I live just one mile from work so my "commutes" are very short. I am in management so I normally get to work at 6:00am and leave sometime around 8:00pm. I don't really have much time for long rides and am afraid of moisture building up in my oil. I have family obligations on the weekends so I can get in a 2 hour ride once a month at the most. Am I damaging my engine by riding it to work? Should I only ride it when I am able to take a long ride? Thank you in advance.

Ken Rice

 

Take the long way to work- 15-20 minutes.

 

14 hour days? You better be making heavy bucks, is all I can say.

 

Like said above. Take the long way to work once in awhile. Use synthetic oil. As hard as it might be.... take her out for a nice long ride once in a while to burn off the condensation. And keep up on your recommended oil changes.

 

Short answer, yes. Long answer, condensation is a byproduct of combustion. Unless the bike is moving at a glacial pace, the engine doesn't have time to warm up enough to burn off the condensation. Additionally, the oil doesn't have much time to circulate. Most of the wear in an engine comes from initial start-up, while the oil pressurizes and circulates. Since most of your engine's runtime is shortly after start-up, it will wear faster (mileage-wise) than other engines.

As has been suggested, take the long way to work. Alternatively, let the bike idle for several minutes before you ride in. I used to have a commute that was even shorter, though I would go for an hour ride on my lunch break.

 

Not responsive to your question, but if you're only a mile from work, why not walk? (Maybe no sidewalks, dangerous traffic . . .) It would probably help burn off some of the stress of 14 hour days.

Easier on the bike, too.

 

^^^Agree^^^

This was my 1st thought...for your health and the health of your bike's motor, just hoof it. Those short rides aren't doing your m/c any good...sorry.

 

You have the bike, ride it. Guys telling you how much your hurting your motor usually have 10 year old bikes with no mileage on them. Whats the point? Or think they have to rebuild them every 5k miles. My favorite is guys that have cams, or big bore work done and never ride the bike. Why have a bike and not ride it? Especially where you live.

 

^^^Nice stereotype there, bud^^^

 

Think so? There's a post on the site now from a guy with a '05 with work done to it that he's still paying for with 19,000 miles on it. He wan'ts to trade it for a newer bike with better options. Why? He hasn't used the ones he as now. Go on Ebay and look at all the bikes for sale with little to NO use on them. Making a monthly payments and paying insurance for something that sits unused in your garage is stupid. And to not use a bike because your afraid of putting too many miles on it is also stupid. Paying $25,000 plus for a bike , then putting thousands more into motor work that you never use to it's full potential , because you think it will hurt it's value, is stupid. Spending $30 k on a bike that's barely worth $22k is .,,,,,,