anyone ride alot for work? do you still like riding?

granit, if i could get a car that got 35 mpg rather than 20 it may be a different story, but even at that, 35mpg car = 15-30k. 40mpg bike = 1.5k -2.5k

the bike is still cheaper if you do more than the average ammount of traveling.

 

I can't believe I'm saying this but Unnamed11 has a good point. As long as you don't ride like Rossi and that you get cheap hard tires like the Shinko touring tires you can do commute way cheaper than a truck.

For that matter you can get a scooter which gets something like 70-80 mpg

 

i always take my bike when they aren't calling for rain or snow. unless its a really cold early morning then i don't spend the extra time to get ready.

 

My car gets 50+ on long drives...
No idea what the VFR gets, but it ain't that

but yet when I had a commute, I still took the bike 4 days a week

 

again, I said for most of us, it is hard to make a true economic argument for the bike
I didn't say for everyone, didn't even imply it, specifically said most
and I didn't say it was impossible, only hard

most people don't give up their car/truck when they get the bike, the bike is an add on vehicle, so those costs must be born solely by the bike side while the car cost is born either way, because you have to still pay for the car (you save sligtly for the offset mileage on the 4 wheel vehicle), tyhe actual cost of the bike is usually not nothing, the insurance,

the per mile cost of a vehicle is not just the gas, only a fool looks at just one part of the equation

most of us don't get the cheapest tires, but even if you do, you aren't getting the 60,000 - 70,000 miles that you can get on car tires -- I go thru 3 tires on the bike every roughly 12,000 miles and that cost is about equal to 4 tires on the car which last 5 times longer

I never have to change the sprockets or chain on my car

every maitenance item on the bike is more than on the car; oil, filters, coolant, etc. And a lot of us utilize shorter maitnance schedules on our bikes than our four wheeled beasts.

I never change the fork oil on the car. The bike every two years. even if you do it yourself, that is time spent away from something else.

Can't remember the last time the brake fluid was changed on the car, but the bike, every two years.

I don't have to buy any gear to drive the car, on the bike I need a helmet, boots, jacket, gloves -- a $700 helmet divided even over a 5 year life span is not nothing

you really want to run the cheapest tires? especially when you might take a fun ride in the twisties on the weekends?

 

I can't believe anybody would agree with this pudwhacker! You are no longer a friend of mine, I'm deleting your number taking you off my friend list and now I refuse to brake when I see you cross the street.

 

$700 helmet??!?!? Is it made of gold? Mine was 125 bucks. For that matter I got a 2 piece full leather suit for 300 bucks.

As for tires, look at the prices of tires for trucks and motorcycle tires. Some trucks for a set its approximately $750 and those are for cheap tires. Good quality tires can cost up to a grand. Compare that to motorcycle tires, again if you get the cheap shitkos you can get a set for $200 and get about 10k miles out of them depending on your right wrist. If you count pure mileage, 50k miles on shinkos = $200 * 5 = $1,000

And as for chain/sprocket you can extend the life of your chain by installing a self-oiler and/or being very religious about oiling it all the time. I've seen people get up to 40K out a chain/sprocket.

And with a truck 20 mpg vs 45 mpg on a VFR I have to say the bike would be cheaper but it would be hard, I agree with you Spike. And as for maintenance, that is true maintenance is a little more costly HOWEVER repairs on a truck are way more expensive. My Dad's F150 truck automatic transmission gave way and it cost $1,700 to repair.

I mean there's a reason why 3rd-world countries use scooters not 100 hp VFRs. It's doable to save money riding a bike vs a truck. HOWEVER, when you compare the VFR to a economy car like a Honda Civic then the car is the clear winner. True the VFR can still get slightly better mileage than the Civic but the maintenance and running costs kill the economy debate.

 

I wish my car got 50mpg, i wouldent be broke. mine gets 20.

 

honestly if i knew where to get one of the old us postal service cars they deliver mail in i would. iv got family that has had one, that would be about the best bet for my job. but when i do have some money if ever i would like to replace my unreliable car with a 40+ mpg car.

 

Joey_dude would you park a scooter next to a sexy VFR in your garage and claim ownership of said scooter? LOL On another note, my commute is 66 miles round trip and the only time I sacrifice my sanity in the cage are really hot/cold days and when the chance of rain is higher than 40%. However, if there is a chance of rain the shadow comes out, the VFR is too purty to get durty! It's a great feeling to wake up and actually look forward to going to work. Even Mondays!

 

I commute rain, shine or cold (except snow/ice) 60 miles daily. Rode to work last Friday, did a 1000 mile ride on Saturday, ran errands on the bike Sunday, then rode to/from work on Monday. It's to the point that I don't drive the car unless I have more than one passenger. Even take my daughter to school on the back in the mornings on my way to work.

I came to riding later in life, so I guess I'm making up for lost time.

 

I love taking the bike over my nissan titan any day. 40mpg vs 15 mpg.....plus, I can split traffic cause I'm in California and use car pool lanes...heck the bike is more fun and economical. I work graveyard shifts so in the morning, I'm tired, and i start my commute back home, my adrenaline is running and I'm wide awake. If i drove my truck, I would have to stop and get coffee...

 

I have a friend of mine who is a motorcycle police officer. He is on his bike in the summer most days, all days. He does not own a motorcycle of his own and has no interest in having one or riding on the weekends (unless he is working and getting paid for it). Thinking about being on a bike and getting paid for it sounds like a dream job to me. I guess if you are in the saddle for that amount of time, it only makes sense that you would get your fill at the end of the day.

 

What's ticked me off this week, twice, is the brain dead driver in front of me deciding to wash his windshield and spraying me with a cloud of soapy dirty washer fluid.

 

The problem is not being in the saddle all day. The problem is that he's doggin that Hog around town all day and can't feel a damn thing. Poor feller needs to get him an ST1300 or a Goldwing with POLICE written down the side real big, he'd never wanna get off!! Until he went home and got on his VFR. Come to think of it, his department could probably get rid of his HD and get him BOTH Honda's and let him have the VFR for himself :biggrin: Damn, I think I just layed out MY dream job, except for the whole getting shot at thing...............

 

Use to ride to work - 84 miles round trip but after track days I'm ruined. The highway is just too boring. Back roads not much better. I'll get my head back into riding to work. Autumn weather will draw me out.

Reg

 

You can in Arizona. It depends on the state. Here we cannot lane split but we can change lanes more often than say a car can (it is excessive lane changes in a car, but not on a bike). I beleive that you can use the carpool lane in California too, but I'd look it up to make sure. Check your local laws but don't ask a cop, they don't always tell you the law. Often they will tell you what they want you to do.

 

I have seven miles each way from door to door. My 01 Dodge pick 'em up truck has 117K and needs over $1000 to fix ts problems. Not to mention it will not pass inspection this fall. The VFR puts a smile on my face twice a day, even though I don't have the most exciting roads to travel, I try to improve my corners every day. 35+ miles per gallon vs 8 has got to be saving me something plus it buys me time before purchasing another vehicle. Bring back cash for clunkers!

 

In CA any carpool, "HOV", lane is legal for motorcycles at anytime.