Tom Godfrey, civil servant, Department of Finance
Rides: Yamaha FZ6
Why did you pick the Yamaha FZ6? Because I recently moved out to north County Dublin and in order to commute into Lower Mount Street to work I had to get a bigger, more powerful bike. It takes me 40 minutes to an hour to commute on the bike. I used to have a TDR 125 for driving around town, but as soon as I moved house I had to upgrade and I bought this bike on e-bay.
Would you recommend buying a bike online? I certainly would recommend it, I saved about €1,000. A friend in work bought a bike on e-bay, so I decided to try it. I got all the contact details for the person who was selling the bike so I could ring him up before I went over to ask him questions. I got the ferry to Holyhead and the seller drove the bike there from Birmingham so I could have a test drive first. It had only 3,000 miles on the clock and it was very well looked after, there was a smell of brand new off it. I took it home and the VRT cost €500 so I'd definitely do it again.
What age were you when you first started biking? I was very young because my brothers always had bikes around the house and I used to get on the back of their machines. I always had the bug; I've been biking for almost nine years now.
Had any accidents? I've had a few minor bumps and scratches and they all happened at slow speeds so, thank God, I never had any serious accidents.
Did you take rider training? No I never did any training. I only did a pre-test course before I took the bike test and I found this really helpful. The instructor took me through my paces and I passed no bother. He pulled me up on a lot of habits, so it was very useful.
Do you have any problems with traffic when commuting to work? Not really, it's a long way to travel but I get through a lot quicker on the bike than if I was in a car. You need your full concentration and it can really zap your energy. The only problems I encounter are when people flick cigarette butts out of their car windows or turn on the wipers and splash you with water. The worst problem is pedestrians walking out in front of you while they're texting on their mobile phones.
Any biking issues? It bothers me that tyres are so very expensive, I think it's disgraceful. I could fit my fiancé's car twice over for the price of a decent set of tyres for the bike. A set of Bridgestones cost €250 to €300. I think I will have to search the internet to see if I can get any good deals.
What are your safety tips? I'd recommend always wearing the right gear and get the bike serviced regularly. Peter in The New Gem in Ranelagh looks after my bike and he really keeps a good eye on it. I also think It's important to know how to maintain your own bike.
What would you like to upgrade to next? I have my eye on a Honda VFR 1000. It would be a big change for me to move over to Honda, but that machine has caught my eye.