Commuting on a motorcycle...

[gr82bthe1st]

Hi,

Do any of you do a daily long(ish) distance commute on your motorcycle?

I've landed myself a job that's about ~70 miles each way, and thought about getting a sports tourer for the daily commute to avoid the motorway traffic in a car.

Any and all views on commuting on a bike is much appreciated and an idea for a bike that's up to the job.

The three I'm thinking of at the moment are:
1) Triumph Sprint ST 1050 ABS
2) Honda Blackbird
3) Honda VFR

At the moment, the Sprint is winning.

All views welcome

EDIT: I have about £4 - 5k to spend
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[DrDonnyBrago]

Move closer.

Humans don't live long enough to spend 2.5 hrs + a day commuting to somewhere they don't want to be.

[Kris]

My advice.

1. Large fuel tank
2. Large fairing
3. Shaft drive

I'd do that sort of mileage on a Pan Euro these days, but I did do it on a ZX9 when I was young and stupid. Filling up every day soon loses it's charm.
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[DrSnoosnoo]

I do 30 miles each way. I'm at the petrol station every other day. You'd need to fill up pretty much each day depending on tank size.

I agree with Donny - move closer unless you want to use the bike and in the meantime will be looking for housing closer (Like I currently am).

I use a ZZR600 which steadily gives me a return of 60 MPG on my commute.
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[MarkJ]

I have a Sprint, very good bikes, roughly get about 50mpg on the motorway. Fuel tank is good for about 180 miles. Chain oiler would be a good idea, also if you're riding every day you'll need to keep an eye on the rear suspension bearings (they let water in and seize), the large rear wheel bearing needs manually greasing every now and then, and if you buy an older one the spark plug caps weren't the greatest and let moisture in making the spark plugs rust. Finish is good on them but not exceptional, I have some paint peeling off the subframe from the salt where washing it is hard to get to.

[Andy_Pagin]

That's around 30,000+ miles per year...
Three or four sets of tyres a year.
Three or four services a year.
Realistic working life for a bike you're depending on? Three years from brand new?
I find motorway riding mind numbingly boring, not to mention hellishly unpleasant on wet winter days.
I think I'd stick with a cheap crappy car and a RAC ticket.
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[noobRider]

I work from home most of the time but have to commute 100 miles each way to Oxford every week. I have been doing that a lot in the summer on my ST and it eats the miles but it gets very boring and I want to have fun on my bike, rather than it being a chore. I wouldn't want to do 70 miles x 2 every day. Chill in the car with some audio-books and get there when you get there, or move closer if you can.
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[chickenstrip]

I've always moved much closer to my job than that, don't want to be spending that time and money on a commute. Obviously it can be done though, and I guess the bikes you're looking at would be good for the job, in which case, as ambassador for the mighty Fazer, throw an FZS1000 on the list [/Fazer promotion].
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[arry]

Cost per mile on any of those bikes listed is going to be high.

Servicing, tyres, and even mpg aren't really in your favour.

If you're gonna do it then get a dedicated commuter bike like an NC700 would be my advice. Cheaper tyres, longer service intervals, storage, better mpg

One thing to very carefully consider is tank range. The sprint will do 200 miles ish. That's filling up every day then. So that's 10 minutes a day added to your journey before you even start.

[dydey90]

Having done a similar commute for three months, don't. I did it because I moved house before I started a new job so it was only ever going to be for a limited time. I also used the car since it was the middle of winter so it was more comfortable, but still soul draining how the commute turns an 8 hour day into 12 hours.
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Past: CBR125,ER6f NINJA 650, ZZR600 Current: VFR750

[Beehive Bedlam]

I am currently commuting to Darlington 70 odd miles each way on my Fazer 600 I set off 11 at night when the roads are dead takes me around one hour when I get a shift on wouldn't do it long term and definitely not in the winter.

As above don't bother it will slowly grind you down.

[defblade]

If you're going to do it:

Goretex. Everything goretex.

Then, big, relaxed, tour-y bike.
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[Notj7]

70 miles each way is not worth anything less than a 10-20 grand payrise (depending on how much you're on now). Trust me. Move closer or reconsider.

Have you calculated how much the extra costs, fuel, tyres, services etc associated with this (including the purchase of the bike) actually cut your new wage down to?

Once you've done that, figure out how much extra you're earning for the hours you're commuting each day, and decide whether or not you consider your limited and important time to be worth that amount.

----

My example:

15 miles and 20 minutes each way.

600RR. Not a commuting bike but numbers may help here. Petrol = £15 every 2 days.

So, per month, that's £180 for 14 hours commuting. All of that is *just* so I can work.

----

If you were on a 600RR, you'd be doing:

70 miles and 2 hours each way.

Petrol = £15-£18 (1 to 1.2 fill-ups) every day.

Per month, that's £300 for 100 hours commuting. Just so you can work. £300 is equivalent to roughly a six grand payrise.

The difference between your proposed bike and my bike isn't going to be THAT big a difference, mpg-wise. Maybe a tenner here or there if you're really sensible on it. You'd better be 20 grand up a year to consider this.
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[Rogerborg]

[Motorhate]

I used to commute in London every day on either my CB500 or XBS1100 and soon got sick of it. I did it for over a year before deciding bollocks to this. The journey was 12 miles each way which took an hour each way, through constant traffic, speed humps, gormless pedestrians and clueless motorists. I decided that if I carried on, I would soon hate biking and bikes which is not what I wanted. I get the train in to work now and very occasionally (about 4 or 5 times a month) commute into work. Much better option IMO. I'm not sure I would change my point of view if I had a long run on a motorway or A road (probably not).
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[gr82bthe1st]

Thanks for all the replies, greatly appreciated.

I have been looking at the possibility of moving, and will probably do that after a couple of months of being in the job.

[JoeDougieDoug...]

[MarkJ]

On the filling up issue, every now and then I have to commute to an office 30 miles away which would mean filling up every other day if I push it, which normally ends up being every day. If I know I'm going to be doing this trip a few times in the week I go to the petrol station in the car with a big jerry can, then I can fill up at home as and when I need to rather than making multiple trips to the petrol station.

[DrDonnyBrago]

[JoeDougieDoug...]

[arry]

[JoeDougieDoug...]

[monkeybiker]

I don't think it's worth doing even for a 10K pay rise. Add up the fuel/bike maintenance cost and then work out how many extra hours your are spending commuting.

Also out of that 10k how much do you see in your pay packet?

I would rather have my time back.

Only reason worth doing is if it's short term and you plan on moving closer.

[GaryJM]

I've recently bought a sprint on the urban cycle I get 48/50 mpg.
I don't do much in the way of motorways.
My commute is nowhere near the length of yours but I find the Sprint good for the commute and a run out at the weekend.
Another plus is the luggage that comes with it.
Downside as mentioned is the cost of servicing as there's a fair bit that needs the diagnostic comp plugged in.
Your plan for moving closer is the best one that commute would drive any one to drink very quickly.
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[Tracer1234]

Now, my maths skill isn't what it used to be, so i may well be wrong but, with example for your commute, are you saying £15 takes you 60 miles?