Are Motorcycles Really More Practical and Economical?

[turbodieseli4i6]

This is just me farting around to see where I stand with my vehicles. Don't get to caught up on any of the money figures I have posted. They are rough guesstimates. Keep in mind I did not include any mods to my jeep which I do constantly. I have a couple in mind right now that are well over 2K. The bike might get a couple things around the $200 range but I do not have much more to add. I put $200 for motorcycle gear which I will not need for a while. I have two new suits and two new helmets. I can see myself buying gloves in 2014. The tire and chain replacements fees might be high or close to dead on. Really depends on what you buy. I will be getting PR3's as replacement tires but my first replacement set is free. Came with 4yr maintenace plan.

As you can see I am saving roughly $600 a year. Again this is just a rough estimate. A baseline for my information. Just thought I would share.

View attachment 8931

I wish my fuel bill was that cheap! I spend around $200.00 +/-a month on fuel. The NC is cheap against my cages.

 

[SergeantChuck]

I wish my fuel bill was that cheap! I spend around $200.00 +/-a month on fuel. The NC is cheap against my cages.

This was a baseline. It was a comparison between driving the jeep to work during a five day week or riding the NCX to work those five days. My jeep and NCX don't move during the weekend because we drive the wifes 4 door wrangler. I have only done a couple rides on the weekend with the NCX and I have driven some trails in the jeep. In relation to fuel the NCX will win everytime in my case. Maintenance could be close but I am very rough on the jeep when I go 4 wheeling so the chances are there to seriously damage something. I wanted to leave all that guess work out. I was just trying see what I was saving riding the bike to work.

 

[dog]

This is a common mistake many Americans make. In America, the highway system IS our mass transit system. It is more flexible, more reliable, more extensive, less expensive, and dramatically more fault-tolerant (to include resistance to attack by bad guys) than the Old World systems such as trains and such.

That said, it is also well-remembered that each system is adapted to the situation. There isn't the physical space in the Old World between buildings and such that have been there for centuries to build the kind of highway system we have here. Similarly, our population density is such that, regardless of available space, ge train-type system is dramatically impractical here.

I've been thinking off and on about this post a few days and feel your definition of mass transit is not the common one: mass transportation for the public. Compared to some countries, most of our mass transit systems throughout the nation are a joke. I've used mass transit systems in Europe, Japan, New York, and Chicago and they are pretty nice. I don't know that much about other American cities, but so far as I can determine Texas has no mass transportation systems that are anything other than a joke if you must use them. Here in Houston we have light-rail, but it's mostly for people to get from downtown to their appointments in the medical center and conference go'ers to use for bar hopping. The city bus system is the only real mass transit in Houston, and I can assure you it sucks. I guess OUR highways and freeways w/HOV lanes are great if you can afford a privately owed vehicle and aren't trying to use them during rush hour (or the interstates during holiday travel), but I seriously doubt they are more reliable and less expensive PER PERSON moved than those old world systems. I was in Houston for one of the worst failures of our highways as a mass transit system:

Hurricane Rita Mass evacuation

I decided to ride it out at home out so I wasn't on the road for that nightmare. I don't know if a city with a decent mass transit system would have fared any better under the same circumstances, but I suspect it may have.

 

[bamamate]

"conference go'ers to use for bar hopping" something wrong with me bar hopping when I'm at a conference? I'm glad I don't have to drive on those occasions

 

[dog]

"conference go'ers to use for bar hopping" something wrong with me bar hopping when I'm at a conference? I'm glad I don't have to drive on those occasions

Nothing wrong with it -- and the train is MUCH cheaper than taxi fare (if you can even find one!) Funny how I tend to bar hop in all the cities I visit, but never in Houston.... ;-)

 

[Fuzzy]

Best Price I have seen in a while.

Cost advantage of NC dropping.

 

[Chestnut]

Best Price I have seen in a while.

Cost advantage of NC dropping.

Dude. Still around $4/gal here. I'm almost jealous. Almost.

 

[jdmitchell]

Been a while since I have seen gas for under $3 a gallon. I don't mind thoughs since the petroleum industry is what puts food on my family's table.

 

[CoopaLoop]

Best Price I have seen in a while.

