general questions

[David Adams]

Hello, curious how many riders here use their motorcycle primarily for transportation to/from work?  Do you wear all your gear?  Or just maybe a helmet and jacket?  

 

Second questions, why is it that BMW doesn't have a group of motorcycles in the 500cc size?  Seems like that size would get more people on a bike, and be a bit more affordable.  I could see having an R version, GS, as well as one resembling the RR sport bike.  Seems to me BMW might be missing some opportunity.

 

Thanks.  David

[John Ranalletta]

I'd like to ride to client locations but it's a PITA to deal with weather, gear and looking like a vagrant when you're delivering consulting.

[AZgman]

I ride as much as possible when it is not 110 degrees out. This year it has been 110+ a LOT.   

 

ATGATT for me.

 

BMW is not targeting "affordable" motorcycling, they are targeting "Premium" motorcycling!  That said, many like the 310cc line of BMW bikes.

 

[wbw6cos]

Hi David,

I commute year round, M-F, to and from work.  I live 9.8 miles from work, so I got that going for me, which is nice.  Max speed limit posted is 45, but in the morning (at 6,) traffic is light enough to go beyond that.  

 

I wear helmet, gloves (summer), riding jacket, and riding pants, which go over my uniform shorts.  Yep, shorts.  The overpants are mesh and were needed once I changed jobs 2 years ago.  Previous place, I wore uniform pants, which were denim and I felt no need to wear gear over those.  I finally get to wear shorts, but could not feel right riding with them on, so I bought the overpants.  They zip up the legs on the insides, and are faily easy to take on and off with my workboots on (covering just above the ankles with low socks-keeps the tan line low enough for sneekers.  HA)  I also have a pretty heavy duty nylon rain suit (2 pc) for days with precipitation and that is worn over the other gear.  Sometimes I have to really convince myself to ride tp work if it is absolutely pouring heavy rain (like, why I am doing this again?) and with the RT in the weekly rotation, I do not hesitate to ride in the rain.  Rain and freezing temps?  Not so much.  Temps get as high as the upper-90's in the summer and as low as the teens in the winter.  I have a one-piece insulated riding suit for temps below freezing, but most winters I wear a liner with the jacket and long pants under the mesh over pants.  I also use my Gerbing heated gloves, plugged in for temps below 40 F.

 

As for the second part of your query, as I understand lower displacement bikes they came out with are in the range between 310 to 850, but not exactly 500 cc.  Not sure why.  I thought the new 310's were aimed at the newer-type riders, but premium is right.  Seems like they change around displacement enough to keep themselves guessing what is next.  I am grateful for the 1250 (thanks for asking.)

 

Cheers,

 

[MikeB60]

I live 110 miles from work and ride to work most weeks.  I typically work a four day week and spend three nights in my crappy rv.  My commute from the RV to work is about 5 miles.  Also travel for work quite a bit and sometimes take the bike.  I'm mostly atgatt to include a Helite air bag vest.  I dont always wear my motorcycle pants for the commute to work from the rv,  really not much risk as it's mostly on post.  Work attire is cargo pants with a polo shirt, unless I have a briefing which requires a suit.  The suit gets crammed in the top box, have a hand held steamer to get rid of the wrinkles.  The ride to work and back home is a great way to start and end the week!

[Pappy35]

I ride almost every day, 21 miles each way, but most of that is on the highway (about 50% at the speed limit and the rest crawling). I wear ankle-covering boots, gloves, Klim Gore Tex jacket (new Latitude) and, of course, a very high quality lid. I usually skip donning my Aerostich pants if the weather is over 92F. I just can't stand it above that and accept the added risk that brings. I wear the pants anytime I'm on the bike otherwise. 

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

11 hours ago, David Adams said:

Hello, curious how many riders here use their motorcycle primarily for transportation to/from work?  Do you wear all your gear?  Or just maybe a helmet and jacket?

 

I only live 1.5 miles from my office.  Not worth gearing up for that, or wriggling the bike out of its niche in the garage in the morning (and back in at night).    Besides, most weekdays I'm hauling cargo to FedEx that can't easily be carried on a bike.  

 

I do gear up whenever I ride: moto boots, Draggin' jeans with knee/hip armor, Olympia jacket, gloves, and earplugs.  There have been two occasions when I didn't gear up, riding off in shorts/t-shirt/sandals/helmet on one occasion and in shorts/t-shirt/sandals on the other.  Short distances (~1 mi) and low speeds on both occasions, but I felt extremely vulnerable and didn't really enjoy it.  

[Rougarou]

50 mile one way commute about half back-roads/half-slab for work and ride year round in all weather. 

 

Gear, depends on my feeling.  Sometimes it's head to toe, sometimes it's just the legal minimal (helmet).

[Miguel!]

