OurTim wrote:
> OK so my romantic vision of strolling through offices staffed by
> stunning smartly dressed ladies in their 20's and 30's fancying a bit
> of rough with the leather clad biker before a sunkissed afternoon
> cruise on the bike, while being handsomely paid for both bike riding
> and flirting outrageously, can essentially be summed up as total
> b*llocks then?
>
>
> So would it be wrong to ask who is generally leaping into this work
all
> keen and pleased to be there when the concensus here can be summed up
> in one word - Crap.
Well, I did it over 20 years ago, when the fax machine was in its
infancy and the interwebthingy didn't exist......
I don't think much has changed except that the traffic has got heavier
and the payment rates probably haven't kept pace with inflation.
First thing is you'll need more than one bike. At some point your bike
is going to be off the road for one reason or another and you need a
back-up.
Secondly, you need to strike the right balance between something
that'll get the job done quickly, easily and cheaply and something that
doesn't cost a fortune to run. If your company does all its work in
town, or within the M25, there's little point in having anything much
bigger than a basic four-stroke 250 like a Honda CB or Suzuki GN.
If it does a lot of out-of-town work, then you're going to need a cheap
& cheerful shaftie. XJ900 Diversion, GT550 Kawa, ShiteOldBMW even.
What you don't want to do is despatch on a Jap plastic sports bike.
That's insanity. If you're going 1000 miles a week on a 40mpg bike,
that's a fuel bill of a ton weekly, an oil change every three weeks, a
new rear tyre every six weeks... well, you can do the maths.
Insurance - others have mentioned it. Remember that in summer the work
dries up a bit, because people are on holiday and the students are
doing the job as a summer thing. Winter is much more lucrative, but the
pitfalls are obvious.
The good big companies tend not to take beginners. The cheapo cowboys
will take anyone, but whatever you're told you'll earn, halve it.
You'll get given the shite jobs at first, until you've proved your
reliability.
It is possible to earn a reasonable living, but the guys who do have
got the job down to a fine art. They know exactly what bikes to use,
they know every short cut and back double in London, and they never
seem to be riding fast yet somehow they're always at the front of the
queue when the lights change.
As a summer job, if you're canny, yeah, OK. As a stop-gap, possibly.
Very few people regard it as a long-term thing.
Oddly, I look bike on my DR days with some fondness. I stayed shiny
side up for a couple of years, managed to make a living of sorts
(enough to buy a big bike and go skiing every year), and had some
wonderful mates.
When it was good, on a nice summer's day, with the radio net full of
jobs, it was great. Especially during the postal strike - every DR
cleaned up.
When it was bad, like at the end of a shitty week with two punctures,
the rain pissing down, the traffic snarled up, and a Friday 6pm call to
go out to Heathrow, it was horrible.
Give it a try and find out for yourself.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
>> Stay informed about: London Courier Work 
FAQ
Profile
Private Messages
Log in
