Are Motorcycles Really More Practical and Economical?

[Naked_Duc]

It's always more economical to continue driving your old car when it's fully depreciated/paid for. Whether you are an accountant or not, you can basically write off a car after 7 to 10 years. So if you are still driving it after that, it's basically for free.

Whenever people want to justify the cost of getting into riding, they usually compare the initial cost of getting into riding (purchase of bike, gears, insurance, etc) vs. just continue driving what they have. That's not really a good comparison, IMO. Unless your current ride is a Hummer2, your old car is going come out ahead.

I recently went thru a dilemma, which is a better comparison of car vs. bike. We were a 2-car family. Both my wife and I work so we need 2 cars to get around. I used to be a more fair weather rider, due to the bike that I owned. I just didn't feel comfortable riding in the rain and winter/cold. Plus I didn't want to put that many miles on the bike (Ducati). Then recently, our 2nd car (mine car) started to have issues one after another. Granted, it's a 94 Altima with 240K that my wife bought new while she was in college. It had been a great car for us over the years. So when the car started to die, I was faced with a choice:

Do we buy a new car ($25-30K) or get a commuter bike (<$10K).

It was a no brainer for me. I bought the NCX and never looked back.

 

[davidc83]

With motorcycles, the main maintenance cost is tires. Hundreds of dollars for a set of motorcycles tires every 10,000 miles or $500 for a set of automobile tires on your car which last for 70000 miles. For one set of car tires, you are going to use 4-7 sets of motorcycles tires; any savings in gas is ate up by the tires. I am not a mechanic, never have been a mechanic, and due to past injuries, don't have the upper arm strength to remove tires from the wheels, so I have to pay shops to replace my tires, and no one within 70 miles does it cheaper than $70-$90 per tire (more if you don't buy the tires from them).
I ride because I love to ride and I do buy bikes with good gas mileage.

 

[echo15]

I don't own a car. nothin' more to say.

 

[SergeantChuck]

I don't own a car. nothin' more to say.

I do own a car (My Jeep) but I bet I have not put 2K miles on it this year. It's a 2007 with 23K miles. That should tell you how much it gets driven. I'm sure it is jealous of the NCX.

 

[wickerman]

With motorcycles, the main maintenance cost is tires. Hundreds of dollars for a set of motorcycles tires every 10,000 miles or $500 for a set of automobile tires on your car which last for 70000 miles. For one set of car tires, you are going to use 4-7 sets of motorcycles tires; any savings in gas is ate up by the tires. I am not a mechanic, never have been a mechanic, and due to past injuries, don't have the upper arm strength to remove tires from the wheels, so I have to pay shops to replace my tires, and no one within 70 miles does it cheaper than $70-$90 per tire (more if you don't buy the tires from them).
I ride because I love to ride and I do buy bikes with good gas mileage.

I have never understood why motorcycle tires are so expensive.

 

[Enforcer]

One of the usual reasons offered is that motorcycle tires are produced in smaller numbers than automobile tires, therefore the manufacturing cost per unit is much higher. I believe the real answer is that we are willing to pay what the tire manufacturers ask for their products.

 

[Naked_Duc]

I want to believe that there is a lot more research and design that goes into a motorcycle tire. I also want to believe it's more difficult and complex to manufacture a bike tire. All contribute to the higher price. Oh and the economy of scale (or lack there of) is HUGE, too.

 

[SergeantChuck]

I have never understood why motorcycle tires are so expensive.

Supply and demand. The more a product is used the cheaper it usually costs. Motorcycle tires are not consumed near the rate of car tires so the price goes up. Try to get a odd sized car tires. Guess what, they are expensive. My jeep tires are $400 a tire. Not a common size so they jack the price. IMHO

 

[Dominican]

Living near NYC and riding into the beast almost daily (not for work, but for fund with friends) I can say that the bike has saved me a bunch of money and frustration this year and last year on parking, traffic, and gas. It also helps that I really enjoy doing it, but I have done maybe 500 miles of joy riding on the bike, the rest of the riding was for getting around.

 

[L18flyboy]

For most people it seems probable that riding a motorcycle will not save them money as compared to using a car, but for someone in the right circumstances who is willing to approach the question objectively it MAY be possible to save money by riding.