Cost advantage of NC dropping.


View attachment 8942

An advantage I don't mind seeing slip!

 

[Jay Fridays]

I save so much time with my bike... With my truck (14-17 mpg) My daily communte would take 45 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on traffic. On my bike, it's 25/30 minutes....

And in LA, you NEED your own transportation... public transit sux. Not that it can't be done; but my trip to work/school would take about 3-4 hours each way....lol. You can't get from downtown LA to the farhest side of the San Fernando Valley very easily

And gas is not so cheap if you're in LA. I just paid 3.99 a gallon. And it's near $5 in the summer time...

 

[Melioris]

I started a new thread before I was directed to this one, so this is a bit of repost to the appropriate place. Here is my situation-

My wife and I work together and thus far have managed to live with just one car. Our kids walk to and from school. I ride my bicycle to/from work 3 seasons of the year and during winter my wife and I drive in together. One of us takes the car home and the other takes the bus or runs home. It is all very convenient and happy inducing. It is about a 14 mile commute round trip on bike trails/city streets, around 16 mile commute round trip in a car, non-highway driving, mostly 35 mph road with few to no stops. I am a sweater without the ability to shower at work. I pedal in and then change out of the commuting clothes at work (if they get stinky). It doesn’t matter what I look/smell like at work right now.

In the late spring/early summer my working conditions will be changing. I'll need to be more presentable at work. My wife and my schedule are diverging as well, so we anticipate needing a second vehicle for commuting.

There is a huge factor of just wanting a motorcycle pushing me to consider one over a second car. I've never owned a motorcycle before, so it would all be new to me. My ignorant bias is that an NC700X can also be a frugal, reliable commuter when compared to an automobile. If I went this route I’d plan on riding 3 seasons and we’d make winter work (like we do now with cycling). I have a pretty good idea of what the startup costs are-bike, gear, riding classes, etc. But I don’t know anything about owning a motorcycle.

My reading of this thread is that the general consensus is that a practical motorcycle is about as frugal as a practical car. They have different upsides, but over the lifespan of both the cost probably evens out. You all know this stuff, is that a fair understanding? I am really not used to making decisions like this based on the "well, I want it" justification, but I am struggling because, well, I want a motorcycle.

Thanks.

 

[dlee6413]

Ok here is the math for the original post. You've driven 165,000 miles at 30mpg. Using an average fuel cost of let's say $3.50 per gallon....you've spent:

165,000 / 30mpg = 5500 gallons x $3.50 per gallon = $19,250

Now if you had driven all of those miles on you NC at 70mpg using the same average fuel cost of $3.50 per gallon....you could have spent:

165,000 / 70mpg = 2357 gallons x $3.50 per gallon = $8250

So to summarize, you would have saved ($19,250 - $8250) = $11,000 which more than covers the cost of your bike, maintenance and farkle.

 

[Fuzzy]

Assuming the NC even lasts 165,000 miles what are your assumptions on farkles? What is included for maintenance: 20 rear tires? How many front tires? 16 chains? 8 sets of sprockets? For the 20 vavlve adjustments are you doing yourself or paying mechanic?

Add up the total of farkles and maintenance, not just gas.

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

Assuming the NC even lasts 165,000 miles what are your assumptions on farkles? What is included for maintenance: 20 rear tires? How many front tires? 16 chains? 8 sets of sprockets? For the 20 vavlve adjustments are you doing yourself or paying mechanic?

Add up the total of farkles and maintenance, not just gas.

165,000 miles would be 13.75 sets of tires for me @ $4,125.00, 11 sets of chains @$2,299(I've have 15,000 miles on my chains and still going.) 20 valve adjustments @ $0.00 for a total of $6424.
( I do my own maintenance on bikes and cages)
Figure 2538.46 gallons of gas @ 3.5/gallon(my mpg is 65 mpg) = $8884.61 +$4125+$2299=$15,308.61 savings not including ins. I spend way more on ins on my cages than my bikes.
Now figure the best mileage my cage gets is 22 mpg with a $70.00-$80.00 oil change @ 5,000 miles.(Cummins Turbo Diesel)
Yes the NC is way cheaper to operate. My other cages returns 11 mpg.
That's just my numbers YMMV

 

[Naked_Duc]

The dollars do add up quick. So let's assume you will run the NCX to the ground after 165,000 miles and you can fully write it off. The numbers turbodiesel came up with is $15.308. Let's also assume that the dealer does all the service work at $250 a pop - $250 X 20 services = $5000.

