Fact: Motorcycles are faster, more agile, better looking, and are cheaper to own and maintain than cars. True or false?
This myth of 'cheap' transportation has been circulated again and again, by future riders when trying to convince someone (or themselves) that buying a motorcycle is the only logical financial choice. Unfortunately, motorcycles may not be as cheap as originally thought. So when it comes to the old question "Are motorcycles cheaper than cars?" The short answer is: Sometimes.
For the subject of this article we'll take a popular car, and a popular sport bike and compare the costs of owning them. For our car we've selected the Civic coup dx which is a small 2 door economy car that rings in at $14,810. It gets 30 mpg city, and 38 freeway and generates 140 HP out of its 1.8-liter,SOHC i-VTEC ® 4-cylinder engine. For the sports bike we've chosen the 600cc Honda f4i. The f4i is a really popular motorcycle that costs $8,499, gets around 100 HP, and gets decent fuel economy at 35 mpg city 45 freeway. Right off the bat we can see that the motorcycle is a little more than half the price of the car.
So now you have your brand new car or motorcycle, one of the first things you'll want to do (and if you are in some states, required BY LAW to do) is get some insurance. I used my own information to judge what the insurance would cost me, and for the record I'm a male in their early 20's with a spotless driving record (not even a speeding ticket!). The insurer I chose for the sake of this article was Geico , but I'm sure if you shopped around you would find other places that would be more or less expensive depending on your situation. I think what I've found to be pretty accurate general rule when comparing cars and motorcycles. To insure a 2007 Honda Civic Coup DX it was $189.50 for the bare minimum coverage. When I typed in the same information and chose to insure the 2007 Honda f4i, my monthly payment jumped to $388.91 per month! That's quite the increase! If we went off these numbers, by purchasing the car I would be saving $2,392.92 per year, and I would make up the price difference between the motorcycle and the car in just under 3 years.
The insurance isn't the only place where motorcycles are more expensive, maintenance is another area that will take a chunk out of your wallet. The typical car tire should last you between 35,000 and 50,000 miles depending on the tire and your driving habits. With motorcycle tires you will only get around 9-11k miles out of them before they need to be replaced, and that's if you are just doing easy commuting. If you are taking your bike into the hills and grinding the pegs on every corner you may only get 6,000 miles out of them or less depending on the brand of tire. That means you will be buying new tires 3-5 times more often than you would if you were driving a car!!! It's really starting to add up now!
With a car you are protected in a nice comfy steel and leather cage, and you have all sorts of safety features like airbags and crumple zones that will protect you in an accident. These things all come standard on modern cars, but there is nothing like that that comes standard for a motorcycle. If you want to be protected on 2 wheels then you are going to need to buy riding gear like a full face helmet, leather gloves, riding pants, boots, and the all important (and cool looking) leather motorcycle jacket. These things do not come cheap though, and depending on how good you are at finding deals you will be spending between $500-2000.
Now I know motorcycle gear isn't REQUIRED, but I would definitely recommend it. Road-rash is like taking a belt sander to large patches of your skin, and once you get to the hospital they have to scrub out the wound with steel brushes (NOT JOKING) without any pain killers because it thins the blood. The $1,000 you spend on motorcycle gear will not only keep you away from the steel brushes, but it will also prevent you from paying gigantic medical bills.
As you can see when you add up the numbers a motorcycle becomes just as expensive, if not MORE expensive than your basic economy car. One way to keep those costs down is to buy an inexpensive motorcycle like the Kawasaki Ninja 250. The ninja costs only $2,999 and it gets 30 mpg more than the Honda f4i! By purchasing a good beginner motorcycle you will also be building skills that will transfer well to larger displacement bikes and will prevent you from making stupid mistakes that will cost you money (like dropping the bike in the parking lot!).
>>UPDATE: I've gotten a lot of comments about my insurance quotes and where I got the numbers. After some diggin around in my inbox I found the e-mail geico sent me, it is as follows
Your total premium for a 12 month policy will be $4667.00.
The details of the coverages and premiums for 2007 HONDA CBR600F4 are:
| Bodily Injury Liability(BI) | 15/30 | $544.00 |
| Property Damage Liability(PD) | 5M | $166.00 |
| Medical Payments(MED) | 500 | $87.00 |
| Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist(UM&UIM) | 15/30 | $398.00 |
| Comprehensive(COMP) | 250 | $831.00 |
| Uninsured Motorist Property Damage(UMPD) | REJ | $.00 |
| Collision(COLL) | 250/W | $2641.00 |
| Towing(TOW) | REJ | $.00 |
So the thing that really killed me was the comprehensive and collision insurance (which I have found out is not required by california law). If you don't have these options then it would lessen the cost quite a bit. Sometimes if you finance a motorcycle you are REQUIRED to carry comprehensive insurance, so keep that in mind when choosing your new motorcycle. The bottom line is that generally the higher the CC the motorcycle (and the newer it is), the more you are going to pay for insurance.
