New rider; car vs. bike?

[Snaphappy]

You will gain experience faster and be a better rider after a winter and I can only recommend it, it can be a pain (not only in the arse, neck fingers and toes) but you will benefit from it.
But get a bike with electro starter, getting dressed for the winter roads and then trying to kick start is no fun , get dressed, get sweaty, get undressed, get cold, get starter pilot, get high, and after a long time kicking get started.

[Sharribee]

I have an 04 transalp, it has done just over 36,000 miles. I ride 60 - 70 miles every day with a few extra hundred on a weekend.

I ride all year round, all weathers. I have borrowed / nicked kit (from my dad) although I have to say the pink jacket is all mine,

I can't imagine taking a car to work - ever ..............................shudder at the thought

I have had no major problems with my transalp, and I can assure you that I am more non technical than you are and I have managed to do a small service on my bike with a bit of friendly assistance from my beloved. (assistance in the way of sharp intakes of breath when I go to do something not quite right)

If you love riding and love your bike you will manage, and dare I say it even love riding in the very worse weathers.

[xee]

Well I am certainly more confident now.

Bike it is then!

Thanks again for all the answers.

[krisg]

Spada. oops. lol.

[mally]

hi
i am junior too
'n' now when you have the money get the bike but ...
for the moment i prefer the car

[Whealie]

Bike for sure. Kit is vital but you can always buy cheap gore-tex stuff off ebay to wear over whatever protective gear you buy - I do this in the summer, when winter gear would make me too hot.
Get a set of heated grips too and you'll never get cold in the winter.
Honda engines will do 130,000 miles before you need to start worrying that they are getting on a bit.
do a police Bikesafe day and maybe join the local IAM to learn a bit more about roadcraft. You will improve your riding and feel more confident.

[matthelliwell]

So any of you out there that ride to work with a bike and have no car? How do you manage? Is it doable to ride throughout spring-summer-autumn?

Like plenty of others, I ride all year round. Handle bar muffs and a heated jacket make winter riding a pleasure - I wouldn't be without them.

[StumpyFingers]

i had abike anted car, got car, then did some mini cabbing when I was made redundent. sold car and went back to bikes when in financial difficulty, bike got stolen so bought one of the cheap cars from roadside. I then kept doing that for a few years but found I left it parked outside my home for weeks at a time, sold the car last year and am now back on a bike, the ta is my second bike since then and the combined milage of both bikes is twice what the car did in a year. would be a lot more but I am off sick with an eye infection and cannot drive or ride at the moment, quitely going insane, oh well back in the strait jacket for me

[Chad]

Well I am certainly more confident now.

Bike it is then!

Thanks again for all the answers.

good for you mate i think once you start commuting by bike you wont look back as all the best advice has already been given i'll add this


in the imortal words of billy connolly

their is no such thing as bad weather !!


only bad kit

[russh]

Agree with everyone else, get some good gear, make sure it's breathable, although it doesn't have to be GoreTex, I've some Heine Gericke breathable stuff (Sheltex maybe??) which seems to work just as well.

(I do have a vented jacket for the hot weather though. I find I cope better with cold than hot!!)

I commute all year round, I've only not used the bike on one day in the past year, this was when the roads were completly covered in snow, so much so my wife even put the car in a ditch that morning


The best bit though are the heated grips, they even seem to keep my feet warm

For an all rounder you wouldn't get anything much better than a Transalp