-Ralph-

Turning up in leathers can get frowned on, using the bike for business use can get frowned upon, and certainly turning up at customers with leathers on can get very frowned upon. All about meeting the "dress code" and making the right appearances!

If you are using your bike to get to your normal place of work, you are paying the petrol, parking your bike where it doesn't annoy anyone, don't disturb anyone arriving with a loud exhaust, sat your desk at the correct time wearing the correct dress code, you get changed where nobody sees you, and you don't leave wet gear lying around the office creating a big wet patch on the carpet, then they can't say nowt whether they are anti-bike or not. How you commute to work is your business. Some employers will still try to tell you you can't do it though They only situation where they may have a case is if they pay for your car and they may need you to go somewhere at short notice in the middle of the day.

Whilst on business travel employers do have a responsibility for your safety though, which is why many ask to see your car documentation if you use it for business use, or insist that cars are less than 3-6 years old. Motorcycling is undoubtedly more dangerous than using a car, and many motorcycle journeys take longer during office hours 'on the scenic route' so some employers ban it on business mileage.

I had to check this issue out with HR and legal teams before forbidding an employee business travel on a motorbike once. He wanted to work all day, ride from Inverness to London overnight, then work the next day in London, then ride back overnight, work the next day in Inverness. He was scared of flying so wouldn't travel on the plane with the rest of the team, and insisted on taking his bike on the basis that he would pay for the fuel and what he did overnight outside office hours was his own business. The advice from HR and legal dept turned out I could put him through disciplinary procedure if he ignored me as he was travelling for business purposes so was deemed to be working for the company during that journey. He would have been much better off telling me he had a pre-arranged personal engagement that evening so couldn't go to London, then I couldn't have said nowt, but he would have missed a days training that was of benefit to his career. I booked him a ticket for the sleeper train.