Is the cost of ownership really as high as I think

[RobberRog]

Insurance $420.00 per year (did you get quotes? mines is less in SF)
Interest $150.00 per year (what rate did you use?)

I have better insurance info now. I used someone else's as a guide until I could get a quote from my insurance co. It is $300.

The interest or opportunity cost is $5K@3%.

Thanks for your estimates for the items.

 

[RyanK]

yup, justification by gas mileage is nearly impossible for anything that needs ins. and maintenance. the only way it even comes close is if you plan on owning it forever and have a ridiculously long commute.

Defy's got some closer numbers for ya, except the oil, depending on what you use. I think your depreciation is a little high? As is your ins.

Doesn't matter, fun factor outweighs all! :rockon:

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I had one dealer tell me that if I went to a harder tire compound that the tires would last longer but I would have a lot less traction. That didn't seem like a good trade off. Was he just trying to sell me tires that wear out faster of is this a valid point?

I can see where one can save to ton by doing their own oil changes. Much easier than in a car. I used to do my own engine timing adjustments (back when we needed to do such things) Is it reasonable for value adjustments to be something you can do yourself?

________________________________________________________________

I had bridgestones on both the FZ and FJR, they wear out fairly quickly(5-6K). I just replaced the fz tires with PR2's. Per other posts they go for 10-15,000 miles . More expensive initially but your not paying for mounting/balancing etc 2-3 times(so yes, the dealer misses out on that)... I won't put Bridgestones on my FJR either(tend to cup badly)....

I do like very much how the PR2's feel and haven't noticed any less traction. I have purposly locked up the rear tire in the rain (approx 20 mph) just to see how hard I can push the rear brakes. Its takes a fair amount of pressure unless your riding in the center oily part of the lane. It'll power wheelie in first gear W/O any tire slipage (stock gearing- one or two up)....

As for valve checks, I believe their not called for until 25,000 miles. That you can check yourself without too much trouble. Unless the bike is run really hard all the time, they usually don't require adjustment at 25,000. To adjust them is a bit more involved, pulling cams, cam chain, etc.....

 

[bluez]

...I've heard of guys using the " I"m only buying it to save gas $$$ to work" excuse to their wives. I honestly laugh at the wife when the guy pulls it off. He gets about a million " guy points" in my book.

A million guy points for me. I actually put together a spreadsheet for my wife that justified the "save gas $$$" argument when I bought my first bike. My bike owning buddies sure got a kick out of it.

 

[goker]

I use my bike for commuting as much as I can get away with it.

I think everybody pretty much touched all the financial aspects of the ownership, but here are few little items I have not read:

-- I realize you will not be getting rid of your car, but you may get a break on your insurance if you are not driving it as much (I do).
-- When it is all said and done (including depreciation value) bike is cheaper to commute with than it is with a car. I noticed you put the bike commuting values, but you didn’t put down how much you would spend on a car. Yes, since you are not getting rid of your car, you will still spend “some” but “not” all of that money on the car because you are using it less which may ofset your bike costs a little more.

And the biggest reason I use my bike for commute is: TIME

If you are living in a high traffic area like me (my area is ranked second worst in the country, yeah!!! ), having a bike may save you a lot of time from your commuting and “time” is my most expensive line item for commuting. On the average, my one way travel time is 20 minutes from “door” to “door” between my house and work on my bike because I get the take advantage of HOV routes. Same trip is 45 minutes on my car, and 1 hour 15 minutes if I take public transportation. Most people do not consider this, but it is very important to me.

 

[steveindenmark]

If I ever started off in this way I would never have bought a motorbike.

If the bike needs it I buy it. I do as much of the servicing as I can to save money and because I like doing it. If I am at all concerned I give the bike to a professional to do.

You just cannot put a price on motorcycling.

Steve

 

[RobberRog]

I noticed you put the bike commuting values, but you didn’t put down how much you would spend on a car.

