Thread: Might be time for a Motor Bike

My two bits.
Love bikes, rode for years. Protective gear a must, as NM said, gravel in wounds is no good. Saw a friend of mine get scrubbed with a scrubbing brush to remove the embedded gravel from under his skin.

Be as brightly coloured as you can, watch out for painted lines and tram lines etc expecially in the wet. Space is your survival zone. Keep as much space between you and all other vehicles. Ride as if the are ALL out to get you. Always plan excape routes... I have ran up onto gutters 4 times in my days. Not wanting to point any fingers, but young girls on their mobiles turn and change lanes when they want to.

Being tall, a sports bike would not be the best. They are designed to ride with your elbows bent and relaxed, this enables you to react faster. Target a sports tourer, you'll be much more comfortable.
John

I do the commute to work from south east Melbourne on a triumph. Have done for the last 18 years.

If you wanted my advice I would say don't do it.
You need a sixth sense to ride a bike in peak traffic. People cut you off even when they have looked and know your there. As you haven't ridden for a long time it like learning all again.

We might not pay tolls now but they are coming. Eastlink WILL have them and I'm sure Citylink will follow suit.

If you do decide to ride, get a road bike, they handle, stop and offer some weather protection. Do an advanced rider course and maybe just start riding on weekends for a couple of months at least.
And wear all the gear, even if it 40 deg.

Regards

Originally Posted by grumpybastard

Im about $1,000,000 short in the wallet to make that a viable option

Maybe change work?

Originally Posted by mns488

Thats one of the annoying things about melbourne these days- Ridculous amount of Urban sprawl and absolute lack of investment in public transport.

We have all these new suburbs and little or no PT service to them.

I don't know how people can live out in the new estates or "new" suburbs when there are no business hubs out there so therefore they have to travel to work.

sorry, a bit of a tangent.

Enjoy the bike grumpy. I ride a scooter to work - easy as 20 mins door to door.

I don't know how people can live in a big city at all. Maybe 3 years in Alice and growing up in Adelaide has spoilt me. I can't stand Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane. People everywhere, terrible traffic, pollution, etc. Not my cup of tea.

I have been riding for years, in fact I do it for a living, and I agree with the protective gear, especially good quality gloves,as I always land on my hands.
I don't agree that bright colours help, they probably don't hurt. I was once in a Sydney bus (white with red reflective striping) and a person ran into it and said "Sorry I didn't see you" so it doesn't matter when they don't even look.

I started with black gear and helmet and used to have people turn into me, then I started riding quicker and wearing bright gear, now I ride quicker again and wear black gear and I don't have near as much problem. I think it is experience that protects you, and you will get to know who is trying to kill you before they try it. If you act confident drivers give you space, but if you putt around like a learner they will push you around.

As for sport bikes not being suited for tall riders, I disagree totally. I am 6'1 and I ride a GSX-R and find it comfortable, and have friends tall and short who ride all types of bikes, so it is personal preference. Try them first if you can.


Jeff

Thanks for the replies people.

I was working on $1000 for safety gear, but its looking like it might be nudging closer to $1200 realistically?

I wont be riding in the rain, i'll keep the tired commuter for days like that.

I was told lane splitting is legal in VIC something around a technicality where you aren't actually lane splitting you are overtaking?

Most of my riding will be below 60km/h the main advantage i have is being first off at one of the 47 traffic lights on my way in (yes i have counted them)

I'd love to the catch the train, but theres 2 issues with that. Im out in Port Melbourne which requires a change at Richmond to Flinders St, then a bus to P'Mel. But the major one is i often have to go out to site to fix or setup things places like Geelong etc so need transport. The appealing part of a bike is the 67c/km ....Geelong and back will pay for petrol for an entire month

Originally Posted by grumpybastard

one of the 47 traffic lights on my way in (yes i have counted them)

We only have about 7 sets in the entire town

Get the bike. I work in the city most of the time and the travel time from Bayswater has increased dramatically over the last 5 years or so and peak hour in the morning does not seem to end until about 10am. Used to take 45mins - 1 hour in the mornings but now takes about 1.5 hours to get to work. Unfortunately I need a car full of tools for work so the bike is not an option. I would love to be able to ride to work every day instead of sitting in the Rangie watching the fuel guage go down. Still have all my dirt bike gear and road bike gear. Unfortunately I dont have the time or spare cash to own bikes at present.