If you have to drive, ride a motorcycle!

[Skipper]

I love my bike! It's under $150/year to both register and insure, and she gets 60mpg. Since most of my rides are long ones, though, I don't ride in cold weather. So she's garaged for now.

[Primm]

My mother used to work in a hospital and they used to refer to motorcycles as "donorcycles".  Can you guess why?

We still do...

Good news for me that more people are riding, since my husband is on the transplant list. The more young healthy donors the better. :)

[sol]

Some costs should also be factored, specifically maintenance... the real expense the older I get is the overall risk of injury.

Since we're comparing anecdotal cost histories, I'll throw mine out there.

1.  $5500 to purchase a bike that went for $5000 after two years, so about $500 in depreciation.
2.  One set of tires, about $250.
3.  New brake light and undertail, $200.
4.  New front sprocket and chain, $185.
5.  Medical bills for three surgeries after a 35mph crash, $40,000.
6.  Helmet, jacket, pants, gloves, total $450 all of which was consumed when gear was cut off.

As you can see, the bulk of my motorcycle costs were all related to the one item (#5) you mentioned but didn't quantify.  It's a non-negligible expense.

[Primm]

I did the factory tour when I was in Bologna a few years ago, before they started charging for it.

My ultimate dream job would be to be the guy whose role it is to test ride the bikes. All of them. Yep, every single bike that comes off the assembly line gets a spin around the lot out the back by one person.

[forward]

Some costs should also be factored, specifically maintenance... the real expense the older I get is the overall risk of injury.

Since we're comparing anecdotal cost histories, I'll throw mine out there.

1.  $5500 to purchase a bike that went for $5000 after two years, so about $500 in depreciation.
2.  One set of tires, about $250.
3.  New brake light and undertail, $200.
4.  New front sprocket and chain, $185.
5.  Medical bills for three surgeries after a 35mph crash, $40,000.
6.  Helmet, jacket, pants, gloves, total $450 all of which was consumed when gear was cut off.

As you can see, the bulk of my motorcycle costs were all related to the one item (#5) you mentioned but didn't quantify.  It's a non-negligible expense.

As someone who is thinking about getting a bike in 2015 I am interested in your comments.  I will not be investing much, probably won't change my FI date unless number 5 happens.  From your perspective now, would you say it wasn't worth it for you?

[sol]

From your perspective now, would you say it wasn't worth it for you?

No, it was not worth it.  There was a perfectly good bike path that went from my apartment to my office, and public transportation that ran pretty reliably.  For me, the bike was purely a toy, something for weekend rides with friends and tooling around town on trips that didn't really require a motor anyway.  It was a hobby, something to do on weekends for fun, and kind of an expensive one.  Not as bad as scuba diving, I suppose.

It was a blast to ride, don't get me wrong.  I still miss it on sunny spring days when I see twisty wide open back roads.  But now I will have crippling arthritis for the rest of my life, which helps me remember why I gave it up.

[Apostrophe]

I have owned four motorcycles, and despite my best efforts, none have been as cost-efficient as my current car - a 1st gen Honda Civic hybrid.

I rent my Civic out on https://relayrides.com/car-rental/phoenix/honda-civic/21098 and use my bike as a back-up vehicle for trips I can't do on my bicycle. It's a pretty good system. My DR650 gets mid-40s mpg, and the Civic is nearly always over 50. A recent trip to the Grand Canyon averaged 57 mpg, and the car is miles ahead of the bike in terms of non-fuel operating costs. Insurance is the one difference - the bike is $75 a year.

"Think of how much I'll save on gas!" is one of those things my riding friends all laugh about, because we all use it as a reason to buy a bike, but in reality it's total nonsense and we know it.

ymmv, of course.

[Syonyk]

Motorcycle commuting can be cheap, but it's usually expensive.  Worth it or not is up to you - I don't regret spending a few years almost entirely on motorcycle in New Mexico, but it was expensive.

If you replace your car with a small engined, inexpensive motorcycle (250cc or so, maybe an older 500), you might come out ahead.

Otherwise, you won't.

