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Needing some advice

ntklr650

Matt6:34
Joined
Jun 13, 2014
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Location
Krum Tx
First Name
Michael
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M
Hey y'all. I need a bit of advice. I. Contemplating selling my car and riding full time over the next 6 mo or so. I think I have a buyer but my wife gave me the advice of do whatever I think is best and she supports me. That's no help. Just wondering what you all think of riding full time to work(10miles ) everyday rain or shine. I will say I have done it before but I was a little bit younger. I'm in Denton area. Thanks for the advice in advance and sorry for being wishy-washy
 
Whenever the wife says Whatever (don't). Always leave yourself an alternative mode of transport for north Texas weather! Just my 2¢ worth. Ride Safe


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Why sell it, try it for the six months while the car sits in the driveway if then you are ready to go for it sell the car at that point.

But while you may get wet a few days during the best riding season remember winter comes every year and spring, summer and fall riding is great, cold rainy days still suck or at least they do for me.
 
Why would u only ride full time for 6 months?
Getting another car at that point?
Maybe buy a hoopty to drive on bas weather days.



Sent from my new fangled Morse code machine.
 
It can be done. Does your wife have a car? While grocery shopping can be done on a bike, it kind of sucks.

The next six months are doable for sure on the bike. Not something I'd want to do up here year round, but for most of the year it's not too bad. I ride often and most of the time my four wheeled vehicle just sits in the driveway. But it is nice to have it for backup just in case.
 
When the kids got to driving age I didn't want to buy another car. They inherited my Subaru and I bought an old Goldwing. That was in 1990 and I still don't have my own car. 3 Goldwings, 4 BMWs,and 650,000 miles later I am still riding daily. It isn't cheap ....lots of tires.

If you are serious you need the proper gear. Good quality.

I wear a Klim Blade, HJC helmet, Boots, and Gerbing electrics.

Ron
 
When my wife was pregnant with our first daughter, I wrecked and totaled the family Monza.

Only way for me to get to work was on the trusty GS750E. So from late November till tax refund showed up, I rode it to work every day.

The wife bummed rides from relatives and neighbors.

The things kids do ...
 
Unless money is the impetus, I'd tend to agree with Budzrex -- try it before you're completely stuck with it. Spring storms can be more than just "riding in rain" so if absolutely have to be somewhere, you'll need a cage available. That said, if you have a car you can use on those days, once you get into summer and into fall, the days you can't ride will be few and far between.
 
When my wife was pregnant with our first daughter, I wrecked and totaled the family Monza.

Only way for me to get to work was on the trusty GS750E. So from late November till tax refund showed up, I rode it to work every day.

The wife bummed rides from relatives and neighbors.

The things kids do ...

Brings back memories when I had little, a new wife a baby and 26 years old. Some of my fondest memories are when I had the least. I had some junk cars and mostly drove by faith with a screw driver and pliers chunked in the rusty floorboards. Back then I always had a dirt bike or old fishing boat.
Right about the right gear
 
I wish I could live with a pickup. I'm tired of filling that thing up with gas twice a week.

If your ok getting wet sometimes, I'd say go for it. A 10 mile commute can be easily done, unless there's a tornado or terrible storm outside.
 
What's the motivation here? Saving money? You won't save that much over a 10 mile commute let me tell you. Tire wear alone will take it's toll on the gas savings.

I don't save much over my 70-100 mile round trip either, but getting a discount on the HOV/Texpress is good, and add in that I'm always in a less stressed better mood when I've ridden to work and it is well worth it. But riding doesn't save much money, especially if you've got an efficient car. Even with the HOV/Texpress it doesn't save much time. By the time I've suited up and gotten the bike out and ready to go, I could have been well on my way. My arrival time is usually sooner when I drive. And that's over 35-50 miles depending on my route. You won't be saving any time over 10 miles.

If it's because you want to ride, go for it. If you want out of the car payment because you are planning on getting something new in six months, go for it. But make sure you know why you are doing this because you don't want to be kicking yourself in three months because you need a car for some reason and don't have one.
 
