Yearly costs of motorcycling

[bobmielke]

yearly cost of riding --------------------------------------- priceless
 
shrink because I don't ride ------- $175 per hour, 100 hours = $17,500
 
yearly cost of riding --------------------------------------- priceless

[Sport-Touring]

[VIVID1]

There is maintenance, insurance, gas and all the expenses that have to do with touring. And all the gear I buy. I'd imagine I have a $20-25,000 per year habit that includes bikes, I bought a ST3 last year and this year I bought a 900SS and a XT225

[1moreroad]

Amen brother.
 
I always thing in terms of deducting the times I ride the bike for necessary travel that you would have otherwise done in your car from over all costs. If the difference in cost is approx. 10 cents a mile (between car and bike) than you're using your hobby to help save money... right?
 
Don't argue with my logic, I'm an engineer!
 
eD

Nice try.  **If** you save $0.10/mile, you'd have to ride a $10,000 motorcycle 100,000 miles to negate the initial purchase price.  A used YZF600R at $5000 would only have to be ridden 50,000 miles.  I don't think the average car in this country gets driven that many miles before being replaced, never mind the average bike.
 
Of course, I only save $0.02/mile on the bike over the car, so I'd have to ride about 150,000 miles to negate the initial purchase price.
 
And I'm an analog engineer! Logic is only for engineers who can't count past 1.

[kdub]

yearly cost of riding --------------------------------------- priceless
 
shrink because I don't ride ------- $175 per hour, 100 hours = $17,500
 
yearly cost of riding --------------------------------------- priceless

Actually might be closer to 470 hours of therapy needed (47 weeks/ yr worked and at least 10 hours therapy/ week MINIMUM!) I have a fav. loop of about 160 miles that must be ridden at least every other sunday afternoon that has to be worth at least a couple grand per trip.

[goldylocks303]

Nice try. **If** you save $0.10/mile, you'd have to ride a $10,000 motorcycle 100,000 miles to negate the initial purchase price. A used YZF600R at $5000 would only have to be ridden 50,000 miles.
And I'm an analog engineer! Logic is only for engineers who can't count past 1.

I like the way this guy thinks,    Someone get him an STN hat while I start knocking out my 50k miles.  
 
There are 10 types of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.  
 
eD
 
Mechanical Engineer BTW, working for a expert witness in the field of Biomedical Forensics (it's as cool as it sounds).

[ruralhipster]

Let me say I don't begrudge one penny I spent on motorcycling, money that was spent on riding would have otherwise been wasted on something less enjoyable. Since I ride mostly for pleasure I can't do any real-world offsetting of costs, so at $40/hr ($4000 divided by (11000km divided by 110km/hr)), it's a bit more expensive than golf but a lot cheaper than therapy. And yes I know that it would be even cheaper if I spent less time doing math and more time riding.

[Bogie]

And I'm an analog engineer! Logic is only for engineers who can't count past 1.

There's only 10 kinds of people in the world....those who understand binary and those who don't.

[zed88]

Just think of what you would be spending if you dident motorcycle  I break even on my strom as compared to using my car.  If I ride the bike 7,000 miles a year (no problem) I can match my expenses.

[jsanford]

Great thread. Now I'm thinking about how this past calendar year I replaced a rear motorcycle tire at $120+ just because it was five years old, but I'm going to try (unsuccessfully, most likely) to get reimbursed by the city for a $70 auto tire that got a sidewall tear in a pothole.

[Global Rider]

Operating costs: Next to nothing or at least as little as possible because I tend to keep my stuff for a long time, do all my own work and shop around for the best prices.
 
Enjoyment and memories realized: Priceless!
 
For example, using my own motorcycle for my Euro travels, including all maintenance, parts and taking into account the purchase and selling price: $500 per month of use compared to about $2500 per month in rental fees. Lets see...$5000 over ten years compared to $25,000 in rentals...I saved $20,000.

[duckbill]

I don't save money by motorcycling,
I save money so I can.

[Nimh]

I did a detailed analysis of my three years and 43K miles with my Triumph Sprint RS back in June, right after I sold the bike. I posted it on STN and now its in the bit bucket somewhere. Gots lots of negative replies from folks that didn't want to see just how expensive their hobby is. I guess ignorance is bliss, or they were worried their spouse would see what it really costs.
 
I believe I ended up with a cost on the order of $0.25/mile which included depreciation, insurance, fuel, maintenance, tires, etc, etc.

Gary - if you still have this info, I would be interested in checking out the details.  I must have missed it back then.  Ignorance is not bliss, and considering I do this with my spouse, she already understands the amount of sheer joy this hobby can give a person.  

I truely see this as therapy too.  In the winter when the weather keeps me off the bike, I tend to get a little testy.  That, and my cage only gets 14 mpg and it is getting close to needing tires at around $300 each.  I can't wait for temps to get back over freezing.

[UHOH]

My friend recently asked me how much I spent on my motorcycling  [...]
 what does this "hobby" (I prefer calling it a  passion) cost everyone else?

i make a point of not figuring it in dollars and cents, because that's not why i choose to ride  

but if i were to look at it that way, i would do it by comparison:   the cost is probably about the same as if i had contributed to a church in the style they suggest, coupled with my freedom value (when i'm on my bike, i am free*).


* traffic excepted

[gritsngravy]

You can't take it with you so what's the point in adding it all up.

[UHOH]

also, nice to see you on here, kdud, with that v-strom

[Bryan]

Useing the pro rate system, so far its 356 dollars a month, which is declineing as time passes, the bike is also worth about 4500, so decuducting that amount means I praticaly got to see the west almost for free.
 
 Or about 195 a month and declineing.

[RickC1957]

Never, never calculate the annual costs for:
 
Motorcycling
Flying your own aircraft
Boating

+ one billion:lol:

[clyde]

This information should never, ever be revealed. If your wife/girlfriend ever found out how much you spend, one of two things will happen: A) You'll be neutered. B) You'll be spending so much on "catch up" jewelry to "balance things out" that you will never spend a cent again on anything bike related. Now, if you are single; have no significant other, girlfriends or entanglements, well, nevermind.

[egads1]

If you wanna play, you gotta pay:lol:

[Logan]

I spent around $800 for gas in both my car and my bike this year, but I spent over $2500 on tires for the bike while only $400 for the car. I'll spend the same on tires for the bike next year while I won't need car tires for 2-3 years. It cost me more than double to ride vs drive in a year.