- Tires: $300-$400 every 6k-12k miles, depending on tires, riding style, etc.  I'm ignoring really sticky tires, which might only last a thousand miles or less of hard riding (which is not commuting).
- Gas: A higher power motorcycle won't outdo an efficient car for fuel economy.  I was happy to see mid-30s.
- Maintenance: Most motorcycles require regular maintenance/valve checks/etc.  Depending on the bike, this can be cheap and easy, or can be an expensive pain in the rear.  I was spending about $1000/yr on valve maintenance alone (putting 14k miles/yr on does that).
- Gear: Figure a few hundred for initial gear purchases (minimum), then probably $200-$300 in gear replacement as things wear out, which they will if you're riding a lot.
- Farkles: Yes, you will tweak your motorcycle.  A few hundred a year goes to that, too.
- You ride a lot more than you drive.  This is the big killer for cost.  If you replace a car with a motorcycle, and only use it to get around town, you might come out ahead.  As soon as you start touring and doing longer rides on the weekend, and doing things with the motorcycle that you wouldn't do with a car, your cost savings go right out the window (off the tank?).

I don't regret riding around the southwest on a motorcycle, especially once my now-wife started to ride.  But I don't pretend it was a cheap way to get around.  On the other hand, riding something that gives you the power-to-weight ratio of a supercar on a daily basis has a nice way of making fast cars look slow and silly.

And I totally look forward to riding more in the future when I'm not in the rain forest parking lot of the northwest, but I don't pretend it's a cheap way to get around.  Though, hopefully, it'll be a little bit more dirtbike in the future.

[StartingEarly]

Life begins at 140mph

[BlueMR2]

Life begins at 140mph

Ends quicker there too.  :-)

I've actually only been to 140mph once, as a child, riding in an old AMX.  Personally, I've been to 125mph in one car (where it was at redline in 5th gear and out of power too, completely maxed out) and 130mph in my other one (still had another gear to go and it was still pulling hard).  On race tracks of course, our roads around here barely support speeds half that safely.  The motorcycle, 70mph was more than enough thankyouverymuch.  Anything over 55mph and the wind gets obnoxious.  At 70mph it's barely tolerable.  I can't imagine going faster.

[StartingEarly]

The highways around here support about 110 mph cruise which my bike will do with no complaints.  The law is another matter and another debate.

[Syonyk]

That said, they are absurdly fun. :)

[enigmaT120]

That said, they are absurdly fun. :)

Oh yeah.  I rode mine today.  I don't know when I'll be getting off work today so couldn't ride my bicycle and the bus, as I might finish too late to catch my bus back to town.  It doesn't get as good of mpg as my '04 Insight but 45 isn't too bad.  It will hit 100,000 miles within a month, and I'll treat it to a new gas tank petcock (rebuilt the current one once, and some parts were worn out in it then) and rebuild the carbs.  Might be 200 bucks.  Oh, and the rear tire is looking thin.  This is not a time of year I like bald tires. 

[kendallf]

Rode mine this morning as I got up too late to do the bus/bike combo.  I was on empty and stopped and filled up for $12.  I have a straight freeway shot with very little traffic out of the city to work, and often cruise at ~100.  This morning was a clear, crisp, mid-40s north FL day and it was beautiful! 

[MrSal]

unless you use a very small bike like a Honda Rebel, motorcycles just don't save money.  The fuel efficiency is overstated, and they are high maintenance machines.  See http://practicalfrugalliving.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/busting-the-myth-that-motorcycles-save-gas-and-money/ for more info.

Wrong! It depends... but if you happen to live in a city it pays!

I used to live in a very hilly city... and please no mustachians tell me you could bike easily... try using a bycicle under 95-100 F weather and going up a 20-25% gradient hill all around the city.

I sold my car... bought a Honda CBF which has 140 MPG !!!! ... traffic? Non existant... I'd ride from one end of the city to the other in 15 minutes while with a car probably an hour or more under traffic. Also this is in Europe where a gallon of gas is easily 8-10 USD per gallon so the cost savings added up... not to mention the time savings and not having to pay in town to park.

