In 2010 I was a newly-minted college grad in a new town with a brand new financed VW, starting my first salaried job. One day during my first month of work, my parked car was damaged in a thunderstorm and spent the next six months in a shop. To get around without the car, I bought a used motorcycle outright. When the car was fixed up to my satisfaction, I cut my losses and sold it on ebay. After six years and over 100,000 miles on two wheels, I haven't looked back.
I now live in a city where the average yearly cost of liability-only car insurance is $900. By contrast, for motorcycle liability and un/underinsured coverage, I pay $160. The running cost of my 2006 Suzuki DL650 is about 12 cents per mile. I do my own maintenance in a couple of hours each month. In total, I estimate that I spend around $2,000 per year. About a fifth of the 17,000 average yearly miles is for business, so the bike effectively pays for itself.
The car would have cost me over $6,000 per year and been beat up by the city. Instead, I've saved around $30k, which invested earns another $1,200 yearly. This underscores how saving early is equally important as investing early.
To me, money aside it's also a tremendously rewarding hobby. I've made some great friends along the way, been to a lot of places all over the country I wouldn't have gone otherwise, and learned much about maintenance.
This lifestyle is definitely not for everyone. There is a tradeoff of safety and comfort, particularly in the winter and in foul weather. But for me, it's been great. Anyone else do this?
