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Daily hack or polished trinket

2K views 27 replies 19 participants last post by  silentservice703 
#1 ·
So, it's a little after 6pm, I'm in the studio and the roads look wet outside. I don't mind though, I'm about to have a nice ride home as my F4's in the garage.

Yeah she'll get dirty, and the seat might pickup some water marks, but she'll clean up fine in no time. Commuting racks up the mileage too, but I don't care, my bikes are there to be ridden. Besides, nothing slices through traffic like a skinny F4 and a rider on a mission.

So, I'm curious, am I an oddity, using the bike as an almost daily rider, or do lots of others feel the same way? Alternatively, are you the opposite, "it's an item to be cherished and kept for best, ridden on special occasions only, you're a heathen if you don't"?

C'mon, share with the group.
 
#2 ·
It's nice to hear that you use the F4 a lot. As I mentioned on the other recent thread you started abut touring Gavin, I use my Ducati far more than the MV. I love riding the F4, but it is really a fair weather toy for me, far more involving than the Duke and a total hoot to ride. Another thing is I like to take my girlfriend on the pillion which as my F4 is monoposto means for me, two up rides are Ducati only events.

The Evo III 750 I had previously was 1 + 1 but my then wife (an experienced pillion rider) went on the back just once and said she never wanted to go on it again! I didn't go that fast or crazy honest! So when I bought the 1000 I decided to go for the single seat version.

So in summary the Duke is the girl next door whereas the F4 is the supermodel you always dreamed of taking out. Just my take on events of course.:naughty:
 
#3 ·
All my bikes have seen the rain, the F4750 has seen much more than the others combined. My policy: They aren't made of brown sugar. You don't really have too much of an option in New Zealand. Aotearoa is the Maori word given to NZ. It translates to ao = cloud, tea = white and roa = long, and it is therefore usually glossed as "the land of the long white cloud".
Certain times of the year we will literally have four seasons in one day.
I also believe you can learn quite a bit from riding in the rain.
 
#14 ·
Have You Ever een the Rain?

All my bikes have seen the rain, the F4750 has seen much more than the others combined. My policy: They aren't made of brown sugar. You don't really have too much of an option in New Zealand. Aotearoa is the Maori word given to NZ. It translates to ao = cloud, tea = white and roa = long, and it is therefore usually glossed as "the land of the long white cloud".
Certain times of the year we will literally have four seasons in one day.
I also believe you can learn quite a bit from riding in the rain.
So have mine - from the safety of the garage :laughing:
 
#4 · (Edited)
I ride my Brutale as often as I can, which normally means every day :yo:. The state of the weather, and lack of mirrors :naughty:, is not a reason not to ride, it is merely a good opportunity to get to know your bike and improve your riding. I bought the bike in June last year (with less than 1000 miles on the clock) and am just sorting out dates to take it to XBikes for a 9000 mile service. I also clocked 6000 miles on my Buell in the same time period. :brutale: Both bikes have been to France on a couple of occasions, all over the UK and a few track days over the last 12 months. I never use my bikes for commuting to work.

For me bikes are made for riding. :yo:

:)
 
#5 ·
I commute daily on mine, unless it's pissing rain when I actually leave in the morning. As I live in las Vegas, that happens but once or thrice a year.
In two years I've put about 16k miles on it, but that's because my commute is just 12 miles round trip.
 
#6 ·
My bike is a rider :brutale:

....but I can't use it for commuting, as the trip is only 10 feet down the hall :naughty:

...except the weeks when I am on the road, and that involves carrying too much stuff, so car it has to be. :(
 
#8 · (Edited)
I've been riding bikes for some 30 years, and for the first 6 years I only had a 1968 Triumph T500C.. It wasn’t much fun riding in the snow to work wearing some old scanky wax Belstaff combo.

Nowadays if there’s a possibility of rain and we’re going out on a local ride, I’ll take my KTM, as it is easy to clean off afterwards.

If no rain is forecast I take my BMW or Ducati (F4 is in bits at my friend’s house).

I can’t be asked spending a day cleaning the bike, even though it’s pleasurable once you’ve got your bike looking like new again.

I only ride my bikes nowadays for strictly pleasure, or if I’m going somewhere that is a nightmare to park.

Respect if you ride your bike on a daily bases, and I would too if I lived somewhere hot and dry, but for me the UK has a non friendly biking climate, unless your name is Donald Duck.

Am I on my own here ? ( approx 3200 miles covered this year so far )
 
#12 · (Edited)


Am I on my own here ? ( approx 3200 miles covered this year so far )

That will be similar to my biking mileage John, but as I said in my earlier post probably 75% of that will be on the Ducati.

Like you I envy those who live in hotter climes, it sounds like the guys in New Zealand have a similar (wet) climate to here in the UK. I totally agree with Castle, wet riding is an art in itself, it can be a great deal of fun and 30 years ago I rode in all weathers all year round (because I had to, my motorbike was the only alternative to Shank's pony back then, our local bus service ran every 2 hours to the nearest town!).

Now my 50+ year old bones are aching bad enough after a 150 mile ride in the dry, but if it's wet and/or cold I'll take the car thanks. But it is good to know that many of the guys here get a lot of use out of their MV's and long may it continue.:)
 
#10 ·
With you!

I ride every day, and today I made the mistake of taking the cursed automobile. Comming up on 3000mi and I think I bought her in April? Yes I agree, bikes are meant to be ridden, plus in the long run you are safer riding every day than being a weekend rider. Your senses and reflexes are finer tuned, your reaction time is quicker, plus you body hardens in the right places, and you experience less riding fatigue.