High costs? Depends on the bike and if you treat it carefully. Total costs for 1 year of ownership was 10 USD for the stamp circulation tax, a can of motor oil and an inspection at 10000 miles. Everything put together cost 60 USD.

[BlueMR2]

unless you use a very small bike like a Honda Rebel, motorcycles just don't save money.  The fuel efficiency is overstated, and they are high maintenance machines.  See http://practicalfrugalliving.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/busting-the-myth-that-motorcycles-save-gas-and-money/ for more info.

Wrong! It depends... but if you happen to live in a city it pays!

High costs? Depends on the bike and if you treat it carefully. Total costs for 1 year of ownership was 10 USD for the stamp circulation tax, a can of motor oil and an inspection at 10000 miles. Everything put together cost 60 USD.

Here's some input from my ownership time.

I've found that the fuel efficiency for my bike was UNDERstated, just like for my cars.  I get 55 MPG for a work commute (less in stop and go traffic like in a city, only 42ish there) vs. 25/32 depending on which car I would drive, and it's a nice 600cc machine, not any little moped or anything.

The maintenance costs are not high at all.  I've found the motorcycle parts are cheaper than car parts, plus there's only half as many of most of them.  Also, MUCH easier to DIY repairs on the bike, I can handle pretty much everything on the bike whereas the car requires lifts, special tools, etc that are expensive so it goes to the mechanic about half the time.  I put $300 worth of tires on my bike last year and expect them to last 10,000 miles.  My car also needs new tires.  They're $250-300 a piece and I expect them to last 30k-40k miles.  Bike brake pads are $15 a set (my bike takes 3 sets of I do them all at once).  My car brake pads are $150 an axle (or $300 for the whole car).  The motorcycle brake pads last about 15k miles.  The car brake pads last around 80k miles.  Insurance on the bike is 1/4 what it is for the car.  Even the medical portion is significantly lower.  Despite all the motorcycle injury reports that people like to throw around, the insurance companies find it cheaper if I'm on a bike somehow (I presume it's because I'm more likely to end up dead instead of injured?).

[enigmaT120]

MrSal, where the heck are you riding your motorcycle that you're not on the roads with car traffic?  Is it something that is allowed on bike paths? 

[Wendyimhome]

That said, they are absurdly fun. :)

Hate to be scrooge here, but I even found this to be overrated.  Motorcycles suck (and are much more dangerous) in the rain, they suck in the cold, and they suck on hot days.  I can remember stopping at lights on summer days and feeling that heat just bounce off the asphalt onto me.  That combined with the motor's heat made it pretty darn uncomfortable. 

[MrSal]

MrSal, where the heck are you riding your motorcycle that you're not on the roads with car traffic?  Is it something that is allowed on bike paths?

errr what do you mean?

By avoiding traffic I mean avoiding sitting in jammed traffic where people with cars cannot go over the cars in fron of them while I, in a motorcycle can just pass everyone since the lanes are wide enough.

Like I said I was avoiding queues in jammed traffic worth 45 minutes or so... and another 30 minutes when trying to find parking... and when i found parking i didn't have to pay, while cars usually do.

[BlueMR2]

By avoiding traffic I mean avoiding sitting in jammed traffic where people with cars cannot go over the cars in fron of them while I, in a motorcycle can just pass everyone since the lanes are wide enough.

You must live in California.  Unfortunately, that's quite illegal everywhere else I've ever heard of.  :-)

[Roland of Gilead]

If you have to ride a motorcycle, ride a dual sport!

(my wife riding hers on the Washington coast...yes it is considered a legal road)

[BlueMR2]

Even though lane splitting is legal in Calif it can be pretty deadly. Lots of stopped traffic on freeways when I've been lane splitting and someone just decides to open their door for whatever reason. Deadly but still better than sitting in rush hour traffic for ever :-)!

I wouldn't be afraid to do it, but I would traveling fairly slow.  Not like the videos of people land splitting at full speed as that does look like a recipe for disaster!  :-)

I'm one of those "door openers" when stuck in traffic in the Summer.  I don't have A/C and my windows don't work anymore.  The blower is OK for my typical commute, but if I'm stopped in traffic for long, that door's popping open!