Hi guys,
I’m a spaniard who just got a job in London at “the city” area, and I’m thinking about taking my 600cc Yamaha Fazer with me.
Why? Because I love the liberty that gives riding a bike, and I would explore London and UK during weekends/holidays (I love traveling with my bike).
Furthermore, I heard really bad things about tube commuting during peak hours in centran London (and even monthly fares are crazy expensive), and I think that even with hard traffic I would enjoy more commuting with my bike.
First thing I did was to check London parking regulations, and found that I have a free parking bay area in my office street. I visited it with Google Street View and… oh God! The bay was overcrowded with scooters without any space between them!
So… first question… ¿I’m dumb if I expect to daily commute to The City and have free parking por a 600cc motorbike?
I’m not sure where I will live, maybe in London East (Bow area or close to) due the easy access to The City. I wouldn’t park the motorbike in the street. I don’t do it in Spain and I wouldn’t do it in a a cold/wet place (comparing to my current city) like London.
So covered garage is a must. I’ve been checking ads ad prices seems ok for London living cost standard (35-60pcm).
The thing is that I hardly find a few covered parking/storage classifieds in Gumtree. Are that parking places so hard to find? Maybe I’m looking in the wrong place? Any suggestion about this?
And my last question… how is moving around London city with a motorbike? I’m used to a relaxed city where I can move around and park my bike almost everywhere (my city allows bikes to park over wide sidewalks). I know that London does not allow that, so maybe I would have hard times trying to find a place to park when moving around the city?
I will take any suggestions, maybe I’m proposing a crazy thing to do, I don’t know, but moving abroad and leaving my bike here… feels sad.
With that big underground parking so close to my office (and seems that I’ll be able to park without difficulties in a so big place), I feel very positive about taking my motorbike there
Now the thing is looking for a covered parking where I choose to live. Living farther from city centre would make my rent cheaper (or in much better conditions for same price) , so seems an interesting option.
If I was commuting within London, I’d be looking at a small economic commuter that could be knocked about without ending in tears. Something around the 250 size, if its bigger than a 125 and smaller than a 500 it’ll be less desirable to the thieves. With speed limits and safety cameras restricting speed to mainly 20 & 30 mph with only the rare opportunity to hit the dizzy heights of 40 or 50, I really don’t see the point of using a bigger bike.
Someone will chip in with an Almax recommendation shortly, although you may find other other branded security chain products offer more flexibility for the same or similar levels of protection. You should give consideration to a decent disk lock such as the Zena 14XX too. London is a lock it or lose town, sometime a lock it and still lose it town, the statistics are astonishing. If there are easier pickings around the corner the safer your bike will be.
Horses for courses, keep the 600 for Fundays and touring
I used to park my GSXR750 in Baynard house parking every day as my office was directly above it. its very secure and has hundreds of spots for Bikes, you will never be without a space down there. it is 24hr security and cameras covering the Bikes. It is also Free There has been the odd theft from there but it is rare, but unfortunately does happen, but in the 2 years i parked there i know of only 1 bike being stolen.
Regarding living near to Baynard what is your preffered travel time? i live in Hornchurch which is lovely and much cheaper and safer than Bow, it took me 40-50 mins a day to get into Baynard Carpark, you could move a little closer towards Bow and keep the prices down with a Garaged property and still be within 30mins journey time.
I would definately recomend bringing your bike and commuting as the Tube is HELL!!!
I commute into the CITY but am lucky as my offices have underground parking… maybe worth asking… but echoing what the others have said, expect it to be knocked over… hopefully it wont but worth keeping a spare lever with you as well as the obvious covering your bike and security aspect… Good luck !
Remember, Borough Market on Wednesday…you can get more information from them too !
I’ve been commuting into London my my Fazer 600 for last 3 years - I reckon it’s the perfect bike for London. It’s got more than enough beans, nice narrow bars and fold in mirrors for quite filtering, really manoeuvrable perfect for weaving in and out of tight traffic. The Fazer isn’t too posh or high value, so not generally a target for the high end thieves and a good Almax/Pragmasis chain should be ample. Also the insurance isn’t too mad, which is good considering you always pay a premium for living in high risk London.
Garages in London are very hard to come by. I’d just look at somewhere with a something you can chain the bike to, or be allowed to install as ground anchor. Mines faired fairly well outside just under a rain cover.
Parking in the city: most on street bays are free, except in Westminster which is a £1/day. There’s a number of multistory car parks about which tend to be better, more secure, less cramped - many of these are free. http://www.parkingforbikes.com/map/onlinemap is a good source of info. Can’t really park on pavements mind.