Here's the car numbers for a 20K car that will do 150K miles (Honda or Toyota is what I buy and typically get 150K without major repair)

Cost/Mile $0.319 total variable costs
$0.133 Car Cost $20K/150K
$0.008 Brakes
$0.010 Timing belt
$0.020 Tires
$0.040 Interest @ 3% over 10 yr
$0.013 Misc repairs
$0.0962 Gas 26 mpg @ $2.5/gal


A FZ6 with the numbers you've helped me with is now about $0.302/miles for variable costs. So the bike wins by a nose. Bottom line, with my driving habits, I would save $.015/mile, which means there really isn't a cost advantage or disavantage for the bike for me. Particularly since I didn't add a category for Misc repairs for the bike, which I'm sure it has just like cars do.

And yes this doesn't take into account the intangibles of fun, freedom, time, etc. That is an exercise left for the reader.

Thanks to everyone that helped me work through this exercise. Being a cost accountant I can't just say it's fun and I'm probably saving money. I feel the need to fully understand what my fun is costing or saving me or I can't fully enjoy it.

Interesting that the IRS mileage deduction for motorcyles is so much less than for cars. Shows how much they know:Sport:

 

[lonesoldier84]

ive spent as much on the bike since buying it as i did paying for the bike in the first place. tires, plastics, dealership maintenance twice (never again tho), and tires. I ride ALOT though. like 1k km a week when everything is mechanically fine with the bike and it is running perfectly.

edit: thats mostly city riding with like 20% of it being highway.

that also doesnt include the long haul trip now and again.

 

[FZ1inNH]

Interesting thread with some good info!

My personal view is this: Riding on two wheels? PRICELESS! :thumbup:

I ride for sheer enjoyment and the fact that I save on some MPG along the way is just an added benefit. Being someone who has to winterize the bike, it's not even worth figuring out ROI because those months kill any chance of justifying it, really. I can come up with a win-situation though if I compare actual days riding with what the costs of operating the Taco is. In that scenario, the FZ1 is a HUGE winner. :cheer:

 

[fazer.rider]

OP's tire estimate seems way off. my stock bt 020s are at 9300 miles. i think they are good until 12,000 miles. i already bought bt021s waiting to be changed and i expect them to last just as long. bought the bt021s front and rear for USD $235. cost to change them at a shop is probably around $65 or so.

edit: some of you guys are eating tires so fast! what's going on?

 

[mpb218]

If you're looking to save money, DON'T DO IT!!!! You'll get mod fever and your bank account will suffer! haha kidding

Good luck with the calculations, per mile $$$ might be slightly less than a car, but the per mile enjoyment factor... can't put a price on that.

 

[lonesoldier84]

OP's tire estimate seems way off. my stock bt 020s are at 9300 miles. i think they are good until 12,000 miles. i already bought bt021s waiting to be changed and i expect them to last just as long. bought the bt021s front and rear for USD $235. cost to change them at a shop is probably around $65 or so.

edit: some of you guys are eating tires so fast! what's going on?

i go thru tires every 3.5k km or so. different riders will vary tremendously on different tires.

 

[xgrafcorex]

I, like many, don't think of it as a cost per mile deal. I just look at one expense at a time. Right now I'm still paying off the bike, pay for a little bit of gas here and there, and purchased several pieces of gear. Sure everything adds up to a decent amount of money, but I will tell you that you won't be disappointed! I can't stop riding..and when I HAVE to, I can't stop thinking about riding! I am officially hooked and love every minute of it..except the minutes when I'm at work or other places that require not taking the bike.

I love my car, but I ONLY drive it if I need to..besides this afternoon after I installed a new part for the suspension.

So far I haven't gotten too far into the spending for maintenance and whatnot as I've only had my bike for a little under a month. I have put over 1000 miles on the bike in that time though. As a first bike, I have no immediate interest in performance mods.. Might upgrade my seat here in the near future, but other than that, I'm not looking at much in the way of mods. Thinking of buying a new helmet..an Icon helmet that I like and the color matches the bike more than my current helmet. Not very important really, but I do like the graphics on the Icon. :thumbup:

 

[simonwb]

I commute most days 90 mile round trip and agree, cost savings vs the car for the trip are marginal, but I save a lot on parking, about £4.50 a day and likely to rise. My office is city centre with no parking provided; there's a free bike park nearby but car parks charge by the hour.

