Business Meetings on Two Wheels

[TamSV]

I was chatting to a customer about this yesterday. I'd like to use the bike more for work but haven't bothered as it just seemed like too much hassle changing gear etc. Is anyone doing this in a professional environment? What gear do you, or would you, choose?

I've sat around the office in kevlar jeans and occasionally pitched up at a clients premises and sat through a meeting in leathers, but you need to know your audience quite well for that one. I have also, in the past, ridden the bike in a 3 piece suit and whilst this is undeniably cool it's probably not the most practical solution.

I generally wear a suit, shirt and tie for work - business attire can be a bit more casual these days but I want to remain at the smart end of the spectrum. Being reasonably well turned out and riding a bike can't be mutually exclusive. I'd like to be able to travel on the bike and arrive at the reception of a new prospective client and not look like I'm delivering a parcel.

The image I have in my head is the opening scenes of Goldfinger where Bond peels off his wetsuit and is wearing a white tux underneath. :D

A big old top box is going to be part of the solution but anyone got recommendations for gear? Footwear particularly. I don't really fancy standing in a muddy car park changing my shoes.

[Roberrrrt]

I do it, but I'm yet to find THE solution.

Sorry I can't be of much help, but I'll be watching the thread with interest.

[fizzwheel]

Not quite the same as I dont have a requirement to wear a suit. But I dont know if this would work for you.

I had to go to an off site meeting and I had forgotten about it and come to work on the bike.

The meeting was being held in a hotel. I knew the hotel had a toilet that I'd be able to use to change out of my leathers. So I just left for the meeting 10 minutes earler than I would have done and got changed once I got there.

I just put my leathers, lid etc into a corner of the meeting room where they were out of the way and wouldnt get trodden on / tripped over.

I'm guessing you are going off sites to meetings at a customers site ? If so would the same scenario not work, just arrive a little early and ask to use the toilet and go get changed in there.

I guess its down to who well you know the people you were meeting. In my case I knew them all well and they had no problem with me arriving on my bike etc etc. I dont know if I would want to do this if it was the first time I would be meeting them or I didnt know them very well.

[veenee]

Have a similar problem, and I am travelling to the clients on the bike only if I know them quite well - and then it is not a problem (no suit of course).

Still not sure to do it with new ones...and it does not help when they are based on Harley Street :-)

[granty92]

i quite regularly ride to meet customers and on some occasions have been sat there in leathers. its fine with known people but new people i feel quite under dressed. most of the time i put spare clothes in my bag

[Roberrrrt]

It's a problem that bike gear in general is either blathered in logos or is completely unfashionable.

I work in architecture, so a suit isn't strictly necessary, but looking smart is. Why can't bike gear manufacturers come up with some subtle, smart clothing that looks good OFF the bike? It's bad enough having to find somewhere to put the helmet never mind taking a complete change of clothes.

[aesmith]

I used to go on the Aprilia. No need to wear special shoes even in heavy rain. I carried my work bag under the seat, then at the customer's I'd take the bag out and stow helmet, gloves, jacket etc in it's place.

[SoulKiss]

I "commute" to job interviews on the bike.

Suit Trousers under my Textiles, Suit jacket lightly folded in the tank bag, along with shoes in a poly bag.

Get to destination, park, then change in the street - not like you are getting stripped to underwear.

Get to reception of person visiting, if it looks likely, ask if they will look after your bag/jacket/lid, or if it doesnt look so good, stick in corner of meeting room.

[BoltonSte]

Plain black textiles and boots, wear a decent shirt or whatever under the jacket? If you're sat down who'd notice and at least it's not garish like a Rossi rep set of leathers.

[punyXpress]

Isn't there a 'made in USA' textile suit that zips over civilian gear?
Think name begins with 'A', but at this point run out of ideas.

[Jackie_Black]

The aerostitch roadcrafter you mean?

Always fancied one of those, but i only have to go 4 miles to work, all 30s and 40s. Probably overkill.

