Holy cow. 550 miles would be miserable in a f’ing 7 series Beemer, let alone on a motorbike!

Holy cow. 550 miles would be miserable in a f’ing 7 series Beemer, let alone on a motorbike!

I take it that’s the round trip – 275miles Friday and then the same Sunday

…miserable.

I had a 600 fazer the best that did on a run was about 45 ridden like a girl .Tyres sprockets and chains aint cheap neither is protective clothing.Why is your car insurer wanting 300 quid to add a few miles onto the policy ?.A cheap diesel runabout would do 60 to the gallon even my old non turbo diesel golf does 48 on a run the turbo diesel does loads more and they are peanuts to buy now.

Car every single time if it was just a commute; that is unless you enjoy being miserable? Oh and if you up the speed to where the journey becomes interesting or worth doing time wise, you’ll wee blood for two days afterwards, especially on a Bandit – well I did anyway on a 600 mile trip to Wales and Back in 12 hours. As for the economy, again it doesn’t work out. You could easily trash a rear tyre in a single week at those mileages. My longest commute was only Reigate to Reading but it was awful, especially on colder days where once at my destination it’d take two hours to warm up again. And if you actually do the maths properly the train is usually cheaper. Over that kind of distance a car would either win or be about five minutes behind.

On the plus side you’ll always have a story to tell if you did do it.

I posted something before which somehow got eaten by the forum.

Long story short, I did a spreadsheet and on the basis of your mileage, and assuming 40mpg car/60mpg bike, and adjusting for service costs, tyres, chain/sprocket/fuel, I got to a running cost of around 21ppm for the car, 22ppm for the bike.

Essentially there’s almost no cost differential. Note that I’ve ignored depreciation and replacement costs; bikes don’t wear their miles as well as cars.

You’d do better just to slow down and try to get another 5-10mpg from your car. 5mpg would save you £500 per year

I forgot about tyres, the KTM does a round 1000 miles to a back tyre, (£140 to replace) the Smart is still on the original tyres from new (27000 miles).

Don’t do it! If you must – Deauville.

I commute (not that far though) on a 1250 Bandit.

Mine is unfaired and get about 60mpg riding in an enthusiastic way. Fairing and riding at more legal speeds.will be a lot more economical.

Insurance is £98 TPFT.
I change rear tyres every 8k front every 12k
Service once a year is about £150 with a local place.
They are cheap to buy new and cheaper still second hand.
I’ve got a scottoiler and chains seem to last forever

Now the weather is getting nicer it’s more fun and I take the train when it’s icy.

Also bear in mind that you will need decent gear – Buying cheap is false economy if you’re doing lots of miles. This gets quite expensive – I expect to spend £300 to £400 on each of helmet, jacket, trousers and boots plus gloves, balaclava, buffs etc.
A thin quilted gillet is very useful when it get chilly.
You will probably want some sort of Bluetooth headset as well – and a decent one.

If you don’t own a lot of this you need to factor it in.
I prefer it to driving, traffic is easier, on a nbice day it’s much more fun and you soon get used to the long miles.

D

[thread hijack]

Ride to Welsh twisters on Saturday morning. All welcome.

Check out This Thread

As you were…

[/thread hijack]

…never got more than 5,000 miles from a Bandit 600 rear tyre, and the Scottoler was just a pretty thing to fit; did naff all for the chain 😥 A service for £150 sounds a Billy Bargain – that’s DiY cheapness there.

Essentially don’t do it for economic reasons, do it because some days it will be fun, and on the bad days you will at least have a tale to tell? The car will never be fun.

20k miles a year for the last 5 years on my 1997 Blackbird.

Commute all year around and in (almost) all weather. Servicing costs are minimal as most can be done at home (it’s carb’d rather than injected). I can get between 40 and 45 mpg regardless of how much I ride it (apart from when I’ve taken it onto a track 8) ). Tyres can last up to 8000 miles if I opt for something multi-compound and not too sticky (faves are Michelin Pilot Road 2 or 3, Dunlop Roadsmart and Avon Storm 2).

There is very little cost difference between this and my car – I do not save money. However, what I do save is time and lots of it!

do it because some days it will be fun, and on the bad days you will at least have a tale to tell?

[b]take the car[/b]

[another hijack] What tyres for the Duke Dibbs? Bought a 690SM and it needs a set, ta : ) [/another hijack]

Look at something like a Newish 500 cc twin like the Honda CBF 500 or a Kawasaki ER5, not the most inspiring of rides but will return near 70 mpg.

I have a Suzuki GSR 600, basically a slightly prettier Bandit with a K4 GSXR 600 engine in it.

I get roughly 150 miles to a tank costing £20, although heavy wrist use has seen it empty the tank in 90 miles.

However, what I do save is time and lots of it

– Hmmm, thinking. I used to commute 20 miles into London. Each day at Purley I’d blast past a little old lady in a Mini 850 of all things. She would be doing about 27mph, me a little bit more officer, ahem. She trundled along. At work, ten miles further on, whilst I was multi-locking my bike up, and removing several layers of protective clothing plus various bags this little cow would trundle past……

However, we are trying to be rational. If you’ve got it in your blood to buy a bike, then there’s your answer; buy the bike and stop prevaricating or worrying about money. It may be more expensive, it may be cheaper but you do need to find out if it’s you or not – and only one person can answer that my friend.

