What eventually made you start/stop commuting by motorbike
Discussion
Morning All,
I've been commuting into London from Hertfordshire for a number of years and late last year I decided to use the commuter train service on a regular basis as I was bored of the same old route having done it hundreds and possibly thousands of times, and I really did not want to use the motorbike yet again in the winter.
So I decided to stop using the motorbike and took the national rail service into Moorgate which has been quite slow, crowded and expensive but at least I didn't need to faff about winter riding gear and keeping the bike winter ready etc; however as expected one has had to endure people sneezing, coughing without covering their mouth, routinely cancelled/delayed trains and passive aggressive and sometimes just plain rude passengers.
It all came to a head today when this random person in the train literally shoved me aside and took a seat and then had the cheek to glare at me as if I had done something wrong. Comedy part was that I had no intention of taking the seat as I prefer to stand
Anyway, I've decided that braving the cold and managing the odd distracted driver on a mobile phone is far better than commuting in a train. Life is too short to endure a rubbish train service.
Question is have any of you tried other modes of transport when commuting and returned back to motorcycles? Or did any of you have a similar experience using the train/tube and decided that it wasn't worth it.
Sorry if I sound like I am whinging but train travel has been grating on me ever since I started using it regularly.
I've been commuting into London from Hertfordshire for a number of years and late last year I decided to use the commuter train service on a regular basis as I was bored of the same old route having done it hundreds and possibly thousands of times, and I really did not want to use the motorbike yet again in the winter.
So I decided to stop using the motorbike and took the national rail service into Moorgate which has been quite slow, crowded and expensive but at least I didn't need to faff about winter riding gear and keeping the bike winter ready etc; however as expected one has had to endure people sneezing, coughing without covering their mouth, routinely cancelled/delayed trains and passive aggressive and sometimes just plain rude passengers.
It all came to a head today when this random person in the train literally shoved me aside and took a seat and then had the cheek to glare at me as if I had done something wrong. Comedy part was that I had no intention of taking the seat as I prefer to stand
Anyway, I've decided that braving the cold and managing the odd distracted driver on a mobile phone is far better than commuting in a train. Life is too short to endure a rubbish train service.
Question is have any of you tried other modes of transport when commuting and returned back to motorcycles? Or did any of you have a similar experience using the train/tube and decided that it wasn't worth it.
Sorry if I sound like I am whinging but train travel has been grating on me ever since I started using it regularly.
Swifty0824 said:
I posted a topic two or three months ago asking for advice about commuting on a bike especially in winter.
I literally start my biker life by commuting on it. (Had some practice and joy riding after collecting the bike but I was riding like a zombie and not confident to do anything)
Living in North London whie working in Canary Wharf which means:
Driving - expensive to park and the A13 + A406 oh my god
Tube - used it for only three days then got cold, need to wait at least 30 mins in or even out of Canary Wharf station to get on a tube at peak hours plus being squished like a potato all the time, absolutely hate it.
Bike - it's cold, it's dark and I'm not an experienced rider, but I very much enjoy cars and bikes.
Guess I don't have much to choose, do I
Now two months into it, got knocked off once at very low speed by an idoit driver (how rare is that), nothing bad thanks to my gear. Don't know if I will still think the same after years of riding the same route everyday but for now I have no intention to leave my bike.
Thanks for the response and I used to do the A13 + A406 to Canary Wharf also some years ago :-).I literally start my biker life by commuting on it. (Had some practice and joy riding after collecting the bike but I was riding like a zombie and not confident to do anything
)Living in North London whie working in Canary Wharf which means:
Driving - expensive to park and the A13 + A406 oh my god
Tube - used it for only three days then got cold, need to wait at least 30 mins in or even out of Canary Wharf station to get on a tube at peak hours plus being squished like a potato all the time, absolutely hate it.
Bike - it's cold, it's dark and I'm not an experienced rider, but I very much enjoy cars and bikes.
Guess I don't have much to choose, do I
Now two months into it, got knocked off once at very low speed by an idoit driver (how rare is that), nothing bad thanks to my gear. Don't know if I will still think the same after years of riding the same route everyday but for now I have no intention to leave my bike.
Sorry to hear about your low speed accident and glad to know that the gear helped.
Harry H said:
Winter or summer doesn't bother me. Just more layers with some heated gear.
Quite interesting that you mention heated gear. I have been thinking of getting Gerbing heated vest and gloves as that is the only solution to the cold that I haven't tried and I suspect this is the only option to staying warm (as opposed to getting progressively colder over time) when the temperature drops below 5 or 6 degrees.Could I possibly ask what heated gear you use?
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