I've always thought it would be great to own and ride my own motorcycle. The only problem is I'm very frugal (hence the reason I drive a FIT ) and I wonder if it's worth the money for what I want to do? Basically I would want a bike to cruise around on here and there and use for shorter trips. If I lived in the South then it would make a lot more sense financially to me than the fact I live in New Jersey and the bike will only see road time about 2/3 of the year.

So my main question is for those of you who own and ride a bike, is it worth the price, upkeep, insurance, etc for someone like me who just wants to ride for leisure? How much would I be budgeting a year for a decent used bike? Thanks in advance.

 

Tires and batteries are costly but they are fairly easy to maintain and no other form of transportation matches the fun that they do... A 250cc bike or scooter is fast enough to ride on the interstates and will get 65MPG or more at 70MPH and better at lower speeds.. Large displacement bikes and sport bikes require more money for parts, tires, and insurance. You can save on insurance by taking a Motorcycle Safety Foundation riding course and make batteries last longer with a battery charger.... A single cylinder dual purpose bike would be a great choice for a first bike.... I plan to get one for my wife on her 60th birthday.

 

OK... Is it worth the money? Well, it probably won't save you a lot of money, if any. If you've got the bug, buying a motorcycle is the only thing that's going to fix it though, so worth the money to stop the mental anguish? Hell yeah!

The motorcycle itself: You can easily find a nice starter bike for less than $5000. I bought my first bike (a used Kawasaki Ninja 250R) for $2500. 250cc's have a reputation for being unbearably slow, but the Ninja 250cc is powerful enough to be enjoyable. A lightweight, low power motorcycle is always advisable for someone just starting out - it's easy to slip up while moving slowly, where light weight will be to your advantage, and it takes some time to get your muscle memory tuned to the very sensitive, almost twitchy controls on a more powerful bike.

A Ninja 250R will do 100 mph, and will hit 60 in 7 seconds or so, but will do so at engine speeds that make a Fit MT seem positively long geared (~10,000 RPM at 80 mph). The good thing about it (and other great starter motorcycles such as the Suzuki GS500, Buell Blast, Honda Rebel) is that they are often easy to find on the used market, cheap to run, and easy to sell for what you bought them once you've learned the ropes. I rode mine for 6 months and 4500 miles, and then traded it in for a Ninja 650R with 500 miles on the odometer.

Tires are replaced more frequently - every 6-8K miles. Don't forget good gear as part of the equation - helmet, jacket, pants, boots, gloves at minimum. You're looking at $500-$1K for gear. I was advised: "Going down on pavement is like having a 300 pound dude sit on you and grind you with a belt sander. Cover anything you don't want ground away."

Many states have started requiring MSF courses. I can't recommend these strongly enough - in Cali, it was roughly 5 hours of classroom time, followed by 10 hours actually on the bikes on the range, learning not only how to operate the motorcycle, but how to safely execute emergency maneuvers. In most states, completion of the course (with it's own motorcycle skills test conducted on the motorcycles at the end) allows you to skip the DMV test.

Mileage varies between bikes based on size - my 250cc Ninja usually got around 60-65 mpg. My 650cc gets around 45-50. Maintenance is more frequent, but easier to do yourself than a car (no need for jacks/ramps to change your oil, for example) And yes, it's unbelievably fun!

 

I always say i want one. But i know way to many people that have died on one or got banged up on one. And 90% of the time it is not there fault but other drivers not seeing them on there bikes. This is why i still don't have one. I love the idea and have the money but im scared to get one.

 

I own one and use it to commute to work most of the time. After riding my honda ruckus for over a year i went with a sport bike for farther travels and to me its been worth it. If you ride you have to learn your bike well and watch your surroundings at every moment

 

I wish everyone was required to ride one for a year or two before being allowed to drive a car... If they don't survive the experience, god riddance they don't belong need on the road.... Most of the people that get wiped out are bored baby boomer yuppie types that buy Harleys or clones that look like one or their offspring that have to buy a crotch rocket and generally it is a driver of a pickup or SUV that naturally assumes they can get away with making a left turn in front of them since they only yield to larger vehicles... In England a novice rider is required to start off on a bike of 250cc displacement or less and that isn't a bad idea since a number of them are as fast as 4 stroke 500cc bikes before Honda changed things in the mid sixties... The number one survival rule is to convince yourself that you are invisible to everyone else on the road and if you aren't everybody on the road wants to kill you... The sanest people I have met rode motorcycles even though they aren't seen to be that way by non riders that drive trucks and SUVs but what sane person would want to drive one of those things? Most of them wouldn't be out there on the road if they had been required by law to ride a motorcycle before being granted a licence to drive a car.

 

Yeah that's also one of the things that has prevented me from getting one as well. One of my buddies who used to ride brought up a good point, "you can be the best rider in the world but it doesn't mean the people you're on the road with are, and they'll always win."

