Motorcycle instead of a car

[fog820]

I believe I am not your average bear( although I have been accused of being the same size). I have been riding motorcycles for decades and still enjoy them immensely. I have owned the following brands, Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda, Moto Guzzi, and BMW. I recently purchased a BMW RT and bought this instead of a car. I also considered my third goldwing but went with the BMW instead. I have rode several hundred thousand miles on motorcycles in all kinds of weather, done off road riding and used my motorcycle for everything you would use a car for, except carrying more than one passenger.

With that preamble to cover back ground info I ride my bike for everything, going to the store, back and forth to work, what ever you can think of and it works great. The protection on the bike from the elements is outstanding and the performance under adverse conditions is very good. I will add that in rain and snow or icy conditions I do not try to corner like I would on sunny nice days with tires that are fully warmed up but limit the lean angles and go light on the brake applications. The utility of the motorcycle is great. Fuel economy is a fantastic benefit compared to my truck. A tank of gas for the truck 50 to 60 dollars, the bike doing the same is between 8 to 12 dollars, that is weekly.

Good riding gear is also important and it is easy to quickly change out of riding gear at work and offers no problems.

Now for the real question of the post. I am curious how many folks actually use their bike as an alternate mode of transportation and how often? I am not one to not use the bike if I can use it and it really makes the trip to anywhere much more enjoyable for me.

Interested in your thoughts and experiences.

 

[Omega Man]

Probably more of a question for our “Commuters Corner” section of the forum-

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/forumdisplay.php?104-Commuter-s-Corner

We can see how the responses are and move it if needed.

OM

 

[skibum69]

Not a great option for me where I live but I do try to take the bike for light errands when I can. The other issue is the rare times I go to town the missus usually wants to go and she doesn't like the bikes. The other times I go to town is to go to the airport to fly out for work. Carrying my flying luggage on the bike would be a challenge.

 

[PoorUB]

We get snow and sub zero here so year round it pretty much out, plus I have a company truck they let me drive as my own, so no work commute, but years ago I would ride every day, motorcycle was my main form of transportation. My car would often sit for the whole time, spring through fall. I would start riding as soon as the roads were clear of ice, and ride until the roads we snow and ice covered. I have ridden many times to work in the AM and ridden home with 3-4 inches of snow on the road in the evening. Then getting married, kids and other stuff gets in the way so the motorcycle gets ridden on the occasional evening and most weekends.

As for the economy of riding? IMO, it is a false economy. Tires wear out faster and cost more, you pay insurance on a second vehicle, and the cost of buying and maintaining multiple vehicles. How much gas and tires can you buy for your car or pickup if you had not bought the motorcycle? I had someone comment to me that I must ride to save gas. I just looked at them, laughed and said, "Sure, I bought a $25,000 motorcycle to save money!" Then they sheepishly respond, "Yeah, I guess that didn't make sense did it!"

 

[AKsuited]

I had someone comment to me that I must ride to save gas. I just looked at them, laughed and said, "Sure, I bought a $25,000 motorcycle to save money!" Then they sheepishly respond, "Yeah, I guess that didn't make sense did it!"

I used to be able to ride my motorcycle to save on gas, but now my car goes twice as far on a gallon of gas as my wethead GS. (It's a plug-in hybrid with an average mpg right now @97.4 mpg.)

Harry

 

[craigjv4]

For a couple years while in college (Jr. Sr. yrs), all I had was a Yamaha Seca 750.

Rode it back to school in almost blizzard conditions once. I was 4 hours away and the day was clear, sunny but cold. The last hour it started to snow. The last 20 minutes it was a white out.

I did not have money to buy good gear. My buddies had to pry my fingers from the grips.

 

[laxdad]

I ride full time. My wife and son have a car, so I have access to one if we are having ice/snow or tornados/hurricanes. I am much more comfortable on my 2017 1200GSA on commutes and longer trips. I agree with you that good gear makes life much better. I made the switch about 3 years ago and don’t plan on going back anytime soon. I probably don’t save money, but I do my own maintenance and tire changes so I don’t pay a premium either. One current drawback is that some places only have Drive thru service, which can be problematic.

 

[fog820]

We get snow and sub zero here so year round it pretty much out, plus I have a company truck they let me drive as my own, so no work commute, but years ago I would ride every day, motorcycle was my main form of transportation. My car would often sit for the whole time, spring through fall. I would start riding as soon as the roads were clear of ice, and ride until the roads we snow and ice covered. I have ridden many times to work in the AM and ridden home with 3-4 inches of snow on the road in the evening. Then getting married, kids and other stuff gets in the way so the motorcycle gets ridden on the occasional evening and most weekends.

As for the economy of riding? IMO, it is a false economy. Tires wear out faster and cost more, you pay insurance on a second vehicle, and the cost of buying and maintaining multiple vehicles. How much gas and tires can you buy for your car or pickup if you had not bought the motorcycle? I had someone comment to me that I must ride to save gas. I just looked at them, laughed and said, "Sure, I bought a $25,000 motorcycle to save money!" Then they sheepishly respond, "Yeah, I guess that didn't make sense did it!"

