Just a quick one for you all:

As we all know it can be a nightmare for find a decent - and lawful - parking spot in London, even for a 2-wheeler. During the day the bike parking bays are overflowing with scooters, and everywhere else is banned!

So, I often see bikes tucked away on the pavement. Quite tempted to do that myself, but was wondering if that is likely to invite the attention of a traffic warden.

Any experiences/thoughts?

Yeah...i also would like to know more about parking permission to motorbikes here...

In Portugal a motorbike can park anywhere....if you find a place where you can fit your bike between 2 cars, and the cars can get out of their parking spaces without problems....you can park there...

But here it´s not like that, is it?

well as far as I know, you can only park on " Motorcycle bay only" in areas where parking restrictions apply,,,

otherwise you get a ticket....



some people park on the pavement, but if you look carefully it is usually very close to the building, and it is very likely that it in on private land.
I mean that the pavement looks wide, but in fact the pavement itself is only part of the walkway....

At least that is what I hear from my local Beat officer,,,,,,,,,

I know that is the case in Central London, not sure in other areas........

Here's more info on london parking

http://www.parkingticket.co.uk/index.asp

Hope it assists you in your fight for space, be careful cos 99% of traffic
wardens are brain dead and I dont care what anyone has to say about
my comment on them cos its blomming true......

cheers

I have to agree with your "braindead" comment, 3 times, yes, THREE frigging times I've had angry sounding letters in the post about not displaying a valid excise license (tax disc) even though I do, every single time I send off a photocopy of it to the head office with a covering letter basically saying "Ummm hello wake up, I do have one you idiots" and thats that. If it happens again Im gonna enclose a request for recovery of £50 administration and postage costs and see what the feckers say to that.

I have found also this site....

http://www.motorcycleparking.com/

it has a table that shows where is free or not to park, and the area .

HAHA!!! Here you go...

FOOTWAY / PAVEMENT PARKING

Pavement Lights:
Some key information:

• Parking on a footway is prohibited for any motor vehicles.

• Most 'Pavement Lights' and small sections of land immediately adjacent to a building are designated to be part of the footway and thus motorcycles parked here are not immune to parking fines (There has traditionally been some leeway given to motorcyclist who park on these areas but this is now diminishing).



Knowing whether the area is so designated (as part of the footway) is complex and often subject to debate. Where there has been a barrier or is a barrier between the pavement lights or forecourt and the remainder of the pavement, and there has historically been no clear right of way to pedestrians, bikers should be able to park (with the permission of the land owners) without fear of being issued with a PCN.
Note: In areas where barriers exist or which have not been a right of way for pedestrians, then motorcycles should be outside the long arm of the council parking wardens but, permission should be obtained from the 'land owners' before parking in such an areas. Failure to gain this permission leaves you open to being clamped (if the correct signs are displayed). The Police and council have no jurisdiction over private property and as such are unlikely to assist with the removal of motorcycles. Having your motorcycle removed is also easier said than done as motorcycles are tricky to lift without damaging them, for which the 'removers' would be liable, and furthermore, bikes maybe chained to fences etc.
So, whether bikers can park on pavement lights or open forecourts is primarily dependent on whether pedestrians have traditionally had a right of way over such areas. For a more indepth information on this issue click through to www.parkingticket.co.uk
Extract from Parking Ticket News 2002: "Although the adjudicator may have ruled that motorcycles may be ticketed on private forecourts, councils only have authority to remove vehicles from the public highway - which forecourts are not".

One of the problems with parking on the pavement even with the owners consent ( owner of the building that is ) you are still breaking the law by riding across the pavement to get to your parking spot

well....you can allways say that you carried the bike on the back to get there....


Is it illegal to walk the bike on the pavement?with the engine off?

Not too sure about that JP

perhaps steve or TC could answer that for you.

I know a few people that do park their bikes on the pavement in London. You are subject to parking tickets, and some boroughs where bikes on pavements are percieved as a problem will ticket bikes every time.
You can get around this, I'm told, by hiding your registration - no registration, they can't trace you.
You could, I suppose, have your plate on velcro and simply take it with you. A favourite courier's trick it to carry a shower cap, the ones with elastic around the edge, and simply cover the plate with the cap. You may think the warden could simply look underneath, but - they're not allowed to interfere with the vehicle in order to determine the registration!
The police, however, are, so you could still get a ticket from Plod.

A few boroughs have got wise to this (Westminster?) and introduced a motorcycle specific clamp

Remember to conceal the registration on your tax disc as well if you try this BTW ...

ehhhh

Probably Legaly wrong

but Moraly right.....



Can't you put a sticker plate on top of yours with a different reg..........




Hear this!!!!

My boss got a parking ticket on Pay & Display Bay..

Reason- Fail to put the ticket on a proper way that can be read bla -bla bla


He has sent a copy of the ticket showing that he did buy the tickets etc but the Parking Fines office is still refusing to cancel his fine...


So they are taking to work of the Attendent over the Ticket itself...

If that is the case they can say anything they want and get away with it,,,,

Totally disgusting...... Rip off ---

I think he is going to take it further, maybe to court.......

