4 Mile Commute? - Ducati.ms

hooptygoo · Sep 8th, 2010, 2:08 pm

Question... Am I slowly killing my bike by subjecting it to short weekday commuting trips?

I live 4 miles from work and while my truck is great and all, I'd so much rather be on two wheels. The problem is even with my round-about-back-road route into work (which extends my standard commute to a whopping 8 miles/15 minutes) I'm barely getting the bike to touch 200 degrees before it's time to shut her down. Should I be worried about the long term affects on engine longevity? I take her out for longer 100+ miles rides at least every other weekend. She's just over a year old with 9100 on the clock and only minor Ducati style oil weepings here and there - which naturally I've been told are normal

What do you think? Should I continue to work on my carbon footprint with the Hyper or should I find some cheap lil beater bike for the short round town trips and such?

Or am I thinking about this all too much

Monstaman · Sep 8th, 2010, 2:58 pm

If you are doing the 100 mile plus rides it will be fine as this will remove any condensation from the oil without any issue, keep riding and enjoying.

The other thing is, make your commute a little more fun by going the long way round ... add a few more miles to the trip.

hooptygoo · Sep 8th, 2010, 3:11 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monstaman

...keep riding and enjoying

...and burning up rubber. Man, this thing eats tire quickly.

1198freak · Sep 8th, 2010, 5:38 pm

I'd say the same, as long as you get the miles in on the weekends, the short commutes wont be a problem. I would give it an extra minute before riding during morning warm ups, though.

Monstaman · Sep 8th, 2010, 5:48 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by hooptygoo

...and burning up rubber. Man, this thing eats tire quickly.

Hmmm ... my new 990 SMR is harder on them than the Hyper .... SMR is very very hungry.

Largerthan9 · Sep 8th, 2010, 6:13 pm

For such a short ride maybe a bicycle is in order? Check this out.

hooptygoo · Sep 8th, 2010, 6:32 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Largerthan9

For such a short ride maybe a bicycle is in order? Check this out.

Crazy Amsterdamians.

I've thought about getting myself a decent road bike and pedaling into work. Would make for a nice morning workout as the trip in is all uphill. Might be time I look into that

New question... How many of you crazies commute via bicycle? What do you ride?

Largerthan9 · Sep 8th, 2010, 6:40 pm

For a short ride of 4 miles any simple bike will do. Since you are riding uphill to work maybe a bike with gears would be best. I ride my bike to work on my commute sometimes twice a week. My commute is 70 miles round trip. We do have a train if I am not up for the ride home on some days. The bike is much less stressfull than splitting lanes on the Hyper in Socal traffic.

I have too many bikes to list here... Well, too many to not sound like I'm bragging

Monstaman · Sep 8th, 2010, 6:44 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by hooptygoo

New question... How many of you crazies commute via bicycle? What do you ride?

MTB, GT Carbon Force Pro, full XTR, full carbon swinger, frame, bars etc, UST tubeless wheels 12kg ready to race.

Great fun and shitloads cheaper than adding CF and lighter subframes to your bike, not to mention your fitness increase and ability to handle the Tardis better.

hooptygoo · Sep 8th, 2010, 7:04 pm

Nice! I don't do nearly as much mountain biking as I used to even though Santa Barbara has some killer downhill trails. Bout a year ago I bought this at a local garage sale. Talked the guy down from 375 to 330.

2006 Specialized S-works Enduro with Fox DHX Air 5.0 shock and Fox 32 RLC Talas forks. Nicest bike I'd probably ever have and my dumb ass decides to sell it on ebay... for 1300