[Mr Meanour]

Evening All. Loving the community, thanks for looking at my post

Q1.
So i have smashed into my 40's and am fed up with my commute traffic and parking issues. I work in construction and can be a little all over the place. My commutes can be 50 miles each way, I live in the Cotswold's and can get to most of my sites quite easily without hitting a motorway Bristol, Bath, Swindon, Worcester etc If i end up going to B-Ham or London i will be on the train. I normally carry a laptop with me so a bit of space for a bag is handy. I also wear a suit to work so have no need to dress in a leather onesie or pretend i'm sponsored by an energy drink. The boss is fine with my getting a bike thing but she does not want it to become an expensive folly, so we need to be frugal, Im getting my license next month and insurance looks crazy on all but the most modest of machines. Can anyone recommend something that ticks all the boxes? Bike or Scooter?

Q2
Is a 125 big enough? certainly seems the cheapest way of doing it?

Q3
parking at stations seems to be a nightmare as i cant find where to park a bike online. How do you find bike parking?

Thanks Everyone

 

[johnnyvee]

Welcome to the forum!

The preferred mount for the middle ages was something like these:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/38562140545831321/

I use a Royal Enfield 500 for my commuting. Around 70 mpg, with decent power for occasional highway use and excellent maneuverability for city traffic. I understand that the insurance may substantially higher for this capacity machine in the UK. I thought the big vs small cutoff in the UK was 250cc?

I'd consider 125cc too small for my use, but this would depend somewhat on the roads you expect to ride on, the traffic and your physical size. Where I commute, I can cut my commute time by 1/2, but the biggest factor in this is the ability to slip past long lines of stopped traffic at stop lights, then accelerate rapidly away from them. Without the conclusive acceleration when at the head of the line, I think my practice of "slipping by" would create an unacceptable and possibly dangerous amount of hostility.

I find parking in odd spaces, between other vehicles, or on bits of private apron not part of the public roadway whenever possible. One of the joys of city motorcycling is the ability to always find parking in front of one's destination. Chicago has gone away from designated "spaces" on the city streets, in favor of a system of electronic payment for the right to park for a certain time period, so this lets us riders tuck in wherever there is room, quite legally. It's all electronic, based on number plate, so there's no need for meters or slips of paper.

 

[slick nick]

2020 Suzuki V-Strom 650 bet you would look good on this. check the insurance rate