Hello Chaps - I’m moving to Surrey with the family later in the year so I’m considering the daily commute by bike to my office in Mayfair. I haven’t ridden for 15 years so I’m doing my direct access now and will then ditch the tube and do a seven mile commute from Crouch End to get warmed up.
The Surrey commute will be from the Sunningdale area so it’s approx 50 mile round trip and could do the M25/M4 or M3/A316. Anyone else do a similar commute and can provide some tips/advice on the traffic, routes etc…?
hi sir, have you introduced your self in the newbies section…where you living I have my place in Normandy…its the only way into london other than by train…dont even think of going by car its a crazy journey…
but do get some miles under you belt as it can be a very very dangerous route…up the a3 316 and a4 easy route…
oops didn’t see the newbies section…anyway, thanks for the reply…
We are looking at places in sunningdale, windlesham etc…want to get out of north london to provide a better environment for our youngster. The train is an option but 56 mins to waterloo then tube to green park - sounds like a pain in the arse to me…
I commuted for 3 years on a 125 in and around Bristol when i was younger and had a few goes on bigger bikes - i’m reasonably confident that i’ll be OK with handling the bike (planning on something sensible like a CBF500 to begin with). My only concerns are around the traffic and daily grind of a 50 mile round trip, although I used to do 30 miles round trip on the 125 without any problems so I think it will be fine…
Ive been doing 60 mile round trip for the past year into Victoria on a Honda pan and the only problems ive had is mostly car drivers and the weather, but it wins hands down over the trains or driving.
I think the A4 is a bit of a nightmare from chiswick to kensington because the roads are only just wide enough for the cars, v difficult to filter with them. Dont think it will be too bad for you, get some good waterproofs, a pinlock visor and possibly a topbox, you will be fine mate.
Will probably take you about 45mins/1hr door to door maybe…?
thanks for the encouragement lads…i’m gonna for it…have DAS course booked for a few weeks time. Now to choose a bike…my sensible head says get the CBF500 but the CB600 hornet looks very tempting…what d’you reckon?
hi and welcome to the site!I commute regularly from Woking to Westminster (60 mile round trip), and find it fine - and in fact generally a lot of fun! You just need decent all-weather gear for Winter, as otherwise you can get pretty cold and/or wet in 30 miles!
Being slightly further East than the area you’re looking at, the A3 route works best for me. Fast up the A3 to Putney, then relatively little stop-start, with wide roads which are easy to filter on.
I have a friend in Chobham (nearer Sunningdale) and he reckons the M25/M4 route is quickest for him. Personally I don’t like it though, for the reasons Elad mentions, plus also motorway filtering has me on edge as you never know when someone is going to change lanes without warning. That said, my mate has been fine so far, so it isn’t all that bad!
Two other considerations:
worth choosing a town/village with a station - in case the bike is in for repairs/etc, or if you’re having an eve out in townhigh mileage gets expensive - and your bike will look like crap fairly quickly from the winter salt, etc. As such, I’d suggest a bike that’s not brand new (tho with lowish miles), and that doesn’t cost too much to service/run. Slightly harder wearing tyres help as well. (NB. I have a sports bike which I love but it’s costing me a fortune!)The Hornet sounds like a good choice btw - easy to get on with when you’re new, but also fun to ride and has more street cred than the more commuter-focused bikes. Other options would include Fazer 600, SV650S, Z750.
I would go for the 600, just a little bit more poke for fun, and probably go for an older model and save a bit of cash for the servicing/tyres/general maintenace as FF said above, you are looking at 12/15k per year, thats 3 services, rear tyre, chain and sprokets, brake pads - gonna add up! still miles better than cage or cattle train
No doubt someone will pop up and point out that this sort of commuting is exactly what a maxi-scooter like an X9/Majesty/Silverwing/Burgman was designed for. :Whistling:
thanks lads for more great replies, esp fizzy fish for your detailed info…
i will definitely get some top notch waterproofs etc…
as for servicing costs, say i went for the hornet (might get a new one as they are doing 0% finance at the moment and I have 50% deposit to put down) what would i be looking at annually for the 3 services and other bits mentioned?
+1 (I spent a yr working at Chiswick r’bout and live in SE1. Mrs BB still does the commute from SE1 to Hammersmith every day). It’s a grotty bit of road, that. Even if you come off at Hammersmith R’bout and go down past Olympia and High St Ken it gets gummed up with traffic and there’s not mushroom to get a bike in and out of the traffic. You can try a few back roads, and try going through the Park, but imho it doesn’t make a lot of difference.
My tip is to choose a few nights when you’re not in a rush and do all the alternative routes you can think of. Because in London YOU WILL need to use them some time when there’s an accident, or roadworks, or whatever.
But generally, a 30m commute should be fine (once you get used to the last 5 miles taking as long as the previous 25 miles ;0) )
Bear in mind that at first the commute will be very tiring. As you get used to it over the first few weeks it will be OK, but the first few days be prepared for being very tired.
I would also recommend you do some dry runs - for example ride your route on a Sunday morning a couple of times so you are familiar with it before you have to play with the traffic.
good plan…dont forget the good old bandit 650 its a great bike 0% interest there too I think, it will take the salt abuse with copious use of ACF50 sprayed all over it, and a good wash now and again. Servicing will cost you just over 100 quid if you take it to Normandy motorcycles…get the half fairing model and you can fit an aftermarket bottom half fairing if you want to improve weather protection…heated grips and handle bar muffs and you will be cosy warm no matter the weather…go by train if it snows, or rains very heavily…and defo pinlock or fog city…on the helmet…improves visibility in all weather…
I would recommed the A3 route (as already stated) although there are a number of speed cameras and the speed limit does change on the road, so you have to keep an eye out.
I’ve got a 2005 Hornet 600 and it’s an absolutely top bike, I’d 100% recommend it. However, being a naked bike, if you are commuting up to London on duel carriageways that will be hard with the wind chill factor - I find that a problem sometimes. Also it doesn’t have a huge tank, so you need to fill up quite regularly, which can be a pain. But an excellent bike all round, easy to ride and would, I’m sure, suit your purposes.
