• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Commuters' Corner

JoeDabbs

New member
I was wondering if perhaps it might be useful to open a new topic area for discussion concerning those who commute. Maybe it could be called "Commuter's Corner" or something like that. Riders could share their experiences/concerns as it applies to those who commute daily - tips, tricks, etc. I wonder how many of the membership fall into this niche?
 
OK,
So here is a commuter thread. Fill it up and maybe a sunforum will evolve.

Voni used to cummute at least 9 months a year - winter - teacher - off summer, and still got 9 good months in Kansas. About a 35 mile one-way commute. I commuted occasionally but not regularly. About a 40 mile one-way commute.

Fill this up with commuter tips and tricks and discussion and lets see where it goes.
 
Hmmm, I commute 9 months out of the year on the bike, but other than rigging a holder for my travel mug in the tailpac, can't think of much that wouldn't apply to regular riding.
Maybe I'll learn something here....:lurk
 
I commute from the end of March until the end of October. Theory says I ought to be able to do more but that's about where I generally end up. Really quite a short 20 km each way with a mix of freeway And surface streets. The freeway is the only tricky part - due to an ice prone s-turn on a bridge over the icy Bow River with a water treatment plant ejecting warm water in at the same spot. From there I go directly to the city core and work in an office tower. I find the cars easy to navigate on the freeway except when in the slow/fast waves of traffic where I have manually flash my brakes to be seen slowing due to the high compression slow down attribute of the RT engine. I feel in order to survive commuting one has to leave your emotion at home or work. No place for it on the bike. Also helps to think of ones self navigating a school of piranha. Works for me. :wave
 
OK,
So here is a commuter thread. Fill it up and maybe a sunforum will evolve.

Voni used to cummute at least 9 months a year - winter - teacher - off summer, and still got 9 good months in Kansas. About a 35 mile one-way commute. I commuted occasionally but not regularly. About a 40 mile one-way commute.

Fill this up with commuter tips and tricks and discussion and lets see where it goes.

I hate it when I leave the room and someone else makes the only good observation I had to post when I came back

:rofl

Back to :lurking

oops forgot the beer to go with the popcorn...got to leave again. :brad
 
Regular commuter here. 25 minutes for the freeway route, 35 minutes if I have time to cut through the park and go scenic.

Tips....pre-ride, I check temperature and wind on WunderMap and Weather Channel for iPad (or iPhone). I know how windy it will be when I hit the hot spots, or if it's gusts of wind, etc. Also, the hourly breakdown is awesome since I ride home at night. I know exactly which layers to put on before I roll out of the garage at work.

I pack my lunch in my top case, but my coffee goes into a Thermos container. It's really the only brand that hasn't failed me. Everything else has spilled at some point. I also use screw top tupperware and dry sacks to pack stuff that might leak. I believe that the legitimate use of dry sacks is to protect stuff from wet, but since I'm a counter intuitive individual anyway, I'm using them in the opposite fashion. Hey, it works. I have a Kriega 20 that is absolutely my favorite pack and it usually gets snapped onto the pillion or thrown in the top case.

That's pretty much it for me.
 
35-45 minutes here - highway vs back roads... tho not the most scenic. :)

Kriega 20 here too! great tail bag! packs my 13" macbook (in sleeve) change of clothes, gym clothes, and sneakers if I need (tho I try to leave those at work)

great tip on http://www.wunderground.com/wundermap/ ! thanks!

I usually check our local weather radar - on the iPhone I use weather channel and RadarScope which is robust (in tech) but fun if you have weather enthusiast tendencies.
http://www.basevelocity.com/RadarScope/support_mac/index.php#content/faq.html

-tp
 
Here are some topics that would pertain to commuting:

Do you ride at the front of the swarm, the middle, or the back of the swarm?

Are you able to access the HOV lane (in Virginia, motorcycles can use the HOV).

What sort of road debris do you encounter? In the last 5 days, I have seen ladders, big couches, angle iron being run over by cars and flipping and flopping down the road - even a garage door.

What have you hit with your bike? Usually this happens when the vehicle in front of you is a 4 wheel drive - they can clear the obstacle, you don't see it, don't have time to swerve (or decide it's better to hit it dead-on). I have run over loading pallets and that garage door I mentioned above. Once I rode through flying pieces of foam insulation. Did you go down, or just go airborne? In my case, I've flown up in the air and smacked down hard.
 
I commute 100 miles round trip (and rode today for the 2nd time this year - global warming's alright!). 6 miles of surface street and 44 miles of freeway each way. There is no front, middle or back of the swarm - it's all one continuous pack. 10 over the limit (I've been past hundreds of speed traps at 10 over in multiple states and Ontario without triggering a chase). Constant scanning, polite habits, live and let live. Sometimes iPod, sometimes not. Coffee in a no-name travel mug that does seal (after finding several that don't) since the coffee at work is, um, less drinkable than the stuff I make at home. Weather Channel app on my iPhone. It takes longer to bike commute than to car commute with gearing up at each end. I am much more alert at work when I arrive than when I take the car. Otherwise, nothing else special.
 
I commute 9 months of the year. 135 round trip.

Pelican 1450 on the tail for the work stuff. (hyper lights mounted underneath)
Tank bag for the gloves and misc
iPhone in a pelican 1150 on the steering for music

5 gallon gas can at home for convenience top off

2 piece Roadcrafter . Colder in the AM and warmer in the evening. Work knows I'm in when they hear the "whoosh whoosh whoosh" of the suit coming down the hall.

Haven't hit anything yet!
 
@Teepke....Thx for the RadarScope tip. You can never have too many weather app's, especially here! The bay area is weather schizophrenic.

I've dragged my Kriega 20 around for over a year and it still looks brand new. After my first trip, I bought a couple 10's and use the 3 of them as luggage for touring. Sometimes as saddlebags, sometimes as lumbar support when I stack them on the pillion. For commuting, I shove my iPad (ensconced in it's folio) in the 20 and have never worried about it getting wet, or banged up. I'm a damn Kriega loyalist at this point.

I've never had to roll over anything in my lane, but I have seen random items on the road and take the opportunity to practice "target fixation" exercises. I test myself to see how quickly I can choose my line; away from whatever captivating pink plastic bag is floating across my lane.

For music, I use a bluetooth remote for my iPhone: http://www.amazon.com/Monster-iEZClick-Remote-Control-Black/dp/B000HVHGI6/ref=lh_ni_t

The bluetooth remote is possibly my favorite piece of gear. I love the option of pausing, changing volume and music tracks while I'm riding. Wirelessly. It's water resistant but not waterproof, so don't use it in rain. Also, you will have to replace the battery every couple months (and possibly right after it's shipped to you if it's been stored for a long time).
 
Living in Florida I commute year round. The trip is only 12.1 miles each way and traffic only comes into play when going to work as my hours are 1530 > 2400.
 
A nice respite is to come in on Sunday mornings when there is no traffic...so different than dodging the bullets all through the week!
 
Back
Top