My 2009 Ninja 250 cost about $3500 when I bought it new from the dealer. It consistently gets 55-58 MPG, and has manged 60MPG. I've put 58K miles on it with my daily round trip commute being just shy of 100 miles -- the gas savings have already paid for the bike. When I started commuting on it, my commute car ('07 Kia Spectra 5 which gets about 27MPG and cost around $18K plus finance costs) was about 85K miles into the 100K warranty. By using the bike instead of the car, I effectively extended the warranty on the car by a few years and have delayed the purchase of at least 1 if not 2 sets of tires and other expensive car maintenance tasks such as replacing the timing belt. Given my past luck with cars going over 100K miles suddenly dying (oil pump/timing belt failures killing the engines) I figure I would likely have had to buy a replacement car by now if I had put those commute miles on the car instead of the bike. Due largely to the low weight and HP of the Ninja250, tires last amazingly long. I got 40K miles on my original factory front tire, and have 18K on the second front tire with lots of tread left. My first rear tire lasted 20K miles and the second tire 27K miles. So tire expense has been amazingly low compared to most bikes. Being willing and able to do most of the maintenance myself (I can mount and balance tires, replace brake pads, etc) keeps the cost down.

So given the right scenario a motorcycle can save money compared with a car if you are really willing to pick the right bike to accomplish the task instead of the bike that strokes your ego (a Harley or FJR isn't going to work) AND your local fuel prices are high AND you are racking up enough miles to accumulate the gas savings AND you can do some of your own maintenance...

Although I still am trying to wear out the Ninja and thus continue to use it as my primary commute bike, I've already put 8K miles on the NC700X. That isn't enough miles for me to figure out how well the numbers will work for this bike yet, but I'm optimistic that the NC700 will still also save money given my particular situation.

Of course the joy of riding and the time savings (I get to use the carpool lane and can lane split here) are the primary advantages for me... saving cash is just icing on the cake!

 

[JamesD]

Just one thing. For those of you that say driving your current car is cheaper, have you factored in being able to keep that current car longer because you don't put as many miles on it due to riding a motorcycle?

People seem to magically be able to never replace their cars. I've driven cars from only 2 years old untill they have to be towed away and the bike was still cheaper if for no other reason than I got to drive a 150K+ mile car another 4+ years more than I would have otherwise. Just sayin'.

 

[MZ5]

FWIW, I didn't ride my VFR to work for a couple years because I lived one block from an express buss stop and could take a buss to right out front of where I worked in Downtown Denver. The only time I had to drive a vehicle was when I was going to work odd hours and that was just 2 or 3 miles to the park-n-ride. I didn't want to leave my bike at the park-n-ride either so the bike sat during the week.
It depends on where you live and work.

That's a great example! That express bus was the 'train car' travelling down the road, which is the 'rail' or 'track' and foundation of our mass-transit system. When the express bus didn't meet your needs, you took your own 'train car' called your VFR (or car, or whatever), still using the mass transit system (the road). Great work making the most of the system!

 

[MZ5]

So, how often do you all replace your gear? Helmet, gloves, boots, jacket & pants (or 1-piece suit), and so forth? My textile suit is nice and all, but it's starting to get difficult to wash all odors and stains (road and bike grime) out of it. My other textile pants (Spidi) have been distinctly un-durable. My leather jacket is MUCH better, but also not inexpensive. I seriously doubt my gear will last me half as long as the bike, maybe 1/3 or less (I'll get to more or less 12,000 miles by my purchase anniversary), and that gear cost me, in total, well over $1,000. That's not an annual expense, but it's a noticeable running cost, I think. Are you including that in your calcs?

 

[cdnuser]

Here in Canada, even in the most southern part, you have to own a car due to ice and snow. Most cities have a terrible bus and train service. My insurance is 1350/year which defeats any gas savings over my car. I can only get 4 months of riding in if i'm lucky. I would be better off commuting on a snowmobile but those are not road legal lol.
I need to move south!! Any tropical island riders?


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[davidc83]

So, how often do you all replace your gear? Helmet, gloves, boots, jacket & pants (or 1-piece suit), and so forth? My textile suit is nice and all, but it's starting to get difficult to wash all odors and stains (road and bike grime) out of it. My other textile pants (Spidi) have been distinctly un-durable. My leather jacket is MUCH better, but also not inexpensive. I seriously doubt my gear will last me half as long as the bike, maybe 1/3 or less (I'll get to more or less 12,000 miles by my purchase anniversary), and that gear cost me, in total, well over $1,000. That's not an annual expense, but it's a noticeable running cost, I think. Are you including that in your calcs?

