How Much of a Toll does Commuting Take?

[chad]

one of the biggest issues this time of year is the amount of crud that gets in the brake calipers etc

it dont hurt to take them off whip out the pads and give them a scrub out

ive done mine today and they looked horrific , packed with road salt and shite

but a good scrub up and they came up a treat ,, unlike the chocolate variety ive had on my past hondas

 

[raginmund]

one of the biggest issues this time of year is the amount of crud that gets in the brake calipers etc

it dont hurt to take them off whip out the pads and give them a scrub out

ive done mine today and they looked horrific , packed with road salt and shite

but a good scrub up and they came up a treat ,, unlike the chocolate variety ive had on my past hondas

Cheers chad. I'm getting the toothbrush out tomorrow to scrab the calipers

 

[Steptoe]

One of my old loan bikes was three years old and had 99600 miles on it when sold.

It had spent the majority of it's life going from swindon to chiswick and back again.

So that's a dozen gear changes and 20 dabs of the brakes and then onto the M4 for 75 miles in top gear, then change down and apply brakes when reaching it's destination of chiswick.

Which meant it still had the original clutch and brake discs 99K miles later.

 

[raginmund]

One of my old loan bikes was three years old and had 99600 miles on it when sold.

It had spent the majority of it's life going from swindon to chiswick and back again.

So that's a dozen gear changes and 20 dabs of the brakes and then onto the M4 for 75 miles in top gear, then change down and apply brakes when reaching it's destination of chiswick.

Which meant it still had the original clutch and brake discs 99K miles later.

That is very reassuring

I'm ancticipating 12,000 miles a year; maybe more (16,000) if I do some more IBA stuff, plus camping trips.

 

[raginmund]

Oops; came off on Saturday, on a shitty round-a-about in Preston.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed I started a thread about torque & throttle control..(though it was 90% rider error that saw me off).

Plus Tourances + winter = evil.

So, like a manic-depressive, I am once again looking at the DL650, Versys, and F800S.

Damn my little legs!!

 

[Bigyin]

one of the biggest issues this time of year is the amount of crud that gets in the brake calipers etc

it dont hurt to take them off whip out the pads and give them a scrub out

ive done mine today and they looked horrific , packed with road salt and shite

but a good scrub up and they came up a treat ,, unlike the chocolate variety ive had on my past hondas

Another addition to my list of things to do.................. took apart the gear shift last week to clean all the winter crud out of it as it wasnt returning to normal position after a gear change ........ nice and smooth now its been cleaned and re greased on the footpeg mount end

 

[Splat]

Talking about rust and crud.

I noticed on sunday, when I lifted my tank, that on most spots where a bracket is welded to the frame, there is some rust on the weld joint.

When I see it, I just spray it with a little WD-40 (not too much though, as a lot of these hold some badly insulated electrical joints).

I reckon it takes a long time for the frame to rust through?

 

[Packer]

I always take care to get the clutch fully engaged before using lots of power, it should keep it cooler and last far longer. 78,000 at the moment and still lots to go.

I'm certain that the design of the front mudguard on the 1150GS is the cause of so much crap getting on the callipers. It is moulded around the lower fork brace and I think that this causes all the accumulated road crap to fall at that point directly onto the callipers. I've already replaced the callipers once due to serious internal corrosion and seized pistons. Really needs a monthly clean up.

What would happen if you reversed the fork legs so that the callipers were in front of the forks? Would the relocated weight affect the feel of the bike much?

When I was stripping my bike for refurbishment this winter I found quite serious rust on the headstock brace tubes. I knew that the rear subframe was rusting but those braces are hidden away under the tank and almost never seen.

 

[chad]

Plus Tourances + winter = evil.

most of that post made sense to me but the above

ive been commuting right through the worst this winter has thrown at me and my tourance's have been exceptional they are not the new exp types though

 

[raginmund]

most of that post made sense to me but the above

ive been commuting right through the worst this winter has thrown at me and my tourance's have been exceptional they are not the new exp types though

I'm having major trust issues with the Tourances.

To put it in context, my previous bike was a CBR1100XX with Avon Storms and upgraded suspension. This meant I could feel a sticky tyre like jam on tarmac, and the rear tyre movement was palpable if feet were positioned properly.

So, I love the GS for chassis stability, grace under braking, and early power once the tyres are warm..

But, I hate it for wooden tyres (tourance) on cold roads, because all of the positives get wiped out. As a tourer/endurance steed, the GS rocks; but the small niggles are becoming bigger problems when used day-to-day.

The tyres - the only contact my bike and I have with the road - are a big concern.

 

[chad]

Aye mate loss of confidence is a bad thing I tried the continental trail attacks but bloody hated them . But others here love them to bits
I find the torances work well for me but I've used them on first my Africa twins then on the Varadero,
Another tyre I really like was the pirelli scorpions I had on the ktm , but I can't seem to find those in the sizes for the gs.

 

[Bigyin]

I'm having major trust issues with the Tourances.

To put it in context, my previous bike was a CBR1100XX with Avon Storms and upgraded suspension. This meant I could feel a sticky tyre like jam on tarmac, and the rear tyre movement was palpable if feet were positioned properly.

So, I love the GS for chassis stability, grace under braking, and early power once the tyres are warm..

But, I hate it for wooden tyres (tourance) on cold roads, because all of the positives get wiped out. As a tourer/endurance steed, the GS rocks; but the small niggles are becoming bigger problems when used day-to-day.

The tyres - the only contact my bike and I have with the road - are a big concern.

I also wondered but again have complete trust in Tourances ............... the bit you have to get used to is the little movement in the tread blocks which is noticeable as like you i came from a different bike background to GS land (ZX636B1 with race shock and super sticky tyres fitted)

I found that the Tourances warm up quicker on cold roads than normal sticky tyres as stickys need the higher temp to operate properly whereas the Tourances operate in a lower temp range as the blocks move around a bit which generates heat

Took me very little time to get right to the edge of Tourances when i first got them in warm temps and had a new set put on 2 weeks ago and already managed to scrub them to the edge in road riding within 100 miles of them being put on the bike (again like chad not the EXP's)

Give them a chance and the feel will come although i will add if yours have lots of miles on the handling does get a bit wandery once the profile is worn down a bit

 

[Gabby]

Commuted for 10 years - 100 miles a day.

GS's have their problems but much less than any other bike I have found. Honda's and Suzuki's fell apart after the first winter and more serious problems.

GS's better on fuel and getting twice the distance out of the tyres. Another important point is servicing. If you don't do it yourself the 6k interval is the highest out there. I did two myself then the 3rd into BMW ...that kept the cost down.

The killer on cummuting on a bike is the cost and frequency of tyres.

 

[raginmund]

Thanks lads, I appreciate the input