Fortunately I have a locker at work where I keep my daily garb and utility belt. I just wear my gun and I'm off.

I also find that bikes that are ridden daily seem to be happier, its like my wife, if I don;t ride her daily she gets all cranky and upset. The motorcycle has a spirit of its own, within the infintie spaces of the atomic lattice lies the metals heart and soul, an infinite array of desires to be ridden and used. Alas on days that I do not ride I feel her whining like a dog in a cage waiting to be set free.

I am rambling...

Ride Ride Ride, the more we ride the more we are seen and the more people who hate us will have to accept us.

So, it's a little after 6pm, I'm in the studio and the roads look wet outside. I don't mind though, I'm about to have a nice ride home as my F4's in the garage.

Yeah she'll get dirty, and the seat might pickup some water marks, but she'll clean up fine in no time. Commuting racks up the mileage too, but I don't care, my bikes are there to be ridden. Besides, nothing slices through traffic like a skinny F4 and a rider on a mission.

So, I'm curious, am I an oddity, using the bike as an almost daily rider, or do lots of others feel the same way? Alternatively, are you the opposite, "it's an item to be cherished and kept for best, ridden on special occasions only, you're a heathen if you don't"?

C'mon, share with the group.
 
#11 ·
Good to see I'm not alone. I wasn't sure if all MV owners would pour scorn upon me for using it - there's so many out there with 3000 miles on a 3-4 yr old bike (I've done that in the 3-4 weeks I've had her on the road!)

I agree with Mindnicrow too - bikes that are used regularly give far less problems. Bikes that don't see much use get bits that sieze or they become grumpy (and I too have used the Girlfriend analogy! LOL)
 
#15 ·
As the weather was so nice here yesterday (Wednesday), decided to take out the Brutale for a little ride, 275 miles round trip including a stop at X-bikes to get a quick 9000 mile service done. That will be near enough 400 miles in 48h00 as was out on it on Tuesday despite the downpours :yo: :yo:
:brutale:
:)
 
#17 ·
I'll admit mine hasn't seen much rain since I got a Seat Factory seat. I'm a little afraid to get it wet and ruin it. Before the seat I rode in all conditions. Rain never stopped me and neither did the "first ride of the year" when there was still mountains of snow on the ground. When the bike is polished I do tend to make excuses not to get it out but after it's good and crudy I could care less. That's all part of being a enthusiast.
 
#18 ·
My Brutie is strictly for weekends and canyon carving, which is my preferred way to spend my free time. I picked her up mid-April of this year and last's weekend ride put her over the 4,000 mile mark. I wish I could put even more miles on her!

While I'm lucky here in southern California to have year-round riding weather, I don't commute by bike for several reasons.
 
#19 ·
I admit - mine stays in the garage most of the time - and especially if it's raining (it has seen rain a few times when I got caaught out or I had somewhere special to go to).

After 40 years of riding, some with a bike as my only transport, others as a job in all weathers, the novelty of freezing cold or being soaking wet wore off. Also I live so close to work that I'm in by car before I could get the gear on.
 
#20 ·
Come on..it's a machine...and it loves to play in the water. I ride mine whenver I can, in between riding my other M'cycles, and it has been ridden in the rain....hell, it's been TRACKED in the rain!

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Just look at that LEAN ANGLE!
 
#21 ·
I have no problem with riding in the rain, I've done possibly hundreds of thousands of miles in the rain. It's just that I decided that I wanted the MV to be fun - and having cold water running down my neck and seeping down to my crotch whilst peering through a fogged up visor wasn't that funny.
 
#22 ·
Hundreds of thousands? You're epic....

I don't like to ride in the rain either...I don't think anyone prefers it, although my wife is faster in the wet than on dry pavement.
 
#24 ·
I lveo riding my MV, but unfortunately between work, travel, cars and bikes... It means it couldn't be a daily driver even if i wanted it to be.
So polished trinket is probably a more fitting description. Also because it is the bike i have always lusted after, so putting in the lounge room, treating it like a baby, then taking it out for a thrash...and then spending more time cleaning it is what i enjoy about it more so than any other previous bike I've owned.
 
#25 ·
So, I think the consensus may be daily polished hack trinket....
 
#27 ·
Hey,
Well I have done nearly 6000km's since feb, but only as a weekender ride, in good weather...sure
I have been caught out a few times in the rain, does not bother me, but prob wont start a ride in the
rain these days...

I fall back on the climate controlled environment of my v8 for that, also I dont
ride to work, whick sucks, but I work in a quarry and there are a lot of dirt roads to go down to get
there and I am not keen on my radiator getting rocks thrown at it on a daily basis....

But I have been there and done that in the past whilst riding around Aus and living off the bike for
14 months and also other times where my bikes have been my only transport. Riding in the rain is
definatly good for you. Some people are dead set scared of it. This is not good.

Cheers
Matt
 
#28 ·
Riding distance in the rain will make you a much better rider. Your inputs will be smoother, and smooth is good. We, Mrs.SS and I did an 1800 mile ride a couple summers agao that included TN,NC,Va,WV and some amaizing roads. More than half that mileage was in the rain and we were carrying what we needed...we were on bikes...no chase vehicle. We were very fortunate that, while we were exploring the Tail of the Dragon and Hell Bender and the Devil's Triangle, the weather was bright, dry, and comfortable for those epic twisties.

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Bikes do get dirty in the rain! (Sorry, but we were on our Monsters for that trip...she wants a Brutale now!)
 
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