Raising awareness of the cheapness of bikes

[Madmax]

1 litre of fuel in a thou?
would only wet the injectors

[MarkH]

The bikes that are more economic to run than cars are the small capacity ones. VTR250, Ninja 250 etc

400cc scooters are pretty good on the gas too.

traffic in a car drives me mental and puts me in a foul mood at the best of times.

I remember needing to pick something up and using the car - it took less than 5 minutes of car driving before I was feeling pissed off, and the traffic wasn't bad or anything. My fix for that was to list the car on trade-me and get rid of the damn thing. That was over a year ago and I never regretted it.

In Auckland the transporting of more than 1 person in a car is the rare exception, 99% of cars being in Auckland seem to have only the driver in them. I'm riding along the motorway at 110kph following a Subaru WRX - I'm burning ~4L per 100km and the car I'm following is going the same speed while burning ~10L per 100km. I bought the scooter more than 2 years ago - it had <4,000km on the clock and it now has >40,000km on the clock. I've spent very little on repairs & maintenance - oil changes are every 6,000km but it only needs 1.3L of oil and a filter that costs $8.50. It has been over 2 years since the last time I paid for parking. I think tyres are costing me more, but petrol & parking are costing me less - overall the scooter IS cheaper than a car to run.

But for me the biggest reason to ride a bike/scooter instead of driving a car is that in Auckland traffic driving a car is NOT fun. Riding my scooter allows me to get where I'm going in less time while feeling less pissed off.

[Pascal]

But for me the biggest reason to ride a bike/scooter instead of driving a car is that in Auckland traffic driving a car is NOT fun. Riding my scooter allows me to get where I'm going in less time while feeling less pissed off.

Same, even in winter I'd rather be on two wheels than stuck in a car. 15 minutes to get home versus almost 45 minutes? That extra hour a day is much more valuable to me.

But speaking of small tanks. Before I got a bike I was driving a '67 Mustang. Only a 289, but filling up in Mt Albert and heading down to Hamilton would see my fill up again in Hamilton. Then make it to the gas station just outside of Taupo on fumes. Fill up again and grab some burgers at Taurangi. (?) Then fill up again at the army base. Gumboot City. You get the idea.

Not very economical, but fun as all hell.

[Juzz976]

Having a bike that uses more fuel than a car is absurd.

My TL1000R uses 5.15l per 100K riding conservatively but not nana speeds either.

Not many cars that can do that, if your bike uses much more than that then I think something needs to change.

Also how many grins per L is a major factor.

I lost 10kg (85 down to 75) when I got my first road bike, theres good incentive too.

[BMWST?]

Nice idea but the cheapness of motorcycling is way back in the early 80's!

Rego
Tyres
Fuel

bla bla.


Mind you my XR6 is a bit thirsty and eats rear tyres if you hoof it (on a closed road under controlled conditions you understand).


For the price of a new big bore bike you can get a new small car - Suzuki Swift or similar that will better the fuel economy, carry 4, tyres will last 30,000 kms plus and you can have sex in the back seat if you desire.

front wheel drive cars wont get 30000 k from a set of tyres in my experience,my big ol BMW does however,but it makes up for that in the petrol use.

[marty]

as I said - i just got 40k from my Goodyear NCT's. The front ones were fucked when I biffed them, but the rears are now on my trailer. I drive fast with lots of open road driving, but I don't do skids or shit. I might grab a second set of rims and cheap fronts for chains in the winter next year though instead of fucking my daily drive tyres (23 days on the mountain this year - probably 12 days of chain use)

[SMOKEU]

If you want a bike that is cheaper to run than a good car then get a scooter.

Or a GN250.

[Madmax]

Having a bike that uses more fuel than a car is absurd.

says who

[Rych]

Why everyone saying riding is more expensive than driving? Depends what you're riding and what you're driving. My R6 get's 100km from around 6L on average, obviously depending how hard you drive it, my Corolla around 8L, my WRX STi was around 12-13L and my evo around 10-11L.

All comes down to what, my mates CBR1000 7L for 100km... I always saved so much money when I have gone to bikes, clutch to do my evo was around 1600-2000 bucks, bike is like a 1/4 of that. Servicing every 5,000k on bike same with my cars.

Unless you own a nanner car that goes through no gas and you can get away with pretty much never servicing it then bikes are cheap!!

[Dave Lobster]

I lost 10kg (85 down to 75) when I got my first road bike,

I have an Italian one too.. I found it easier to join the AA than keep pushing the fucker home.

[rok-the-boat]

I like this idea - maybe I should go on one of these next time. My 1982 DR500 will cruise at 100km all day and wherever I go I get 25km/l without even trying.

total annual milage is gong to be a deciding factor with all the associated costs of properly maintaining a bike.

as for the economy, a couple times Ive done economy runs.
get a group together, lots of different bikes, and mmet at a petrol station.

[rok-the-boat]

Most of you guys on here seem rather negative, and illogical, about your economic bikes. Why would you compare a Hayabusa to a mini car? You should compare it to a 350 Chev V8 and a scooter to a mini car. I like bikes because for the price of a new crappest car I can get a bike that will outperform the best cars in the world. To me, bikes have always been the cheaper way to the Big Grin.

You guys need to change your minds - bikes have more of a future than cars. Petrol is likely to double in price over the next year, if not sooner. In 20 years we'll be back on horses. Greece needs another bailout, Ireland and Portugal have their hands out, and the UK is likely next. The value of the money in your pocket decreases with every bailout and the result will be rising petrol. Wait and see.

And Yup - Bikes will rule OK (Hayabusa or scooter)

[The Stranger:Me]

Most of you guys on here seem rather negative, and illogical, about your economic bikes. Why would you compare a Hayabusa to a mini car?

Why indeed? It was cheaper to run my ss than my gsxr 1000. Fuel was marginally better but the tyres on the SS were cheaper and didn't expire every 2,000km.
Sure the bike is more fun, but you may recall the subject of the thread was cheapness, not fun.

[Madmax]

I have an Italian one too.. I found it easier to join the AA than keep pushing the fucker home.

been there

[breakaway]

My GSXR 1000 got 230km to a bout $30 of gas, and that's highway riding, would be worse in the city. Nissan shitbox gets around the same. Only, the bike's tyres, chains, rego, services are more expensive. And on longer trips, it's nice to have the car, to be warm during winter and to be cool in summer.

For me the bike is a hobby, a weekend toy, definitely not something to get around on. If I'm expecting to encounter heavy traffic / problems with parking (like in the CBD) I take the bike.