Commuting tyres

My company is likely to move office into a city centre next year, so
I'm thinking of switching back to commuting by bike, at least from
March through October anyway, because parking costs a bloody fortune.

Bikewise there's no way I'm using the GSXR, so I'll probably go for a
cheap SV650S, Bandit 6 (maybe 12), Fazer 6, or Hornet circa 2000.

Now, when I was commuting before the bike was also my toy bike so I
had the likes of BT010s on it, but that cost a fortune in new back
tyres every couple of months. For this one the pair of tyres needs to
last a year of commuting, so 20k.

Suggestions?

 

20k ! Blocks of wood ? Solid rubber ?

 

I doubt you can get usable tyres that'll last that long. I do about
15k-20k/year on the BMW on a mostly motorway commute, and it looks like
I'm going through 1 1/2-2 sets of tyres a year. BT020s, in case you're
interested.

That said, it's going to be the fuel bill that you'll notice, so I'd
get something that's quite reasonable on fuel and mostly ignore the
tyre issue. If you're stuffing 150 quid or more into the tank per month
and possibly have to service the bike (or get it serviced) every two
months because you're running 4k service intervals, the tyre cost is
not going to be the deal breaker by comparison.

 

I've got Maxxis Hi-Max (apparently Barracudas are better) on the GT750.
Made of Bakelite, good in the dry, not wonderful in greasy wet and seemed
alright in pouring rain but not BT45 standards.

?55 the pair and I expect to get 6K rear, 8K front but we shall see.
http://www.busters-accessories.co.uk/productInfo.aspx?catRef=569868&kw=maxxis

I'll be able to tell how good they're on snow in January.

 

I've got Continental Contiforces on mine. The rear's been on for some time
and is still plenty legal, I've probably done 8k on it and if it doesn't
square off too much I reckon it'll be good for at least another 4k. Mind you
I'm not fast or particularly adept at twisty roads and most of my commute
(80 miles a day) is motorway so read into that what you will.

--
Malc
R1100RS old and tatty

You laugh at me because I am different
I laugh at you because you are all the same

 

The Hornet of that era will piss you off with its thirst & smallish tank.
Great fun to ride, though.

 

Serious suggestion on the bike.

Yamaha Diversion 600s are very cheap, very reliable, very cheap to
service and fuel, very comfortable, but also very, very dull.

However, I racked up over 70k miles on one as a commuter bike, with no
hassles at all. Ran it on cheap supermarket car oil, stuck the cheapest
Continental tyres on it I could find and threw the odd set of pads at
it. Chains lasted 15-20k miles, at around 40 quid for the best you could
buy, and are safe on a split-link, so take about 10 mins to replace when
shagged. Use to replace the sprockets every other chain.

Under a grand will buy one of the very best out there.

 

Ahem...

My sisters SO has an X plate Divvie 600 with 11k from new under it he wants
to get rid of.

Has said he'd like £1200 which I reckon is a bit steep, but I know he'd take
a grand for it, which I reckon is a fair price for one of this vintage /
mileage.

--
JackH

98 Honda VFR800FiW
05 Sachs Madass
03 VW Passat TDI Sport
89 Vauxhall Nova 1.3 Pearl

 

Oh, we doing serious ?

XJ900F
Mine is approaching 90k
I suppose the never 900 divvy will be just as good

Yer, but the 600 is just , so , well, not "quite" a real bike

 

Or K75, K100. Bulletproof engine srsly. Go for the RT or LT. Bodywork
keeps most of the weather off.

Chasis issues same as any other bike. Treat driveshaft as a service
component; and it's less hassle than replacing a chain anyway.

Tyres BT45s; 8-10k front, 4-5k rear in my use.

K75 smoother but slower, however will cruise at 100-110mph if you're
lacking in mechanical sympathy. K100 will cruise at 120 if you're
lacking mechanical sympathy.

 

Oh come on. Ben's too young to be smelling of piss and mints - his wife
hasn't even dropped their first sprog yet.

 

Fuel shouldn't be too much of an issue. The bikes I've quoted above
will all return 40+ mpg on a motorway run (which mine is), so as long
as I get that, it'll cost no more than currently using the car. At
the moment parking is free, whereas after the move we'll need to use
public carparks at £6 a day. Hence the bike.

 

Never ridden an SV650, but they're girl's bikes.

Bandit 6 would be OK, as they're cheap as chips.

Fazers are horrible.

Hornet - again, never ridden one - i like the look of them, but they
have a small tank.

Swallow your pride and get something like a Divvie 900 - if you're
going to be racking up the miles, a shaftie would make sense, and
you'd look like a **** on a BMW (like who doesn't).

BT45s.

 

Cost ? Divvies are cheap and cheerfull

 

Yep. Sarah Jordan was pretty quick on her last time I saw her kicking
748s and other much bigger bikes into the weeds in Thunderbike racing.

 

I've no objections to SVs, after all, it wouldn't be the first one
I've owned, and I've got a proper bike at home.

 

No argument from me. Quite competent girls' bikes but, moments of panic
arising from under-damped suspension aside, they don't exactly get the
blood flowing.

Extrapolating from a single data point, namely the ML&S courtesy bike,
I'd go along with that.

 

It was, with the possible exception of the MT5 I had when I was 16,
possibly the worst bike I've ever ridden too.