Hypothetical: I want to own/ride a motorbike/moped

MrSweary

If no one else has suggested it already I'd suggest getting an organ donor card.

rjsterry

prawny wrote:

How about an aprilla mp3? Ride in on a car licence so no need to faff about with all the test and gubbins, decent sized engine so wouldn't mind a longer commute, 3 wheels so less inclined to fall over but still narrow enough to filter.

Because, for whatever reason, they all seem to be ridden by utter nobbers. I don't know if the three-wheel thing causes one to ride/drive like that, the format just attracts nobbers, or it's the fact that you can ride something which is nothing like a car without a motorbike license/CBT, but suicidal filtering and general swerving across lanes without so much as a shoulder check is never far away

Medders

My experience having just done this is:

1. Do compulsory basic training - work out if you like it. It is not as easy as it looks. They will lend you a 125cc bike for the day. Costs c.£100. Really is basic training.

2. I then bought the gear (I didnt scrimp and spent all in about £1500) and a Honda cbf125 and used it for a couple of months but decided I needed a bigger bike as it has none of the advantages of cycling (fitness/pleasure) but the disadvantages (slow/tailgaters/close passes) so went on to do my theory test and full direct access course (4 days including test day - building up size of bike to 600 - which the school lends you). Cost of theory and direct access was about £600.

3. I now ride a 600cc unfaired Honda Hornet. Plenty of power, comfy and fine filtering in town. I get ahead of the traffic and have easy overtakes. 40-50mpg. Insurance £200 (but I have a garage - without that it would be a lot more). Tax £75.

4. Cycling will have given you road sense. Motorcyclists are subject to largely the same hazards as cyclists. Assume everyone else is an idiot (including, I now realise from my new perspective a large proportion of cyclists). Ignore the fearmongers/apocryphal stories.

5. The wife wont like it. I just went ahead and did it (but in incremental stages so she got used to it slowly). She didnt want me to start cycle commuting originally either.

6. I do about 10 miles of dual carriageway and the full length of CS7. A fast cyclist will travel CS7 only marginally slower then me. The time saving is when the roads open up.

7. Lack of exercise is an issue - I still cycle a couple of days a week and make sure I get a ride or other exercise at weekends.

8. It is great fun. However, for my part give me the choice of a 3 hour trail ride on my hardtail or a 3 hour country road ride on my motorbike and I will be on the MTB nearly everytime.

Hope this helps. Any queries PM me.

el_presidente

I've had a long hard look at this since moving to the country. My commute takes 90mins door to door, my mate at work lives the other side of the hill from me and does exactly the same trip in 50-55 mins on his CBR600. An hour back every day is very tempting. The missus has given the green light (she rides horses which is about the only mainstream activity that' similar risk levels to motorcycling I believe).

At the moment what is putting me off is a) the fitness aspect. The hour I got back would have to be spent exercising anyway to maintain my cake habit. b) the danger aspect - I had a long chat with an acquaintance who has been a mototrbike journalist for 15 years and ridden everything under the sun. He said basically he wouldn't tell me not to do it, but he raised an eyebrow that I wanted to take it up late 30s with 2 small kids. One of his mates had been killed 2 weeks earlier (google "Kevin Ash") so I'm not sure he was in the best frame of mind at the moment.

I keep buying Bike magazine and looking at shiny machines... I'm still very tempted.

rjsterry

BigMat wrote:

TheStone wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

OK I'm revisiting this as part of my 'Move outta London plan'.

You need to make sure you stay within cycle commuting range.
With the kid(s) and longer commute, it might turn out to be the only exercise and time on the bike you get.

Decide how long (time) you want to commute, then draw yourself a circle centered at work.
Lots nearby on Oyster now, so if you take the train once a week, it won't kill the budget.

This was what I did. If I couldn't commute by bike, I'd basically be a miserable fat lump.

This. You're thinking about ddd 2.0 as well. Non-commuting riding is a hen's teeth rarity for me.

Paul E

I tend to see bikes being ridden about and the words organ donor come to mind, I had a moped at school, went through a lot of bike training and could of then gone onto a bigger bike when old enough but after hearing from my bike instructors of stories it put me off completely

nich

The organ donor card thing has come up a few times in this thread.

Do take that point on board cos you are likely to have an accident on the bike at some point, it's just the way it is. Most motorcyclists I know including myself have had a few bumps and scrapes. Those that don't, well, they are either a better rider, take less risks, or just lucky.

Much of the time it's similar incidents you see on pushbikes...but motorbikes are heavy, so if you drop it...ouch.

The thing that scares me most is having a car pull out. It hasn't happened yet, but I basically end up saying a little prayer in my head every junction

Also, I can't say I massively enjoy commuting by motorbike, I find it a bit more stressful than the push bike...but when you hit an open winding road with the sun on your back, nothing beats it...

Daz555

nich wrote:

The organ donor card thing has come up a few times in this thread.

Do take that point on board cos you are likely to have an accident on the bike at some point, it's just the way it is. Most motorcyclists I know including myself have had a few bumps and scrapes. Those that don't, well, they are either a better rider, take less risks, or just lucky...

Motorcycling is certainly more risky than any other means of transport - and it feels it. Still, I'm up to about 145,000 accident free miles at the moment so I'm hoping this means I'm safe AND lucky.

I've had a couple of sqeaky bum moments over the years but so far managed to keep everything rubber side down. I rude a BMW R1100S.