You only have to get go down once to convince yourself to wear all the gear all the time (ATGATT) no matter how short the ride. Miguel

[Rougarou]

46 minutes ago, Miguel! said:

You only have to get go down once to convince yourself to wear all the gear all the time (ATGATT) no matter how short the ride. Miguel

 

I've been down twice,....45+mph

[Miguel!]

1 hour ago, Living the Dream said:

 

I've been down twice,....45+mph

These are all just opinions and each rider makes their own decision. If I don't have time to put all the gear on and take it off at the other end and be suitably dressed when I get there, I just take the car. I wear ATGATT even when I ride my 250cc Vespa. Hitting the pavement hurts no matter what you are riding or how fast you are going and if you are going fast and hit the pavement without protective gear, it is just going to sand you skin off. If you hit the pavement with your chin without a full face or modular helmet, that's likely going to be a lifelong injury and disfigurement. Just sayin'. I'll bow out now and exit this thread. Cheers!! Miguel

[Rougarou]

2 hours ago, Miguel! said:

These are all just opinions and each rider makes their own decision. If I don't have time to put all the gear on and take it off at the other end and be suitably dressed when I get there, I just take the car. I wear ATGATT even when I ride my 250cc Vespa. Hitting the pavement hurts no matter what you are riding or how fast you are going and if you are going fast and hit the pavement without protective gear, it is just going to sand you skin off. If you hit the pavement with your chin without a full face or modular helmet, that's likely going to be a lifelong injury and disfigurement. Just sayin'. I'll bow out now and exit this thread. Cheers!! Miguel

 

*enter sarcasm*  Wow!!!  I never knew those things could happen  *exit sarcasm* 

 

Many, many years ago, I rode dirt bikes, even participated in some races, but when tinkering around the woods and not under regulatory guides, sometimes it'd be riding helmetless.  We all make the choice as to what the acceptable risks are and speaking for me, I'm fully aware of what could happen and what the consequences of those actions are. 

 

Heck, here's a picture of Rossi riding with nothing more than a helmet and gloves on,......think he knows the consequences of going down/hitting pavement?

 

[RogerC60]

25 or 50 miles to work one way, depending on which office I'm going to. I ride every day March through October unless the weather forecast is for thunderstorms or snow.

 

ATGATT, which for me is leather Roebucks boots, leather gloves (uninsulated rough rider in warmer weather, insulated heavy gauntlet gloves in colder weather), overpants (solid in colder weather, mesh in warmer), jacket (Joe Rocket mesh in warmer weather, Hein Gericke leather in cool or cold weather), topped off with a full face helmet. Wearing the overpants lets me wear whatever is appropriate to work; usually jeans but sometimes khakis. Long ago I didn't wear riding pants but that was before I saw pictures of what a skid across pavement will do to ordinary denim.

[Ewell D.]

 

Saw a friend go through skin grafts. That was enough for me, it is atgatt for me. When I look down at the pavement I see a cheez grater!

 

When I went down and broke my collar bone I didn't get any road rash or gravel anywhere and can imagine it could have done even more harm had I not landed on the shoulder pad.

[John Bentall]

On the days when I'm 100% certain that I am not going to have an accident, I don't bother with gear .

[RPG]

I ride just about every day to work (120 mile round trip).

 

As far as gear, I'm always protected.

 

Shoei RF1200 helmet

earplugs

First Gear Kiliminjaro jacket

BMW Summer pants with armor

BMW Gore-Tex boots

 

Two deer crashes only re-enforces some common sense.

 

 

[Ponch]

On 9/4/2019 at 4:41 PM, AZgman said:

I ride as much as possible when it is not 110 degrees out. This year it has been 110+ a LOT.   

 

ATGATT for me.

 

BMW is not targeting "affordable" motorcycling, they are targeting "Premium" motorcycling!  That said, many like the 310cc line of BMW bikes.

 

I did it for 8 months when I first got my job at ASU. I wouldn't do it again. 

[Oldironken]

I ride 50 miles round trip every day it's above 40 degrees, it isn't expected to rain hard during my commute time or there isn't ice or salt on the road.  That gives me Mid-march to mid-November for commuting.  I'm an ATGATT rider, Mesh gear in the summer, non-mesh gear if the high will be below 50 or 60.  My bike commute is 5 miles longer than my car commute,  funner roads.  

 

[Paul De]

Hi David,

 

Haha. You know there are things you should never discuss in a group situation, religion, politics, and to ATGATT or not.  

