During my working life I mostly
commuted by motorcycle. This was considered eccentric by my co-workers. They
thought that bikes were dangerous and uncomfortable - why not buy a car? But
when I worked in Glasgow city centre bikes made sense. I could cut through the
traffic and park free.
I usually had a commuter bike
that was light and economical (eg my CBF 250) but what do other folk use? During my now weekly visit to the
city centre I see that the bike parking bays are being fairly well used. The
mild winter has meant that riders have been able to use their bike all year.
Today I took a run into town to survey
the bike parking bays.
 |
| Sym Citycom 300, my CBF 250, Aprilia Caponord 1000, Yamaha
Fazer 600, Kawasaki GTR1400 (Concours 14) |
 |
| Trio in black - Yamaha XJ6 Diversion, Suzuki Bandit 600,
Honda NC700 |
 |
Two 125cc scooters, Suzuki Gladius 650, CCM 644, Honda CB500,
Chinese 125, Yamaha Thundercat 600, Kawasaki ZXR600, Yamaha YBR125
|
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| Yamaha Thundercat 600 |
 |
| Honda PXC125 |
 |
BMW F800GS
|
 |
| Suzuki GSXR600, Honda S-Wing 125 |
 |
| Honda CBR125 |
 |
| Honda Transalp 650, BMW K1200RS, Yamaha Fazer 600 |
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| My CBF, Suzuki VStrom 650, Suzuki Burgman 400 |
 |
| Honda CBR600, small scooter, Suzuki Bandit 1250, my CBF,
Yamaha YBR125 |
 |
| Honda CB500, Honda CBR250, Honda CBF125, Moto Guzzi Stelvio
1200, Honda VFR800, Honda CBR125 |
 |
| Piaggio Fly 125, two Honda CBR125s |
It was a typical Scottish early spring day - dull & damp
but mild. The sort of day that makes you wrap up well to ride, but soon feels
warm & humid when you start walking about.
So my conclusion - well people use all sorts of bikes.
Mid-sized bikes are popular but Honda's sporty learner bike, the CBR125,
is the commuter king.
Also there are a lot of 125cc bikes & scooters with learner "L" plates that I take to be people who've got into bikes for commuting.
Nice one. Its encouraging to see so many still out on their bikes given how wet and windy (if not mild) the winter has been. If it were not for the fact that I ride a bike to work without an engine I would be joining them.
ReplyDeleteHave been thinking about what sort of bike I would choose to commute on these days and for me it would be an NTV 650 ( the unfaired one with the short exhaust, shaft drive and single sided swing arm). I owned a green one from new and did 65k on it before trading it in for a pan european in 1997. It was so reliable and well made. I keep looking out for a decent one but they are hard to find as they were a favourite with couriers (who you dont really see any more!).
A see a lot of Deauvilles for sale - they are about the only middleweight with shaft drive these days.
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