I ride about 8 miles each way to work. Neighborhoods, and a couple of main roads. I do like to stay dry on the way in, but coming home for that short of a ride I don't care about rain gear. Ice and snow would mean I'd work from home :-) I do drive my truck in once a week just so it gets driven. I'll take my wife's car on days when we are doing a team lunch so I can take my turn driving. But I could easily get by without my truck and just her car.
 
Well, you're an experienced rider, so you know what you'd be signing up for. Sounds like a personal choice to me. Let us know what you decide.
 
Thanks for the advice y'all. I decided to stick to the car for now. We were a one car one bike family for many years and as the kids have gotten older I just don't think I can do that as my wife has more need of a car then she used to. I think I will work on getting a bike and keeping the car until I know I can ride as much as I hope. Then maybe trade the car in on something more useful.
Thanks again for the advice. It's nice to have a level headed sounding board. I appreciate this community
 
If you want to save money buy a banged up econobox. Function matters. Looks don't. That's the best economy transportation you don't have to tie or pedal.

Motorcycle economy requires something small and cheap to keep. TW200. Fat tires last 2-3 times as long as other bikes same size, but cost a few dollars more. OEM oil filter and air filter can be cleaned and reused, so no short term recurring costs other than a bit of turpentine for cleaning and oil. Ringed chain and $4 Walmart chain lube lasts 25,000 miles. Couple of O-rings from an industrial supply for the rocker covers, 50 cents each. Even with a TW200, you can spend $40 on filters, chain lube, o-rings, etc., every 3000 miles or so, or do the same with $10 spent more wisely, or $120 at a stealership.

If you have good gear, sleet and hail up to golf ball size don't hurt. Rain won't get you wet. Cold isn't, at least on a 10 mile ride. Remember the tornado that ripped the glass out of downtown Fort Worth 10 or 12 years ago? I rode clear across Fort Worth to order a special tool from the Yamaha dealer that day. The sales people in the showroom backed away as I walked by. The looks of fear on those badapples squids' faces? PRICELESS!! Remember a couple years later when 80+mph straight line winds ripped off roofs and flattened a few houses under construction south of Alliance? I rode through that, too. The police officer who stopped me to tell me it was too windy to ride safely? Oh, you would have LYFAO if you saw what I saw: A low flying porta-potti into the driver door window. Fortunately, the porta-potti was too big to fit through the window and harm the officer, but it did break the glass and the contents, being liquid, ..., well, I felt sorry for the LEO because uniforms and uniform maintenance are expensive, so I didn't LOL, just rode on with the TW lenaing about 30* from vertical into the wind, a big grin, humming a happy tune.

As for cold, good quality rain gear head to toe blocks the wind, 100% polyester longhandles, inner socks, and glove liners, sweats, waterproof insulated boots with composite (not steel) safety toes, and 50/50 wool/polyester hunting socks and glove liners all come from Walmart hunting department, except boots, which come from the shoe department. Treat yourself to a nice set of real insulated, abrasion resistant winter motorcycle gloves. There is no real substitute for warmth AND abrasion resistance. Get yourself some cheap mesh gear, which acts as insulation, but allows air to flow around inside the rain gear to temper overly warm and bitterly cold spots. Even the cheapest functional gear as described will set you back a few hundred, which will by a few hundred gallons of gas for your econobox to go 10,000 miles, so the econobox is a lot cheaper than anything more expensive than a TW200. Used. Home serviced 100%.

Just a couple of my experiences the last time I was without a running cage, for two years, and being in my 50s indicates it wasn't that big a deal in North Texas. So, it is possible to ride when there is a tornado, during hurricane strength winds, any type of precipitation, and cold. It takes nothing more than the right bike and the right skills. People all over the world ride this stuff every day.