Compared to my other vehicle I am saving between 200 to 250 dollars a month in gas, I will not spend 2400 to 3000 per year on tires. Insurance for a motorcycle is much less than insurance on my truck. The extended warranty on a motorcycle can be as long as 8 years, unlimited mileage, not so on the four wheeled vehicles. There are times I need a truck, pulling a big trailer and hauling large loads, so the choice for me was buying a small car or the bike. Since most of us would have a motorcycle, instead of using it only for pleasure, I have eliminated the car, or running a one ton truck. As to weather we get the occasional snow and ice and cold. Heated clothing works well for me and has in the past. The roads are for the most part not real challenging in Texas as they are generally in decent shape and easy on grades and challenging curves, although they can be found if you are looking for them. Tail of the dragon not so much.

In my case it is a win. As always individual situations differ and what works for me might not for you. So I skipped buying a 25000 to 30000 dollar car in addition to my motorcycle and paying insurance on another vehicle, I am happily wearing out tires.

 

[fog820]

I used to be able to ride my motorcycle to save on gas, but now my car goes twice as far on a gallon of gas as my wethead GS. (It's a plug-in hybrid with an average mpg right now @97.4 mpg.)

Harry

Harry it is interesting that you compare the two vehicles, How long till you need to replace the batteries on the car and what does that cost? Do you enjoy driving the car as much as the bike? For me the commute is enjoyable and a plus for the day. Now by comparison the motorcycle I traded in on my first BMW had nearly 250,000 miles on it, and I had no mechanical issues to speak of that were not covered by the extended warranty. For you the car might be the best option, but there are very few cars that I have ever looked forward to driving like I look forward to riding the motorcycle. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on things.

 

[pglaves]

Harry it is interesting that you compare the two vehicles, How long till you need to replace the batteries on the car and what does that cost? Do you enjoy driving the car as much as the bike? For me the commute is enjoyable and a plus for the day. Now by comparison the motorcycle I traded in on my first BMW had nearly 250,000 miles on it, and I had no mechanical issues to speak of that were not covered by the extended warranty. For you the car might be the best option, but there are very few cars that I have ever looked forward to driving like I look forward to riding the motorcycle. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on things.

Last week it was 106F. One of mostly triple digit days for the past few weeks. When I made the 53 mile trip to town and stopped at several stores I was very happy to be in the air conditioned car. Somebody might find riding the bike enjoyable, but I wouldn't.

 

[fog820]

For a couple years while in college (Jr. Sr. yrs), all I had was a Yamaha Seca 750.

Rode it back to school in almost blizzard conditions once. I was 4 hours away and the day was clear, sunny but cold. The last hour it started to snow. The last 20 minutes it was a white out.

I did not have money to buy good gear. My buddies had to pry my fingers from the grips.

Craig I remember those days. It is amazing how far things have come from the early days when I began riding motorcycles. We now have performance on street motorcycles that are just astounding compared to what was available in past decades. I am not sure there was good gear when I began riding as most of the items in that era would not hold a candle to the items we have available now. Tires are several orders of magnitude better for example as are ignition systems and fuel systems to name a few. One of my fondest memories of winter riding was in my youth. In that time period I lived in an area that had many steep hills a mile or more in length, and got plenty of snow. It was quite common for commuters in cars to routinely get stuck and create massive traffic jams. One day I was leaving work and it snowed a fairly heavy amount. I went out put on my rain gear as it cut the wind rather well, knocked the snow off of my bike and began the ride home. My route went up 29th street hill that was a steep curving grade and had about a foot of snow on it. There were cars stuck all over the place and I easily passed them spraying snow everywhere from the rear tire. The look of shock on those people that I passed was just amazing, that was around 45 years ago give or take and it has stayed with me all these years. Thanks for triggering a fond memory from my past, I think gas was around 35 cents a gallon then and that motorcycle cost less than $1000.00 new.

 

[fog820]

Last week it was 106F. One of mostly triple digit days for the past few weeks. When I made the 53 mile trip to town and stopped at several stores I was very happy to be in the air conditioned car. Somebody might find riding the bike enjoyable, but I wouldn't.

PGlaves, I am on the other side of the state from you and it has been over a hundred a few times in north east Texas and very humid. I enjoyed the ride and find I have gotten more used to the heat over the years. On my route the speeds are generally between 70 and 80 mph most of the way so that tends to mitigate things a bit. I believe the key is what each of us is comfortable with as being outside your comfort zone or at worst tolerable zone makes all the difference in the world. I can understand your views on this as being out in the middle of the day with the sun beating down on you can be quite taxing. One of these days I will make a trip to the big bend area as it is someplace I always wanted to visit. I have read about some guys making a trip around the state line of Texas from time to time and thought that might be a great ride it is on my bucket list of things to do. There are other lists that keep getting longer as time goes by and don't seem nearly as enjoyable as riding my motorcycle.

