Has anyone else "given up" commuting on their motorcycle?

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I'd like to commute but gear is so important. The mentioned Aerostitch is supposed to be good but I'd want to try it on first. Right now if I leave early enough I can run out the door and only drive 6 km to the train and park the car. Which then drops me off 50 minutes later in downtown TO.

If I rode I would have to do the ritual of putting gear on, lacing, etc. then braving rain and cold and DVP/Gardiner traffic, locating parking etc. Then undoing all the gear and changing into office clothes. My manager is strict, she cracked down hard on me for wearing shorts even though they were ironed Bermuda shorts. Which means I would have to bring a complete outfit with me each time except on Friday.

Maybe later. Money is an issue but time matters too.
 
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Marinoni said:
hmmm, strict female boss.....sexy
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I think so too but she is now engaged to a cop so alas.

But really there is such a thing as too strict. I've gotten the gears for having my phone in my hand while waiting for photocopies to finish etc.
 
Isn't another name for strict boss, "wife"? Or SWMBO?
 
danp said:
For me it's the opposite, I used to desire a fast car (subaru sti, mustang gt, bmw m3, etc) then when I started riding it quenched my thirst for speed so I no longer need a fast car because I know almost any fast car is still gonna be a lot slower than my gixxer. Now I drive a comfortable old man car and it doesn't bother me at all.
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Perhaps I'll just end up looking into a luxury sedan or something....regardless I'm not gonna settle for a $2,000 beat-up piece of **** Civic!
 
danp said:
For me it's the opposite, I used to desire a fast car (subaru sti, mustang gt, bmw m3, etc) then when I started riding it quenched my thirst for speed so I no longer need a fast car because I know almost any fast car is still gonna be a lot slower than my gixxer. Now I drive a comfortable old man car and it doesn't bother me at all.
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I'll always be a car dude, but similarly i'm in the same boat. I think being on the bike has quenched my thirst for speed, and no longer dream of the faster, unachievable vehicles. I'm quite content with my Civic si haha.
 
I almost never commute on my bike.

Well... my 5km to work isn't a commute anyway, but by the time I get there my bike is just warmed up and I am just getting into it and want to keep going; not shut it down and work for 8+ hours.
 
Commuting to mid down town Toronto was good over the past few years. Had a few incidents so not as keen to commute. Ironically I found it "safer" to commute on the 401 most of the time compared to the 60km sideroads roads.. Less ditsy people in Honda's and minivans.

My justification for having a bike was to commute... Now days its for pleasure.
 
unL33T said:
Bought my first car at 18. Was way cheaper than riding at 24.
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NOT SS of course. Obviously anything above 500 cc - yes of course car would be cheaper than bike. But i don't think any car right now will beat having paid $3k for my ninja 250 and insurance of $1300/yr at 20.

A winter beater for $5k would cost like $4k/yr for insurance. And who knows the problems that come with a $5k car.
 
Sabex said:
what were you saying about only riding a few months a year?
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May I ask what tires you're running?! Or do normal tires do fine.. will commuting until Dec to work this year :D
 
I ride only for pleaseure....and most roads here don't provide that for me. I go to the nearest hills and mountains for entertainment. Those are the Appalachains, and I can be there in 2 hrs flat. One tank of gas gets me to Bradford PA. I don't ride in the city unless I absolutely have to.....most accidents happen at intersections, and the city has many more per km than the country, so statistically speaking, the chances to get run over are much higher in the city.

Unless you ride a very economical bike, many newer small cars will get better gas mileage than a bike, so using the reasoning that it saves fuel just doesn't hold water anymore
 
Bweixz said:
May I ask what tires you're running?! Or do normal tires do fine.. will commuting until Dec to work this year :D
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I rode in the same conditions for the past few years. On my Honda Sabre I ran a Dunlop D404 up front due to tonnes of deep tread, and a Bridgestone S11 on the back. On the Burgman 650 I ran Metzeler FeelFree's which you can get in a winter version.

For some bikes you can get Heidenau K66 snowtex which I will be running on a BWS125 this winter:
heidenau_k66lt_snowtex_1_699.jpg
 
Bweixz said:
NOT SS of course. Obviously anything above 500 cc - yes of course car would be cheaper than bike. But i don't think any car right now will beat having paid $3k for my ninja 250 and insurance of $1300/yr at 20.

A winter beater for $5k would cost like $4k/yr for insurance. And who knows the problems that come with a $5k car.
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Yeah, I have no doubt that I would be paying more than $650/year for insurance on a car. That was a factor in my decision.
 
The Forks of the Credit and Terra Cotta are part of my commute. So, no, I haven't given it up. The only downside is the increased risk of calling in sick on the nicer days .
 
Bweixz said:
May I ask what tires you're running?! Or do normal tires do fine.. will commuting until Dec to work this year :D
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I rode in winter months where it was -5 on my GSXR750 using BT016s.

I fish tailed every time I downshifted from 2nd to 1st. Also fish tailed when I pinned it coming out of a highway entrance lol

Learned to stop doing that shortly after!
 
Helllll no, I hate the ttc with every fibre of my being. And parking for cars in toronto sucks.
 
I originally bought my bike to replace the car for the commute. It worked great for the first 1.5 seasons. I find that I do way less commuting on the bike now (getting lazy and don't feel like gearing up and down as often plus it's only 8km) but I'm doing more pleasure rides in the evenings and weekends. When I commute on the bike it's a straight shot up Islington to work so very boring....but still more fun than being in the car.
 
I don't even know if I'd bother driving OR riding for 8 km. I'd just take a bicycle.
 
unL33T said:
I don't even know if I'd bother driving OR riding for 8 km. I'd just take a bicycle.
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LoL Ya I thought about the bike as well...but too lazy to bother and it's basically all uphill from Lakeshore to the 409 so I'd be a sweaty mess by the time I got here and no showers. In the end it's just laziness on my part. I lose this job in a few months anyway so the commute will most likely be much longer.
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