MOTORCYCLE COMMUTING:

THE ULTIMATE SOCIAL DISTANCING Richard Aucock update – June 2020 

honda cb1000r neo sports cafe with rider side view





It’s hard to escape the prospect of using public transport when living in a busy city. Trains run every few minutes, buses stop on most roads, and everyone’s got a taxi app on their phone. Public transport obviously has a convenience in life, but there are so many reasons why taking the journey by motorcycle can be the better option. Here’s our guide to why commuting by motorbike is the best option.

commuters on escalators london underground





Motorcycles can be cheaper

With train travel in the UK being notoriously expensive, using a motorcycle as your preferred choice of transport can actually save you heaps of money. In a 2013 report by Visor Down, the cost of commuting by train from London to Guildford was £366 per month, while commuting by motorcycle (including fuel, insurance and road tax) was £164.97 for the same journey. This means spending less than half of what the public transport commuter would pay. Obviously, these statistics are totally dependent on the journey and the bike though, so it’s worth checking a commuting map or commuting calculator to be sure.

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Motorcycles save time

There’s so much to factor in when commuting to work on public transport. There’s the journey to your train/bus station, the length of the commute itself (with delays a frequent possibility), and then the time it takes to get from your station to place of work. By taking the journey by motorcycle, you can hugely cut down on door-to-door commuting time. We talked to five motorcycle commuters and every one of them told us that riding independently made their commute time shorter. One biker told us that they saved 80 minutes by riding a bike, “My bike’s been in the garage, so it’s been taking me and hour and 40 minutes to get home.”





Beat the rush hour jam

City dwellers will have become accustomed to the sight of suited-up workers zipping through traffic on fold-up commuting scooters. Love or hate them, you can’t deny that they can crack through the rush hour jams faster than a bus or taxi. But you know what navigates busy streets even better than all of the above? Motorcycles. The mindless grind of sitting motionless in traffic or red signals changes when you’re on a motorbike. You can navigate through traffic easier, quickly take alternative routes, and use your knowledge to take short cuts. When asked why they chose to take their bike instead of public transport, one of the riders we spoke to said, “Because it's quick! I don't have to hang around waiting for buses. I like to be sort of autonomous and be able to go wherever I like whenever I like.”

honda forza 125 scooter on the road





More freedom and flexibility 

Not only does motorcycle travel save time when compared to the public transport commute, it also means you don’t have to rely on other people to get to your destination. One of the five bikers we talked to described it as, “more civilized and more flexible, with more freedom.” This goes back to the reason why so many people get motorcycles in the first place: the freedom of being able to do what you want, when you want. You’re free from the shackles of timetables and the dreaded delay messages over the station tannoy.

honda cr1000r neo sports cafe with rider front view









It won’t feel like a commute

When you’re forced to spend a chunk of your day commuting, you may as well spend that time doing something you love. When you’re riding your motorcycle, the journey won’t feel like a boring slog anymore, it just means you get to spend your mornings and afternoons doing the thing you love.

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