[punyXpress]

That be the one ( expensive though! )

[ophic]

There's also this: http://www.hoodjeans.co.uk/acatalog/H2-motorcycle-jeans.html
might look ok with a shirt and tie.

[yorkie_chris]

Thought about it, complete pain in the *rse.

Half the sites I go to are the sort where you go to reception and it's awkward to say "oh can I use your crapper to get changed in" then repeat 2 minutes later sometimes.

Or don't get changed, and you will sweat until your nuts fall off sat there in textiles. Or they will fall off for another reason if you are riding about in draggin jeans soon.


Depends what sort of sites you visit but if you do any engineering places then the swarf is not a good mix for waterproofing either!

[dizzyblonde]

My other half spends his time visiting clients with an awful lot of money. Most of his days are of the suit wearing variety.

What he has found is the bike is a talking point. Image in his work is quite a priority. His gear reflects that. It's no good turning up to see a client who is just about to spend 30k on his products, if he is to arrive on a tatty old rat, with manky textiles.
His bike is pristine, his gear high end, himself well groomed, as are his manners.

If you can see yourself like this, most often riding a bike for business purposes, isn't a problem.

Ps, he's never had a topbox ;)

[Owenski]

I've the same problem as rob, going to work is simple, I have everything I need there. Taking trousers in my bag once a week isn't a problem. I always wear a buff over the neck so don't struggle with road dirt on a shirt colar (which I wear undernesth ) anymore either.

Going to meetings be it on site or in an office, I do feel a need to offer apologies for my jeans but on the whole they don't look too bad. IF I were meeting to impress then I honestly try to get them to come to me instead. I'm assuming that's not an option for you so i also muat say sorry for not been much help and I wait to read your resolution on the issue.

[punyXpress]

My other half spends his time visiting clients with an awful lot of money. Most of his days are of the suit wearing variety.

What he has found is the bike is a talking point.


As would Tam's, and I suppose Chris' - in its own individual way! ;)

[TamSV]

A few things for me to think about here.

In terms of clients, it can be a right mix; old-school engineering/manufacturing, modern techie stuff, haulage, mid to high end motor trade, construction, trendy bars/clubs, office based professionals. Customer spend is anything from £5k to £100k. Visits can be anything from a 15 minute chat to a 2 hour site survey.

Turning up in the car in a suit is the easy option that's guaranteed not to offend anyone but, thinking about it, I'm the only guy in a suit about 90% of the time.

It's been mentioned here, and in my office, that existing customers are fine but taking the bike to a new prospect is seen as a bit of a "risk". That's kind of always been my gut feeling but thinking about it now I'm not at all sure that's true. I bet any of you lot would be OK if a professional adviser of some sort turned up on a bike.

In an industry where not wearing a tie is considered a bit racy, standing out from the crowd is probably no bad thing.

I also realised recently that most of my top clients - and those I'm closest to - either ride bikes themselves or are petrol heads of some description. That's probably not a coincidence.

I think Dizzy's right - it's a talking point. Is the worst recession in living memory the time to be testing out this theory? Course it is. :D Need some new gear though.

Right, let's see how much of this is tax deductible. Essential safety equipment's got to be a winner. :thumright:

[SvNewbie]

Interesting question. I've just changed jobs but I'm hoping in the summer I might get to go visit a few clients (campsite owners) on the bike. One thing that occurs to me though is technically that is business use. Though, hard to prove given you won't be carrying much work equipment on a bike.

[L3nny]

Wear some of these under your trousers.

http://www.dragginjeans.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=DLINERS

Then you just get a smart leather jacket. Sorted.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

[Owenski]

They're brilliant Lenny.
I wouldn't use them all the time but I'd certainly consider them for riding to meetings etc. Stick my work trousers on over the top and then my berghous pants over those. All I'll need to do is remove the berghous on arrival, which easily stuff into my lid along with my gloves and boom!
Top half would be a coat, and in this industry they're mad for high-viz warm coats anyway so biker textiles don't really stand out in that category.

[MisterTommyH]

I've tried it several ways.