 

Before I retired I tried to commute on my M/C any time there was not salt on the roads....basically April to December.  Cool weather, or if I needed to wear a suit that day,  I would wear my two piece Stitch because it was warm and kept my suit clean and put my biz shoes in the top box.  At my office there was unisex bathroom that had a tall snorkel faucet sink that I used to get rid of helmet hair to keep me looking like all the cagers in the office.  Warm weather was just the Stitch jacket, helmet and gloves and hot weather was a mesh armored jacket, helmet and vented gloves.  Now I am a bit old school and mostly wore/wear a 3/4 helmet and the full face if it was or going to rain or, I was too suborn to give it up when it was F-ing too cold to ride.  Always gloves and shades.  Living in Wisconsin, the home of heavy H-D influence on politics, short of getting pulled over for indecent exposure you can wear next to nothing, well maybe eye protection is mandatory.  So, the heresy confession is when I was too suborn to admit it was too damn hot to ride, it was work slacks and comfy work shoes, a polo shirt, a baseball cap, my shades and vented gloves.  Oooo- there I said it, please don't burn me at the stake!

 

The 500-600cc class is really competitive, and the Japanese manufacturers would likely eat BMWs lunch in this class.

[David Adams]

Thank you for all the replies. I have a 2010 R1200GS.  I live within 5 miles of work and so far always ride ATGATT.  But with short distances it's tempting to grab the helmet and go. 

[wbw6cos]

58 minutes ago, David Adams said:

Thank you for all the replies. I have a 2010 R1200GS.  I live within 5 miles of work and so far always ride ATGATT.  But with short distances it's tempting to grab the helmet and go. 

 

....but you take the long way, right?  HA

 

Wow!  Great commute.  My commute was a factor when I changed employers.

 

Cheers,

[Rougarou]

50 minutes ago, wbw6cos said:

 

Wow!  Great commute.  My commute was a factor when I changed employers.

 

Cheers,

 

Mine was too,.....I went from 15 minutes, to 30 minutes and now an hour

[Green RT]

My commute now is to walk from the bedroom to the computer room. But for  20+ years, I commuted 30 miles each way, 300 miles a week. I commuted year round (in San Francisco weather) for the entire 20 years on the same R60/5, 10,000 miles/year, 200,000 miles in all. In the early days I wore a helmet and a cotton army field jacket left over from my tour in Vietnam. Then I graduated to a leather jacket. I don't think I switched to ATGATT until I switched to RTs in the early 1990s,

[Miguel!]

25 minutes ago, Green RT said:

But for  20+ years, I commuted 30 miles each way, 300 miles a week. I commuted year round (in San Francisco weather) for the entire 20 years on the same R60/5, 10,000 miles/year, 200,000 miles in all.

That's a LOT of cold and windy rides, especially without a fairing!! I'm not sure I should be jealous

 

Best

Miguel!

[BrianT]

My commute to work is 24 miles, but on the way home its more accurate to describe it as a 45 minute lane split home.  I'm ATGATT for the commute.  My co-workers still think my wearing my Aerostitch is nuts and don't get it.  Every now and then if there's a ride to dinner when I'm on the road or something less than 5 miles from the house that I'm riding to, I've cheated and worn all the safety gear but the pants and wore jeans so I could store everything else in my bags and walk around or do the things I need to without my Aerostitch.  But it's rare for me to do that.  Probably once a year.

[WBinDE]

I don't ride to work but that's because I'm retired! But when I DID work, I rode frequently. Commute was about 20 miles each way, I live in the mid-Atlantic and commuted to northeast Maryland. I dress the same way I no matter where I'm going: full ATTGATT: Aerostich RC3, Schuberth C3, Sidi On-Road boots, appropriate gloves. Layers and heated gear when appropriate. January/February/March were kind of sketchy because of ice/snow/slush on the road so I'd cut way back. Over time I quit riding at all when it was below freezing, and even if it warmed up my rule was: the bike stays in the garage until it's been 48 continuous hours above 40 degrees. That assures that even cool areas warm up enough to melt the ice and that snowmelt hasn't refrozen overnight.

[Rider1260]

Part of getting my new to me RT was being able to commute more easily to work, helmet , earplugs , gloves , jeans , sometimes boots change of cloths in the bags for hot days in the warehouse. Really enjoy being able to ride more often, it was a pain getting all my work gear on my SV1000 

[John Bentall]

On 9/4/2019 at 11:55 PM, David Adams said:

Hello, curious how many riders here use their motorcycle primarily for transportation to/from work?  Do you wear all your gear?  Or just maybe a helmet and jacket?  

 

Second questions, why is it that BMW doesn't have a group of motorcycles in the 500cc size?  Seems like that size would get more people on a bike, and be a bit more affordable.  I could see having an R version, GS, as well as one resembling the RR sport bike.  Seems to me BMW might be missing some opportunity.

 

Thanks.  David

 

I think that one day BMW will make a 500cc motorcycle. This motorcycle will probably be built in India by BMW's partner TVS in order to keep the the cost down - and I don't think there is the capacity at the Spandau factory in Berlin to build it there. The machine will likely have a chain-final drive to keep the design simple and competitive with the aggressively-priced Honda 500s, Yamaha FZ-07, Suzuki SV650. Kawasaki Ninja 650 etc, etc.

 

As for gear,  if I am planning not to have a crash then I wear a helmet, at all other times I am ATG.