Who Commutes on the FJR Daily?

[dcarver]

70 - 80 miles daily, 4x weekly. Bags on, cover in left bag, warm riding gear in right bag. Can't commute when it rains due to slippery bad treacherous nasty ugly muddy dirt road that lead to la casa...

 

[steeld]

I work 15 miles out of Cambridge in the UK and my daily commute is a mixture of dual carriageway (A14), motorway (M11) and other A and B roads. I use the bike 5 days a week unless the weather is really bad or I have a specific reason to take the car. My car does about the same mileage as the bike so there are no fuel savings and insurance is about the same.

I use the bike for several reasons:

1. The A14 can be congested mostly due to accidents - a bike is much better for getting through the traffic
2. A bike is easier through town when I go into the city centre - again congestion and parking being the main reasons a bike wins
3. Parking is free for motorcycles in Cambridge but extortionate for a car.
4. Finally, and most importantly, I enjoy riding a bike especially the FJR with its superb reserves of power and weather protection. I just wish that it was a bit more flickable but if it was, I'd probably be compromising on the other areas (I am still tempted by the BMW showrooms although the Triumph Sprint ST with high bars and luggage has caught my eye recently).

My office is about to re-locate and the commute will be essentially dual carriageway all the way.
I do the odd trip to London (50 miles) or Peterborough (30 miles) on the bike and I keep planning to go out on longer rides either solo or with the missus on board. I seldom seem to find the time - too busy unfortunately. However, I am toying with the idea of meeting up with the local advanced riders group for Sunday ride-outs with the aim of taking the advanced test one day. I think I'm a reasonably competent biker so would like to put my money where my mouth is.

 

[donaldb]

Commute like most here when weather permits and if other things permit. Somedays even w/good weather I have to take the truck, for one reason or another. When I commute to work it is about a 40-45 mile round trip. Rode yesterday and today :yahoo: likely will again tomorrow, life is good!

 

[bmwhd]

I commute 10 miles each way almost every work day here in the Dallas area. I only drive the cage when I have to go back and forth between buildings on our two campuses multiple times during the day for meetings. I'm an ATGATT sort of guy and it's a hassle when I have no time between meetings. I average 4/5 days per week most months.

The only weather that keeps me off the bike is the very rare ice storm. All other weather is welcome

 

[squeezer]

My commutes is about 85 miles round trip if I take the quickest way, which I don't always do when I'm on the bike. It's nearly all through rural areas, about 25 miles of freeway (fast moving, not stop and go) and the on marvelous two lane roads winding through the Alleheny foothills of central PA. When I take the bike, I feel like I'm playing hooky instead of commuting.

I'm a fair weather commuter, though (hangs head in shame).

 

[BumbleDB]

300 miles a week minimum. In the last year, I have only driven to work once. I have ridden the fjr in temp ranges of 24F to 104F, the fz1 from 27F to 109F. I'm totally bummed if I have to drive. I do have heated grips on the fudger, somewhat necessary for the < 40 temps.

 

[jwilly]

I commute everyday on the FJR when I'm not traveling. 55 miles round trip if I take the direct route which doesn't always happen. :yahoo:

-jwilly

 

[Waaane]

I commute approximately 75 miles round trip from San Ramon across the San Francisco Bay to Redwood City CA. It saves me approximately $6.00 a day in gas and bridge tolls and I get to use the commuter lanes on the freeway sections. It was a crisp 42 degrees this morning when I left but a neck band and heavy Frank Thomas leather seems to take care of all the cold issues for now. Once the heavy rains start I will switch to the car because Crow Canyon Road through the East Bay hills becomes extremely mud slide prone and I ride it in the dark at 5:30 AM.

My favorite commute begins at 11:00 Friday morning when my weekend officially begins. If the weather permits as it usually does here, I head straight across the San Joaquin Valley to our place in the Sierras above Sonora. My wife and the dog and cats go up eartlier in the morning. Sometimes that 145 mile ride stretches to 250 or 300. It gives me the same feeling I used to get when school let out for summer.

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

My office is 6 miles from my house. Since I bought the DRZ, I usually just use that for the commute. I probably use my FJR about 33% of the time on the commute and most of my miles on the FJR are now pleasure miles and errands.

 

[fjrchik]

I commute 90 miles round trip from Ft Worth to downtown Dallas as much as the weather allows. Cold is fine, but rain is a no. Been awesome this week with weather in the 80s!

 

[tcfjr]

When my son's old beater car gave up the ghost, I let him use my car to go to school, so I commute on my FJR almost every day, but it's not far. From my house in Temple City (just southeast of Pasadena, in So Cal) to my office in Eagle Rock (just west of Pasadena) is only 11 miles.

If my side-bags are empty, they're surprisingly roomy. I can stop at the store on the way home and put two gallons of milk in one bag, and two other bags of groceries in the other bag.

Last week I stopped at a bicycle store to pick up a magnetic trainer. I pulled the beer-knot webbing loops out between the front and passenger sections of the seat (see pic below), put some vinyl tubing around the rear rack (for protection), and tied the trainer's 26"x20"x9" box down using the straps I carry under the seat. The FJR can be very accommodating when needed.

 

[trmn8er]

+1 on a daily commute, 5 days a week for me.Coming from San Diego (just moved away 1 month ago)

It used to take me 30-45 minutes each way in the cage

With lane splitting alone (still following the speed limit, most of the time ) I cut my ride time down to 12-15 minutes depending on traffic.

