Make sense to buy a motorcycle?

[kawboyCAFE]

Originally Posted by alvaro84

I won't. That was the first bike I considered buying

if we got them here, it would have been the bike i got. i have been there and done that with the bigger bikes, and now for the type of riding i do, smaller cc bikes are perfect for me. plus, i just love smaller bikes for some reason. always have. i ride mostly back and forth to work, around town, and some backroads here and there. that being said, i am taking a 1500 mile road trip on my ninja 250 in late may. maybe i will do a right up of the trip on here when i get back, ya know, with pics and MPG numbers and such. i am sure i will video some of it and put it on my youtube channel.

[kawboyCAFE]

Originally Posted by tomauto

I'm torn between buying a slightly used Honda 230m or waiting for the Honda 250R myself. I can't decide!

those are 2 totally different bikes, so it will really be a choice of perspective. the 230m is a real good bike that looks like a dirt bike. the CBR250r is a kinda mini VFR. the 230 is carbed, the CBR250r is fuel-injected. they are both really good bikes, and they will both do pretty much everything, any bike kinda will, but for strictly street driving, the CBR250r will probably be more enjoyable, but it will also be more expensive. you could probably get a good used 230m for pretty cheap. cheap for a honda that is.

[alvaro84]

Originally Posted by kawboyCAFE

that being said, i am taking a 1500 mile road trip on my ninja 250 in late may. maybe i will do a right up of the trip on here when i get back, ya know, with pics and MPG numbers and such. i am sure i will video some of it and put it on my youtube channel.

Similar here: in this May we'll go on a '48 hours in the national parks of Hungary' tour. The time limit for these '48 hour' trips is 60 hours and the distance is usually ~1900-2000km. We will have both bikes I log here (though I'm a bit behind with Ciliegia, as she's my girlfriend's bike, and the newer tanks are not mine anymore), so we'll do a long trip with a 250 too

Anyway, in the city I feel riding a 250 a bit more harmonic than a 650. The latter makes me pulse&glide and FAS all the time

[bikepilot]

I've used motorcycles and bicycles for personal transport and commuting for the past decade+ and quite like them. Just from a fuel and O&M cost standpoint they aren't a huge savings from cars and more expensive than a really cheap car (like my wife's VX), but its much more fun and can have huge benefits - for example free parking and HOV lane access. Just the parking saves me $240/month and HOV access saves me about 15 minutes a day.

I also enjoy riding the bike, even to work and dislike driving cars in traffic, so there's that

I haven't found commuting to spoil the fun at all - whenever I have vacation time I go riding and if the time is long enough I usually find myself in Colorado and Baja.

In general I find maintenance on bikes to be more $$/mile than economy cars, but less than high end performance cars. On my street bikes (mostly sport or sportish bikes) high end chain/sprocket combos cost almost $300, but last 40k miles. Tires last 15-20k miles and cost $350. Brake pads last 20k and cost $100. My wife's civic goes much further on wear items and things like brakes cost less. But it won't go 170mph, go 0-60 in <3 seconds, 60-0 in <110', and is quite a bore to drive so I don't much care

Then there's lots of little stuff - cables every year or two, new riding jacket, boots, pants, gloves and helmet every few years, occasional replacement of bearings here and there, filters, etc.

I do ride 365 days/yr no matter the weather though (live in Boston and NoVA/DC).

[bikepilot]

Oh, re the CRF230 - great around-town bike, too slow and underpowered for freeway work imho. The CBR250R will run freeway speeds ok though.

I've commuted on everything from a 17hp 250 to a 120hp (at the wheel) TL1000S. For all city riding the slow bike is fine, but if there's a bunch of freeway work, especially freeways with lots of traffic its nice to have the power to be able to run with traffic and accelerate out of trouble as needed. You don't give up a lot of mpg with a fast bike for a given speed, but its easy to go faster and use more fuel. Bikes also vary a lot in efficiency - my bandit 1250 was quite efficient and my TL1000S less so.

[alvaro84]

Originally Posted by bikepilot

Bikes also vary a lot in efficiency

It seems so. I had to learn it when I was looking for my future first vehicle. Before that I wouldn't have thought they're so inefficient compared to cars (they move so much less weight out of not that much less fuel). Then I had to cherry pick one that's efficient enough despite being >125cc (there were almost no 250cc's in Hungary back then so I went with a 650. I don't regret it.)

[bikepilot]

Yes I think efficiency is not a major design criteria for most motorcycles. The focus is more on weight, cost and performance.

Also, bikes (well, more the humans perched atop them) aren't terribly aerodynamic so despite the much less weight, it may take nearly as much power to propel one along as it does a small, aerodynamic car.

Still you have to admire what mfg's have achieved with modern bikes - N/A engines making 200hp/liter, brakes capable of standing the bike on its nose at any speed without power assist, acceleration and handling to rival supercars and all for about $10k while getting the mpg of an economy car.

[roosterk0031]

What tires are you running on the TL or B12.5 to get 15-20,000 miles?

Parking and storage of a bike are an advantage I didn't bring up. Another advantage is if your Car isn't perfectly reliable, getting a little older, a bike is a great 2nd vehicle. Allows you to own that car longer than you could otherwise if it was your only wheels.

[bikepilot]

Avon AV45 and 46 STs (nla - now they are called Storms) are what I ran when I was racking up big miles. Went just over 20k each on two sets of them (something like 44k total between the two sets). Changed them just before the wear bars were touching. Note that this was riding year-round and tires don't wear a whole lot when its 20 degrees outside

I had Pilot Road IIs on the Bandit, but didn't keep it long enough to wear it out, but I think they'd have been good for 15k or so. I put 9k on it and they had plenty of tread left.

Here's a bunch of pictures from a trip I took on the bandit
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=507038

and here's some from a trip I took on a 919
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=367703

[roosterk0031]

Don't remember what Avon I wore out on the Concours I had, temp definelty makes a big difference. Got 3-7k per rear on FZ1 but mostly fair weather unless car was broke. And atleast once a month during winter cause I didn't want to let it set.