I Need an Automatic Transmission...

[JeffOlson]

...or a stiff drink after riding home from work.

Where the hell did all these cars come from? I don't even live in LA!

Stop-and-go freeway traffic, barely able to let out the clutch lever and get the bike into first gear. An hour of feathering the clutch, while my bike's ambient temperature gauge reaches 104 degrees. Oh, and the requisite buck-and-lurch, on-off throttle doesn't help (Moto Guzzi Norge content).

I may need to start riding my wife's Vespa, or just stay at work until dark.

Yes, I am getting old and grumpy...

[Charles in Lake Charles]

This is what I use. Here's one for sale http://www.ebay.com/itm/301659653094?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[bad Chad]

If you want to go old school go with a convert.  But if I were in your situation, a Aprilia Mana GT would be the way to go.   Every review I have ever read about this bike was super positive.

[Dilliw]

I go in at 6:30am and head home at 7:00pm.  We have a gym at work so I kill some time there waiting on the traffic to die down and the temps to cool off.  Then check google traffic before you leave. 

[Triple Jim]

If I had needed to guess about traffic in a city with a name like Lake Oswego, Oregon, I would have envisioned empty country roads surrounded by  tall fir trees. 

[canuguzzi]

Get a new model Can Am RTS,  nothing before 2014 model year.  Not a motorcycle but for the traffic you're riding in,  better than a two wheeler.  We rode that mess from Salem to Portland and then heading east to the Columbia a few days ago,  sheer nonsense. Everyone passing the right to squeeze in on narrowing roads during construction,   I wouldn't ride that everyday for anything.

For that route and North though,  get a car,  riding any bike in that asylum will make you crazy.

No bike made will hold up sitting in stop and go traffic in the high 90s for hours on end day after day.  You'll cook the oil,  trash the motor.  No matter how good a bike is cooled,  idling away in high temps is a short route to a worthless trade in.

Notice how few other bikes are sitting there with you?

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Electric motorcycle.  Stop and go traffic will not overheat the engine.  Sitting idle in traffic does it no harm.  When you need the power it is there.
 No noise, no vibration, blipping the throttle will not impress your fellow commuters with how macho you are.
 Mobetta than automatic.  The ultimate for the kind of traffic described in the thread opener.

click here  http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/zero-s/

 

[JeffOlson]

Some great ideas! Thanks!

I have already decided to avoid working on Fridays and just work a Monday through Thursday schedule. (I sometimes forget that I am self-employed and can work when I want...)

The morning commute is good, with only a little slowing on I-5 northbound around Wilsonville. On the short stretch of I-205 between I-5 and Stafford Road heading into Lake Oswego, one could, if one wanted, easily and safely cruise at 90 to 100 MPH. 

This afternoon, I'm going to try leaving by 4 pm and see how that goes. If we we had a gym here, I would stay late.

The Convert is an interesting idea, but I would prefer something new. Perhaps the Aprilia Mana GT, or--gasp--a three-wheeler. (I actually like the look of those Can Ams!)

Re Lake Oswego, it is a nice bedroom community, but the roads are hardly empty. Later in the day, they will fill with so much traffic that it could take 20 minutes or more to go two miles. (Our former home is just two miles from my office in downtown Lake Oswego.) If we still lived here, commuting on a bicycle could be quicker!

[oldbike54]

 One word .




                                                                                           Gyrocopter

  Dusty

[jas67]

... Oh, and the requisite buck-and-lurch, on-off throttle doesn't help (Moto Guzzi Norge content).

I may need to start riding my wife's Vespa, or just stay at work until dark.

My Breva (similar to the Norge) is the worst bike for stop and go traffic.    If I had to deal with that, I'd ride MY wife's Vespa, or just take the car.    If you're in California, then, definitely take the Vespa -- the perfect lane-splitting bike.

[JeffOlson]

One word .




                                                                                           Gyrocopter

  Dusty

Ha ha! That's it!

[JeffOlson]

My Breva (similar to the Norge) is the worst bike for stop and go traffic.    If I had to deal with that, I'd ride MY wife's Vespa, or just take the car.    If you're in California, then, definitely take the Vespa -- the perfect lane-splitting bike.

