Make sense to buy a motorcycle?

[sheepdog 44]

I got a quote from my insurance to see how ridiculously expensive riding a motorcycle would be. And to my surprise it said $100 FOR A YEAR!

I'd save several hundred bucks a year during the riding season. I drive my car about 13,000 miles a year, and i still spend more on car insurance than i do on gas!

[alvaro84]

My insurance for Teresa is like $33 per year, much less than the YARDIS' - but I've had 5 years without accident on Teresa, and the YARDIS is new to me, that's why. OK, it's Hungary, everything different here, you can't compare directly. Gas costs ~ twice of yours, so it shifts the proportions again.

The only thing I really can't compare yet (will need a few years to come to a conclusion) is maintenance cost. Tires, oil changes, batteries, belts for the bike (chains for most other bikes), other tear and wear, possible future breakdowns with any of the vehicles, etc... now it's a bit more than gas cost with Teresa. I think I have mentioned it earlier.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

A motorcycle between 250 to 400cc is the most balanced package for savings while still retaining a safe all-around performance. I particularly like the dual-sport motorcycles such as the Yamaha XT-225 and the Honda XR-200, or even an old Yamaha DT-180, because their riding position is comfortable for me, and the cross-country ability greater than any compact car is nice for recreational off-roading in the weekends.

[Grant-53]

You need to consider climate and then calculate total average annual cost per mile. I have not found much info on expected economic life of motorcycles either gas or electric. I would suggest 10 years or 100k miles as an estimate. Full fairings will double fuel mileage and protect the rider. Payback for a $2000 fairing may take 75k miles at $3.75 per gallon of gas. I ran some calculations a few years ago that indicated a motorcycle is roughly 25-30% cheaper than driving a small car for a single person commuting.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Anybody intending to save money commuting by motorcycle should know that it imposes a few sacrifices regarding comfort and luggage capacity, but it still sounds justifiable. Well, the motorcycle market here being widely different from America also seems to be more favorable, considering the higher popularity of motorcycles under 600cc.

[sheepdog 44]

Well, you can buy a decent old bike in good mechanical shape for under $500 (in the winter). Or a glider that's practically free and buy a new motor for it. If you try to buy a car at that price, it's liable to be rusted to pieces and completely unreliable.

You can get a good discount on last model year 250cc starter bikes here. People only use them for less than 1,000 miles before they want something that goes like stink.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by sheepdog 44

Well, you can buy a decent old bike in good mechanical shape for under $500 (in the winter). Or a glider that's practically free and buy a new motor for it. If you try to buy a car at that price, it's liable to be rusted to pieces and completely unreliable.

With the purchase cost so favorable, a motorcycle seems to be a reasonable choice when there is no need for the higher cargo capacity of a car, or for the enclosed cabin and trunk. And it's hardly even possible to fix decently a rust-bucket for under $500.

You can get a good discount on last model year 250cc starter bikes here. People only use them for less than 1,000 miles before they want something that goes like stink.

Back here, to get a motorcycle license the test must be performed at least in a 125cc motorcycle. What is deemed back there as a "starter" bike is hardly affordable by many folks in 3rd-world countries, like mine

[zeevm]

I know this is an old thread but sharing might not harm no one..

I ride motorcycles all the time and I like motorcycles, got me a Suzuki GSF400 Bandit '95 with good condition for $900, but no registration, but it's just for fun ride, which turns out no fun at all, engine crank overheats all the time (I live in the equator, very hot high humidity) until it gave up and eventually broke down, it cost me $1000 just to fix it and that's doing all by myself, on the shop would cost me about $2500 for new parts, until I finally got tired of fixing the overheat all the time, I sold the bike for $1200 to a friend (still sits in his garage for weekend ride) I maintain the engine till present

Now I ride a 125cc Suzuki Hayate scooter, I changed the bore & stroke plus valves to 148.55cc(rounded up to 150cc), installed a fuel injection system, now it's still got good fuel to kilometer ratio up to 1litre of gasoline for every 20km, and more power...

Until my recently found hobby making eletric.I like eletric (actually building one myself now), not too expensive if you build one, plus the experience you get (excitement, depression, etc...) from my calculations, my EV motorcycle project would only cost me about $4500 including the donor motorcycle not including the man hours.

[alvaro84]

Originally Posted by zeevm

125cc Suzuki Hayate scooter ... to 148.55cc ... still got good fuel to kilometer ratio up to 1litre of gasoline for every 20km, and more power...

If you love to tinker that much

Almost any unmodified 600+cc could give you that kind of mileage (5l/100km | 47 mpgUS) or better, with a lot more power

Electric, well, that's a much more promising field

[darcane]

Originally Posted by sheepdog 44

I got a quote from my insurance to see how ridiculously expensive riding a motorcycle would be. And to my surprise it said $100 FOR A YEAR!

I'd save several hundred bucks a year during the riding season. I drive my car about 13,000 miles a year, and i still spend more on car insurance than i do on gas!

My insurance company bases my car insurance off how many miles per year I drive. If your car miles drop from 13,000 to 8,000 (because you put a lot of miles on the bike now), your car insurance may drop significantly too.