I went back to my quote and I unselected EVERY option it would let me, and this is the quote that I recieved. I'm assuming it wouldn't let you unselect something that california law requires you to have, but i'm not entirely positive.
Your total premium for a 12 month policy will be $710.00.
The details of the coverages and premiums for 2007 HONDA CBR600F4 are:
| Bodily Injury Liability(BI) | 15/30 | $544.00 |
| Property Damage Liability(PD) | 5M | $166.00 |
| Medical Payments(MED) | REJ | $.00 |
| Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist(UM&UIM) | REJ | $.00 |
| Uninsured Motorist Property Damage(UMPD) | REJ | $.00 |
| Comprehensive(COMP) | REJ | $.00 |
| Collision(COLL) | REJ | $.00 |
So if you unselect every possible option that the Geico form will let you, you will actually be paying LESS with the CBR than you would with the civic! That's quite a shock! I don't think I will be writing a "Motorcycles are definitely cheaper than cars" article anytime soon though, because in my opinion the frequent tire changes/oil changes/gear costs still make the motorcycle as expensive, if not slightly MORE expensive than an economy car. The numbers all boil down to what your personal situation is and what risks you are willing to take with your bike and your body.
Update #2!!! After shopping around for my own insurance I found that state farms offers significantly cheaper insurance rates compared to geico, so definitely check them out. Ok, end update :)
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Interesting
This is a really interesting article! It looks like it was well researched, I was quite suprised at how much more the insurance was for the 600cc machine, ouch!!! I'm glad my ninja 500 doesn't cost that much to insure, or to fill up at the tank!
Jon
Insurance
For my rebel, I pay about $180 a year for insurance (minimum coverage). For a car, that is about the same number, but due every month!
my cbr 600rr only costs me
my cbr 600rr only costs me 395 for 6mo. im 24 with 5pts on my record.
I would double check your
I would double check your insurance information. I just checked what it would cost me to insure a brand new Honda cbr600f4ithrough geico, and it was 618 for 12 months. I checked a bunch of other bikes for comparison(Ninja 250, Ninja 500, Suzuki GS500, Ninja 650, zzr600), and they all would cost 355 for 12 months. This was for state minimums. I'm pretty blown away by what it would cost you. Any ideas on why the huge discrepancy between what I came up with, and what you did? Do you have a bunch of speeding tickets or accidents on your record?
I should have written down
I should have written down all the insurance options when I received the quote. Price also depends on who you get your insurance from, and how many cars you have, and a dozen other factors. But as you can see no matter how you slice it, lower CC bikes = Lower cost insurance :)
Ben
Double-Check that Insurance
I would double-check that insurance information. Depending upon the insurance company and the coverage a motorcycle can be very cheap to insure. I checked with my insurance company about comprehensive and turned it down. My bike is an older Honda and not worth insuring against theft or fire and my any injuries would be covered by my medical insurance. Since I own a car policy and a renter's policy through the same company my car insurance actually DROPPED by insuring a bike. I got a sizable multi-vehicle and multi-policy discount which more than offset the cost of insuring the bike. I ended up paying $10 less a month on my car by insuring my bike.
High insurance costs in the US ?
I guess it costs way more to insure a bike in the US than in Europe. In Germany, I can insure a Harley Sportster 883 for just below 180.-- Euros per year ! For comparison: A car such like a 1994 BMW 540i with 286hp would cost me ( 2 years accident-free ) 850,-- per year in insurance alone. So riding a bike is waaaay cheaper than driving a car, at least in Europe. That's probably because insurance is mandatory here.
I pay $78/ year in New York
I pay $78/ year in New York for minimum insurence on a Nighthawk 250. I have excellent health insurence from my employer (though I'd much prefer a UK style National Health Service) so I was free to drop that.
Oh, and my bike cost $1200
Oh, and my bike cost $1200 and gets 70mpg and can do highway speed so.... No comparison vrs the cost of a car. However, i have a car too, as virtually every motorcycle driver does. That said, with fuel costs so high, having a cheap bike with good mpg for a commuter would likely end up saving money after a few seasons. I know I went from spending $45 every 10 days on fuel to spending $12.
Cost of parking a moto...
The cost for parking in a big city like Los Angeles was the last thing that sold me on getting a motorcycle (I have yet to get one, but once I move farther from my job in a month, you will see me on a motorcycle commuting to/from work).
Right now, if I were to get a parking permit at the university where I work, it would cost $68 per month. For a motorcycle, its $11 per month. That's an annual savings of $684, on parking alone. I can use this money to pay for the insurance, which I got quotes for anywhere between $150 and $250 PER YEAR. I have enough extra cash to go get some moto gear, with all the money I save from gas going to other moto gear.
So the cost of using a car, from my perspective, more than pays for the cost of running a motorcycle, and only gets better the longer you ride (price of gas).
Again, this is from a person with no actual riding experience, but who knows a thing or two about math, economics and saving money in a big city. You can't put a dollar amount on a human life, I know, but if you are careful you should never come close to a major accident in commuter-style driving conditions.
