IIRC the casualty rates per km were almost exactly the same. Most motorcyclists will be doing more km than the average cyclist though. It's thankfully rare for a motorcyclist to be killed in an urban area (stolen/drink/drugs aside) as it's rural roads where the fatalities happen.

punisher5112

TeaBagMania wrote: »

IMO Dublin is a great city for scooter transport, my only worry would be theft.
Is lane splitting allowed in traffic?

Lame splitting allowed yes. Once safely done.