Fact is, for most folks (the sane ones), motorcycles are little more than toys, and discomfort is a choice to be avoided. Generally, toys are fancier, newer, have more farkles, faster, heavier, have bigger payments, cost more to maintain, etc., than basic transportation. Toys suck as basic transportation. My son builds custom vehicles, but his and his wife's vehicles are stock except a few carefully chosen options to enhance towing safety. BUT, she has a custom painted golf cart and their 5-year old has a custom painted pedal car, a dropped wagon for rides around the 'hood, and an awesome Yamaha bicycle. The only way to make a motorcycle work for transportation is to buy and build specifically for that purpose. Sure, such a bike will be able to do most anything, it just won't do anything extremely well. Save the extremes for your toy.

A 10 mile ride each way all you need is a TW200 with a properly jetted carb, o-ring chain, and back pack. Even on expressways, if you know how to draft. I've seen 84mph on mine more than once, with stock final drive ratio, give or take a tenth. When the tires wear, go with a cheap JDM street pattern from Chen Shin or similar--they ride smoother and last longer. Any more bike than that is a toy, not transportation. What you really need is one of each!

Some scooters are excellent transportation, too. Just check on the maintenance costs. I know a college prof who rides year around, across town (about 7 miles each way) on a 50cc Chinese scooter. He keeps 2 running and alternates them. Buys them used for zilch from students who don't know how to keep them running. He has a few spares for parts and future riding duties. No biggy when something major crashes, pretty rare so he salvages the parts and tosses the garbage in the can. Only time he doesn't ride is when there is ice, but schools close and he stays home anyway. That's how he affords an Ultra Classic Electra Glide for weekends.

Keep your ears open, and a little cash on hand. Something will pop up sooner or later if you aren't too picky.
 
What's the motivation here? Saving money? You won't save that much over a 10 mile commute let me tell you. Tire wear alone will take it's toll on the gas savings.
\.

I agree that the gas saving on a 10 mile commute would be minimum but if he is getting rid of a monthly car payment that could be significant.
 
I agree that the gas saving on a 10 mile commute would be minimum but if he is getting rid of a monthly car payment that could be significant.

If there is no bike payment. :rider:
 
The only time I think my choice to keep the car in the garage and favor the bike for every day travel was back in 2000, I was living in South Austin and working in Pflugerville

The ZRX made more sense than the car from a cost to operate standpoint. But the car was a 56 Chevy that I had a 427 BB and 4spd it was not an I35 commuter vehicle
 
Back in PA in 2011 the transmission went out of my Civic and I rode to class full time for almost a year until I could save to buy another car (I went back to school as an adult). It was 37 miles one way and winter in PA is very cold. I remember several weeks of 19 degrees or lower. I wished I had a car at that point LOL. I was riding a 2008 Yamaha WR250R, so not much wind protection either. If I could do it there I see no reason why someone couldn't do it here in TX.
 
Sorry I have not put an update.
But today I sold the car.
I had no urgent reason to sell and absolutely no payments. I just felt the car was at a turning point that eather needed some money to last a lot longer or I could sell it while it was still worth something. The plan is to find a good Enduro to ride and then get a truck end of the year when we hopefully find some land to by. I want to buy a full riding coveralls to make the ride to work a little easier and keep the dress clothes clean.

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I want to buy a full riding coveralls to make the ride to work a little easier and keep the dress clothes clean.

I rode my paid-off Wing for over a year while the wife drove the paid-off Hyundai in that same period. Day in, day out. It doesn't get real cold here, but there were many times in which the temp reading on the bike would be 115-118 when I would leave work to go home. As long as you can handle the weather extremes, go for it.

For a single piece of gear, your best bet will be an Aerostich Roadcrafter. Not cheap. But good.

Also getting good reviews is the Teiz brand... they are cheaper, but they are made overseas while Roadcrafters are built in the USA.
 
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You are showing your age calling a dual sport an enduro :) .
 
You are showing your age calling a dual sport an enduro :) .
I'm told I have a old soul. But I think the true Enduro are the best looking bikes out there.

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