As you have the bike, living further out is probably a better plan than very close in. Commute time won’t vary much, and rents will be cheaper. You will also will be able to opt for places further from local train/tube stations, which again should be a spot cheaper too.
BTW are you on the FOC-U forum? There’s a good bunch of Fazer owners there, with the LOFO London bunch often doing ride outs too.
Hola Scruti! Saludos de un compatriota Alicantino, de dónde eres?
I wouldn’t worry that much about getting your bike in to work every day, most of us do it every day. I can’t add up much on top of what everybody has said already. I would say most bikes are safe on the city as long as you have at least a disc lock on it. A fazer it’s not the flashiest bike you get to see on the city area on a daily basis. I wouldn’t pay for a garage in the city, parking bays should do the job just fine.
Anyway, come around on wednesdays to the Borough Market meet up and say hi.
I would say that perhaps more important than parking the bike for work is giving consideration to where you are going to live and whether you will have somewhere secure to park it overnight. Do ask at work though, there may just be somewhere you can park in or under the building. Otherwise get in early and you’ll soon learn the arrival pattern for the bays round where you work.
You will probably be best off finding a place to live out of the “city commute” area and getting a property a little further out with a front garden that the bike can live in, it will be perfectly safe in a front garden under a cover and a chain through the swing arm. Plus it will be cheaper living costs meaning you can enjoy the bike much more of a weekend
welcome dude, unfortunately the good policy of letting bikes and scooters park everywhere like we have in the continent is unknown in here, so you’ll have to rely on bike bays and car parks, which are free for bikes but a bit of a risk. big chain and disk lock and cover it if you can.
dont look for garages on gumtree, a bit of a dodgy site. go look in places like flatshare and such. you should be able to find accommodation with secure parking or garage for your bike.
hey! i work in the city of london, theres always space for another bike, i use snow hill / smithfield car park, very nice place. like everyone else has said make sure it’s secure as you can because bike theft sucks here, riding into london is a blast, lots of fun
Yes you just drive up to the barrier and go around it, there is enough space for bikes to go in and out, no need for a ticket. they have 2 security gaurds patroling the floors and if you get there ealy enough there is bars to padlock your bike too as well so was a very secure place to park, but like all places, the odd theft will happen.
Wow, so much information! Thanks!
For spaniards: Me alegra que seamos varios los españoles moteros por aquí, soy de Valencia, un placer!
About security… I carry an Abus Granit Extreme 59 U-Lock on my topcase. I don’t combine it with a chain because are not allowed to be used in public places here, but I gladly would add a chain to secure the bike in London. The Abus is awesome to discourage people from trying to unlock/break it. But it does nothing against few guys taking up the bike into a van. Anyway… is a 2007 not very expensive motorbike, hope nobody takes many risks with an old cheap locked and chained motorbike
I told about commuting to Baynard House to my company human resources contact (she asked me what I’m looking for so she can help me moving there). And she was very nice and told me that she will check if I can park the bike in the office parking (I didn’t know that they have one) and will tell me tomorrow. So as some of you suggested me about asking it… yep! they have a private parking! Hope to be lucky and having a place there
As you said my main concern is finding a place where the bike could sleep at night. I would initially go by airbnb and hope to find a place with a garden or similar where I could park, cover and chain lock the bike. I think you’re right about not looking to close to London centre. And thanks for the webpage suggestions.
Borough Market… do you have a meeting there? I gladly will attend when setted there (September/October). Thanks for the invitation
Oh, there is a Fazer owners club there? Great, I’ll also register there
As expected you have some great advice from the LB crowd
The only think I will add is that Jay and I have lived in East London for many years. Some areas have been really safe. Bow, however, is not one of those places. Unless like Marmablade suggests you get a garage, but they are hard to find so central.
I work in the city and my commute is 20 minutes from East London zone 2. You can definitely look a bit further out to get cheaper rent, safer bike solutions and still a good commute distance. Wanstead, Woodford, South Woodford are nice options.
^^^^^^^ agree with those locations, very nice and still only a 20 minute ride into Baynard. I’m originally from East London (Bethnal Green) and as much as i love my family heritage being deeply tied in with that area it is no longer the place it used to be and Crime is high and they don’t care what they nick, its just the fact they are stealing something, so although your Fazer may not be desirable to some people, this lot won’t care, if they can have it they will. Definately come a bit thurther out towards Essex, even 5 mins down the A12 outside of Bow makes a huge difference.
