Bikes in Lisbon, Portugal

[Xclimation]

Just got back from spending a week in Lisbon, Portugal....
Of course many more motorcyclists as compared to America. Did not see 1 Tenere! Saw plenty of BMW GS. Mostly 500cc Hondas. I might've seen 1 Harley. Plenty of scooters of all brands. A few Ducatis. The highest CC I saw were the BMW GS 1200. Saw a few Africa Twins. Quite a few Honda Groms. Saw a few bikes not sure what they were but they looked like a larger version of the Grom. Interestingly....did not see 1 single KLR650! Saw quite a few Triumphs (mostly 900cc Bonneville types) Probably saw less than 10 sport bikes out of thousands of bikes I saw!

It appeared no one modified their bikes too much. Maybe a couple of people modified their exhaust on their scooters to sound ridiculously loud.

Just interesting seeing how other countries do things and what and how they ride. Thought riders paid more attention to safety than here in the US (Or Texas at least) I read that Portugal had the highest rate of auto accidents in Europe. I don't believe this. I was all over the roads all week and saw the aftermath of 1 minor incident and didn't notice any damage to the cars. I thought people drove much better than they do here in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas!

Someone here from Portugal....is this pretty accurate?

 

[Sierra1]

Don't know about there, but I will second your assessment that they ride like s**t around here!!

 

[PARDAL1970]

Just got back from spending a week in Lisbon, Portugal....
Of course many more motorcyclists as compared to America. Did not see 1 Tenere! Saw plenty of BMW GS. Mostly 500cc Hondas. I might've seen 1 Harley. Plenty of scooters of all brands. A few Ducatis. The highest CC I saw were the BMW GS 1200. Saw a few Africa Twins. Quite a few Honda Groms. Saw a few bikes not sure what they were but they looked like a larger version of the Grom. Interestingly....did not see 1 single KLR650! Saw quite a few Triumphs (mostly 900cc Bonneville types) Probably saw less than 10 sport bikes out of thousands of bikes I saw!

It appeared no one modified their bikes too much. Maybe a couple of people modified their exhaust on their scooters to sound ridiculously loud.

Just interesting seeing how other countries do things and what and how they ride. Thought riders paid more attention to safety than here in the US (Or Texas at least) I read that Portugal had the highest rate of auto accidents in Europe. I don't believe this. I was all over the roads all week and saw the aftermath of 1 minor incident and didn't notice any damage to the cars. I thought people drove much better than they do here in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas!

Someone here from Portugal....is this pretty accurate?

Hi. I live in Lisbon and have always lived here. That’s almost accurate. There are lots of Gs. You see many scooters (mainly PCX125, Nmax125 and keeway, sym, Vespa, Lml etc) but there are many Honda Nc700/750x, Older CB500, XJ600, XT600e, Xt660, lots of Yamaha Mt07 (and Mt09 /tracer), Mt125/300, cb125f(bigger grom?), YBR125, Vstrom, Suzuki GSX/GSf, Transalp, XR...etc. Bennelli (Chinese owned Italian brand) has been very commercially agressive and sold many TRX lately, and less but still a lot of Bigger bikes: Super Ténéré , RT, África Twins (750 and 1000), Pan European (1100 and 1300), KTM,s, FJR, CBX, R1, R6, CBR, Ducati’s (less), Etc. You also see HD’s but less (it’s very expensive) and other custom bikes. The sales of 125 scooter went up exponentially, off the charts, as soon as it became allowed to ride one with a car drivers license, so many bought them for commuting, trying to escape the crazy everyday traffic. It’s cheaper that public transportation!

The KLR hasn’t been sold in Portugal since the mid 80,s and was never a viable option here (the dealer network was smaller for many years). I owned one (600) back in mid 80,s. There were plenty of XT600e (I own one) as a substitute (and Xr/Xl 600). There were KLE 500 and other bikes but not the KLR (at least directly from the importers).

In terms of riding/driving , having been in may other countries, honestly, I can’t see many diferences in relation to other westerns countries. If you go to Africa or India etc it’s a completely diferente matter. In here, it about the same disrespect and inconsideration for bikes as everywhere. Always aware, always careful, always in the defense! I also drive (like almost everyone) and in have to say it’s not always the drivers fault. Many bikers are plain stupid and there riding style is very damaging to the image of bikers in general.

When I was in college (many, many year ago, in the late 80’s, early 90’s I used to be almost alone in the road , in my everyday commute from Cascais to Lisbon. I think the reason was that, prior to those years, before the revolution of 25/04/1974, bikes were associated with the work force in the countryside, and labor workers in the city’s, that didn’t have money to buy cars. There used to be thousand of small 50cc 2stroke motorbikes (Famel Zundapp, Casal,SIS Sachs etc - many manufactured in Portugal) and in the early 80-90 people associated bike with that. Only in the late 90’ and 2000’s onwards people began to realize that it was a very rational mean of transportation. For me it has always been that (complement to the intense pleasure or riding). I’ve been an advocate of riding since I can remember!

To sum up: it’s the same as everywhere (we’re I’ve been): Adventure bikes are very desirable nowadays and the GS “trend” is in full force, are one of the most sold bikes here. I have a love affair with my S10 and will always defend my loyal “horse” (I call it BRV - BMW recovery Vehicle - as you do In the US, just to make fun of my Beemer friends), but bikers, in Portugal chose different bikes. The most common are Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Ktm, Vespa (Piaggio), Ducati, Triumph, Sym, Keeway, Harley Davidson, and cheap Chinese scooters and small displacement bikes.

Next time you come let me know and I’ll take you to “Cabo da Roca” early every Sunday (just to see, then we will all go to the marina or some place were we can have a chat and drink a couple of beers!). You’ll have the opportunity to see many different bikes and S10’s - google it (Cabo da roca motos) - just PM me!

Note: both pics in Marrocos (different years)

Enviado do meu iPhone usando o Tapatalk Pro

 

[Xclimation]

Thank You for posting/replying! I wasn't sure if what I noticed was because all my time there was only in Lisbon. Such a beautiful place! And Y'all drive on the same side of the road as well do in America. I'll definitely be going back hopefully in another year. I know there is so much more to see. I want to check out Porto and Sintra. Also need to make it to Madeira. You mentioned it and yes I did see a few MT-07 and a couple of MT-09s. Harley is possibly going to start building bikes overseas which could mean cheaper prices on Harley's for y'all?

 

[dannyv]

I too had a great vacation to Portugal last Summer. Rented a GS for 2.5 weeks. Porto was cool, not a bike thing (for me anyway). I really enjoyed the North, I spent time at Castro Laboreiro, crossing into Spain few times. The riding was fun there. Also spent a few days at Sintra. Again, I parked the bike, and took in the sights. I'd like to go back one day. Or maybe.... next time, more time in Spain.