The drivers are very good at pulling over here too. but then again all visible space seems to be fair game here including the cycle lanes, pavements and grass verges.

The thing I love about the bike is I don’t care about rush hour, the journey take pretty much the same time any time of day (I do ~35 miles each way)

I’ll assume you are asking about the MP3, not the C# guys.

I like my MP3. I frequently get asked ‘what are they like’? But I am not well qualified to answer the question.

I started riding about 3 month ago, have covered around 2000Km on the MP3 so far. Never ridden anything else, except for the 125cc Aprilia scooter that I borrowed for one day to pass the riding test. So I can’t tell you how it compares to a ‘real’ bike. My comments, for what its worth;

It can cruise at 100Km/hr without straining. It is heavy for a 250cc, so it will not take off from the lights as fast as a ninja – even the local V8 utes are a problem from the lights.

I bought the thing to commute. It is very good for that, cuts the driving time to work by at least half an hour. That’s over a 13km trip. The road system here has been designed by illiterate farmers and improved by committees.

Stable, good in the wet (we have had a very wet autumn here), good over manholes, bumps. Narrow enough to ride between two lanes of cars (legal here as long as the cars are not moving).

The underseat space is big enough to carry a laptop and a projector.

The reaction from fellow road users are mixed. Some abuse from ute driving drongos (google it) when I use the ‘middle’ lane. Some nice drivers, including the bus driver who moved aside a bit to let me pass between him and the cement truck.

Mike – yep the taxis are shocking, firendly enough, but then they should be as they sit in traffic earning more than the average hedge fund manager.
I’m staying in the alps, its worth the ride.

I mainly stuck to the pavements or the scooter-free parks but also used the buses with their dedicated lanes – hope you get a chance to visit Carouge, one place of relative peace – and, even better, Chamonix and the Alps are only a couple of hours away via the autoroute

I ride an MP3 to work, it’s a scooter, but requires a bike licence (here anyway). I am an Excel MVP, but I develop solutions in SQL Server and Excel. I manage a SharePoint installation, and I have C# and Access guys working for me.

Does that fit your analogy? Maybe :)