The Goldwings you saw are Moto Taxis. They are the preferred Moto Taxi model. There are quite a number in Paris and an excellent way to beat the traffic jams.

They've been revolting for at least a couple if not more years now. They had succeeded until the Constitutional Court stepped in last year. The approach is three main vectors: 1. Demonstrations - Saturday about 100,000 "motards" blocked all the main cities and large towns in France. 2. Boycott - This is in three parts: A. getting anyone who owns a motorcycle to boycott the companies who lobbied for the Contrôle technique (Dekra-Norisko being the biggest I believe). Basically, if you own a car and a moto, don't have either "tested" at their centres. B. trying to persuade motards not to have a Contrôle Technique. This will hit the centres financially as they have had to invest in specialist equipment. As France has more motos than most of the rest of Europe, this could interesting. C. I haven't found a Motorcycle Dealer or independent mechanic, yet, who has signed up to be a test centre. 3. Informational. Getting the news out, on the TV and other media, about how pathetic the test is (which it is - nothing like the UK test), that it is just a money-making scheme. They had a Main Dealer on the TV today stating the every time a Moto is serviced, which is at least once a year for most of them, a much more thorough inspection of the vehicle is performed. I think that a typical French compromise will be reached. The requirement for a Contrôle Technique for motos will remain on the statute books but there will be no "punishment" for not having one done. Rather like carrying the Breathalyser kit... One Insurance Company is already advertising no penalty for the absence of a Contrôle Technique, in the event of an accident, provided your moto was roadworthy.

More EU inspired stuff. Control is about the right word. It's long past time for member states to cease rubber stamping everything coming out of Brussels.