Topic: daily transport/weekend relax?

[cmorgan47]

inclimate weather aside, i ride into work pretty much every day.  just curious how others are using theirs.

if more than one applies, go for the best one. 
i went for daily though i certainly also use it on the weekends.

[gpjerry]

How about 1, 2 and 5?

[mrbreeze]

I ride my bike whenever I feel like riding it. I could ride it to work every day but usually take my truck for hauling stuff that is a hassle to take on the bike.Still plan on a front end teardown this winter though(head bearings,fork seals or different forks,etc.) I refuse to work on it now cause I am at least able to make any run or putt that comes along!!!!.........Hooray Summer!!!!

[Pinhead]

I drive my bike as much as possible. With my car getting 16mpg I can't afford not to.

[cmorgan47]

usually take my truck for hauling stuff that is a hassle to take on the bike.

luckilly, i just need my fingers and my head for work.

[turtle]

The 350F is still on the bench. I do ride my CX pretty regularly.

[BobbyR]

I used to ride to work, but since I now have to go through the Ghetto to get here I use my Truck. It is not crime I am worried about, it is the way people drive. It is like being in the Third World.

[SteveD CB500F]

I ride my VFR to work and my SOHC on sunny weekends.

Best of both worlds.

[dusterdude]

i see bob wessner voted.

[Bob Wessner]

i see bob wessner voted.

Yup, that would be my crude, insensitive vote there at the bottom. 

[dusterdude]

yea,i figured that was you

[cbjunkie]

Yup, that would be my crude, insensitive vote there at the bottom.  Grin

oh mi god -- the humility!!  i hope you are not really being self-deprecating, bob...you have got to be the friendliest and most genuinely helpful guy on here.

...aside from me, of course.

[cb650]

Where is the both button .


                    Terry

[nickjtc]

Don't own a car, so in the riding season it's the bike or nothing. In the winter I either rent four wheels or borrow the missis' car.

[dusterdude]

Don't own a car, so in the riding season it's the bike or nothing. In the winter I either rent four wheels or borrow the missis' car.

damn,you`re a harcore mutha.

[nickjtc]

Don't own a car, so in the riding season it's the bike or nothing. In the winter I either rent four wheels or borrow the missis' car.

damn,you`re a harcore mutha.

Not really; just like to ride. When I was an instructor I had to travel to my students on the bike so it was an easy way to rack up the miles. I couldn't see the point in owning a car that was only being driven 4 months of the year, so I sold it.

[cbjunkie]

nick, with so much experience you must have had your share of close calls - have you ever been in a serious accident?

[nickjtc]

nick, with so much experience you must have had your share of close calls - have you ever been in a serious accident?

Four accidents, all within the first two years of starting to ride, all totally avoidable:

1) Pillion on the back of a brand new BSA Lightning (showing my age a bit, aren't I?). Went down the pub. We both had a few beers. On the way home the road zigged but we zagged. Ended up in the ditch. We were fine. The bike had very minor cosmetic damage.

2) Filtering to the front of a line of stopped cars waiting to go around a roundabout. Unbeknownst to me there is a gap in the lineup and a car has been waved through, into my path. I hit him at about 20mph, beside his windshield pillar. Over the bars I went (20 to 0 in 0 feet will do that) and head butted the pillar with enough force to break the windshield. Helmets were not compulsory in the UK at that time, but I always wore one because I didn't like my teenage locks to be messed up on the ride to work. I'd have been a dead man if I had been helmet-less. Bent forks and cosmetic damage, to both the bike and me. That helmet went into the trash after that, and I've worn a full face ever since.

3) Out for a joy ride on a friends bike (bad mistake) whilst waiting for my bike, being repaired from accident #2. Came up behind a gal over to the right of the lane, approaching a right side turn. Assumed she was turning right so started to pass on the left, at which point she turned left to go into her driveway on the left. I glanced off her front fender and flew through the air (with the greatest of ease?). Cosmetic damage only and another hit to my insurance.

