blew my car up so i decided instead of another one id get a motor bike for work.
anyone use one for going to work all year round, rain, ice, snow etc .do you thaw out pretty quickly or do you spend all day in your cab shivering and wet.
had plenty of bikes over the years and used them on the nice hot summer days but car whenever it looks a bit dodgy .
looking at a 02 zx7r , its mint , and i like to keep my bikes like that , what the best way of keeping it like that if you use it all year round. ta
Plenty of WD40! and chain lube.
I use a ZZR600 to get to work, cheap to run 60mpg.
I use it all year round, if you have decent kit its ok, though you have to get to work 5mins earlier to get changed.
Only prob is the ice, espec if your finishing or starting really early in the morning and there is black ice about.
Despite being a biker all me life I find they’re a bit of a PITA as a commuting tool in this job, especially if you don’t have your own regular motor. Tried it in my present job but because I’m only two miles from the yard the car is twice as quick!
As Kenny says you have to get there a bit earlier (which cancels out the time you saved on the journey) and unless you’ve got a locker room at work, or luggage on the bike, stow all your gear away and then start work. Cold ain’t a problem, most cabs nowadays are sleepers with night heaters so you soon thaw out.
Best bike I had for commuting, believe it or not, was my old Electra-Glide Sport (there’s a contradiction in terms!) 'cos it had the big top-box and panniers so I could carry all me gear and stow the suit and lid, and of course it was all lockable.
Just thought of something else; diesel spills! Back in the mists of time I worked as an FLT driver at Bass Brewery deopt, Hilton. Used to commute on my old Triumph 3TA, until the day some git spilt a load of diesel on the yard, I ended up on my arse in front of the gaffer’s Portakabin! Something to remember if you use the same gate as the trucks do.
PS Memo to ALL of you; PLEASE don’t fill your fuel tanks to the neck, it kills my friends.
Blew your car up Ady? That was a bit harsh, what type of explosives did you use?? 
gnasty gnome:
Just thought of something else; diesel spills! Back in the mists of time I worked as an FLT driver at Bass Brewery deopt, Hilton. Used to commute on my old Triumph 3TA, until the day some git spilt a load of diesel on the yard, I ended up on my arse in front of the gaffer’s Portakabin! Something to remember if you use the same gate as the trucks do.PS Memo to ALL of you; PLEASE don’t fill your fuel tanks to the neck, it kills my friends.
Agree with both bits, PITA to carry bulky essentials but nice to wake you up on a fresh morning.
I used mine for a year or more but I could walk to work in 25 minutes so if the weather was that bad I did that.
only problem with using a bike to commute is getting all you’re kit to and from work especially if you tramp all week
I commute most of the year, only chickening out when Cambridgeshire go on their annual salt spreading competitions. It really is bad around here and the roads are pink with it for about 2 months of the year.
the only answer to stopping the rot in winter is to wash them very regularly. Even if it’s only a rinse to get the salt washed off it’s better than nothing.
As for diesel… I’ve been riding since '82 and you develop a very accute sense of smell. I can smell spilt diesel now well before I ever see it. Up to now, that is…
I had a Honda H100(only 21 
) which i was riding to an interview on the other side of preston. The day started badly, it was very wet and very windy. decided to put an extra pair of pants under the waterproof ones…jacket was plenty thick enough to soak the sea and still not wet me so all set…gets to amounderness way and im being blown towards the kerb, real struggle keepin the bike in away from grass and on road, so pulls over. Chap behind probably had a good few words to say about that, happened again further down the road, so pulled over again. to cut a long and wet and windy story short, got to the uni in preston, took a corner nice, slow and fairly wide…and wham, im on my arse. The rain had brought the oil/petrol up and i managed to hit a nice patch… Weird experience being on the bike one minute and looking at it on the floor the next.
Saying that though, the Honda had paper thin wheels, was only a 100cc and weighed as much as a poodle!
Good luck and have fun !!