On days I know I'm in the office I go in draggin jeans, a jacket and boots. Leave a spare pair of shoes in the office, but it does take away te flexibility of going to site for something that's just come up.

Tried using textiles over suits etc, when you may have to go to 2 or 3 places that could end up in 6 changes a day, which adds up if time is precious. No guarantee of somewhere under cover to change. Have been known to turn up soaked and on more than one occasion with a wet crotch.

When I'm going to a building site rather than an office I've found it to be an absolute no no.
PPE in the top box is messy (site dirt) which ruins the kit you may want to store in there, there is definitely nowhere to change and parking is often rough stone. In addition to this, if you have to pop into an office as part of the same trip you have PPE in the box, so then there's no where to store a helmet.

I also used it when the Birmingham tunnels were closed recently as it was a good way to save time, and everyone was stuck in traffic, so my excuse was 'I'm in jeans, you're late'! Still more hassle than its worth.

It's now reserved for days when it's dry, and I am determined not to leave the office, as it's a convenient excuse.

[Ch00]

Plain looking bike gear looks fine in my mind. We go to court hearings on bikes wearing shirts, tie, leather bike trousers and black boots. I think it still looks smart.

If the gear and boots are clean it goes a long way.

[yorkie_chris]

Right, let's see how much of this is tax deductible. Essential safety equipment's got to be a winner. :thumright:

Good point.

I rescind my earlier statement. Completely worth getting the odd sweat on for!

[a_monkey_hint]

I commute wearing my shirt, tie and trousers under my textiles. I leave a pair of shoes by my desk so change into when I arrive. If I need to work on a different site, I have a pair of shoes at home that I slip into my tank bag.

If I need to wear my jacket, I fold it neatly in my tank bag.

[timwilky]

Interesting thread.

My own company will not permit business travel by Motorcycle. Car or public transport/taxi only. (yet the global travel policy allows it. Just UK management won't as they cannot hire bikes) No use of personal vehicles for business allowed as too expensive.

[veenee]

Hmm if I take out the liner from textile trousers I should be easily able to wear suit trousers underneath.
I would have to take the jacket folded in the backpack and decide if I should take the shoes with me or just leave the boots on (underneath the trousers).
It might work...

[ChrisCurvyS]

I had to go to meet the family of a young girl who'd been killed on her 125 recently and had no alternative but to get there on the bike.

Felt like I was being really insensitive but they were absolutely great about it and it really helped break the ice.

The main problem I've had in the past is getting p*ss wet through on the way there and having loads of dripping bike gear in someone's hall or office. As much as I love bikes, it's so much easier now I've got a van I can use instead.

[veenee]

The main problem I've had in the past is getting p*ss wet through on the way there and having loads of dripping bike gear in someone's hall or office. As much as I love bikes, it's so much easier now I've got a van I can use instead.

so you just dumping your wet gear in the van instead? :tongue:

[TamSV]

Coming to the conclusion that bike gear is probably going to be OK in a lot of circumstances - just not MY bike gear. :)

Had two visits (in the car) today and brought this subject up. The metal recycling centre (for which I was overdressed) seemed relaxed about the concept - "Ah couldnae care if ye landed in the yard in a ****in' hot air balloon".

Second visit was an independent motorcycle dealer who is, to say the least, quite enthusiastic about it. :)

So, taking a few suggestions from here I'm going for the following;

- on days when I know I'm in the office all day it'll be textiles over normal trousers. Shoes and jacket in the top box. It means I'm normally dressed and not sitting about in bike gear all day. If I have to make an unexpected site visit it'll be no great hassle to get the gear back on and change when I get there, or not, depending on circumstances.

- for days when I've got a long trip to make, or 2 or 3 visits on the same day, a decent set of well fitting textiles and boots that are a bit more subtle than my TCX Competiziones.

- if it's snowing, horizontal rain or I need to do 200 miles on the motorway I'll be in the car.

The first part can start reasonably quickly if I get my finger out. Couple of fork seals and 2 new tyres for the Blade and we're in business.

Second part will require some saving up for decent gear (and a quick chat with the accountant on the off chance). :D