Moving to Belgium from UK

[boxa]

Am moving to Belgium later this year and was after some advice on the do's and don'ts of riding in Belgium, insurance and tax tips, what the police are keen on, whether you get hammered for insurance if over a certain engine size, whether filtering is allowed, etc etc.

Thanks in anticipation...

[Kickstart]

Hi

About 10 years ago I spent 15 months working in Belgium. However I was UK resident so do not know the details of all their ID cards, etc.

Belgian drivers were pretty poor. Like Italian drivers but without the skill.

Prioritie a droite still applies in many places.

When I was there they were very lax on speeding, but think they have realised the profits to be made now. Although drink driving was officially a big non non (limit was lower than the UK), in practice it was pretty common. And I don't mean people driving when just over the limit.

Probably less bikes on the road than the UK. Mopeds didn't have numberplates (and were ridden without helmets and on cycle paths).

I assume filtering was allowed . Some junctions though are really worrying such as Place Meiser in Brussels (2 roundabouts with traffic lights and 2 tram tracks through the middle, interesting in rush hour).

Income tax was a hell of a lot more complex. Impression I got was that it was set at a fairly high level but with a lot of things you could claim back. From memory you could claim tax relief for the distance you commuted to work.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[D O G]

It rains all the time in Belgium.

Lane discipline is decent, traffic around Brussels is a total nightmare.

Zolder is pretty good for a trackday, and you are only half a day's drive from the 'ring, which is a bonus in anyone's book.

[Robby]

One bar in Brussels has 2006 beers.

You can smoke in bars that don't serve food, and you can bring in chips from a kiosk outside. They may try to put mayonnaise on your chips. Loads of it.

It nearly always rains, or at least is grey and overcast.

There are no pretty girls.

When it snows (frequent) they grit the road, but not the pavement. Wear rubber soled shoes in such instances.

Brussels traffic is unreal around 9am, and the public transport is generally cheap (compared to London), clean, quick and frequent. However, the tube has 3 lines, and on the map they're represented in 3 different shades of orange.

[kawakid]

1 half of Belgium hates the other half.

I only found this out after speaking french in Antwerp .

1 lot speaks dutch, the other french.

Its not too bad for a night out, been out there a few times, both personally and on business.

Antwerp is a great night out.

Never ridden over there though.
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I've a twin and a 4.

[Noxious89123]

I have a friend that lives in Antwerp. He has proved Robby wrong about the lack of hot girls, although I don't think i have the photos anymore
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'06 Honda CBR125RW-6 ~ '00 Honda CBR600F-Y ~ '07 Honda CBR600RR-7 ~ Bikeless
'53 Ford Ka 1.3 ~ '03 Vauxhall Astra SRi 1.8 ~ '52 Vauxhall Astra SRi 2.2 ~ '53 Vauxhall Astra GSi

[steppen22]

https://media.santabanta.com/gal/mu2005/beauties/belgium1.jpg
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I've made mistakes in the past, and I apologise for FUCK ALL.

[Kickstart]

[Robby]

You're right about evening traffic, but morning traffic around Schuman is worse than Westminster by a long way. I'm mostly around Schuman when I go there, only venture into the centre to eat sometimes. Chez Leon is good if you like mussels.

Still loads of English people and Irish bars around Schuman, particularly round the back of the Council building. Metro tickets are still done the same, I think it works out at around €1.30 per journey, which of course was much cheaper when the pound was worth more. Never seen anyone check tickets.

I stand by my statement though, no pretty girls in Brussels, except the Chinese ones that are clearly imported to make the place look nice.

[Kickstart]

Hi

Irish bars I remember were the James Joyce, Hairy Cannary and the Wild Geese. Spent about 9 months living in Schuman, but drove to work heading away from town, via Place Meiser and then past Nato / Otan. Didn't really try to go via the motorway. If you did by taxi it cost a lot more as the fares double outside the city limits and going on the motorway meant you were on the double fares almost immediatly, while on the normal roads they only doubled at Nato / Otan.

There was a tasty small chinese restaurent on Rue Franklin.

If you get a chance pop into the military museum at Parc du Cinquantenaire.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[lurker]

travelled through and stayed the night on the way back up to zeebrugge for the ferry home last august and all i can say about belgium is it's kinda flat, green, overcast and boring.
i didn't find the drivers to be any worse than here in the uk, but there did seem to be alot more plod on the main roads, although not quite as bad as France where they tend to camp on slip roads in teams of ten with vans, bikes and cars waiting for unsuspecting joe public creeping over the speed limit as they pass.
one other thing, blink and you'll miss it.

[Mr Hammers]

[TheDonUK]

I got a 100 Euro fine by the side of the road near Antwerp, The police were no more patronising than their UK counterparts, a bit steep but much better than catching a case for triple digits on the motorway.

Rush hour around Antwerp is crazy, i grew up in and around London traffic but the Belgians really tailgate the shit out of each other on the ring round the city .

Holland is better, In holland armed police bikers escourt you to the nearest suzuki spares shop when you only asked where it was
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