Hi all, this is my very first post so please be gentle lol…
I used to travel to work on the bike all the time , through winter and everything, started off with a gsxr 600 then a gsxr1000 k3 then an fjr 1300, and all where kept immaculate, in winter i used a special spray, spray it all over the exposed metel and then come spring time clean it off with the other stuff it comes with, the name escapes me now but its readily available in the motorcycle news. it leaves a protective skin on.
As far as gear is concerned , never had any probs at all, most touring suits are absolutley water tight and very warm even on the coldest of days, but i suppose it depends on length of your journey, wouldnt do anything over ten miles in the depth of winter, unless you had heated grips, believe me those are real handy in winter, lol…try and keep to major roads as they are generally ice free and nevre gave me a problem only side streets did i see large amounts of ice.
Its dangerous riding the bike year round day in day out, i reckoned i used to get nearly hit or knocked off about once a week on average, never actually happened though due to me having to make emergency evasive action. was one of the reasons i got sick of it and jacked it in, got totally fed up of people nearly killing me by not seeing me, even though my jacket was bright blue and had reflectors on, plus ontop of that i had hi viz tape across the front of my bike, never had a near miss with any truckers though, so you lot are in the clear lol…
But i will say, that its cheap as chips to run in comparison with a car and a whole lotta fun too.
Whatever you decide to do i wish you luck and safe riding.
Have used a bike for work for nearly twenty years, only for the last four have I been driving. don’t have any problems with it at all. As for all the gear don’t wear it. It doesn’t rain that often and it doesn’t get a s cold as it used to. good old global warming, suits me sir. I wear a bomber jacket and gloves and crash hat. Hat and gloves go in the top box, jacket I wear at work any way. The same goes for my boots. I also have a one piece waterproof suit which packs into its own bag. The suit can be a pain at first till you get used to it.
If you can’t get to work and back without having an accident,near miss, take a defensive riding course. I did beleive me it made the world of a difference.
The big thing is of course I enjoy it.
I used to ride to work all the time on my bike had a full licence since 82
My son now has a bike and rode all last winter only problem he had was a hit and run other wise everything was fine even commuting between Home and Carlislie over the A69 which can be very exposed for those that know it
ady1:
anyone use one for going to work all year round, rain, ice, snow etc .do you thaw out pretty quickly or do you spend all day in your cab shivering and wet.
I used to be a despatch rider - Nothing is 100% waterproof! (or it is until you get it out of the shop)
ady1:
looking at a 02 zx7r , its mint , and i like to keep my bikes like that , what the best way of keeping it like that if you use it all year round. ta
Best advice is to get a winter hack or something for the commuting. A ZX7R will take a lot of work to keep tidy over the winter months. From past experience, Kawasakis have a rubbish finish, as do Suzukis. They’ll look manky after one winter.
A MZ250 is a good laugh if you like to leave a blue haze behind you and has an enclosed chain. Anything shaft drive is a plus. Or get a Scottoiler with the massive behind-the-number-plate reservoir.
Big panniers and jumbo top box are good for stowing kit, and a melted bus shelter on the front to stay dry
I use my Honda Pan European to get to the yard. Heated grips are a plus and loads of stowage space in the panniers.
Wear marigold gloves under your normal gloves, hands will never get cold or wet. Dont forget to hang wet kit folding it up will only help speed up the rot.
Depends how far you have to commute. Our depot used to be on the sea front in W-S-M and the car used to get covered in sand and salt spray. The in 1984 we moved to an industrial estate on he outskirts of town away from the sea and I thought "great, now the car will keep cleaner ". Only trouble was that a couple of months later a ready-mixed concrete firm moved in next door and the cars still get covered in dust and now cement dust as well! 
As a result I bought a cheap 50cc scooter to use to get to work (4.4 miles from home) and I don’t have to worry about the car getting covered in crap all the time 
. It is also good for beating the traffic queues we get in the summer here as well.