--Edward
Wat? A more fair comparison, please.
If I were going to compare a motorcycle to a Honda Civic I'd be looking at 250's.
In that case the initial cost of the motorcycle is less than 1/4th that of the car. The motorcycle would also get around twice the gas milage.
As for insurance. Equal coverage to my truck (Mazda B3000) is $300 every 6 months. $150 cheaper than my truck (worth only $5000) for equal coverage. If I remove comprehensive insurance the coverage goes down to a mere $75 a year.
So, in a fair comparison, a motorcycle is pennies to operate. Granted, they take more upkeep. The savings are still there by a long shot.
I have to agree on that one,
I have to agree on that one, a civic, while a popular car, is in it's stock incarnation a pretty low end car, mostly for cheap reliable no frills transportation. an $8-9k sportsbike isn't going to be the same economy no frills transportation. you'd be looking at either a 250, or maybe a 500 tops bike (250 sports bike'd match a stock civic or come very close to it on highway speeds, you might need a 500cc cruiser to hit those speeds however) they don't really compare at all. one is bought entirely for it's economy, the other is bought for fun and badassery.
Amoryl++ # Using badassery
Amoryl++ # Using badassery in a sentence. ^_^
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If there's anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now...
Wow
Wow. There seems to be a huge difference on insurance for larger displacement bikes (and maybe also sportsbikes.) I ride a 250cc cruiser and I only pay $72 a year for insurance.
Forgot about cost difference between sport and cruiser
Very interesting article. The insurance quote seemed a little too high even for a sport bike. Sport bikes can be more expensive to insure than cruisers but that was outrageous. I currently pay $866 a year (70.50/mo) to insure my 2003 Chevy pickup, while I only pay $170 per year (~14.50/mo) to insure my 2006 800cc cruiser, and by using my motorcycle to commute to work I save on gas. I can commute to and from work for a month on my motorcycle for a cost of $18, or for a month by truck for a cost of 76 dollars, so using my motorcycle saves me another 58 dollars a month in gas. So it is worth it, also if you are going to insure a motorcycle it is best to go through the same agency you have automobile, renters, home owners, or life insurance since you will get a discount for having multiple policies.
MC Isurance vs Auto
I've been through all the MC classes. Been riding mega years. My '07 RoadStar Silverado w/102CI motor and accessories costs me $212 a year through Geico "FULL COVERAGE". I called them and the highest costing MC for me to operate is the Suzuki Hayabusa (180MPH+) @ $750.00 "FULL COVERAGE". Any new car I buy...ANY...will cost me more in the full coverage department. I'm in the cheap insurance age group and have all the squares filled for experience plus schooling. My 102CI Roadie gets between 43 and 54 MPG. My truck gets 15mpg on a good day. I live close to my job and with $4.00 a gallon gas the Truck vs the MC cost per week is $40 vs $8. Truck is paid for as is the MC. However MC is ridden rain or shine. Truck will get between 4,000 and 7,000 miles a year put on it but MC will get around 15,000+-. Rear tire on my Roadie changed out at 9,425mi(cost $201.00 otd). Truck is 6 years old and has original 10 plys still on it and $50,000mi. Bike is less expensive except in tire department, but much cheaper overall. An annual savings of $1251.00 in fuel AFTER you subtract the insurance/tire change costs. P.S. I already have to wear steel toed boots, heavy carhart cloths and gloves for my job each day so they do double duty on the bike. Just my $.02....................Mike
Grand Total
So what are we looking at for a grand total, considering a motorcycle (let's say a second hand 250), average priced gear (helmet, gloves, jacket, pants and boots), maintenance (tires, oil changes, etc.) and insurance for a beginning rider. I am considering a motorcycle and I just want to know if my facts are right.
Excellent web site!
Thanks,
Mitch
Total is...
Brand new 2009 Ninja 250R = $3,999
Insurance w/
Liability: 100,000 person /300,000 accident / 50,000 property damage
Uninsured Bodily: 25,000 person / 50,000 accident
Uninsured Property Damage: 3,500 property
Medical: 1,000
Total: $38.04 / month
(Price jumps astronomically for comprehensive coverage ~1,000/year vs. 400/year w/o)
I'm 20, white, live in Irvine, and have no points on my driving record (also good student discount + MSF discount)
Gear = for a good set about a $1,000
Maintenance = do-it-yourself ~$100-200 / year
Gas = at 65mpg you can go on about $10/week at $4/gallon
Parking @ UCI: $25/month
Grand total initial = $6,300
Grand total per year after initial = $1,000
You can go up or down depending, but for me who owns a 1990 F-150 pickup the savings are great and buying a brand new 250R will pay for itself in savings off my truck in a little less than 2 years.
So, it all depends on you: type of bike you want, new or used, where you live, who you are, how long you've been driving, how good is your credit, can you do maintenance yourself or do you need a mechanic, the list goes on and on. But, in general a low-end motorcycle will save you tons of cash while a high-end motorcycle will usually be just as expensive to operator as a high-end vehicle.
Hope this helps
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