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Grab The Motorcycle Keys or the Car Keys

88bmwjeff

88bmwjeff

SF Bay Area
I'd love to take the bike to run errands, go to work/office, etc. However, most of these trips are less than 10 minutes away. I'm pretty much an ATGATT rider. Consequently, I have trouble rationalizing spending 5-10 minutes to gear up for a 10 minute ride, then another 5-10 minutes putting all the gear away. I'm curious. Where's the break point for others with regards to grabbing the motorcycle keys vs the car keys.

For me, I think it would be about 15-20 minutes.
 
Time makes no difference to me, but I am a helmet, jacket, gloves, jeans and boots rider. All my gear is handy and puts away in a minute or two.

Convenience, where I an going, what I am picking up and the weather dictates 2 or 4 wheels.
 
I'm also a ATGATT rider. As you stated the time gearing up and then riding in my city of notoriously bad drivers almost always prompts me to leave the bikes at home for errands. The car constantly wins.

Our local club meets monthly at a restaurant less than a ten minute ride from my house. I take the car for these gatherings since the bikes hardly get up to operating temperature. Of course for two other clubs whose breakfasts are each a couple of hours away, the bikes win every time. :thumb
 
For errands I'm MOTGATT..."most of the gear". Traffic is a non-issue for local so I'll throw on helmet, gloves, armoured jacket and my BMW riding sneakers (zip up- easy peazey). I'm also usually using my Himalayan (Royal Enfield) thumper- 411cc. Side cases fit any Hardware store , auto part or supermarket pick-up. Still a minor pain, but firing up a big engine, or even a 1200cc bike for under a mile or two often gives me the patience to dress for a quick ride.

Re gear- I have a huge pair of sullivan gloves so I'm not squirming into my usual riding gloves, I'm willing to take the calculated risk of no armour on the pants and the BMW sneakers seem adequate and are comfy enough to leave on anyway. I also don't wear hearing for these local jaunts.
 
I live in a little town of under 1000 so when I wander downtown to get something small I'm usually BJ&T. That's blue jeans and teeshirt. And it's usually on the wife's Zuma 125. I'm willing to assume the risk, but if I'm leaving town I'm geared up. And on a bigger machine obviously. :laugh
 
Over the past two years I have begun opting for the motorcycle. As an ATGATT rider I think the two things I consider most in choosing to ride an errand (short trip) is 1-Is it reasonable to wear gear in the destination and 2-Weather. I am less likely to gear up for a quick run to the store in 90° than 60°. Work/Office attire is business casual which is easily worn under gear. The commute is in the 30-40 minute range so once again, I am more concerned about weather in that situation.
 
PoorUB said:
Time makes no difference to me, but I am a helmet, jacket, gloves, jeans and boots rider. All my gear is handy and puts away in a minute or two.

Convenience, where I an going, what I am picking up and the weather dictates 2 or 4 wheels.
Click to expand...

This is me as well. The only thing that really dictates armor pants or over pants is the weather/temp. For foot protection, I wear Vans MTEs most of the time. If its a long ride I thrown on my Alpinestars ride sneakers. Even though the VANs are great for weather and comfort, I'm looking for that perfect pair of ride boots for better ankle protection. I just recently went from a K1600GT to a R18TC.
 
Cruising around town at lower speeds etc I will dress down a bit. Gloves and eye protection 100% of the time and helmets are the law. The thought of a small low speed getoff doesn't worry me.
 
I don't like to start a bike unless I can get it fully wormed up which depending on the weather I figure is 10 to 20 miles, or twenty minutes (allowing for traffic idling). Those parameters seem to long enough in time to make gearing up (and putting away) "worth it". :brow
 
Rich said:
I live in a little town of under 1000 so when I wander downtown to get something small I'm usually BJ&T. That's blue jeans and teeshirt. And it's usually on the wife's Zuma 125. I'm willing to assume the risk, but if I'm leaving town I'm geared up. And on a bigger machine obviously. :laugh
Click to expand...

