Does anyone commute into central london

[xjay1337]

I have waterproof gear completely although I took the waterproof lining out of my trousers as it was a bit umm... sticky... :-)

See how waterproof it is on it's own loool

[xjay1337]

Yay! Sunshine.

HASHTAG cursedit

Edited by xjay1337 on Tuesday 7th June 17:29

[Fleegle]

Haha

My choice for todays commute was jeans and a leather jacket. I saw the forecast and just thought that they never get the fker right anyway.


Sun is out and looking forward to my commute home. I just hope I don't get stuck behind that fat fk copper again!

[Dr Jekyll]

supercommuter said:

I stay at a steady 0.85 to 0.90 leptons on the motorway all the way in. The time is made up through London as I can carve through pretty well now and know where all the good cut through traffic points are.

I have a little commuter pack strapped to the back of my bike all the time which includes 1 piece water proof, tools to adjust chain and remove fairings etc, spare bulb and cable ties This has saved me a number of times!

All this on an R1? I sat on one in a dealer for 30 seconds and practically needed physiotherapy afterwards.

[supercommuter]

Dr Jekyll said:

supercommuter said:

I stay at a steady 0.85 to 0.90 leptons on the motorway all the way in. The time is made up through London as I can carve through pretty well now and know where all the good cut through traffic points are.

I have a little commuter pack strapped to the back of my bike all the time which includes 1 piece water proof, tools to adjust chain and remove fairings etc, spare bulb and cable ties This has saved me a number of times!

All this on an R1? I sat on one in a dealer for 30 seconds and practically needed physiotherapy afterwards.

Nooo. I tried it on my R1 for about a month. Knees were hurting so much on the return ride I would sit at silly speeds.. So I bought a more upright slower adventure style bike - CB500x

[xjay1337]

Not going to lie, the ZX7 is a bit tight but not as uncomfortable as I imagined, I'm a bit fat chap and it's pretty good really.
Around the city it's great and the lack of steering lock isn't really an issue. Going right is fine but left is awful because it traps your hand between the bar and the tank haha.

I find myself sitting at 90 or so on the motorway as it helps keep the weight off my shoulders.
Not sure what the new R1s are like but I remember the 2010 ish big Bang R1s were pretty roomy!

[blindswelledrat]

supercommuter said:

Dr Jekyll said:

supercommuter said:

I stay at a steady 0.85 to 0.90 leptons on the motorway all the way in. The time is made up through London as I can carve through pretty well now and know where all the good cut through traffic points are.

I have a little commuter pack strapped to the back of my bike all the time which includes 1 piece water proof, tools to adjust chain and remove fairings etc, spare bulb and cable ties This has saved me a number of times!

All this on an R1? I sat on one in a dealer for 30 seconds and practically needed physiotherapy afterwards.

Nooo. I tried it on my R1 for about a month. Knees were hurting so much on the return ride I would sit at silly speeds.. So I bought a more upright slower adventure style bike - CB500x

I did it on a fireblade for a year and then on a 748 which was much worse.
It's like anything, your arms etc just strengthen according to what you do and after a while it is comfortable. I reckon you just needed a couple more weeks on your R1 before your legs got used to it.

[xjay1337]

Also, on another question I notice some bus lanes do not have motorcycle on them but others do even on the same piece of road.
Are motorcycles able to use ALL bus lanes in London or are the signs correct and would we be fined if we ignored.
Only information I can find online is from 2011 lol

[TT Tim]

xjay1337 said:

Also, on another question I notice some bus lanes do not have motorcycle on them but others do even on the same piece of road.
Are motorcycles able to use ALL bus lanes in London or are the signs correct and would we be fined if we ignored.
Only information I can find online is from 2011 lol

In short No!

Easy to get caught out. I was!

There is talk of making All bus lanes open to M'Bikes but that currently isn't the case.

My advice would be check the signage and if in doubt don't use them. It's not an endorsable offence but i think my fine was around £60!

T

[sjtscott]

TT Tim said:

xjay1337 said:

Also, on another question I notice some bus lanes do not have motorcycle on them but others do even on the same piece of road.
Are motorcycles able to use ALL bus lanes in London or are the signs correct and would we be fined if we ignored.
Only information I can find online is from 2011 lol

In short No!