I think the FJR is a great commuter bike.

Plenty of storage for anything you need during the day.

Even enough space to bring home a few groceries.

Now if the damn moving company will show up with my stuff, I will get back to riding...

I've been without my ride since early Sept, I'm going through withdrawls

So true Pawtracks. I love the utility of the bike. This is the first bike I have owned with bags and wind protection, and I too find it so handy to be able to haul my bike cover, extra layer, and still have room on the way home from work to stop at the store and pick up dinner. Really the bike is the perfect commuter bike. I have no complaints.

 

[GreyGoose]

Commute as often as weather allows (meaning no rain when i leave in the morning and no severe weather scheduled when i'm suppose to clock out) from march through november. 20 mile round trips with an occasional businesss trip thrown in (700 mile) to detroit. This bike is used 99% for commuting and i have very little time for a "weekend twisty attack". I guess that why that heli triple clamp and riser worked out so well.

Great bike for commuting. Hell, great bike for everythiing!!!! This is the only bike i've ever owned that is getting better with age. I was a little miffed about the initial farkling i found to be necessary to get the bike where i wanted it to be, but i havent looked back since. Honda has got a long way to go to produce a better 2 wheeler.

got a piece of our ohio indian summer going on this week. That means one more week of riding :yahoo:

GreyGoose

 

[FJReady]

Every day the weather permits, I ride 62 miles roundtrip. Sometimes highway, sometimes back roads, usually a little of both, always fun. Got a little wet this morning but weather forecast says I'll have a nice ride home. Pretty warm lately for Boston in November. Nice.

I agree its a great commuter bike. Not quite as good as a Concours (luggage capacity and weather protection) but the motor and handling compensate.

I'm very happy commuting on it. Especially the days I get lost on my way to work.

 

[chornbe]

I would be interested to see how many ride to work daily, or if not daily, how often, and how far. I now have 4500 miles on the bike since mid July, and figure I will put about 14K per year just riding to work, assuming I ride 3 days per week, and drive the car 2 days on average. This is not including the 2-3 long trips I take per year with my Brother and another riding buddy or two. Some days there are meetings, rain, or cold weather to consider that may force me to drive the car. Thanks for the input...

I ride ~30 miles each way to work, from West Grove, PA to Wilmington, DE. The days I don't ride are: 1) snow/ice present, 2) just too frakkin' cold (~15 and below), 3) I have packages or other errands to run for which I need the car. Otherwise, I'm on the bike.

My ride route takes me roughly 8-10 miles of 4-lane divided highway on Rt. 1 south of Kennett Square, then from there I take back country roads, including a fun and twisty section of Rt. 100 between Rt. 1 and Smithbridge Road, winding over to 202. From there, it's residential riding to my office. The commute normally takes between 45 minutes and an hour depending on how much traffic I hit in the residential areas. I'm often sitting in school bus zones

Rain or shine, typically. again, snow or horrible weather is the normal deterrent.

 

[mdisher]

I'm in about the same boat as JeffAshe...

~16-19 miles one way depending on the route I choose, so it's between 30 and 40 daily. It's all back roads, though getting more and more congested all the time :angry: They need to stop building subdivisions around here. Often though on the bike that ~16 to 19 becomes double or tripple that "just because"

I commute as often as I can. Sometimes that's daily for stretches at a time, other times it's not for various reasons.

If the weather totally sucks, I'll opt for the cage. But if it's not raining when I leave I don't at all have a problem riding home in it. Have FrogToggs will travel.

The deal breaker for me is usually what I have to do regarding the kids and picking them up more than the weather. All my kids love to ride, but the problem is I often have to deal with more than one.

It's funny that I originally used economy as a justification for purchasing a bike. But that's a myth, unless that becomes you're only transportation and you park the car, don't register it, and drop it's insurance.

The added costs of more frequent tire changes and other maintenance, plus the cost of the vehicle, insurance, etc, etc. Means you really need to save mucho denero on fuel alone before you even come close to breaking even.

Doesn't mean it's not more energy conscience to use though. The ONLY thing that is affected is my fuel consumption, my costs are higher because I still have two vehicles.

 

[smokeFJR06]

I ride as much as the weather permits. There's nothing exciting about my commute to work. It's only about 5 miles each way so I usually take the long way home via other towns and such. I do go home for lunch too, to let the pooch out. I'm just turning 9000 miles since mid April so most of my miles are on the road elsewhere than work communting.

Smoke

 

[wheatonFJR]

No commuting for me in this suburban mess. Things have changed in the last 20 years to keep me away from it. - ever present tail gaters & cell phone yackers have turned me away from it...I want to live to have a good day riding in the country...

So all my 30, 000 miles are weekend and trip miles

 

[Spooker Two]

I commute 5 days a week and about 35 miles per trip. My commute is on a road off Hwy 36 in Northern Calif. so the ride is always great with just a minor amount of traffic. Must always watch out for critters, especially when the commute is in the dark hours. Even ride in the rain, if not forcasted to be to heavy. The commute is on a 05 FJR and have 22,000+ miles on it (not all commute miles).

 

[extrememarine]

I commute everyday on the bike (FJR or H-D). When I deployed last year, I had my wife sell my truck right after I left. It wasn't getting much use.

I have the FJR now and alternate between the two bikes daily, with a short 5 mile run to work. Worst weather that I have to deal with here is heavy rain at times; heated grips & the windshield on the FJR will make this "winter" much easier to tolerate!

-wr