4) Riding to a friends house on newly wet road I lowsided at about 35mph. Slid along the road wondering if the car coming towards me was going to stop before he ran over me or the bike. Mainly cosmetic damage to the bike and gravel rash to me.

Near misses: forgot to shoulder check to the left whilst changing from the right to the left lane of a dual lane road. Was saved by the horn of the eighteen wheeler which was completely hidden in my blind spot. Sphincter pucker factor of 9.9.

Less than 50 metres from home a Ford Ranger turned left in front of me. I did the instinctive 'push left - go left' thing and just missed his rear. When I stopped to look at him he had carried on as if he hadn't seen me. Sphincter pucker factor of 9.7.

Usually I ride very defensively, meaning I try and see as far ahead as I can. I also ride totally within the capabilities of me and the bike. If I'm doing an endurance ride I make sure I get plenty of sleep

BOF, aren't I?

[cmorgan47]

Four accidents, all within the first two years of starting to ride, all totally avoidable:

never seen that put more aptly.  i've dropped one bike, at the same point in my riding, also totally avoidable.
while still pretty much a novice--first year--took my mother-in-law's 1100cc shadow out to WV for her.  was turning around in a parking lot to tell my friend we'd missed a turn and the back wheel started to kick out.  i tried to catch it and my ankle snapped like a twig....then the bike fell on it.  didn't know it was broken till after i rode back to detroit though.....stupid cowboy points, i guess.

at the time, i told everyone that it happened because i hit gravel and there was nothing that could've been done.  that's what i thought at the time.  now, i know all the things i did wrong--front brakes turning a huge bike at low speed for one, trying to catch it instead of keeping my feet where they belonged, for another, taking a huge bike on a 500 mile road trip for one more.

[cbjunkie]

Near misses: forgot to shoulder check to the left whilst changing from the right to the left lane of a dual lane road. Was saved by the horn of the eighteen wheeler which was completely hidden in my blind spot. Sphincter pucker factor of 9.9.

man. no kidding...

yeah, BOF, whatever...I think that this is a really great opportunity for some of us young and relatively new to the world of bikes types to see that the old men, the really experienced riders that we all respect, have "been there done that" in more ways than one - i.e. not only have you been mechanicking and dressing up these bikes for a long time, but you have had your share of dangerous incidents and come through alright.

I don't want to hijack the thread any more than I already have on this topic, but i think it IS a very important and helpful issue and one which I will be focusing on in the next couple of weeks as I go in to take my Moto Safety Course.

Thanks for the info...
junkie out.

[cmorgan47]

i know this is stupid, but BOF?

Birds of a Feather?
Basic Oxygen Furnace?

[nickjtc]

i know this is stupid, but BOF?
Birds of a Feather?
Basic Oxygen Furnace?

Boring Old Fart

[Stormer]

The 400 is mainly a weekend toy, but eventualy she's a daily comuter too.

[loonymoon]

Don't ride the CB that often as don't live with it.... and I guess I'm most definatley a fair weather rider and at the moment there's precious little fair weather... coupla blisteringly hot days in July and now it's rain rain rain!!! Will be riding it on Sunday though as I'm taking it to a show/rally, currently trying to tart it up a little for it though no doubt it'll rain on the day.

I do have a Yamaha 250 scooter that I commute to work on when I can and the weather's reasonable, although to be totally honest now that all the school kids are on holidays and a lot of people have buggered off out of London for the summer it's actually slower to take the scooter once you  factor in taking the gear on and off and to be honest the ride on the scooter on the motorways isn't that enthralling anyway!! I do get 70mpg from the scooter though (that's miles per imperial gallon btw) compared to about 36mpg from the car... so it has it's benefits!

[ohiocaferacer]

I drive my bike as much as possible. With my car getting 16mpg I can't afford not to.

Amen my brotha'!!!

My new Hemi is nice....until I pull into the pumps. Lets see $20 for a 1/4 tank that lasts 2 days in the truck.....or $6 in the bike and it lasts all week?

Needless to say.....the bike is rid'n everyday.