Easy to get caught out. I was!

There is talk of making All bus lanes open to M'Bikes but that currently isn't the case.

My advice would be check the signage and if in doubt don't use them. It's not an endorsable offence but i think my fine was around £60!

T

I had to get another suspect puncture looked at the bike place I use down the road from my office first thing Monday, the roads were completely jammed upto Waterloo with a bizarre setup with a box junction only on half the road at Lambeth North station junction/crossroads. I had to bail out of my intended route and took another on a road I don't ever use so I 'might' have strayed into a no go bus lane to work around the grid lock another rider kindly advised me at the next lights he'd got a bus lane PCN ticket.. so waiting to see if anything arrives by post
Stupid bloody setup where only the Red Route TFL lanes permit bikes - other lanes are local borough council owned and none currently permit motorbikes to use their lanes. So if it arrives and I pay within 14days it going to cost me £65 Lambeth borough council's website tells me.

[xjay1337]

Ahhh no what a bum
Fingers crossed you may be lucky on this occasion!

[supercommuter]

blindswelledrat said:

supercommuter said:

Dr Jekyll said:

supercommuter said:

I stay at a steady 0.85 to 0.90 leptons on the motorway all the way in. The time is made up through London as I can carve through pretty well now and know where all the good cut through traffic points are.

I have a little commuter pack strapped to the back of my bike all the time which includes 1 piece water proof, tools to adjust chain and remove fairings etc, spare bulb and cable ties This has saved me a number of times!

All this on an R1? I sat on one in a dealer for 30 seconds and practically needed physiotherapy afterwards.

Nooo. I tried it on my R1 for about a month. Knees were hurting so much on the return ride I would sit at silly speeds.. So I bought a more upright slower adventure style bike - CB500x

I did it on a fireblade for a year and then on a 748 which was much worse.
It's like anything, your arms etc just strengthen according to what you do and after a while it is comfortable. I reckon you just needed a couple more weeks on your R1 before your legs got used to it.

I did 20k the year before on the R1 commuting to Aldershot and back. I couldn't have been any more used to it haha. 240 miles a day was silly on an R1 and was costing me fortune in fuel and consumables. I can get to London and back now for about £20 in fuel and in complete comfort. The second bike has paid for itself really! I would use a sportsbike for anything sub 60 miles each way i think.

[xjay1337]

sjtscott said:

I had to get another suspect puncture looked at the bike place I use down the road from my office first thing Monday, the roads were completely jammed upto Waterloo with a bizarre setup with a box junction only on half the road at Lambeth North station junction/crossroads. I had to bail out of my intended route and took another on a road I don't ever use so I 'might' have strayed into a no go bus lane to work around the grid lock another rider kindly advised me at the next lights he'd got a bus lane PCN ticket.. so waiting to see if anything arrives by post
Stupid bloody setup where only the Red Route TFL lanes permit bikes - other lanes are local borough council owned and none currently permit motorbikes to use their lanes. So if it arrives and I pay within 14days it going to cost me £65 Lambeth borough council's website tells me.

Did you get the ticket?



Loving the commute, down to once or twice a week now and can get from door to door in 1 hour 15 on a good day. Easy 8 to 10 leptons on the Motorway.
The longest was 1hr 40 and that was horrendous traffic from Vodafone on the A34 to Jct 10 on the M4. Average is about 1h 20-25 so that's great. Not had any issues with parking yet, always able to park in Suffolk Street or Loman Street.. had a lovely chat with an ER6 owner the other week who also got back into biking for his commute!

Finding my all weather textiles a bit much some of the time (didn't go in at all last week due to weather being so hot) so looking to get a set of Draggin Jeans and also some leathers and summer gloves.
My TCX S-Speed Goretex are great so I can use them all year round.

Edited by xjay1337 on Tuesday 26th July 11:55

[OMNIO]

Hi. Thought I'd ask here rather than start a new thread.

I may be switching offices so I'll be working in Holborn. I have only ever been there during the afternoon and all the motorcycle bays are usually full. They have reopened the bay on high Holborn I have seen and there were spaces even mid afternoon.

Does anyone happen to know how quickly these bays fill up? It would be a 9am start so I'd look to be there by 8:15.