Commuter Bike Recommendations
Discussion
Evening all,
Man maths has led me to believe that I need another bike, specifically for commuting.
Man maths = more miles on the bike, less miles in the car = better, less economical car!
I currently have a Triumph Street Triple R, but I don't want to put loads of miles on this. I am looking for something around 5 years old, capable of doing a comfortable 60 miles per day (typically B roads), up to 10k per year and looking to spend between £3k and £3.5k.
I like the look of the Yamaha MT07/09 but these are a little out of price range. The dream would be a Triumph Scrambler XE, but these are £10k+. I don't need loads of fairings, and I like the 'naked' look, but a screen wouldn't go a miss!
Is there anything else i am missing that I should consider? TIA
Man maths has led me to believe that I need another bike, specifically for commuting.
Man maths = more miles on the bike, less miles in the car = better, less economical car!
I currently have a Triumph Street Triple R, but I don't want to put loads of miles on this. I am looking for something around 5 years old, capable of doing a comfortable 60 miles per day (typically B roads), up to 10k per year and looking to spend between £3k and £3.5k.
I like the look of the Yamaha MT07/09 but these are a little out of price range. The dream would be a Triumph Scrambler XE, but these are £10k+. I don't need loads of fairings, and I like the 'naked' look, but a screen wouldn't go a miss!
Is there anything else i am missing that I should consider? TIA
If you like the Scrmaber 1200, any of the new water cooled triumph Bonneville s are surprisingly economical, I get 60mpg on my thruxton 1200 on my commute (this quickly drops for a fun ride). Not bad for 1200cc with 95hp. Unfortunately even the earliest street twin is probably not yet cheap enough, but probably more economical still.
SV650 is probably worth a look if you like the MT07 - that's the default answer if not a Street triple. The engine is superb and they are very reliable.
SV650 is probably worth a look if you like the MT07 - that's the default answer if not a Street triple. The engine is superb and they are very reliable.
A guy on here did Bristol to London 3 days a week - got a brand new CB500x (about £5200 for a pre reg at the mo). Did about 78k on it in 3 years and average economy was 80mpg.
I was reading about it only a few weeks ago as considering the CB500x myself - only 48bhp, but all the reviews suggest it is super peppy and feels a lot more in anything up to about 75mph.
I was reading about it only a few weeks ago as considering the CB500x myself - only 48bhp, but all the reviews suggest it is super peppy and feels a lot more in anything up to about 75mph.
From my experience commuting absolutely ruins bikes, especially if riding in the winter. I’d pick up a cosmetically tatty NC750X and just run that. Other option would be a CRF250 Rally. Cheap and economical.
No point buying anything nice in my opinion, just treat it as a tool to do a job and save the nice bikes for when the roads aren’t covered in mud, water and salt.
No point buying anything nice in my opinion, just treat it as a tool to do a job and save the nice bikes for when the roads aren’t covered in mud, water and salt.
Go for something that will tolerate s bit of salt/mud/water.
I swear by old VFR800Fi or CBR1100XX blackbird. Both are tough. Both have good weather protection. And both have good fairings that prevent a lot of the crap from getting over the engine. The blackbird in particular has a big wedge of plastic behind the front wheel that keeps the muck off the downpipes.
Both scrub up well. Fork legs go bad but some hammerite (hammer finish silver) brings them back up. Blackbird rad paint peels off but easily fixed.
Both can be had for £2k or less.
I tried an FZS600 Fazer and the engine paint fell off. It went from fairly mint to really crusty in 2 winters.
Edit: you want a naked bike. Hmmm. In that case get busy with jet washing as soon as you get home. NC750 is a good shout but newer hondas really don't tolerate the winters like the old ones
I swear by old VFR800Fi or CBR1100XX blackbird. Both are tough. Both have good weather protection. And both have good fairings that prevent a lot of the crap from getting over the engine. The blackbird in particular has a big wedge of plastic behind the front wheel that keeps the muck off the downpipes.
Both scrub up well. Fork legs go bad but some hammerite (hammer finish silver) brings them back up. Blackbird rad paint peels off but easily fixed.
Both can be had for £2k or less.