My <$200 helmet is now 4 years old (I will need to replace it next year), my textile jacket is 4 years old (probably replace it next year also-zippers are getting worn and will die sooner than later). I have multiple pairs of riding gloves, anywhere from 1 year old to 4 years old-my favorite pair are 3 fingered East German Army Motorcycle gauntlets I bought 4 years ago at a Army Surplus store. I have many different pairs of boots; 2-4 yrs old-I buy Ariat Sierra waterproof cowboy boots (replace every 2 years for work) or black leather Army combat boots-either shined up makes for good business boots (for work) and great outsoles for riding motorcycles with very good ankle protection. I don't buy or wear motorcycle pants (I know I should for the protection but I don't); but during the winter I wear a one piece ski suit over my work/everyday clothes and I then put my motorcycle jacket on over the ski suit ($60 from Amazon.com) (I don't winterize my bikes-I ride them during the winter-as long as no ice/snow on the roads).

When I buy gear, I buy it on sale and greatly reduced prices or I don't buy it.
My helmet, ski suit, gloves, motorcycle jacket I bought for a total of less than $500. I don't count the boots in the cost because I wear them everyday-work, social, riding-I wear some kind of boot 99% of the time (only time I don't is mowing grass or riding my bicycle-bicycle shoes).

 

[JamesD]

So, how often do you all replace your gear? Helmet, gloves, boots, jacket & pants (or 1-piece suit), and so forth? My textile suit is nice and all, but it's starting to get difficult to wash all odors and stains (road and bike grime) out of it. My other textile pants (Spidi) have been distinctly un-durable. My leather jacket is MUCH better, but also not inexpensive. I seriously doubt my gear will last me half as long as the bike, maybe 1/3 or less (I'll get to more or less 12,000 miles by my purchase anniversary), and that gear cost me, in total, well over $1,000. That's not an annual expense, but it's a noticeable running cost, I think. Are you including that in your calcs?

I just replaced part of my gear so excellent question.

My most replaced item is gloves. They get nasty within a year or two from sweat. It really depends on how much I ride, how much is in hot weather.
If you ride much you'll probably have separate gloves for warm and cold conditions. Since they are leather you can't really wash them... at least not if you want them to last. I figure those average $65 a pair for me. I have sweaty hands so summer gloves should be a yearly item for me but I try to stretch it out as long as I can.

I have a jacket and pants that zip together. By going this route I can alternate buying pants or the jacket so I don't have to buy everything at once. I can also use the same pants with my leather jacket or textile jacket. Unless you have an accident or really smelly sweat, you should be able to get 5 years out of these. I just try to wipe stuff off rather than run them through the laundry unless they get really dirty or funky smelling; they last longer that way. Each piece was at least $250. Probably $350-$500 for the jackets.

Helmets... spend enough to get one with a removable liner and buy extra liners when you get the helmet in case they get discontinued. You could easily get 10 years out of a helmet by doing that but 5 or 6 years is probably a safer number. My helmet allowance is normally $250-$350 and if you watch for closeouts you can save $100 on discontinued models. I splurged this time and spent about $500 + a $100 transitions shield. Liners are around $25.

Boots last a long time and you don't have to buy special riding ones so that's dependent on you.

I'd say when averaged out I spend $250 per year on gear, but that could be higher or lower depending on the person.
Riding every day to commute was tougher on gear than weekend rides.
I don't do a lot of long distance rides but those would also be tougher on gear.

This last time I just sort of included the cost of riding gear in with all the mods I made to my VFR. I gave my self about a $3000 makeover allowance for bike and gear because I wanted to ride more. I haven't really ridden much the last couple years.

Buying the NCX was really not in my plans or budget but it lets me keep the VFR as a play bike and the NC becomes the commuter for now. I actually expected to keep the NC for a year and then sell it to my brother but we'll see.

 

[JamesD]

BTW, I think insurance was $280 for me... at least that was the amount on my credit card statement.
I didn't ask if it was for 6 months or a year. I needed it so I paid for it.

 

[ahernandez74]

I think that the maintenance and cost of using a car to travel longer distances is what makes the motorcycle more economical. You don't get as many amenities but the bike insurance and maintenance is about 1/4th of what a cars cost would be. Plus you get places quicker too.

 

[SergeantChuck]

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.

 

[MZ5]

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?