what do we care about the gas prices, we can ride. Now I'm not completely dim, and I know some of us need our vehicles for jpbs but if those of us who can, would more often, we would need a lot less overall. The new commuter vehicle should be (proposed) a dual sport with bags. no larger than a 500. I open the floor to comments.
My regular commuter is a GS450S, and I commute on a bike just about every day, year 'round. Put about 14k on it in the last 18 months. Gets ~50mpg. Use Dunflop Elite 491 or 591 Elites, which last forever and still stick well enough to put those flimsy forks into a tizzy. Rear has about 10k on it and still looks new, and as it's a 110/90-18, it's cheap too. Even have some old-school Shoei bags I hang on it occasionally. Got about a grand in it total, including tires. And yeah, I'll jump a curb. http://www.keslers.net/bikes/gs450s.html My problem? I'm outta gas! :down: All I have around here is what is in the tank of the track bike and about 3 gallons of crusty gas in an old jerry can I use for the mower. Guess I'll break out a coffee filter.
Ride I dont ride much to work mostly because I am to lazy to get the bike out in the morning. but with gas getting past 3 bucks i am going to start riding my ZRX to work as much as possiable
My company worries too much about "appearance" for me to ever ride to work. Not to mention that the nearest legal place to park the effing bike is almost 1/4 mile from my office.
I really don't want to break the track bike out for street duty. I am looking for something cheep and cheerful right now. The gas is going to have to be pretty high, for pretty long time for me to consider freezing my ass of in the winter on a bike, like I did last year...
I'm adding a BMW R1150RT to the stable this weekend. I'll be communting on it 100%. I also live pretty close to work, so my weekly gas bill will be about $5. 42 mpg at $2.75/gal. 75 total miles per week commuting. I could care less if gas went over $5/gal.
same here Joe. I've commuted to work almost every day for 17 years, thus 325,000 miles on one of my bikes. I only drive a 4wheeler to the grocery and to the race track...and I wont be racing again until the GNF and is a "local" track for me.
I got the socks and gloves for winter riding last year and there ain't nothing like it. In the ATL it doesn't really get cold enough to need the jacket etc (granted I have good jackets and a lot of natural insulation).
You should parade around stunta style or leather chaps/vest bandana, and tats. Then let them be worried about your appearance! Then pull up on the sidewalk next to the front door.....better yet...pull inside the lobby and park I'll be throwing a leg over my street ride for the next several days!
I'll be riding in tomorrow, had to drive today to bring work home for the weekend. My work doesn't care about how we get to work, as long as we get here. Since I've been here and have started riding in, 4 guys have bought bikes, including our COO.
I don't have that natural insulation. I wear the jacket, pants and gloves. Nice for me to be able to wear just a shell with the electric liner as opposed to looking like the Michelin Man.
I'd have the vest and pants too if I were riding anything but a touring bike, luckily in the ATL the cold season is a whopping 60-90 days
I bought Gerbing stuff when I still lived in FL- used to ride to work 365 days and is does get cold in January at 6AM in Florida! That jakcet and glove liners are about the best thing ever made, with the possible exception of peanut butter. 3wfab- I'd LOVE to just start showing up like that- unfortunately I didn't investigate the culture of my workplace before I accepted the transfer- I grew a goatee over last Xmas and on returning to work was told in no uncertain terms by a senior manager that that simply is not acceptable. Fuckers. not only that, but I work in downtown Baltimore where there is NO on-the-street parking at all, and all the private lots have big signs saying NO MOTORCYCLES. :down:
My SV race bike actually converts from 100% street legal to 100% track legal in 5 minutes. I use bicycle quick releases on fog lamp head lights mounted under the body work nose. The fog lamps are really skinny top to bottom and don't bottom out on the front fender under hard braking. Tail light mounts just like stock. I had to cut out the tail to accommodate. The only problem is the slicks I have on it. I rode today and traffic was a little lighter than normal.
I have a similar setup, except I use the rain rims with Z4s on the street, then if I need rains I can get them swapped.
