Commuting on a motorbike?

Trebor16

Constant_Gardener wrote: »

PS - it is most definitely quicker though!
...and much more fun than a car when the roads are dry

Yes it is!:D My old commute to work was 21 miles each way and would take about 30-35 minutes in the morning and 25-30 minutes in the evening on the bike. On a good day it would be possible to do it in the car in 45-50 minutes but all it needed was a hold up somewhere around Apex Corner, or Fiveways or other main junctions inthe area and the journey time was easily up to 60-75 minutes.

Time is a valuable commodity which you cannot put a price on.

Trebor16

Mr_Thrifty wrote: »

It seems that riding a bike to work just has far too many substantial practical problems to make it viable.

It all depends on an individuals personal circumstances of course. In my old job I had to wear work clothes which I would have needed to change into regardless of my mode of transport. I also worked from one place so the bike was also convenient. It was easier to park the bike too.

Mr_Thrifty

Trebor16 wrote: »

It all depends on an individuals personal circumstances of course. In my old job I had to wear work clothes which I would have needed to change into regardless of my mode of transport. I also worked from one place so the bike was also convenient. It was easier to prk the bike too.

Yes, agree completely. Bike is definitely the preferred option in those circumstances :beer:

jason589

Wow, thanks so much for all of your comments. What a super forum. You have all taken so much time to offer your advice.

It seems I have some real thinking to do before I go any further.
I had been considering keeping the car and using the bike in the better months of the year (although I wonder based on the weather of late, if those sorts of months even exist any more!). Or alternatively, using the bike to nip to my local train station and then catching a train (wouldn't need such a powerful bike in that case).

The main bonuses for me would have to be...

• Enjoyment (better than being cooped up in a car!)
• Skipping out the nasty jams which are horrible in the mornings
• Hopefully to save a little money although maybe not as much as expected thanks to your wise posts.

I really need to have a good long think before I go too much further into things, although maybe starting with a CBT is not a bad thing as I could still use a moped or similar to drive to my local station which would be handy. I should be ok for getting changed at work although as some of you said, it would be a real pain.


It was very useful to know about the servicing intervals, I knew they were shorter than a car but was not too sure on cost, so thanks for the ball park figures @Trebor16


Again, thanks very much for your help, I was overwhelmed when I logged in by the number of helpful posts. :money:

Constant_Gardener

Don't think you would save anything if had a 'decent bike' as well as a car, but a moped is cheaper all round for short (slow) commutes.

'..thanks very much for your help, I was overwhelmed when I logged in by the number of helpful posts.'

All part of the service...:beer:

sootygull

I have been riding for 40+ years and commuted 100 miles a day from Cambridge to the City each day in all weathers.

I wore a suit to work and had waterproof trousers, jacket and boots on top.

I don't want to scare you off but defensive riding is the name of the game - you want to aim to return home safe and sound each night by minimizing risks.

This does not stop you having fun and enjoying your daily ride, masochistically even when the weather is bad, it is rewarding to be able to continually be able to make progress through traffic.

I have commuted on motorbikes (BMW R1100 and Honda Hornet) and scooters but on balance feel the scooters I have owned are better commuting all rounders with weather protection and storage.

My commuting scooters have included, believe it or not a little Gilera Runner 180SP (look it up if you are interested), a Piaggio X9 500, a Piaggio MP3 400 (three wheeler) and a Honda SH300i.

The MP3 400 with its 3 wheels was the most stable but not the fastest and my favourite was the SH300i with Honda reliability, easy filtering and so fast off the mark, 70 to 80 mpg and a top speed of just over 80mph - the only drawback is that it is cramped if you are over 5"8".

I am now riding a Yamaha TMAX which is a 500 twin and so like a motorcycle in performance and roadholding.

Hope that helps.

Oh lastly if you become a biker (or scooter rider) the camaraderie is still there and you will come to find it so exhilarating

Cash-Strapped.T32

Just a quick note of agreement with the above; I've been to job interviews in full suit, etc.. on my maxi-scoot and been thoroughly presentable, despite a bit of rain.
I do love my big bike but for work I'll take the scoot 9 times out of 10 (unless there's good looking girls present )

Big massive windscreen to keep most of the rain off you.
Waterproofs, jacket & boots to keep your clothes looking good.

When I get there, bike gear gets bundled up & put under the seat which folds-up like the boot of a car, job done.



Actually that looks pretty small compared to the boot on my 400cc Burger.
£33 p/year tax, £16apx per week on fuel (doing a 40mi per day round trip), can't beat it!


I'm going to go against the grain a little & say imho, no need to take a DAS test, unless you've already bought a big bike; The 2 year 33bhp restriction equates to about 400cc, that gives you about 90mph on the motorway, easy & a big-!!! scooter will still out-accelerate any car on the road that isn't being driven by Michael Knight.

quoia

jason589 wrote: »

Hi there, I have been considering getting myself a bike licence andcommuting on a motorbike instead of my expensive on fuel car.

I have a full ukcar licence but it does not cover me for a motorbike.

I was thinking of taking a DAS scheme to get a full motorbike licencealthough I am not too sure on what it entails, how long it would take to do andapproximate costs. Could anyone give me an idea on the following things (I know mileage will effect this but I am not sure onmileage yet)...

