2 Motorbikes cheaper than 1 car?

Swampy3k

Now this might not be for everyone, but for some budding bikers out there it may help you as it has helped me.

Before:
I own a 53 Plate Fiesta 1.4D which costs £30 a year to tax and costs £50 a week fuel (I do a lot of miles).

My Girlfriend owns a X Reg Focus 1.8 which costs £90(ish) for 6 months tax and is £60 a week in fuel (she does less miles than me)

Due to it being that time of the year that her MOT/Tax/Ins is expiring we were doing the sums and found it was cheaper to run 2 motorbikes than what it would be to run her car, so now we share 1 car and have 2 motorbikes.

Bikes -
Tax - both £17 a year (saved £146 annual)
Fuel - my bike £15 a week, gf's £10 a week, shared car £25 (saved £60 a week for roughly same mileage)
Insurance - found a good deal on my car and both bikes, costs the same as what it did for the two cars.

Overall general running costs and parts etc are cheaper for the bikes.

This idea isn't for everyone as not everyone likes motorbikes but if you do some maths it may be worth paying out a decent sum to buy bikes/protective gear which money you will save in the long run..as both of us were budding bikers it's worked out well!. I am aware bikes are only 3 out of 4 seasons but thats when they can get garaged and the car gets shared more.

thoughts??

you got to speculate to accumulate

Netwizard

I guess this is one of those situations, where if it works for you both, then fair do's BUT:

You still share one car, which has to be taxed, MOTed and insured regardless of how often you use it. You have 2 bikes that have to be taxed, insured and MOTed, plus they all still need maintenance and you need the protective gear for bike riding, so apart from the odd bit of saving on tax, I'm not sure its really worth it.

I knew a guy who used to commute to work on his bike in all weathers (about 20 miles each way). He now drives a car.

Personally, Although the fuel is a bit more, I'll stick to driving a nice, warm, car but as I say, if it works for you, then awesome saving money is what we are all here for

Swampy3k

I can see your point, we did think about all these points before we purchased the bikes etc, but to save £60 a week on fuel or roughly £240 a month.. play your cards right and it could be beneficial..

Plus the bikes are both Honda. reliability A++

Netwizard

Can't argue with the savings, and as a Honda fan boy, I agree

SailorSam

I had a bike when i was younger and they're great fun but these days i like the warmth & comfort of the car.
But if i were younger .......

forgotmyname

Are your figures correct? £50 a week in fuel for a fiesta diesel but a bike will only use £15?

I guessed about 400 miles a week. So the bikes doing abouit 200mpg?

Or are you only putting £15 now and it will use a lot more without the car?

I had a scooter for work and its was great for beating the traffic. I could probably run a car cheaper but sitting in the traffic seemed to take longer and longer.

I would use mine in all weathers but only fairly short journeys on well used main roads. Guys at work used to think i was mad rain, sleet and snow on the bike then a lovely warm sunny morning an i was in the car.
I said im only inb the car because i have stuff in the boot and need to go somewhere straight from work.

Car or bike.. Both is great but probably not money saving.

rexmedorum

Netwizard wrote: »

I guess this is one of those situations, where if it works for you both, then fair do's BUT:

You still share one car, which has to be taxed, MOTed and insured regardless of how often you use it. You have 2 bikes that have to be taxed, insured and MOTed, plus they all still need maintenance and you need the protective gear for bike riding, so apart from the odd bit of saving on tax, I'm not sure its really worth it.

I knew a guy who used to commute to work on his bike in all weathers (about 20 miles each way). He now drives a car.

Personally, Although the fuel is a bit more, I'll stick to driving a nice, warm, car but as I say, if it works for you, then awesome saving money is what we are all here for

did you consider 1 bike & 1 car instead of 2 bikes & 2 cars? If you are going to have 1 car anyway you might as well use that for 1 of the commutes, or does it save so much in fuel that it's still cheaper?
Could consider doing the shorter of the 2 commutes in the Fiesta.

k12479

Davie-G wrote: »

thoughts??

- It's difficult to fall off a car.
- You haven't mentioned purchase costs or depreciation, did you already own bikes or have to buy them?
- How do bikes hold upto higher mileages in terms of resale & maintenance? e.g engine/trans rebuilds ever needed nowadays?
- Same for protective gear, jackets and boots are no doubt expensive, if being used daily how often might they need to be replaced?

Richard53

Speaking as a committed 4-season biker, I ride to work and as many other places as possible because I like it, not because it is cheaper. Yes, the bike is cheaper to run if you are fairly narrow about what you call running costs, but it's not realistic for me to get the full saving by having the bike only. I still need to drive my dear wife around, take stuff to the tip, do a massive Tesco raid once in a while etc, so being totally without a car is not really an option for me. The bike does 65 mpg compared to the car's 45 mpg, tax is half what the car is, and I can do more or less everything that the bike needs regarding servicing and repair, so I don't have workshop costs. But even so, this is all in addition to the expenditure on the car, not in place of it.

If the OP can make the sums work, good for him, and I am glad to see another rider out of his cage and on the road.

sithmaster

forgotmyname wrote: »

Are your figures correct? £50 a week in fuel for a fiesta diesel but a bike will only use £15?

I guessed about 400 miles a week. So the bikes doing abouit 200mpg?

Or are you only putting £15 now and it will use a lot more without the car?

on my 125 I put £11 roughly every 200 mile

tykesi

k12479 wrote: »

- It's difficult to fall off a car.

It's difficult to fall off a bike. Let me guess - you don't ride?