I tried an FZS600 Fazer and the engine paint fell off. It went from fairly mint to really crusty in 2 winters.
Edit: you want a naked bike. Hmmm. In that case get busy with jet washing as soon as you get home. NC750 is a good shout but newer hondas really don't tolerate the winters like the old ones
Edited by PTF on Sunday 2nd February 12:50
TT1138 said:
From my experience commuting absolutely ruins bikes, especially if riding in the winter. I’d pick up a cosmetically tatty NC750X and just run that. Other option would be a CRF250 Rally. Cheap and economical.
No point buying anything nice in my opinion, just treat it as a tool to do a job and save the nice bikes for when the roads aren’t covered in mud, water and salt.
Sorry didn’t clarify in my original post.No point buying anything nice in my opinion, just treat it as a tool to do a job and save the nice bikes for when the roads aren’t covered in mud, water and salt.
Bike will be only used for commuting between April and October. The winter months are just too cold and dark and I’ll be using the car when it is dark, too cold or icy!
Thanks for suggestions so far, going to spend some time browsing the classifieds!
I commute on an MT07 and am honestly a bit disappointed. I do 22 miles a day from Sutton to Fulham and I'm at the petrol station once a week - usually during lunch as it's flashing by the time I get to work. I had expected to do a full 5 maybe 6 days of commuting from a tank and I'm doing maybe 4.5 days at a push. The bike has only done 600 miles so maybe this will get better. I don't know.
Mirrors are just wide enough that filtering can sometimes be a pain - having to dip and twist the front bars to get between mirrors.
However, I think it looks great, it's got enough power to keep you out of trouble and for it to be used on motorways when required. It's got a good power band - perfect for lower revs and getting through traffic and round town, I'm hardly ever going above 5k rpm whilst commuting. Seating position is comfortable as it's more upright and with an exhaust I've noticed people move out the way more for me than on my previous bike.
Insurance is a bit of a pain but I guess it always will be being in London.
Mirrors are just wide enough that filtering can sometimes be a pain - having to dip and twist the front bars to get between mirrors.
However, I think it looks great, it's got enough power to keep you out of trouble and for it to be used on motorways when required. It's got a good power band - perfect for lower revs and getting through traffic and round town, I'm hardly ever going above 5k rpm whilst commuting. Seating position is comfortable as it's more upright and with an exhaust I've noticed people move out the way more for me than on my previous bike.
Insurance is a bit of a pain but I guess it always will be being in London.
10k a year all year round on a naked? Yup good luck with that 
I was going to get a nc750x before I rode one.
Then I had my heart set on an Africa Twin but couldn't make the man maths work even with the silly cheap pcp offer. Milage and servicing made it more expensive than the train.
I ended up on a Versys 650 GT for my 11k pa commute. I ride into London without the luggage. Not as good on fuel as the Nc750 but it still does 60mpg and has much better stock weather protection. Was half the price for me to insure too!
Used it for a couple of long road trips too and it does that brilliantly.
I was going to get a nc750x before I rode one.
Then I had my heart set on an Africa Twin but couldn't make the man maths work even with the silly cheap pcp offer. Milage and servicing made it more expensive than the train.
I ended up on a Versys 650 GT for my 11k pa commute. I ride into London without the luggage. Not as good on fuel as the Nc750 but it still does 60mpg and has much better stock weather protection. Was half the price for me to insure too!
Used it for a couple of long road trips too and it does that brilliantly.
Unless it's all slow backroads a bikini faring or similar is well worth it.
TDM900's are cheap, reliable, competent and less desirable to bike thieves than newer stuff. V-Strom, Versys and the like are all similar. Upright bikes make for great visibility and manoeuvrability in traffic and luggage options are usually very good if you need to carry stuff, although the bars are a little wider than some bike which can reduce filtering options slightly.
TDM900's are cheap, reliable, competent and less desirable to bike thieves than newer stuff. V-Strom, Versys and the like are all similar. Upright bikes make for great visibility and manoeuvrability in traffic and luggage options are usually very good if you need to carry stuff, although the bars are a little wider than some bike which can reduce filtering options slightly.
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