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Trust me, the traffic here isnt news to me. I wont be in the DC area but another year, thankfully. I'll either be in Louisville or Hampton Roads and both are much better than NoVA for ANY traffic.
I live in the DC area and commute a few times a week on my motorcycle. I go from Alexandria to Reston. It can get pretty crazy sometimes and I've had some close calls, but I enjoy riding so much more than driving that it's worth the risk to me.
I do a few things to minimize my interaction with the cagers. I avoid the heart of rush hour. My work hours are pretty flexible, so I either come in early or come in a little later to avoid the craziest of traffic. Also, I avoid the beltway at all costs. Personally, I don't even like driving my car on that road. Besides that, just stay focused and avoid blind spots, etc. as the cagers will pull into your lane. I've had it happen twice in the past month. The last one almost put me down on 110 North.
btw insurance and gear is cheap, 1000 for gear. Are you kidding me people? I spent $70 on a brand new helmet, $150 for a new jacket, very nice btw. Gloves were $30. Insurance is $32 a month and I'm only 20 so I get that nice bill.
Fwiw, you ride a 250 - that's not going to cost much to insure, not like a liter bike or even a 500-750 will cost you.
As for gear, it depends on what you buy. Quality full-face helmets can easily hit $300-500, leather jackets with armor $300-500, gloves can be $50-100, boots $100-300, and pants $150-250.
When you look at gear to buy, always ask people how well it holds up - it may look pretty on the hanger, but will it rip apart if you are in an accident or will it hold up and do its job? Leather will last you through more than one fall, textile is done after one. A better helmet weighs less and lets in less road noise, but that's more important for highway speeds. Will you buy hot and cold weather gear? Gear that works for both? Et cetera...
It depends how much you want to spend to protect yourself, but $1000 is considered the norm.
I'm actually curious what helmet you have that cost you only $70 - I'm guessing its a half or open-face helmet.
I live in the DC area where Motorcycles are allowed to use the less crowded HOV lanes. I think this would drive the incentive to buy a motorcycle for commuting purposes.
I've also heard that motorcycles get great fuel mileage. This i think would help those who have long commutes.
So anyone using your bike primarily for commuting?
I do just that (HOV rider) but in Houston. I ride my 200cc Aprilia scooter down the diamond lane about 15-20 miles from far SW Houston into the central business district. The bike has a top speed of 85 according to the cycle magazines but in reality does 80 or so with my fat as* on it :-) . It gets about 70 miles per gallon. Insurance is pretty cheap on a 5 year old bike (only about $300/yr on a multi-vehicle policy). Tires are pretty expensive, though, and don't last quite as long. Overall, I do save money vs car. I live on a lake in a wonderful quiet neighborhood and am downtown working in my skyscraper in 25 minutes door-to-door. Even if costs were the same I'd still ride it because it's just a blast shooting down the curvey diamond lane strip between the concrete barriers with bumper to bumper cars sitting in their exhaust fumes on the other side of the concrete. It's like being in a real life video game and makes my 50+ self feel like a teenager (OK, no jokes about male menopause, etc).
Just be REAL careful. After a close call by a cutting in driver (actually on the frontage road when I stopped off at a Sam's Club) I am extremely defensive and looking for escape routes and where a bright yellow construction worker's vest over my red cyclists jacket (with kevlar elbow and shoulder pads). The HOV lanes help you safety-wise, I believe, because you have nobody on either side potentially cutting into your lane unexpectedly except at widely-spaced park-n-ride entrance ramps and they are well-marked and you can be vigilant.
I'm actually curious what helmet you have that cost you only $70 - I'm guessing its a half or open-face helmet.
As with anything else if you are willing to shop carefully you can get good gear for not a lot of money.
I have 2 FF helmets an HJC CL-SP and a Caberg and didn't spend over $70 for either of them.
Cortech perforated leather jacket with CE rated armor and thermal liner $79
Honda boots $29
Power Trip leather gloves with knuckle protectors $10
Big Splurge, Fieldsheer overpants for $100.
Insurance on my 650 Honda, $100 a year (it is old and so am I)
Fwiw, you ride a 250 - that's not going to cost much to insure, not like a liter bike or even a 500-750 will cost you.
As for gear, it depends on what you buy. Quality full-face helmets can easily hit $300-500, leather jackets with armor $300-500, gloves can be $50-100, boots $100-300, and pants $150-250.
When you look at gear to buy, always ask people how well it holds up - it may look pretty on the hanger, but will it rip apart if you are in an accident or will it hold up and do its job? Leather will last you through more than one fall, textile is done after one. A better helmet weighs less and lets in less road noise, but that's more important for highway speeds. Will you buy hot and cold weather gear? Gear that works for both? Et cetera...
It depends how much you want to spend to protect yourself, but $1000 is considered the norm.
I'm actually curious what helmet you have that cost you only $70 - I'm guessing its a half or open-face helmet.
My helmet is a Raider brand and it has two vents, it is full face. I looked and looked and found it finally.
I live in the DC area where Motorcycles are allowed to use the less crowded HOV lanes. I think this would drive the incentive to buy a motorcycle for commuting purposes.
I've also heard that motorcycles get great fuel mileage. This i think would help those who have long commutes.
So anyone using your bike primarily for commuting?
I ride a Yamaha V Star 650. It's my daily commuter. If it's not pouring rain when I leave I ride. I don't mind getting wet on the ride home--I can change when I get home.
I just moved back to DC and actually sold my bike as soon as I got here. Turns out there is a high demand for commuter bikes and mine sold in a few hours almost turning into a fight. I believe parking at the metro is also free for bikes. I just was not much into actually commuting on it due to the inerrant danger and weather. Probably wont be critically injured in commuter traffic, but it doesn't take much more than a car slowly changing lanes into you to break something.
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Aprilia Commuter
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