 

[ncpbmw1953]

As for the economy of riding? IMO, it is a false economy. Tires wear out faster and cost more, you pay insurance on a second vehicle, and the cost of buying and maintaining multiple vehicles. How much gas and tires can you buy for your car or pickup if you had not bought the motorcycle? I had someone comment to me that I must ride to save gas. I just looked at them, laughed and said, "Sure, I bought a $25,000 motorcycle to save money!" Then they sheepishly respond, "Yeah, I guess that didn't make sense did it!"

I did an estimate a few months ago based on everything including insurance, depreciation, everything I could think of and a few bigger ticket repairs along the way for a 10y lifespan which would get me to around 110K miles at my modest annual mileage. It came out to about $0.32/mile, FWIW.

 

[PoorUB]

I did an estimate a few months ago based on everything including insurance, depreciation, everything I could think of and a few bigger ticket repairs along the way for a 10y lifespan which would get me to around 110K miles at my modest annual mileage. It came out to about $0.32/mile, FWIW.

This was a few years ago, I did the same over about a five year period and came up with closer to 40 cents a mile. Did the same math with my wife's car and it was only a couple cents more. Today a decent, fuel efficient vehicle should run roughly 50 cents a mile. Now if you are driving a dually diesel pickup it is a bit more than that, but most of us are not.

 

[36654]

Harry it is interesting that you compare the two vehicles, How long till you need to replace the batteries on the car and what does that cost? Do you enjoy driving the car as much as the bike? For me the commute is enjoyable and a plus for the day. Now by comparison the motorcycle I traded in on my first BMW had nearly 250,000 miles on it, and I had no mechanical issues to speak of that were not covered by the extended warranty. For you the car might be the best option, but there are very few cars that I have ever looked forward to driving like I look forward to riding the motorcycle. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on things.

We're going on 10-yrs with my wife's Prius. We've had no problems. Honestly, I've never met anyone that's replaced a Prius or other brand hybrid propulsion battery.

The fuel mileage on my R1200RS might be 1-mpg better than our regular hybrid 2010 Prius.

But, as Mr Glaves commented, in 90F+ weather or winter, the Prius is a lot more comfortable than the RS

 

[ncpbmw1953]

Honestly, I've never met anyone that's replaced a Prius or other brand hybrid propulsion battery.

My friend and house sitter for us had his Prius battery fail recently. It was about $2000 to replace w/ a rebuilt I believe. But I too think this is quite rare from articles I've read. My Fusion Hybrid is 10y/o now and still gives us 40.7mpg.

 

[alegerlotz]

There's a lot more that goes into cost of ownership/cost per mile than fuel... Registration, Insurance, Tires (bike tires last a lot less time than car tires, and sometimes they cost just as much), Maintenance, etc...

I always laugh at the news reports when the price of gas goes up $0.25/gallon and they interview someone at the pump with a middle of the road car who says "gas is so expensive now, I might have to go out and buy a prius!"

On a car with a 15 gallon tank, that 25 cents costs an extra $3.75 per tank full. If you get gas once a week, that's an extra $195 per year. twice a week? $390 per year. You can't even *register* a car you purchased in most places for $390 a year. Even if you got gas 5 times a week, that incremental upcharge of 25 cents a gallon would be less than $1000 a year.

 

[AKsuited]

Harry it is interesting that you compare the two vehicles, How long till you need to replace the batteries on the car and what does that cost?

On my first Prius, a 2007, which my grandson is driving, the hybrid pack lasted 12 years. My son-in-law was an auto technician a few years back and changed out the battery pack himself. Not sure about the cost, but the car was a gift so it was still a good deal for my grandson and his parents.

Keep in mind that the Federal Tax Credit for my 2017 Prius Prime was $4,502.00, which will take much of the pain out of a hybrid pack replacement, should I still own the car (assuming I'm still around) should it be necessary. And then there are the significant savings in fuel usage even taking into account some electric usage for charging.

My original point was that I used to ride my bike and could favor it based on better fuel economy (and lower insurance costs, but not lower tire costs) but now I choose the bike based on the fun factor, including moto-camping at big bike rallies. I also mentioned this for the irony of a 4-seater car getting better fuel economy compared to a motorcycle which itself gets excellent fuel economy.

Harry

 

[Omega Man]

$4502.00 is a big tax credit.
OM

 

[r0ckrat]

I'm in Southern California. Regardless of cost, commuting on a moto here saves at least 50% on time spent on the commute. And it can be done year-round.

I have a car as a backup, for large items and when it's just plain too hot to be out on a bike (I grew up in the PNW, and haven't totally adjusted to the higher temps). But that car is a 2006 Subaru station wagon with over 242k miles, and the center diff is going. It was cheap. It runs. It will get me around to be able to pick up "stuff".

With all three boxes on the R12R I can haul a decent amount of groceries. And my mileage has dropped considerably this year as I'm working from home.