Harley commuters?
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 9,605
Likes: 20,755
From: Globe AZ
for my primary job, I commute daily. its about 10 miles round trip. I also have a second job delivering for a Freaky Fast sandwich company, and use the bike frequently to do the deliveries. People are amazed that I use the bike, about half ask if its a "Harley" and others wanna chat.
I mostly use the bike because of a heavily pedestrian downtown area in our delivery zone, and the bike is MUCH easier to maneuver and park in a lot of the apartment complexes. This Harley earns its keep.
I mostly use the bike because of a heavily pedestrian downtown area in our delivery zone, and the bike is MUCH easier to maneuver and park in a lot of the apartment complexes. This Harley earns its keep.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 14,262
Likes: 15,534
From: Tulsa
Road Master
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 1,082
Likes: 380
From: Queanbeyan, Australia
I ride 30 Km round trip per day to and from work, rain hail or shine, 4 days a week.
I set aside one day per week to drive the cage and charge its battery.
Makes sense as it costs $11 AUD per day to park the car as opposed to $2 AUD per day to park the bike.
In winter I have my heated jacket liner as well as hammock heated seat and heated handgrips to keep me warm...
I set aside one day per week to drive the cage and charge its battery.
Makes sense as it costs $11 AUD per day to park the car as opposed to $2 AUD per day to park the bike.
In winter I have my heated jacket liner as well as hammock heated seat and heated handgrips to keep me warm...
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 4,530
Likes: 607
From: Raleigh NC
If you have a limited budget.... make your purchases count.
get a high quality set of rain gear.... look for gear with a mesh interior, that will make getting in on in a hurry easier, AND keep the exterior off you, and thus prevent that clammy feeling.
Get a good pair of CLEAR or yellow safety glasses, ( I prefer clear... others yellow) for night, or rain riding, and a spare bandana and gloves.
all of that should fit the back pack on your photo, and be easy to grab, when needed
Before I retired, my bike was my commuter of choice, rain, snow, bitter cold? I caged it. 25 TO work, always seemed to stretch out to 50 back home.... more if weather was nice.
20k a year for several years.... only problem was replacing fuel, changing oil, and tires... but hey.... small price to pay.
of course switching to the touring bike, made the hauling crap around, all the easier
get a high quality set of rain gear.... look for gear with a mesh interior, that will make getting in on in a hurry easier, AND keep the exterior off you, and thus prevent that clammy feeling.
Get a good pair of CLEAR or yellow safety glasses, ( I prefer clear... others yellow) for night, or rain riding, and a spare bandana and gloves.
all of that should fit the back pack on your photo, and be easy to grab, when needed
Before I retired, my bike was my commuter of choice, rain, snow, bitter cold? I caged it. 25 TO work, always seemed to stretch out to 50 back home.... more if weather was nice.
20k a year for several years.... only problem was replacing fuel, changing oil, and tires... but hey.... small price to pay.
of course switching to the touring bike, made the hauling crap around, all the easier
Road Warrior
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,807
Likes: 33
From: TEXAS
I rode a BSA back in the day (late 60's, 67- 68, into 69) as my only transportation in the Fort Worth area, actually lived in Arlington and worked at Meacham Field. It sucked on weather days, I know the folks up north don't think we have winter, but I tell you cold rain and sleet, the occasional snow on a bike is not anywhere enjoyable. That's when I figured out motorsickles were for sport not transportation. Now I pick my weather, temperature, time of day, mileage, etc.
Road Master
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,175
Likes: 592
From: Philly PA
229,000 miles on my 06 Sporty and I was stranded on the road 4 times, all of which were a direct result of what I did or didn't do.
I mistakenly re-routed my vacuum line that goes to my petcock under the plug wires rather than over them and they pulled the vacuum line off the petcock preventing fuel to flow (may have been something else, don't recall)
I let a piece of black plastic fall into my black primary cover and it resulted in breaking the leads coming from my stator (much more to story but this is the gist of it)
I had the bolts holding my rear sprocket on the rear wheel fail resulting on a destroyed sprocket and wheel. I should have caught this under the critical fasteners step in the service manual (Not sure if they are included but should be)
I had my after market stator fail. It was part of the Cycle Electric 38 amp 3 phase system I installed 8 years prior. Wasn't actually stranded but had to make repairs during the Iron Butt Rally and could have been much worse had it failed when in the middle of nowhere with no cell coverage. This is the only think I could not really prevent or did not directly cause
I mistakenly re-routed my vacuum line that goes to my petcock under the plug wires rather than over them and they pulled the vacuum line off the petcock preventing fuel to flow (may have been something else, don't recall)
I let a piece of black plastic fall into my black primary cover and it resulted in breaking the leads coming from my stator (much more to story but this is the gist of it)
I had the bolts holding my rear sprocket on the rear wheel fail resulting on a destroyed sprocket and wheel. I should have caught this under the critical fasteners step in the service manual (Not sure if they are included but should be)
I had my after market stator fail. It was part of the Cycle Electric 38 amp 3 phase system I installed 8 years prior. Wasn't actually stranded but had to make repairs during the Iron Butt Rally and could have been much worse had it failed when in the middle of nowhere with no cell coverage. This is the only think I could not really prevent or did not directly cause
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Intermediate
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 31
Likes: 0
From: Winchester, VA
Everything said in this thread is spot on for me. I currently ride 175+ miles round trip per day on a 2006 Softail Springer. The only downfalls I have are road conditions, other drivers and the occasional hurt butt from too many road cracks and holes. 85K miles so far and I do not ride when it is below 30 degrees unless I have too. Rain gear is essential and I have a suit and a Harley weatherproof winter coat when needed. Half helmet in the summer, full helmet in the winter. I have a windshield but did not start with one until I took a massive rock to the shoulder neck area while behind a dump truck on interstate 495.
The bike holds up with regular maintenance. Rear tire annually, rear brakes more than front, oil changes every 4,000 miles. Summer time can be a b*tch in the heat and traffic but never have I been stranded, Seeing how the geography is fairly different from my home and work I have been known to get stuck in a snow squall coming home. Looking forward I believe I would take a touring bike over a cruiser for my next commuter Harley, or simply move to metric touring. That is in ADDITION to the Harley
The bike holds up with regular maintenance. Rear tire annually, rear brakes more than front, oil changes every 4,000 miles. Summer time can be a b*tch in the heat and traffic but never have I been stranded, Seeing how the geography is fairly different from my home and work I have been known to get stuck in a snow squall coming home. Looking forward I believe I would take a touring bike over a cruiser for my next commuter Harley, or simply move to metric touring. That is in ADDITION to the Harley