One thing; I did 50,000+ miles over five years in all weathers and if I was given the opportunity to either do it again or buy a decent car instead, I’d have gone for a much bigger motorbike. GSX1400 style.

although heavy wrist use has seen it empty the tank in 90 miles

– 😀

My GF’s mother ended up doing a lot of miles, so got a Fiesta Ecodrive does around 84mpg on the motorway with normal driving techniques.

Might be another option

CG125

or a Honda C90

The car will never be fun

I disagree. Cruising along in a nice comfy car, rolling with the traffic, tunes on, latte in the cupholder – I really enjoy it.

Muddy – switching from car to bike for my daily commute meant that my commute time was reduced from 1 to 2 hours each way, to 40 to 45 minutes each way.

Fiesta Ecodrive does around 84mpg on the motorway with normal driving techniques.

Really? Ford only claim 78.5mpg, and when the Telegraph tested it they only got 53mpg.

The super eco models are very sensitive to how they are driven. It’s not just a case of driving slowly, there’s a whole art in keeping it in the right spot on the map. Some people’s driving styles hit it naturally, some are terrible for economy without necessarily being fast.

I get 62mph from the Prius on long trips in summer time, Clarkson claimed 45mpg in the review. The forums are full of people saying ‘it’s rubbish, I get 45mpg’ and others saying ‘wtf are you doing I get 60mpg’.

See the recent Honda Civic thread on here for an example.

I think the eco diesels are even more sensitive than either of those cars. Also I remember I think it was the 5th Gear review of the hybrid Auris, he drove a route in London and got 50mpg, then he did the same route again trying to keep it on electricity as long as possible, and got 80mpg.

Well, on a motorway run to my dads, I get about 60mpg max out of a Suzuki SV650s. At 43 with 2y ncd, my insurance fully comp subj to £100 xs was £95, 6m tax was £45 and I don’t pay to park anywhere, so it suits me.

It’s 300 mile round trip, but to be honest, wimp that I am, after 150 it really enough for a break. 2/5 Hours wizzing along fast quiet A and B roads on an early sunday am in the warm disappears quickly. Same time on mile after mile of the A12 and m25 is soul destroying. I’d recommend for that mileage a proper bike for touring, but they do tend to be bigger//heavier than I’d want for my weekday commute.

How about if it’s summer use only, the Ducati ST series tourers? Less “Fashionable than some, but owners seem to love them.

Muddy – switching from car to bike for my daily commute meant that my commute time was reduced from 1 to 2 hours each way, to 40 to 45 minutes each way.

– aye, if I’d left work at 5pm the car could take 2 hours easy, but the bike was always 40 min.s whatever the traffic did.

But have you faced the old lady in an underpowered car test? They always win.

An F650 is a single…, one thing you don’t want in a long distance m/c, is one cylinder – plus been a single it will destroy chains/cogs in no time at a

actually the newer f650gs’s are detuned 800cc twins same as in the F800 gs. The old F650’s are singles but do have cush drives so are not too bad on chains. My 1994F650 does 50 mpg easy and i have got over 10k miles from the Avon Roarider tyres. That said i’d rather stick pins in my eyes than go very far on the motorway.

The new G650gs is a modern fuel injected version of the old single and will apparently go round the world on a tank full but wont start when warm. For m’way work i’d want something more substantial.

Any single or twin will leave you vibrating like Michael J Fox for a couple of hours after a 600 mile journey. A decent 600cc+ inline 4 would be my choice. In fact, i’d go for ’02-03 Fireblade. Travelling at 170mph it would only take 3.5 hours 😀

even as a biker myself I’d get a smart car, thats a long boring motorway trip and I think the concentration element would get to me on a bike

I wouldnt get a single cyl bike as it will vibrate more, and id prefer something bigger than a 650 myself

Some of the modern BMWs have stupendous mpg figures and are also pretty comfortable places to be. But I get better motorway mpg from my diesel Focus than I did from the bike. Not to mention a roof, warm hands and an MP3 player.

To be fair my bike isn’t an ideal motorway milemuncher but still, I’d rather drive a thousand miles than ride 500.

I did some big distances on a R1100GS BM touring round Europe a few years back and the wind buffeting after a few hours was pretty tiring on the motorways (at 100mph+), go for a full fairing bike if possible. I imagine the BM RT would be pretty comfortable and good at knocking out those kind of miles.

If you really want to save cash though, get yourself a diesel car, most diesels will get 50mpg on long journeys if you are light on the gas.

Really? Ford only claim 78.5mpg, and when the Telegraph tested it they only got 53mpg.

That’s what it reports on the trip computer, I doubt she did the mpg calculation manually. Which magazine got 62.8mpg for combined driving, as she does a lot of motorway cruising miles at a steady speed (out of rush hour).

Used to ride 300 miles from Cannock to Linwood on a GSXR 600 K1. Hated it when i was on the motorways. Different story when going from Cannock to Betws-y-Coed, Abersoch, Harlech, Fairbourne etc.
Bikes get tedious on motorways – i get bored after about half an hour and have to let it rip, which could get me into some trouble if i was caught.

Now have a K1300s which shows 50 -55mpg with some enthusiastic riding thrown in, wouldn’t use it for those distances due to tyre and service costs.