Commute to London - Bike vs Train

I've always thought the maxiscooter would be the logical solution to my 'urban mobility' needs but the reality (especially in London) is that it will get nicked anywhere you leave it. The stress of owning one outweighs the enjoyment.

A pal of mine lives in East Finchley. The other night we was woken by a noise which was some scrotes with a battery angle grinder going through the 'Sold Secure' lock to his ground anchor. He shouted out the window at them and advised that he'd called 999, their reply was "do not come down here Bruv, else we will stab you up".

Cops arrived 10 minutes later, telling him he was the fifth bike to be done that night.

Considering the speed of the train from Ashford I can’t imagine for a second why you’d want to sit on a motorbike for hours a week instead.

So you're telling me there is enjoyment to be had in that journey? I struggle to see it - I say that as someone who commuted by roadbike 15 miles into London each way for a long long time. On a motorbike it would be mentally exhausting I'd have thought.

Enjoyment comes in different forms.

You mention mentally exhausting, in fact riding a motorcycle demands you to be on high alert most of the time. Being focussed on anything to that extent means your brain is often emptied of the other stuff that might be filling it. Just moving yourself out of other thoughts is a form of relaxation in itself. Obviously lots of activities can give you that (I imagine your cycle ride did) but imagine if something you had to do (your commute) could actually become a sort of therapy. Genuinely, a lot of motorcyclists, me included, will tell you that for them riding a bike has a positive impact on their mental health. For me, commuting by train is certainly more physically relaxing but it's certainly not good for my mental health. In fact it's hugely stressful - gotta get their on time, will I get a seat, will the train run on time, will I miss my meeting, will I end up sitting next to that hideous woman with personal hygene issues again. Could the oaf across from me eat those crisps in a more disgusting way, why does that woman think it's ok to conduct a phone call on a crowded train over the speaker on her phone etc.

Even on a dull journey motorcycling is good for you, a metaphor for freedom and personal choice. Unless you fall off.

Counterpoint - full time commuting on a motorbike destroyed my enthusiasm for riding for a good couple of years. I found that on weekends/days off the last thing I wanted to do was go anyway near the damn thing. I take so much more pleasure from riding now that is purely a leisure/recreation thing for me.

Probably very controversial (and off topic) point - riders who go on about the mental health/therapy aspect of riding need to actually go to therapy. First thing you'll learn is avoiding and distracting yourself from stressful and anxious thoughts is not good for mental health. You need to learn the causes and factors behind them and address it properly and learn proper therapy techniques to cope with and analyze them when they occur.

We've moved offices - used to take the high speed which is great (if expensive) but now I'd have to get off the other end and sit on the underground anyway.

Might as well go straight to London Bridge and for the record, I don't want to commute at all - would much rather stay remote!

I commute into central London on my Honda VFR1200. My round trip is about 120 miles and I do it all year round, 2-3 times per week. I have been doing it for about 2 years (and commuted on bikes to non London locations for many more years). Prior to that, I did take the train/tube; what a mostly frustrating and disappointing experience that was! Packed out trains. Packed out tube trains. Lucky to get a seat in either. Near constant delays and cancellations. I don't think I ever once actually had a train that arrived on time in London.

I choose to commute on my bike rather than take the train/tube for the following reasons:

It is quicker.
All costs considered, it is cheaper.
No restrictions on when I can leave home/office.
And the main reason being I much prefer it!

I'm no spring chicken, and it is tiring. But it was also tiring when I did the commute via train/tube. And I actually enjoy my commute, even in central London. I get a real kick out of filtering and generally have no problems on my commute. My VFR is actually quite perfect for my commute. It's a big, heavy bike - true. But it's actually quite narrow when you fold in the retractable mirrors and I can filter through gaps as well as the smallest of bikes. In fact, most of the time if I do get held up it's by someone on a scooter! It's really comfortable, totally reliable and goes like stink. You quickly adapt to what you ride (as you do your commute route) and I can maneuver it as well as any bike. It also doesn't seem to attract the low life scum who think it's acceptable to take property that isn't theirs (unlike my lovely S1000r Sport a few years back which was stolen on only its second outing to London!).

I don't think I would be as happy on a more 'sensible' bike. I enjoy riding, and want to ride a bike that appeals to me, rather than riding something that is going to save me a few pounds in cost. Saying that, a couple of reasons why I chose the VFR as my all year round commuter bike were that it is a Honda (reliability) and it has shaft drive (no chain maintenance). As it's my workhorse bike, I must admit I rarely clean it but when I do it comes up looking like new. Honestly, these Honda VFRs are incredibly well built bikes and I've owned dozens of bikes over the years so have quite a good point of reference.

And commuting by bike certainly doesn't put me off riding for fun at the weekend or on a summer's evening. I love being on two wheels no matter what the occasion. So, for me, commuting by bike wins hands down when compared to taking the train and I will continue to do so.

Exactly. I can think of 8972 reasons why I'd not want to commute from Ashford to London on the high speed. Ffs it's 861 a month or 224 a week. Yikes!

That's a decent bike every year.

You need to be a little careful when comparing costs. When you include fuel, tyres, chain/sprockets, servicing, kit, insurance, depreciation etc. the cost difference is not as substantial as it might at first appear.

When I was commuting it was only slightly cheaper on the bike than using the train, including driving to the station and parking.

Couldn't have put it better myself. The bike is my quite time that bookends my working day. It allows me to de-stress in a way that the train oddly fails to be able to do even with Netflix etc. Does it sort of spoil riding for fun at the weekends? sort of but I was never a big group rider anyway and the thought of riding for a couple of hours of a weekend just to get a rubbish bacon sandwich doesn't feel e with much joy.