This is really bad news for owners of older bikes riding into London

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daveuprite
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Re: This is really bad news for owners of older bikes riding into London

Post by daveuprite »

Trev wrote: Wed Aug 22, 2018 12:47 pm
If you're commuting into London on an ancient 125 as it's all you can afford then you are definitely in the wrong job!
Yep, and so are many thousands of people who service the center of the city. Central London relies upon cleaners, bus drivers, care workers, assistant teachers, nurses, street-sweepers, sewerage operatives, uber drivers, pizza deliverers etc etc etc... all of whom make up the underpaid underclass that keeps the city ticking over. They earn sod all, but without them the City would grind to a halt, the public spaces would get fouled up, transport would collapse and people would be neglected.

None of them can afford to live anywhere near where they actually work, for obvious reasons. So you have a disfunctional city that requires commuting long distances, even of the workers who are paid the least. Some are even catching their sleep on the night buses between jobs, unable to afford outer London rents let alone anything vaguely close to where they work.
Richard Simpson Mark II
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Re: This is really bad news for owners of older bikes riding into London

Post by Richard Simpson Mark II »

There was a programme, based on fact, about a kid who tried to work as a motorcycle courier. He did a couple of buslane violations (easy in London), got the tickets and entered into a spiral of debt. Ended up topping himself.
P4ulie
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Re: This is really bad news for owners of older bikes riding into London

Post by P4ulie »

daveuprite wrote: Wed Aug 22, 2018 8:11 pm
Trev wrote: Wed Aug 22, 2018 12:47 pm
If you're commuting into London on an ancient 125 as it's all you can afford then you are definitely in the wrong job!
Yep, and so are many thousands of people who service the center of the city. Central London relies upon cleaners, bus drivers, care workers, assistant teachers, nurses, street-sweepers, sewerage operatives, uber drivers, pizza deliverers etc etc etc... all of whom make up the underpaid underclass that keeps the city ticking over. They earn sod all, but without them the City would grind to a halt, the public spaces would get fouled up, transport would collapse and people would be neglected.

None of them can afford to live anywhere near where they actually work, for obvious reasons. So you have a disfunctional city that requires commuting long distances, even of the workers who are paid the least. Some are even catching their sleep on the night buses between jobs, unable to afford outer London rents let alone anything vaguely close to where they work.
Although I wholeheartedly agree with what you're saying, if you're struggling that much the last thing you're going to be having is a motorbike of any age. Insurance for a start is phenomenal, I'm middle aged, have a garage & 10 years no claims & many won't touch me or quote £2000+. I found one for £250 fully comp but the excess is £500. Without the garage it would be insane :cry:

I like many, used to ride a pushbike around London, it's quite often faster than motorbiking once in the centre & considerably cheaper
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Mad Cow
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Re: This is really bad news for owners of older bikes riding into London

Post by Mad Cow »

Richard Simpson Mark II wrote: Wed Aug 22, 2018 9:02 pm There was a programme, based on fact, about a kid who tried to work as a motorcycle courier. He did a couple of buslane violations (easy in London), got the tickets and entered into a spiral of debt. Ended up topping himself.

The programme can be viewed here and is based on the true story of Jerome Rogers who worked as a "medical courier" for City Sprint on a zero hours contract. As they charged him each week for his uniform and radio on some weeks he earnt nothing and in fact owed City Sprint money for working for them, a sad tale of modern employment.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p067bmlh
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