I Did The Math

[FJR1300]

At the current gas prices around this area, I break even by driving this to and from the office instead of my SUV.

That includes insurance, so I don't feel bad about spending the money for my new ride.

My wife's Acura is a 2002 with 350,000 miles and I have a 2004 with 180,000 miles. This will also help us keep a few miles off the vehicles.

I love it when a plan comes together.  

[Mr.Black]

One of the rare math is good occasions.

[county]

Did you factor in the tires?

[FJR1300]

Who needs tires?  

I did factor in a set a year and I'm still in the break even arena. If I lose a few bucks, not a problem. I get a new bike and it only costs a few extra dollars a year.

[Bravo12]

If I hadn't found the killer deal on my Versys over the winter, I would have picked up a CBR250R by now (and keep the VFR for trips instead of putting it up for sale). The Versys does it all pretty well, though, including commuter duties, and gets ~45mpg when not dealing with stop-and-go traffic. I'd still like a CBR250 to play with on the weekends, though.  

[mxvet57]

My wife's Acura is a 2002 with 350,000 miles and I have a 2004 with 180,000 miles. This will also help us keep a few miles off the vehicles.

If those are leased vehicles your getting screwed.

[mesmotized]

Who needs tires?  

I did factor in a set a year and I'm still in the break even arena. If I lose a few bucks, not a problem. I get a new bike and it only costs a few extra dollars a year.

1 set per year?  I wish my tires lasted a year

Anyways, it's always nice when reason supports your passion!

[SLK50]

I'm having trouble with the math myself.

If I figure $5,000 for the bike ( including tax, insurance, a set of tire and maintenance for one year )
and gas at 3.59 a gal that equates to about 1400 gallons of gas.
At 50 MPG that equals nearly 70,000 miles. That's a LOT of miles for any bike.
70K miles would be about 270 miles per day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year.
But...
If the Acura gets 10 MPG and gets driven 50 miles per day, that's about 18.00 per day.
It would only take 278 days or 14,000 miles to equal the total cost of the bike.
Therefore, the 14.41 in savings ( 18.00 - 3.59 ) would "break even" in 1-2/3 years.

The math, however, would work better had you traded a vehicle you owned for a bike
of equal value ( instead of purchasing outright ) that got much better mileage.
The math gets more complicated because vehicles accrue costs even if they don't
get used ( insurance, depreciation, maintenance, etc. ) so that an idle
vehicle isn't exactly "null". All costs should be added into the operating expenses
of the vehicle in use. You'll still save, just not as much or as fast.

[Kneescrubber]

Where do you pack your suit?

[FJR1300]

I'm having trouble with the math myself.

If I figure $5,000 for the bike ( including tax, insurance, a set of tire and maintenance for one year )
and gas at 3.59 a gal that equates to about 1400 gallons of gas.
At 50 MPG that equals nearly 70,000 miles. That's a LOT of miles for any bike.
70K miles would be about 270 miles per day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year.
But...
If the Acura gets 10 MPG and gets driven 50 miles per day, that's about 18.00 per day.
It would only take 278 days or 14,000 miles to equal the total cost of the bike.
Therefore, the 14.41 in savings ( 18.00 - 3.59 ) would "break even" in 1-2/3 years.

The math, however, would work better had you traded a vehicle you owned for a bike
of equal value ( instead of purchasing outright ) that got much better mileage.
The math gets more complicated because vehicles accrue costs even if they don't
get used ( insurance, depreciation, maintenance, etc. ) so that an idle
vehicle isn't exactly "null". All costs should be added into the operating expenses
of the vehicle in use. You'll still save, just not as much or as fast.

 

$4,000 / 48 months @ 3.0% = 88.54

200 X 52 / 12 / 17.5 MPG = 49.53 X 3.69 = 182.74
200 X 52 / 12 / 50 MPG = 17.33 x 3.69 = 63.96

182.74 - 63.96 = 118.78

That's if I ride it every day to work. Will that happen? Probably not.

As far as all your expenses for the other vehicle... not really. It's paid off, so the insurance isn't very expensive and there isn't much maintenance.

In case you don't understand my math...

I currently spend 182.74 a month buying gas for the Acura. I will only spend 63.96 a month when I ride the bike. That leaves me with a savings of 118.78 a month, which covers the loan.  The extra 30.24 covers the insurance.

This is based on the current gas prices and I expect they will not stay at this level. When you do the math for 3.99 a gallon gas, I actually come out with a savings.

Again... I didn't do this to actually save money. I did this to get a new bike and NOT add much, if anything, to my monthly expenses.

[Kneescrubber]

It's paid off, so the insurance isn't very expensive and there isn't much maintenance.

But. Where do you pack your suit?

[coho]

Who needs tires?  

I did factor in a set a year and I'm still in the break even arena. If I lose a few bucks, not a problem. I get a new bike and it only costs a few extra dollars a year.

If you put a car tire on there it'll last a lot longer than a year. That could really add up over the life of the bike.  

[FJR1300]

Where do you pack your suit?

Suit?

[bungie4]

Math Smath.

I love my little CBR. Since I bought it last August I've put on about 3500 miles, pretty much all bombing around town. Avg mgp (real world for me) is 91UK/mpg, with a best tank of 102UK/mpg. In US terms, count on between 75 and 80. In fact, I just filled it up about 20 minutes ago. Cost $11.55 and I'm good for another 200 miles.

I justified the purchase based on gas mileage, but in reality, it wasn't really a factor, I just wanted to save the FJR from the craptacular roads here in Northern Ontario. Along the way, I found I had an absolute blast riding it. It definitely won't rip your arms out of there sockets, but it'll handle hwy speeds just fine and the handling is psychic.

It does have a few quirks. Theirs a fuel pump protection plate directly under the filler neck which, other than protecting the pump, only serves to make cleanly filling the tank nearly impossible.  If you give it a full squeeze, your gonna be wearing the gas.  The mode and reset buttons are really hard to press. The fuel and temp gauges are hard to read (I'm old).

An oil change is less than $10 for this bike. $4 for a filter and it only takes about a quart.

The way the stock tires are wearing, you can expect to get more than a full season out of a set.

This bike is a home run for Honda. Now if only it had about 3x the horspower

[Kneescrubber]

Suit?

Have it your way.

[mxvet57]

Suit?

Rain suit

[Rincewind]

Sweet little CBR, congrats.  

[Mastros2]

Anything that helps to justify a new bike to the wife is always a good thing!

Congrats on the new cbr.  

Don't forget a nice review.  

[scottzilla]

I feel sorry for you, having to rationalize the purchase of a little girls bike like that.  
I buy whatever I want whenever I want, like a boss.  

[Kraz]

I wish my tires lasted a year

Buy a 250.




Congrats to the OP for the new bike - reasonable or not - looks like fun, and I'm jealous.