Motorcycle vs. Car Comparison

I'm a Network Administrator and a lifelong motorcycle rider. When I tried to convince my wife that my life was almost pointless with out a bike, she tried to pull the "we don't have money for that right now" card.

I, being the computer nerd that I am, created a spreadsheet that shows how we could actually save money if I use the motorcycle to make my 30-mile-in-each-direction commute. It shows how many days each month I have to ride it to make the money back in gas savings.

In case anyone else is in a similar situation, it's attached to this post.

 

Not to be a stick in the mud you also have to take into account the cost of tires, oil changes, maintenance, etc... On my car I paid $250 for 4 tires and so far I've had them for over 2 years but on my bike $250 in a set of tires lasts me about 3 to 4 months. Just something to take into account when considering the grand total cost of maintenance.

Oh, and don't forget cost of helmet, jacket, pants, gloves, etc... For me, it's all about the fun factor instead of the economy factor.

 

I agree with Joey and Stuke. You reasoning is exactly why I purchased my 06 in July 06. I commute year round, 50 miles each way. The gas savings are phenominal, but like said above, there are many other expenses I was unaware of. However, I have put 60,000 km + on my bike that I did not put on my truck. The bike cost me about 16K wile the truck cost me 65K. This too has to be taken into consideration. Would I do it over again? F'n right baby! Was brand new to this biking stuff in July 06 but am now a die hard.

 

I need to buy my tires where you are. My tires on my truck are almost $200 a piece. the tires on my girlfriends Jetta, which we bought yesterday, were $320 for all four and that was a great price around here.

 

It's possible that cars don't require as much maintenance as bikes, but that's also because many people don't properly maintain their cars. Oil changes are required at about the same intervals for both bikes and cars (~3k to 4k). I change my own oil and it only costs me the price of the oil (~$18). I don't know anyone who changes their own car oil. If you take your car to a Jiffylube or some place similar, you won't pay less than $30. As for tires, that's a big difference. Car tires last much longer. Chain and sprockets every 30k at $250 isn't too bad. Valve checks every 30k aren't too bad either when you consider that a car has major services due at 30, 60, and 90k miles. Gas savings are very significant when riding a bike. I get about 45 to 50mpg. The problem that I have found with owning a bike is the incessant need (some might call obsession) to modify it. I can't stop buying things to make the ride more comfy or bike more aesthetically pleasing. With cars I've owned, I never modded anything. It was more of a need to get from A to B.

 

Good point about the maintenance. I paid a couple hundred cash for my bike and then broke it out as a year's worth of payments. It would be a good idea to factor tires/oil changes/etc. in for a year as well. Maybe even licensing fees.

Anyway, it's there if anyone needs it. I hate doing stuff like this and only using it once.

 

Amen, my V4 brother, amen...

It was my wife that didn't see it that way. She's coming around now though.

 

$1,300 for four tires installed on my truck. Ouch

 

I don't know the dynamics with you and your wife but you might even want to offer a compromise with other expenses to help her change her mind. For example, you could cut out cable, eat ramen noodles, cancel your hornymilfs.com account, etc... That could help her agree that you just gotta have a bike.

 

I manage the service of a fleet of 18 cars which run 24/7. I do not follow the manufacturer's schedule. That will kill you. Nowadays it is feasable to get 10<000 km out of an oil change with regular oil. 7,000 is the norm. The scheduled maintenance is what the manufacturer recommends based on the problems they encounter from the public at large. The public at large does not maintain their cars as has been said by others. If you were to keep your car reasonable maintained, about all you need is an OLF every 7L km or 5K miles. At 50,000KM do a gas filter change and a transmission. steering flush. Nearest to this point when you are getting a brake job, flush the brake lines. At 100,000 km same as 50 but include a tune up for a couple hundred more. Otherwise if it is not broke, don't fix it. Deal; with issues as they arise. Since I took over the fleet two years ago, I have cut the costs considerable even though I choose to take in out of house rather than in house servicing. And the fleet is in better shape than before.

FYI

 

Or you could buy your wife something nice. Like a brand new vaccum with all those neat attachments.:doh::kaboom::target:

 

Point taken Mello. You'll probably never be able to convince her by the doing the numbers. It may be better to approach it from a quality of life aspect. You said that your life without a bike is pretty much pointless. Not a bad place to start. Find things in her life that mirror this. Point out how much better you are to be around when you have a bike. Then put your foot down and say, "I need this" Good luck. LOLOL

 

LOL. I did mention that she has aerobics, shopping with her sister, etc. i think I even compared it to the cost of seeing a therapist, as I'd be needing one soon enough ... it'd been 10 years since I had a bike. Having ridden for my entire life before that (from the age of 8), it's not an easy thing to deal with emotionally.

 

Sometimes its easier to apologize then to get permission. No matter what, you're going to get some grief, so why not enjoy riding while you're at it? It's not like you're spending 50k on a Ducati 1098.

 

I once pointed out to my ex-wife (notice the "ex-" part) that a new Ford GT was a bargain at $175K, given the performance, and that it would be worth selling the house to buy one. In retrospect, it would have been a better investment, too... but I digress.

Waiting to "afford" something, other than a new pair of shoes, has never worked very well for me. It never happens. Murphy knows when I'm saving money, and finds ways to consume it. So what I do in these circumstances is to buy something that has a decent resale value, knowing that I'll lose some of my investment if I have to sell it in a hurry. VFR's have a decent resale value, so worst case, you won't lose too much money.

You could always go for the 2000 in yellow. They hold their price and sell quick.

 

Funny! I did a very similar spreadsheet back in May to convince my wife that I needed to own a motorcycle again after going 10 yrs without.

I'm quickly realizing that the savings just aren't as significant as I planned though........thanks to maintenance & extras.

The one thing that you also have to consider is your car payments. I commute 100 miles a day so I'll wear out a car about every 5 years. If driving a cycle 60 days every summer allows me to stretch the car life to 6 or 7 years (1-2 yrs w/no payments!), then suddenly the bike seems worth it. Of course my Viffer will then have over 30K and need a bunch of maintenance but hey..........what my wife doesn't know won't kill her. :wink:

 

If you factor in the initial cost of the motorcycle, the savings you are projecting here are.......nil. Like others have said, a car is a necessity but a bike is not.

With the maintenance and the insurance, (over $1K yr here) the fuel savings over my Accord are not a contributing factor. I ride because I enjoy it.....and my wife lets me.