[*]Cost to get fully qualified to ride a bike
[*]Time it would take to get a full motorcycle licence
[*]Average cost for motorcycle insurance
[*]Average cost for yearly servicing (mot, tax, repairs)

I currently drive to work and use a couple of A-roads and a motorway. Iwould need a fairly powerful bike to get to work this way so a CBT would not dothe job, but I did think, if on not so nice days, I could always ride to thelocal train station and head into work that way also.

sootygull wrote: »

I have been riding for 40+ years and commuted 100 miles a day from Cambridge to the City each day in all weathers.

I wore a suit to work and had waterproof trousers, jacket and boots on top.

I don't want to scare you off but defensive riding is the name of the game - you want to aim to return home safe and sound each night by minimizing risks.

This does not stop you having fun and enjoying your daily ride, masochistically even when the weather is bad, it is rewarding to be able to continually be able to make progress through traffic.

I have commuted on motorbikes (BMW R1100 and Honda Hornet) and scooters but on balance feel the scooters I have owned are better commuting all rounders with weather protection and storage.

My commuting scooters have included, believe it or not a little Gilera Runner 180SP (look it up if you are interested), a Piaggio X9 500, a Piaggio MP3 400 (three wheeler) and a Honda SH300i.

The MP3 400 with its 3 wheels was the most stable but not the fastest and my favourite was the SH300i with Honda reliability, easy filtering and so fast off the mark, 70 to 80 mpg and a top speed of just over 80mph - the only drawback is that it is cramped if you are over 5"8".

I am now riding a Yamaha TMAX which is a 500 twin and so like a motorcycle in performance and roadholding.

Hope that helps.

Oh lastly if you become a biker (or scooter rider) the camaraderie is still there and you will come to find it so exhilarating

Your statement is NOT STRICTLY TRUE

The answer has almost been provided

The STANDARD Piaggio MP3 is classed as a motorbike and you do indeed need a motorcycle licence to ride it. This is because the 2 front wheels have track centres of 420mm - LESS than the 460mm specified by VOSA at which point they would be considered as 2 wheels - at 420mm THEY are a SINGLE WHEEL

HOWEVER, and the SOLUTION TO YOUR PROBLEM - the MP3 LT version

This has a (Long Track?) distance of 465mm between front wheel centres and as such is NOW a TRIKE

This means it is THE SAME as a RELIANT ROBIN and can be driven/ridden on a CAR LICENCE

Indeed you don't actually need to wear a crash helmet.

In theory you cannot park it in Motorcycle bays and it cannot be MOT'd by a Motorcycle only MOTer.

Incidentally it also comes with a FOOT BRAKE for the rear wheel in addition to the lever on the left of the handlebars.

I've got a standard 250 - it does 70mpg (and I don't usually hang around so could be increased) and will reach about 85 mph so cruising at 70mph is not a problem. Storage is relatively HUGE - you can get 2 helmets under the seat and in the "boot" and a lots more besides
The last 12months road tax was £35 and I insured it for £128 ** - that's without any NCB - all that is on the car and I hadn't owned a bike for quite a few years.

**Only actually cost me £70 - £30 cashback after 3 months from SWINTONS as a new policy holder or some other such offer
AND I went through QUIDCO - they gave me £28 as well

AlwaysPondering

I have commuted to work over the years on a few different bikes.. Depending on your route, the extra time it takes to get ready, bike out the shed/garage, then get changed when you get to work, might mean that the overall time is about the same.

It's true that in summer you'll be too hot, and in Winter you'll be too cold.

I don't know if you have even been on a bike before, your post didn't make it clear. If you haven't, then can I suggest you look at geton.co.uk where you can get yourself a free lesson (can't remember if it's 30mins or an hour) but atleast it will get you on two wheels.. if you hate it then that's prob going to put a stop to you investigating using a bike to commute on.

My first bike - Kawasaki GPz500s, cost be £680, would do 50-60mpg, Easy to service myself, and insurance 3rd party wasn't that bad (aged 30 with it locked in a garage overnight)

pendulum

I know this has already been said but if you choose to keep the car AND get a bike, you will NEVER save money! In fact it will cost you thousands in extra tax, insurance, MoT's, repairs, training, tests, wet weather gear, summer gear, servicing, depreciation...

Don't kid yourself that a little better fuel economy will pay for all of those things - and that using the car less will cover those costs - it WON'T!

The ONLY way that it can work out saving you money, is if you quit the car in favour of the bike. That's what I am experimenting with doing when the car's MoT runs out at the end of this month. I'm going to see if I can make do without the car throughout winter. If I can, I'll start clawing back quite a lot of money that I spent on my CB500 and getting my motorcycle licence. If I can't, then I've basically taken up motorcycling for the fun, not the money, and that's fine with me,

A very cheap to run Scooter or 125cc - won't cost as much to run as a big bike, and is more easily justifiable to own alongside a car - for convenience and for use in good weather - as it won't cost as much to keep on the road as a big bike and saves much more fuel than a big bike does (100mpg vs 55-60mpg)... even then, I doubt you'd actually save any money.