So the TRUE COST TO OWN for a NCX700X is:

- full depreciation of initial purchase: 8,000
- fuel, tires, and chains: 15,309
- Dealer maintenance: 5,000

Full cost to own: $28,309 over the course of 10 years.

True Cost to Own for Mazda3 Hatch, according to Edmunds.com

The True Cost to Own for a Mazda3 Hatch is $36,160 for the first 5 years. I pick the Mazda3 because it's great commuter with 40MPG HWY and offers some utility, like the NCX. However, the estimate does include financing ($2,119) and Insurance ($9,416). If these 2 expenses are removed from the equation, then the cost to own a Mazda3 over the first 5 years would be $24,625.

If you factor in insurance, then the cost of ownership of bike over 10 years would roughly equal to the cost of ownership of a car over 5 years.

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

I looked at Edmunds true cost for a Honda fit.. (I wish Edmunds would do this for bikes!)
2012 Honda Fit 1.5L 4-cyl. 5-speed Automatic True Cost to Own

2012 Honda Fit - True Cost to Own

Base 4dr Hatchback (1.5L 4-cyl. 5-speed Automatic)
5 Year Details

	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5	5 Yr Total
Depreciation	$1,457	$1,288	$1,144	$1,028	$937	$5,854
Taxes & Fees	$1,146	$91	$91	$91	$91	$1,510
Financing	$499	$398	$291	$180	$64	$1,432
Fuel	$1,631	$1,680	$1,730	$1,782	$1,836	$8,659
Insurance	$1,611	$1,667	$1,725	$1,785	$1,847	$8,635
Maintenance	$534	$309	$1,088	$1,193	$667	$3,791
Repairs	$0	$93	$224	$326	$377	$1,020
True Cost to Own [SUP]®[/SUP]	$6,878	$5,526	$6,293	$6,385	$5,819	$30,901

I don't have the money for a commuter car now so the NCX is where I save money.

Since I got my NCX I only drive my pickup when I have to. My pickup can get 25mpg + on the road at 60mph, but I would guess 18 mpg would be a close average.
165,000 miles would be around 5-6 years for me.
This is what it would cost me to drive my pickup 165,000 miles in fuel alone.
165.000 miles /18 mpg = 9166.66 gallons (diesel) X $3.75 per gallon = $34.374.97
I look at my NCX as a sacrificial lamb. It cost less to replace than my pickup and also helps me keep from putting more miles on it.

 

[OldJeff]

I look at my NCX as a sacrificial lamb. It cost less to replace than my pickup and also helps me keep from putting more miles on it.

TRUTH right there! my 2007 truck cost 34k, the NCX with all my planned farkles will cost 11k tops. Thanks to the 36k miles I put on the 2007 Sabre, the truck only has 30k miles on it now and is good for several more years. I'm not sure how to figure this savings, but I know it is significant.

 

[SergeantChuck]

I really never though of it that way. My jeep cost me 25K. I have over 20K worth of mods (Jeep Farkles). It will be a long time before this bike will cost me 45K and that isn't even counting insurance, maintenance and fuel which which would add up to bemore on my jeep than the bike. And I only have 32K on the 2007 Jeep.

Since I own both it is a matter of annual savings for me but if you were trying to decide between one or the other the cost of the vehicles should be factored too.

 

[SergeantChuck]

Sgt.Chuck, if you didn't have one of those two vehicles (it matters not which), would you do absolutely everything with whatever one you had left, or are you simply a 2-vehicle person? And, if you had only 1, which would it be?

I just noticed this question. Sorry for the slow reply. I love Jeeps and I love motorcycles. I will never be without both. That makes it tough at times trying to decide what to drive. The motorcycle typically wins out. Hence only having 32K on a 2007 Jeep.

 

[JamesD]

Fit is such a misnomer for that vehicle. I don't fit.