What's it like owning and riding bikes?
Discussion
I got my bike license a little o er five years ago, in response to landing a job in central London.
My original plan was to get a 125 jizz machine to take me to the station, but I figured it'd make sense to go the whole hogg for those days when I got to the station, found the trains not running for whatever reason......then I could just hit the motorway.
In the end I never went by train and biking has become my default mode of transport.
Its cheaper, quicker and even in the s
ttiest weather (hot or cold) will never, ever be as tedious as sitting in a car.
The day I knew I'd made the right choice was coming out of London one Friday evening on the A4.....traffic was backed up all the way to Knightsbridge, more so than usual. Filtered pretty much all the way to the elevated bit where, by the Audi dealership, two cars had collided, one ending up on its side against the near side barrier, the other completely on its roof in lane 1. Plod, Trumpton and Holby all in attendance, both lanes completely closed with no other options (due to it being an elevated carriageway)
I toodle to the front, kill the bike, take my helmet off and sit on the Armco (as a lot of car drivers were doing).
Plod wanders over.....oh here we go, I thought, he's gonna tell me off for not wearing a helmet/leaving my bike unattended etc.
"Can you push your bike ok?"
"Err....yeah, d'you need me to move it?"
"No you're fine.....but if you keep well over to the right and go all the way past where that second fire engine is before you get on again, you can go through"
That was the moment I knew biking is the only sensible way in and out of London.
Can't really comment on security as I've always had somewhere behind locked doors to park.
Reliability....my current Triumph is a couple of hundred miles short of 100k (yep, a one and two zeroes) and in that time has needed the exhaustive list of:
New clutch cable
New generator stator.
Plus the usual tyres, pads and fluids.
If that's unreliable I must be missing the point.
Riding-wise, I'm no power ranger manned missile, in fact, if you followed me on my bike you'd probably think "Jesus, I bet he drives a Rover 75 too" but I like it and I haven't fallen off yet.
After passing my test I gained confidence on a BMW F640GS then moved on to the Tiger 1050, neither of which are mainstream SuziWongaKawaBusaZX-1rBlades but both of them suited me on every level.
Mrs CFK also likes it. Went to a dinner party in town a few years ago and whilst everyone else rocked up in their 3 Series and A4s, we went on the bike. Had to smile when one of the wives told her husband "You need to get a bike so we can be that cool arriving at dinner parties"
Have also toured a bit.....Normany coast a couple of times, and also flew to the States and did 3000 miles on a rented Harley.
So yeah, give it a go.....
My original plan was to get a 125 jizz machine to take me to the station, but I figured it'd make sense to go the whole hogg for those days when I got to the station, found the trains not running for whatever reason......then I could just hit the motorway.
In the end I never went by train and biking has become my default mode of transport.
Its cheaper, quicker and even in the s
ttiest weather (hot or cold) will never, ever be as tedious as sitting in a car.The day I knew I'd made the right choice was coming out of London one Friday evening on the A4.....traffic was backed up all the way to Knightsbridge, more so than usual. Filtered pretty much all the way to the elevated bit where, by the Audi dealership, two cars had collided, one ending up on its side against the near side barrier, the other completely on its roof in lane 1. Plod, Trumpton and Holby all in attendance, both lanes completely closed with no other options (due to it being an elevated carriageway)
I toodle to the front, kill the bike, take my helmet off and sit on the Armco (as a lot of car drivers were doing).
Plod wanders over.....oh here we go, I thought, he's gonna tell me off for not wearing a helmet/leaving my bike unattended etc.
"Can you push your bike ok?"
"Err....yeah, d'you need me to move it?"
"No you're fine.....but if you keep well over to the right and go all the way past where that second fire engine is before you get on again, you can go through"
That was the moment I knew biking is the only sensible way in and out of London.
Can't really comment on security as I've always had somewhere behind locked doors to park.
Reliability....my current Triumph is a couple of hundred miles short of 100k (yep, a one and two zeroes) and in that time has needed the exhaustive list of:
New clutch cable
New generator stator.
Plus the usual tyres, pads and fluids.
If that's unreliable I must be missing the point.
Riding-wise, I'm no power ranger manned missile, in fact, if you followed me on my bike you'd probably think "Jesus, I bet he drives a Rover 75 too" but I like it and I haven't fallen off yet.
After passing my test I gained confidence on a BMW F640GS then moved on to the Tiger 1050, neither of which are mainstream SuziWongaKawaBusaZX-1rBlades but both of them suited me on every level.
Mrs CFK also likes it. Went to a dinner party in town a few years ago and whilst everyone else rocked up in their 3 Series and A4s, we went on the bike. Had to smile when one of the wives told her husband "You need to get a bike so we can be that cool arriving at dinner parties"
Have also toured a bit.....Normany coast a couple of times, and also flew to the States and did 3000 miles on a rented Harley.
So yeah, give it a go.....
TiminYorkshire said:
^ How was the rented Harley? Where did you go? - It's something I've fancied doing with the girlfriend.
One word: Epic.We planned and booked it all independently having looked at the various tour companies and deciding they were all ridiculously expensive, and quite restrictive in that we'd have to stay at their choice of hotel and follow their route.
Picked up a two year old HD Electra Glide from a little one-off bike rental outfit two block behind Treasure Island in Vegas.
They didn't have a shiny support van to follow us, they didn't have a massive fleet of delivery mileage bikes, but the upside was we got two weeks unlimited mileage unrestricted location rental for a little over £500.
Started from Vegas and headed East towards Kingman and on to Sedona (first night stop), then swung North up to Monument Valley, stopping at Mexican Hat (the furthest East we went). Then we headed West around the top of the Canyon, through Zion NP before dropping down in to Veags again.
For Leg 2 we rode up through Death Valley, continuing to Yosemite NP, crossing the Tioga Pass and dropping down to the coast and San Francisco. Had an extra day there before following the PCH to LA, then headed East again back to Vegas.
It was utterly amazing, every turn of the wheel. The scenery never stopped changing, and in two weeks we rode busy city streets, vast orangey-brown deserts, windswept open prairies, cliff top twisties, mountains, seafront boulevards, the neon-lit streets of Vegas, the Golden Gate Bridge, Route 66....
We stayed in all sorts of accommodation too....the big casinos in Vegas, little B-movie motels, a log cabin in Yosemite, a swanky hotel in San Francisco. Ditto the dining....world class cuisine at Caesar's Palace, right down to burritos and a Coke at a gas station in the desert.
The bike was faultless despite the conditions (blowing dust and 42c in Death Valley) and, with the possible exception of the hills in San Francisco, it was a doddle to ride. All-day comfort for me and crucially Mrs CFK on the back, loads of luggage space, cruise control....plus that vital American Dream heritage.
There are frequent posts in the Holidays and Travel forum here people blather on about the best deal on a Dodge Charger in Air Hostess Orange or a Camarro in Bumble Bee Yellow.....but they don't know man, they don't know.....
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 27th March 10:29
TiminYorkshire said:
Sounds great, what time of year did you go? And any chance you could forward the details of the rental place?
We went in late June, in fact, our last night in the US was July 4th.....in Vegas!Got the bike from Escape Eagles.
Easy enough to Google, plus they're on FB. Ask for Ralph.
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