Depending upon this afternoon's commute, I may very well ride my wife's Vespa tomorrow.

[Shorty]

Here's my answer: 

[segesta]

Aside on electric motorcycles--how cool it would be to have an ADV or offroad electric bike, and be able to ride through nature quietly without the ugly clatter of a combustion engine.
We just need electrical outlets/recharging stations every 25 miles throughout our national forests... 

[Vasco DG]

Any number of great scooters ideal for a tem mile commute out there. A Norge would be just about the last vehicle I'd think suitable to be honest. A Mana, (Yes, I know I'm in a cheer squad of about five globally!) would be great but un-necessarily large and therefore expensive to run.

Try the wasp. As long as the freeway bits can be handled it'll probably be ideal.

Pete

[jas67]

One word .




                                                                                           Gyrocopter

  Dusty

Just don't land it on the White House lawn.   

[jas67]

Try the wasp. As long as the freeway bits can be handled it'll probably be ideal.

Which Vespa does your wife have?    Mine has the GTS250ie which tops out at about 75 MPH (80 MPH indicated), which should be plenty fine for any short freeway hops that you may have to make.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

One word .




                                                                                           Gyrocopter

  Dusty

Or two: Jet Pack! 

[oldbike54]

 Just don't buy a Harley or Meriden Triumph powered Gyrocopter  Remember the Triumph powered models advertised in
Pop Mechs 


  Dusty

[rodekyll]

Get a new model Can Am RTS,  nothing before 2014 model year.  Not a motorcycle but for the traffic you're riding in,  better than a two wheeler.  We rode that mess from Salem to Portland and then heading east to the Columbia a few days ago,  sheer nonsense. Everyone passing the right to squeeze in on narrowing roads during construction,   I wouldn't ride that everyday for anything.

For that route and North though,  get a car,  riding any bike in that asylum will make you crazy.

No bike made will hold up sitting in stop and go traffic in the high 90s for hours on end day after day.  You'll cook the oil,  trash the motor.  No matter how good a bike is cooled,  idling away in high temps is a short route to a worthless trade in.

Notice how few other bikes are sitting there with you?

The Convert was made for San Francisco and Seattle urban warfare -- hilly stop-and-go traffic.  They hold up real good.  Mine is approaching 200k and is 40 now -- 42 if you believe the DMV*.  I'm planning a ride into the great white north as soon as I'm off jury duty.

*DMV -- the only logic where belief trumps fact.  My Convert is believed by the DMV to be a '73.  No amount of paperwork will change their belief.**

**  NOT trying to troll the topic.  Just injecting topical humor, which is further proof that you should never inject anything intended as a topical.

[Penderic]

I cant handle that kind of traffic anymore.


I spent too many years doing service calls, in a company sedan, traveling back and forth on that kind of human conveyor belt. Stress city!

Escaped to the rural islands off of Vancouver Island and changed to a much much slower pace. Yippee!
 

[JeffOlson]

^ Now that's what I'm talking about!

We love Vancouver Island, but I'm afraid the Canadians would not have me. (They certainly don't need another lawyer, let alone one from the rebellious colonies.) The closest we can probably get is San Juan Island, our eventual, hoped-for resting place.

[jackson]

That's why I left San Diego a decade ago. My eleven mile commute took over an hour. Way way too many people living there.

We also left San Diego ten years ago (after living there for 30 years) and came back to SC where we were born.  I used to travel to LA extensively for most of those years and I don't miss it one bit.  San Diego traffic used to be tolerable but it became another LA when you had to get on the freeways.  No thank you.

[Sasquatch Jim]

   All good reasons to go electric.  If I could hold up a two wheeler at stops, I would buy the dual sport Zero electric bike.
 My experiences with my electric mobility scooter have shown me the practicality of such a machine.
 And with 70 mile range at 70 mph, more if slower and on my island there are no speed limits above 55 and most are 35 to 45 range.
  I could easily get a hundred mile distance on a charge.  I could easily install a music player and speaker system that could go, POTATO POTATO POTATO  for around Kona.