Here in Milton Keynes were fortunate to have bike parking right outside the
shopping centre and its free and so should be country wide, its even covered.

When a Parking ticket violator ticket issuer gives out a ticket they have to take a
picture with a digital camera, makes sense I guess but does it, I mean the date
time can esily be adjusted vis the buttons on the camera so whats the point.

I call them ''Parking ticket violator ticket issuer '' cos really a traffic warden does
have a wee bit more, not much but a wee bit more sense (I think)

Cheers

i saw somthing a few weeks ago on london tonight (local news) if you park a bike on pavement " theres a loophole in law " you can park 4 free if both wheels are off the ground, westminster council was trying to close loophole "hence the news report",

traffic wardens in london win prizes for most tickets given per year.

someone said in post illegal rideing on pavement, lol i got fined £20 in the city just for crossing 20ft on pavement on push bike, saved me 5mins ride round a 1 way system, tryed lieing but they had me on f£$ing cctv, no copper saw me with there own eyes, i was like half mile away before i got stopped "happend to friend 4 weeks later same place" must be a push bike mouse trap.

Move - very few parking problems in Scotland

Im lost for words, were you riding the bike on the pavement and I assume you do
mean a bicycle as in pedal power......

If you take your number plate off, it would still be on the VEL. If you take that off then you risk a fine, and you know the wardens will wait just to get you.............

You cannot put another number plate on your bike, again probs with taxation. Also if you are doing it in order to circumvent the law then you MAY be perverting the course of justice, as well as offences under the RTA.

I agree it is crazy, but really there should be better provision for motorcycle parking. In Slough the main shopping centre provides free parking for bikes and a proper large (ish) area to put them in, under cover.

chrismk,
i was on a tatty mountain bike worth about £10, may have even been less than 20ft the pavement i crossed. just to beat going half way round the city on a dodgy 1 way system. " thats the square mile 4 ya ".

well i used to live in central london (paddington) and even though i didnt have a bike at the time i know how horrible it was to get parking ...

here in saudi arabia, if you dont find a parking space right in front of the shop you want to go in, dont go 20 metres away to a free space and walk back, just double park! if someone else has already double parked? triple park .. what about the road? feck 'em!

really thats how it is in some places here ... no traffic wardens ... and the only place which has a "double red line" is in front of government facilities and compound so terrorists cant leave bombs....

Explains where white van drivers learnt to drive

So what is wrong with parking between two cars? I didn't know there was any problem with that.

If there is a law against it, is that the whole of the UK or just London?

Seriously pi$$ed off right now.

Yesterday turned up at my mates house - he lives in Notting Hill the rich sod - very, very quiet residential street at around 4pm. Not a soul anywhere... So I slot my bike neatly between two cars, jump off, knock on the door, tell him to get going, turn around.... and I have a £50 parking fine stuck to my bike.

"Residents parking only". Fair enough IF I actually parked there for more than 2 minutes.

Anyway, I reckon its unfair that we have to pay the same fine for a parking infraction as a HGV, when a bike takes up *far* less space. Punishment should fit the crime, dont you think?

Certainly. I think that is highly unfoar. Another case of teh wardens hiding before giving a ticket out.
Got me own back here though. Yesterday issued a ticket to one of the parking attendants for not wearing his seat belt.



JUSTICE.


You should have seen the look on their faces when i filled it out.

Go Steve, go Steve
Made me chuckle that did

Welldone StevePJ, bet it was a pleasurable experience!

Brainwave, where can I get one of those ticket issueing booklets (not)

Good, nice to see a genuine copper doing a good deed, whats the saying....
nah, lost it, never mind I'll go back to bed.

Cheers

If one we could trust in the traffic wardens etc.......



Most are out there to get you, to get their quotas and get their bonuses.......

They don't care,,, do not use common sense etc......


You know what it creates in my view....


A huge GAP between goverment and the public.....

The everyday person feels oppressed, unease and that makes many go against the goverment itself........


No to say they should make it free parking for All, but a better solution is long overdue......

Iam a new biker in London and have found it difficult to understand where I can and can not park. Some councils let you park FREE in residents and Pay and Display bays and some don't. This really started to get to me, after the third ticket and then a visiting courier told me about a parking guide specificly for parking in London.

I eventually got hold of it for £3.50 and what a gem it has proved to be. It includes car parks that take bikes for FREE and others plus all the bike bays in London....especially the hidden away one.

I called the guy up (Freddie) and he tells me that there will soon be an online version with all the updated bike bays and other stuff.

The guide is also a great pocket size street map as well - it's so good Iam giving them to biker friends for Xmas.....

The web site is www.thepieguide.com I found it through the www.BBC.com

My parking problems are no more!

Also try here for info on London bike parking...

That's handy to know, nice one Revel... and welcome

I got a ticket in London for parking between two cars in a meter bay... apparently you can only have one vehicle in a bay.... so the theory of feeding a meter bay for 6 bikes is out too

Lewes council in Sussex however are bike friendly and you can park a bike free on their pay and display areas slotted between cars, but the bike must be at right angles to the kerb.