GREGFEELER said:
I don't like to start a bike unless I can get it fully wormed up which depending on the weather I figure is 10 to 20 miles, or twenty minutes (allowing for traffic idling). Those parameters seem to long enough in time to make gearing up (and putting away) "worth it". :brow
Click to expand...

I like both these concepts especially when it takes more time to get the bike out and get ready than the actual ride.
OM
 
It is 14 miles to town for us. Half that distance is on a 70 MPH hwy and the other half is either on an 80 MPH I-State or 60 MPH Hwy; warming up the bikes is not an issue. I found running several errands on a bike to be cumbersome and often not worth the effort, but the Urals changed that. Now we can enjoy the ride, have hauling space and have space to stow or gear.
 
akbeemer said:
It is 14 miles to town for us. Half that distance is on a 70 MPH hwy and the other half is either on an 80 MPH I-State or 60 MPH Hwy; warming up the bikes is not an issue. I found running several errands on a bike to be cumbersome and often not worth the effort, but the Urals changed that. Now we can enjoy the ride, have hauling space and have space to stow or gear.
Click to expand...

My definition of bike compatible errands are things for which I typically do not have to remove my helmet, don't involve any object larger then saddle bag size, and take 5 minutes or less off the bike. :dance
 
GREGFEELER said:
My definition of bike compatible errands are things for which I typically do not have to remove my helmet, don't involve any object larger then saddle bag size, and take 5 minutes or less off the bike. :dance
Click to expand...

All good rules, but add: Nothing that is breathing......
 
Town is 53 miles away on a 75mph speed limit highway so ATTGATT rules the day. And the ride is certainly long enough to warrant gearing-up. But I hate plodding around in riding gear. So if it is a trip with many stops - grocery store, hardware store, pharmacy, lunch, dollar store, etc there are two issues. One is the wandering around in gear and the other is space on the bikes to put stuff. So if I need to run to the hardware store to get a few parts taking the bike is fun. But if it a once or twice a month grocery resupply trip the car wins every time.
 
PGlaves said:
Town is 53 miles away on a 75mph speed limit highway so ATTGATT rules the day. And the ride is certainly long enough to warrant gearing-up. But I hate plodding around in riding gear. So if it is a trip with many stops - grocery store, hardware store, pharmacy, lunch, dollar store, etc there are two issues. One is the wandering around in gear and the other is space on the bikes to put stuff. So if I need to run to the hardware store to get a few parts taking the bike is fun. But if it a once or twice a month grocery resupply trip the car wins every time.
Click to expand...
Plus the 12volt- 40 quart freezer strapped to the back amplifies the cross-winds. :laugh
OM
 
skibum69 said:
Cruising around town at lower speeds etc I will dress down a bit. Gloves and eye protection 100% of the time and helmets are the law. The thought of a small low speed getoff doesn't worry me.
Click to expand...

This was me, until I had a <2mph FDGB and shattered my pelvis in 3 places. 3 mos in a wheelchair was no fun! I believe armored pants would have made this a 'bruise and bounce" incident. The four months w/o riding did give me enough time to track down replacement tupperware and turn signals that were also damaged.
 
GREGFEELER said:
I don't like to start a bike unless I can get it fully wormed up which depending on the weather I figure is 10 to 20 miles, or twenty minutes (allowing for traffic idling). Those parameters seem to long enough in time to make gearing up (and putting away) "worth it". :brow
Click to expand...
Although I didn’t mention this, I also believe this.

jgoertz said:
This was me, until I had a <2mph FDGB and shattered my pelvis in 3 places. 3 mos in a wheelchair was no fun! I believe armored pants would have made this a 'bruise and bounce" incident. The four months w/o riding did give me enough time to track down replacement tupperware and turn signals that were also damaged.
Click to expand...

It’s probably been a while, but sorry to hear about this. Glad you’re OK now. The only time I do not fully gear up is when I’m working on the bike and I need to take the bike out to warm it up or a quick test ride for another reason. But, these are few and far between.

Anyway, I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s thoughts and comments. I see that many riders have the same concerns as I do, and there's the balancing of getting the bike and oneself ready to ride and the length of the ride.
 
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