Commuting to work on Motorcycle

bikermad

mro85 wrote: »

The only way to drive in London is on a motorcycle IMO.
I could do Thurrock to North London (26 miles) in 40 minutes through the A13 / A406 when traffic was at a crawl.
(My previous daily commute)

Most places in London have free bike parking (check the council websites as many let bikes park on side streets as long as there are no restrictions) or have dedicated bike bays.

I now commute over the Dartford Crossing and motorcycles are exempt from the toll fee. Again never an issue with traffic, just filter my way through.

I have a GS500F and get around 130 miles from £12 worth of petrol. (Roughly 60 MPG).

I have a full bike license but spent 6 years on a CG125 and still think 125 bikes with a CBT (provisional license) are great for commuting through London.

PS Heated hand grips are a must, I ride whatever the weather and can tell you ice cold hands in wet gloves can bring a grown man to tears

Totally agree with you, more economical and much faster considering the traffic!!! Two wheels are part of the future, if only it wasn't so cold.....lol

dannymccann

I only commute 7 miles e/w into the centre of Lincoln on a Suzuki GSXF600 (Bandit engine), so nothing like yours and it's 25 minutes from starting to put gear on, riding, parking, and getting changed at the office.

Positives -
- Free parking (I just dump it on the pavement right outside the office door!)
- Commute time half of car / public transport
- 50+ mpg if I ride sensibly
- Can squeeze through all manner of gaps

Negatives
- More expensive than public transport (in fuel alone, I spend £16 a week on petrol when a week's bus pass is £10.50)
- Horrible when it's raining / icy cold / snowing
- I ride with the opinion that everyone and everything is trying to kill me, therefore it's not particularly relaxing!
- You have to be committed as already said to keeping the bike clean and serviced. I am committed to oil changes and lubing the chain, but I hatecleaning vehicles, which is why I've got this cheapy. It's also stored outside, so pointless cleaning it because as soon as you do, it's sh!tted up again!
- The clothing isn't exactly comfortable and certainly isn't easy to store during the day in an office environment unless you've got a big enough desk to store it under
- Helmet hair!
- It hurts when you fall off, trust me!

The only reason I commute on my bike is because it's quicker. I'll be putting it into storage soon because of the weather and getting the bus, it's just safer

Stooby2

dannymcann wrote:

I only commute 7 miles
50+ mpg if I ride sensibly
in fuel alone, I spend £16 a week on petrol

That doesn't compute. Petrol is about £1.30 a litre, £5.85 a gallon. Assuming you work 5 days a week, that's 70 miles. £16 is 2.7 gallons - which works out to be about 26 mpg. This assuming you're doing 7 miles each way. If it's a 7 mile round trip you're down to 13mpg which can't be right, unless you've fitted a 4.6L Range Rover engine.

At 50mpg you should be paying £16 about once every two weeks?

Richard53

Maybe dannymccann is like me. I do an average of about 150-170 miles a week, and I talk of it as 'commuting', but in fact 120 miles of that is actually getting to and from work, the rest is bimbling around on errands which I don't consciously factor in as proper mileage. Anyway, I get well over 60 mpg and my weekly fuel bill is around £15, so I'm happy.

Stooby2

I agree, but his point was he was spending more on fuel for commuting than weekly bus fare, which doesn't seem right given his figures.