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Risks of a short commute?? Less than 2 miles...

uhmeebuh

uhmeebuh

Ginger Ape
Joined
Jul 27, 2004
Location
where it's winter half the year
Moto(s)
are dangerous
Name
Brandon
I'm moving so I don't have to commute form SF to SJ everyday. My commute will go from 55 miles each way to 2 miles total. :wow

I'm concerned that with such a short commute my bike won't get up to operating temperatures and froth the oil or ??? I will be back in SF each Wednesday and will ride on the weekends. Is that enough or should I be worried about my new short commute?

Thanks!
 
Could you warm your bike up to operating temperature before riding to work and back home?
 
Gee thanks Kevo! Always got a smart ass comment for everything don't cha? :rolleyes

Obviously, I would let it warm up before riding. But is letting it warm up enough? Are there other aspects I need to consider?
 
My commute is 2.7 miles. I'll take my motorcycle if I'm planning on going somewhere after work, but otherwise it's usually faster to take the car or ride my bicycle in the summer.
 
WTF's your problem, that was the first thing I thought to say too.
 
VTRweasel said:
WTF's your problem, that was the first thing I thought to say too.
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I don't have a problem. I just don't like Kevos typical smart ass responses.

"Obviously, I would let it warm up before riding. But is letting it warm up enough? Are there other aspects I need to consider?"
 
Warm it up brother....my commute being a bit longer say like 16 miles or so but you could always just take the streets instead of the one exit on the freeway.....?? not sure your route

You should be fine....I would worry more about the tires not getting warmed up enough.......
 
rocketbunny said:
My commute is 2.7 miles. I'll take my motorcycle if I'm planning on going somewhere after work, but otherwise it's usually faster to take the car or ride my bicycle in the summer.
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I agree with Rocketbunny's comment regarding short commute. I have a 5 miles commute from home to work and I find it easier to just hop on a car and drive away instead of rolling the car out onto the street, put on my gear, and always having to bring a backpack to store my stuffs. I would drive if it's a relatively short commute.
 
on the way home, take a longer route home. Short trips can drain the battery faster than it can be charged, and not fully heating the oil can create condensation which isnt good for the oil. Getting the bike fully up to temp, and a longer route home might eliminate or reduce those problems. In a car this would likely be under the heading of "servere Duty" (frequent start/stops for the miles driven) as far as the maintainace schedule. you might consider changing oil more frequently (if longer rides home isnt really possible)
 
uhmeebuh said:
Gee thanks Kevo! Always got a smart ass comment for everything don't cha? :rolleyes

Obviously, I would let it warm up before riding. But is letting it warm up enough? Are there other aspects I need to consider?
Click to expand...

Since you didn't convey that in your original post, I started with the obvious to me. I don't know about you, but I can't read minds. And I don't know how much you know about mechanics. Had you originally included, "Obviously, I would let it warm up before riding. But is letting it warm up enough? Are there other aspects I need to consider? " my answer would be much different.

:rolleyes edit: Not to mention, in your original statement you convey concerns about the bike getting up to operating temperature. :wtf
uhmeebuh said:
I'm moving so I don't have to commute form SF to SJ everyday. My commute will go from 55 miles each way to 2 miles total. :wow

I'm concerned that with such a short commute my bike won't get up to operating temperatures and froth the oil or ??? I will be back in SF each Wednesday and will ride on the weekends. Is that enough or should I be worried about my new short commute?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
I would worry about battery keeping charged short term and perhaps think about frequent oil changes long term.

On the topic of "warm up" it is not at all obvious to me.

I am one of those who strongly believes that the best way to warm a bike is to start it and gently ride away. Most FI bikes are very easy to do this on, even carbed bikes, with a little modulation of the choke, are fairly easy to do this on. Most makers will not advise you to leave your machine on fast idle until the coolant/engine gets up to some particular temp. Tends to be annoying for neighbors as well.
 
budbandit said:
I would worry about battery keeping charged short term
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When I had my first bike a little over 2 yrs ago I killed the battery from repeated short parking lot outings.
A decent lunchbreak ride every few days should resolve that issue :D.
 
kevo said:
Since you didn't convey that in your original post, I started with the obvious to me. I don't know about you, but I can't read minds. And I don't know how much you know about mechanics. Had you originally included, "Obviously, I would let it warm up before riding. But is letting it warm up enough? Are there other aspects I need to consider? " my answer would be much different.

:rolleyes edit: Not to mention, in your original statement you convey concerns about the bike getting up to operating temperature. :wtf
Click to expand...

First an apology. I should have clarified that I knew enough to get my bike up to operating temperature before taking off. Sorry. I incorrectly assumed that my "or ???" had asked a more relevant question than those 5 characters were capable of.

But your comment could have been phrased in a different manner, Kevo. That was my beef. If you want to discuss it further, please feel free to PM me.

Back on topic: So it seems that the battery charge may be a larger problem than oil temps. Looks like the long way into work is the best answer on all accounts.

Thanks!
 
Sounds like you misinterpreted kevo's post. Anyhow, as someone mentioned, a two minute ride wouldn't let your tires get up to temp, so that means taking it easy and not "wacking" the throttle. Forget about it on cold days or during winter months. Additionally, I would worry about carbon build-up and more wear and tear on parts in the long run.
 
For those of you who can remember the Beatles of the 60's (car, not group), The reason the oil turned into milkshakes was because the crank case would never get hot enough to steem out the water from condensation. The same thing can happen to your bike with such short trips. Not to mension the battery thing everyone else is warning you about. But for the 2 mile comute, I don't think you can do better than simply riding a bicycle to work. Keeps you healthy and saves gas and ware and tear on the engine.
 
I think it may depend on the bike: a water cooled bike should come up to temp faster than an air cooled bike.
An air cooled bike I'd like to drive at least 10 miles maybe fifteen.
for anything under 10 miles I'd go bicycle.
 
uhmeebuh said:

But your comment could have been phrased in a different manner, Kevo. That was my beef. If you want to discuss it further, please feel free to PM me.

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Yeah, Kevo.

There has to be at least one other way to say "let it warm up first". :teeth

And quit look at people like they're crazy.

See. You did it again!!! :laughing

Looks like someone else has a case of the Munday's.
 
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