2nd bike for commuting?

[Jono]

My work mate rides a suzuki rmx50 to work everyday, brilliant for commuting if you ask me. Does around 100km/h what more can you ask for

How much would a semi decent rmx50 cost? Ive seen a few pics of them and they look cool and better than a scooter!! + i could go for the odd blat on my mates paddock.

100k? Thats fast for a 50! How much work has he done to it? What would they put out standard and would they be easy to road register? I imagine they wont be too hard as they come with lights etc. But would it cost much?

[MrMelon]

I use the street magic all week. Costs about $8 to fill and a tank lasts a week and a half. It might go through 1 tyre a year too! but they're only $60 so thats ok. It takes a litre of 2 stroke oil every couple of months too. but doesn't cost anything to service, doesn't need warrants, and rego's about $70 a year.

[JimO]

the trouble with buying a cheaper/smaller bike is if it shits itself you havnt saved anything if it was me i would continue to use the sv. at the end of last year my wifes carparking went up from $18 to $28 a week and we decided to drag the old 750 out and she could use it for commuting. cost the rego $ 200plus, new rear tyre $ 200 plus new brake hoses and disc pads for a wof, new battery, new helmet and jacket all up it was over $1200 all to save 10bucks a week. On the plus side the bike is uasable now

[Timber020]

Okay heres how you can save money with the SV.

Dont register or wof it,ditch the license plate. huge saving in cost and it means that your tires will go that extra distance because they dont have to be to wof standards. And because you can ride like Ghostrider you wont get tickets as you have no plate!

Its perfect, if you really want to save more money you can disconnect the speedo (as the speed is irrelevant to you anyhow). Because your doing no kms your bike doesnt need serviceing!

Stay tuned, coming up next, world hunger!

[Shadows]

I thought long and hard about keeping the rat bike for commuting but I think it would be a shame to not use the new pride and joy as often as possible. Waste of money keeping the shitter on the road.

[MikeL]

Getting a smaller bike just for commuting is probably not justified if you only look at the economics. I originally only kept the CB-1 after I bought a bigger bike because I couldn't sell it for what I thought it was worth. I don't regret hanging on to it because it's small and light and fun to ride and when it gets knocked over by some prat reversing his car it doesn't cost the earth to fix. The saving in petrol over the 1200 wasn't a major factor before, but I suppose with fuel prices what they are now it has become a bit more relevant. What I have noticed is that the tyre wear on the 400 is a lot less than on the 1200. The Pirellis seem to go on forever.
The CB-1 has done almost 70,000 km now and I reckon I've got my money's worth out of it. When it dies I probably won't replace it.

[Bonez]

I'd just use the SV. It'll work out cheaper in the long run.

It's not to hard the manage rego/wof etc on a few bikes. Been doing it for years. Just buy old clunkers that nobody seems interested in for pocket change and go for it. If things get tight just throw one on hold. If they get binned just recycle what you can and get another old clunker. Aquire a workshop manual and learn to do your own, or at least some, of the servicing yourself. It's surprising how much you can save by doing this.

The GB400 gets around 280-320 on it's main which is 14 ltrs I think. Gerty gets around the same on an approx 16 ltr main, not too bad considering how old they are. Each has around 3 ltr reserve. 18" and 19" inch tires a generally cheaper than 17" offerings. Use 91 petrol in both bikes, which doesn't seem to hamper performance. The GB is a breeze around town but in saying the Gerty isn't to much of a handfull either and other vehicles tend to notice her better. Wider handle bars help while commuting on a bigger bike.

[fishb8nz]

My workmate has a GN250 and he's 110 kg and just replaced his back tyre after 17000 km. Fuel consumption is better on my BMW F650 than the GN. I get 75-80 mpg doing a daily 30 km each way. Tyres on my bike will last 10K, but as previously pointed out I don't save any money by running a motorbike. If I added purchase price, servicing costs, rego, insurance etc, then that's a whole heap of gas for my car.
My previous bike, a GN125, was actually cheaper than running the car as it cost so little to buy and got 120 mpg but 50 km, each way is a long way for a little bike. Stay with your present bike, I reckon.

[SARGE]

im actually gona grab a GN or a TU250 forcommuting and for the Mrs. i hate putting kms on the FJ.. already squared the back tire off ( after 12000 km of motorway) and she HATES slow speed commuting.. damn cams anyway..

[surfchick]

i was just thinking the srv250 is super economical-
$9.40 to fill, and over 250 kms to the tank of town & m/way running.
i have been basically a motorcycle courier doing tape running for a film over the last year...
on this bike your 72 bucks would turn into $18.80.

it cains it on the motorway no proplem (my commute is from te atatu pen) and i do 50kms a day...
when i bought it i beat another guy who wanted zis growley v-twin as a 2nd bike to commute from whangaparoa. beat him to it but... had it for over a year & it never needed work done yet... it's nice an narrow for those squeezs 'tween twucks and cars and utes and...

[Freakshow]

I am riding a GSX 250 and I have worked out that it costs me 19c/km and hat includes gas, tyres, rego, Wof, oil, filters etc & Insurance everything except Depreciation. And that is commuting to work plus extras so 40km a week day and maybe more on the weekends...

[SlowHand]

100kms a day, so i use a cage

i see your on this umm "new" thread cfc. buy my push bike biarch!

[chickenfunkstar]

Thought seriously about it for a while, but in the end came to a sort of dillemma :

If I got something like a GN250 i'd save a reasonable amount of money, but it wouldn't really suit the open road riding which I do quite a bit of on my commute.

If I got something like a GS500 or CB400, it'd be fine for open road riding, but with only marginally less power than the SV I wouldn't really save much at all. Running costs aside, given the choice, i'd rather ride my SV650 than a GS500 or CB400.

Anyway, i've still got the SV, 82,000km and rising. Should have plenty of life left in her yet.

[miSTa]

You can't go to far wrong with the SV. As for the mileage, as long as it's running perfectly and is reliable it doesn't matter.

Having two bikes is false economy. I picked up a little 400 the other week for commuting and now I wish I hadn't. I'm not gaining nor am I losing anything so there is no benefit in having two but potentionally more repair cost.

Perhaps more importantly is the different riding styles need for two bikes. The 400 and the 1100 are obviously quite different to ride and I don't think that I'm doing myself any favours with riding technique by chopping and changing bikes.

For me the answer is going to be to sell both bikes and buy something more of an all-rounder.

[Soggy]

I use my CB400 for commuting, I pay $12 for 220km.

My wee little GN takes 12 every 220+ish aswell
Havent had to replace the tyres yet and commuting on the motorway when its not busy is a bit of a hassle trying to get it that last little bit from 90-100 (im just over a 100kg )