Here's an interesting thought for you cost accountants out there - some of my journeys I can claim mileage from my employer/client. HMRC (US = IRS?) claim guidelines are £.24/mile for a bike and £.40 for a car. Say I do 10,00 business miles a year. Would I be "better off" taking the bike or the car?

A couple of years ago I insisted my employer provide me with a BMW RT1200SE as a company vehicle, rather than a car. To my horror it cost the firm per month as much as a BMW car, mostly as far as I could see because the bike ate more consumables and needed more services than a car.

Like most posters here, I choose the bike over the car because I love to ride, not because I can really justify it financially. I spend a lot on expensive riding kit, an item which I don't think the OP factored in.

 

[Zack]

Routine Maintenance items came out to .15/mile
tires cost: $500.00 good for 6000 miles $0.08 Per mile
valves adjusts cost: $300.00 good for 10000 miles $0.03 Per mile
oil cost: $10.00 good for 1000 miles $0.01 Per mile
brakes cost: $300.00 good for 10000 miles $0.03 Per mile

RobberRog there is no fun factor in above calculations but looking only at hard cash items I still calculation is off. Person doing calculation doesn't sound like some youngster that will drive bike very hard but rather treat it is a vehicle to go to work and back. I might be wrong but:

* Tires - I don't think that tires go that fast
* Oil - why would you change oil every 1000 miles?
* Brakes - on any car I had first brakes lasted about 50000 miles, there is no way brakes on FZ will wear out in 10k miles (for example bike has 10 times less weight than my van and almost same stopping power)

One of the reasons I bought Yamaha is that I have full confidence in reliability. Maybe you should consider buying BMW street bike? They last forever and need minimum of maintenance. You didn't mention changing a chain in your calculations. BMW have shaft drive, never needs anything.

 

[fazer.rider]

i go thru tires every 3.5k km or so. different riders will vary tremendously on different tires.

mind disclosing what kind of riding you do? i rode 3500 kms in the past 5 weeks. so if you ride a lot you are spending loads of $ on tires every season.

 

[fazer.rider]

BMW have shaft drive, never needs anything.

it costs WAY more and you still need to change the final drive oil periodically.

 

[lonesoldier84]

mind disclosing what kind of riding you do? i rode 3500 kms in the past 5 weeks. so if you ride a lot you are spending loads of $ on tires every season.

a lot of highway riding on our (very straight) highways. i hope my road 2;s last longer than that tho. i had pilot power 2;s on there and went thru then in one month and just over a week or so.

i have long stretches of road where i average over 170kph and it really burns thru the centre of the tire.

 

[urbanj]

Stupid BC.

I pay $120 a month in insurance. and that's not with coverage if I crash the bike myself. I probably should add this though. I have the highest discount I can get at -43% from their baseline rates. Unfortunately for me I have to wait until september when I turn 26 (10 years driving) to go get third party coverage for everything else but basic. ICBC (our crown run insurance company) makes it that you have to at least get basic coverage through them.

So at $1200+ a year on insurance, it's not a bargain. And since I work 2km from home, I ride for the sake of riding.:rockon:

 

[rockmurf]

After skimming through the first page of posts it is apparent that your figures are way off. Tires should last 10-15k miles if you aren't beating the crap out of them and if you keep them properly inflated, 38 front and 42 rear. Oil changes are every 4k miles and if done yourself with dino are about $25. Valves as stated are every 26k miles so for you every 5 years or so. Batteries can last 3 years plus if you are riding your bike. If it sits alot you will go through alot of batteries, tires etc. Use irridium plugs and you are good for 30k miles with for you is 6 years. Ps tire use for you would be 2-3 years per set of tires. So the answer to your question is motorcycling is not a cheap hobby however you own one of the better bikes regarding cheap to keep. Ride and enjoy. You did not buy the bike to justify it on a balance sheet.