 

QFT!!! Riding, as well as rider training, and reading up on riding safety* made me a FAR better driver. Sure, they teach following distances... but looking 12 seconds ahead, watching tires and eyes to see intetion, monitoring your position in blind spots, keeping tabs on other drivers (i.e. they shouldn't make it INTO your blind spot without your knowledge, as they have to transition across a non-blind spot in the process), and just the generally up-cranked Spidey sense have all been fantastic for my driving.

By the way, OP, if you want a great read into motorcycling, and how to motorcycle safely, I recommend "Proficient Motorcycling" by David Hough. it should be in your neighborhood Borders or Barnes & Noble. It's WELL worth it.

 

I've lately given thought to the idea of a motorcycle as well. So this thread has been a good source of good advice.

To the OP, I'd say if you are "frugal" and worried about the cost as defined by your projected useagae? Look at the big picture. For short trips and cruising around...what is better efficiency wise than a motorcycle? Not even a hybrid matches the gas mileage. Sure you have insurance, upkeep and equipment as well as initial purchase and the wisely recommended training. Nothing is free...but...

Keep in mind also that you'll likely be saving wear and tear on your primary vehicle. Which is a long term benefit. Every mile you put on your motorcyle is one less mile on your Honda Fit.

 

I had two bikes before my Fit and the most recent one I bought new. I had planned to ride it often--it ended up being sort of a pain (literally and physically...I'll get to that) and wasn't always worth the time it took to get ready (gear, carry shoes, getting it out of the garage, etc).

It cost me 140 in payments every month ( i financed 5k) and 60 in insurance--so roughly 200 a month plus gas. I liked the bike, she was a beaut but in the end, that money could have been better spent elsewhere (and is).

Also, eventhough I had ridden other bikes previously, of all types, my body still had a hard time adjusting. I have been used to some minor pains as I was very athletic in school--but my wrists and back would hurt after some 20-30 minute rides. And my bike wasn't even as aggressive a postition as most "sport bikes"

Also, after one of my good friends and car modding buddies died in an accident that was not his fault--I was just...well...scared.

So I sold the bike, put a big downpayment on the fit and have more money in my budget every month for expenses and mods!

I do NOT regret selling my bike, in any way.

 

^^^^Thanks a lot, really great and informative post! I'm very sorry for your loss.

 

Ur gonna do what ur gonna do but take the safety course worth more then your life best thing I ever did u will learn so much even if u are already an experienced rider

 

I'd bet that the cost per mile would be more than the equivalent cost per mile of wear on the Fit. Car tires last longer. Car maintenance is less involved and less frequent (i.e. most can go 60,000+ miles without having the valves checked, and often 5000+ miles between oil changes).

 

I had to spend $1200 dollars for a custom made Corbin seat for my last new bike and over $600 for the new bike before it a custom Corbin..... I have worn half of the tread off of a new tire in 1000 miles of high speed touring and seldom got over 8000 miles from the back tire of any big bike I have owned... Scooters are much more comfortable and much easier on tires, have automatic CVT drive and are easy to maintain.... In Europe where things are closer together and travel is less demanding, small bikes and scooters are practical as they are in Asia due to crowded cities.. If you like to tinker, have a garage to park and work on a bike and ride sensibly at relatively low speeds they are cheap to own and easy to sell when you tire of it.... I just can't ride slow, buy lots of tires and don't worry about it.

 

I put a Corbin on mine. The Corbin factory is about 45 minutes away from here, and they will custom sculpt them right there on the factory floor. Watch them shave and add foam, take it for a ride, give them feedback, watch them shave and add foam, and finally, wait while they attach the seat cover and make sure it properly fits.

And, there's a diner with viewing windows into the factory floor. The diner's barstools are made out of Indian seats.

I love that place. The seat rocks too (literally, felt like rocks for the first 800 miles or so, and miraculously morphed into the most comfortable seat I could imagine).

 

if i get accepted into this doctoral program by this year, iam getting a motorcycle for sure to cruise around campus

 

i had a 88 ex500 (before kawai changed the official name to ninja) and i currently have a suzuki gsx650. i like these bikes cause they are sport touring, so they do sit more upright than a super sport/race bike.

i kinda paused using my bike since i got the fit, mainly because i can now have a/c on without losing so much gas.

kinda debating on moving up to a B-king

 

Like most have probably already mentioned, the freedom you feel when riding a motorcycle is great, but the risks are even greater. I owned a 08 yamaha r6, awsome bike think it had a 18k rpm redline blast to drive. Until it was stolen. So to sum it up you are likely to get hurt.. " you will drop the bike one day" they are easily stolen , and to be quite honest my fit got or gets better mpg than that 600cc r6

 

theres no point to own a motorcycle in america. europe and asia, sure. but the bads outweigh the goods in america

 

- Fun
- You can split lanes and get past traffic jams. (In Cali at least... Most other states are less MC friendly)
- Fun

When you get down to it, there's no reason to own a tiny subcompact in the US. The main reasons for owning one (expensive gas, tiny parking spaces, narrow lanes) don't exist here for the most part, and the cars are significantly more dangerous to occupants than, say, an Accord or Taurus.