Which costs less to operate, cars or motorcycles?

[burkbuilds]

On a different thread alanmcorcoran mentioned that we were a little off topic and this might be interesting to compare, so what's your take? Is it more expensive to operate your motorcycle or your car?

Consider things like: Fuel, Insurance, Oil changes, Tires, tune ups, general maintenance items and whatever else needs to be included and tell us what you think.

My bike definitely wins in the Fuel, Insurance and cost of oil changes. Loses in the tire category, at least as far as replacement goes, but then again you never seem to have to re-balance my bike tires, no front end alignments, and they don't get rotated every 5,000 miles either. Lately new cars only need a tune up every 100,000 miles so the bike definitely loses there, since you have to change the plugs fairly often and adjust the valves pretty regularly on my bike. You also have to replace things like chains and sprockets on a bike probably on average at least every 20K miles and I never do anything to the drive shaft of my trucks other than grease them for the first 100K.

Finally I give my bike a big lead in up front cost, I mean what kind of new cars are available for $5 grand? We bought my wife one of those Saturn Cube's last year and by the time it was all said and done it cost about $20K.

Somebody else chime in now!

[Water Warrior 2]

This topic will be sure to generate some opinions. Comparing apples to oranges has never been easy. We have a variety of bikes and cars to compare so there may not be a clear winner. A modern car or truck is definitely less maintenance hungry as opposed to almost any modern bike. Unless we get into exotic machines I think a car or truck(Ranger here)is far cheaper to maintain than a bike. Bikes have more consumable items and we quite often pay dearly for these items. Cages in general come as is and fit right. No costly mods, new special seats, no fancy dodads to aid in comfort and safety. Bikes on the other hand have an after sale cost. We buy the bike of our choice which in some cases is a really only a good platform to build YOUR bike on.

Bikes are serviced more often too. This may be fun for the rider who likes to tinker but very costly to less tinker inclined folks. Shop time for bikes and cars is expensive. What I can't get over is the fact that bike shops do so little to assure the work is done right and safely. Lynda's M-50 was into the dealer last summer for a check over prior to a trip. I rode the bike there(an hour and 30 minutes)and the bike was running perfectly. Went to pick it up the next day and it would not run. They suggested bad gas. We suggested their tech missed something and would be waiting for a call the next day. This was another unneeded cost of time, riding time and extra gas in my truck.

If the initial cost of my Vstrom was comparable to even a cheap Ranger there would be no bike in my life. ........Oh, another cost of riding. Proper gear to wear. For some that is somewhat optional but we are ATGATT riders here so it can be another costly item lumped in with bike ownership.

[Canuck]

though.. in comparison to a Gz250....muahaha

15 bucks for roughly 400 kms ....beat that and be able to hit 100 kms an hour on the highway ....always amazed when i fill the tank ...am i really getting this gas mileage...


my bike is my only mode of transportation other than public transit..cabs etc

[alanmcorcoran]

Toyotas (which have been in the news lately) used to be considered one of the more reliable cars and between myself and my two daughters we've owned a bunch of them. Always seemed like I was putting brakes or tires on them or forking over $750 for a service that included a timing chain or something of similar complexity. Plus I replaced electric windows in practically all of them at about $300 a pop. Never had do to much to the engines, although they tend to burn oil and one shot a rod at about 180K. I'm driving one now that has over 200K on it but it's a real piece of shit at this point. Just waiting for it to die.

[Sarris]

For me it's motorcycles by far. Harley service intervals are 5k and the cost is $349 for a 5k, $429 for a 10k, and $679 for a 20k.

That doesn't include tires, brakes, or battery. Tires are roughly $300 each installed. Battery $279 installed, and brakes about $150 per axle.

That being said, my local dealer makes the bike run, feel, and look like new (as much as possible - wash, touchup, etc.) at every service interval.

My local dealer has provided me with impecable service. But...for that kind of money it should come with a BJ.

The running joke is that HD stands for Hundreds of Dollars.

My 40k sevice is coming up and with the things I'm going to need done, it's going to be around $1000 +/-.

:poorbaby: :poorbaby: :poorbaby:

The GeeZer is really a cheap date in comparison.

All that being said, My Harley and my GZ have been the best bikes I've ever owned.

Also, Alan... I drive a 2005 Scion XB and it's been very cheap to drive and trouble free.

I tend piss all my money away (what little I have these days) on motorcycle service and farkles.

I paid $20k for my 2006 Harley new and $4200 for my 2005 GZ new. My HD cost more new than my Scion did.

[dhgeyer]

For me, the really big difference is that almost all the maintenance on a bike is doable by the owner if he/she is willing to make the effort. My new BMW R1200R is in for its 600 mile service right now, and for just having the 3 oils changed (engine, transmission, and final drive) plus a tune up it's going to cost $250.00 or so. For warranty reasons it's smart to let an authorized dealer do the first one, I am told. Of course Max's BMW drove a truck 50 miles to pick it up, and will do the same to return it at no extra charge. But, I asked them to put together all the consumables and the special tools needed to do the next several services myself. Most expensive item is a Twin-Max vacuum gauge to synchronize the throttle bodies. Total extra charge will be another 150 or so. After that, service will cost me almost nothing. I keep my tires at a relatively high pressure for the warm riding season, and buy high mileage tires. I remove the wheels myself, so the labor charge for mounting them is very little. Insurance is way less for even a new bike than for a car, here in NH anyway. The 2 bikes I have now get as good or better mileage than even our Priuses (which are not subject to the brake recall, in case you were going to ask).

Bottom line is, I could never maintain a modern car, as they are too electronically sophisticated, and routine services run around $200.00 - $300.00 or so if I recall correctly. The average person, if they are willing to take the time to learn, can maintain a motorcycle, at least all the routine stuff. I think that if you do that, the bike comes out way cheaper in the end. If you don't, it's more like a toss up, and some bikes actually cost more to own and operate than some cars.

In a way it's a moot point. Most (not all) of us own cages, so all the overhead on the bike (depreciation, insurance, registration, taxes where applicable) is extra money that wouldn't be spent if we only owned a car.

[burkbuilds]

Great points dhgeyer. I do a lot of my own motorcycle maintenance also. Like you I did have the initial service done at the dealer just to get "on the record" in case there was ever a warranty issue, although it only cost about $125.00 on my bike. (They didn't really do much, but that was fine with me as long as it got recorded). I do still have a small pickup truck, but if I was driving it as much as I've driven my motorcycles over the last several years I have no doubt that it would be on its last legs now and would have cost me a fortune to keep it going as well. As it is, I only drive it when I'm home on the weekends and need to carry something that won't fit in a saddlebag. By riding my motorcycle to school for the next three years, I think I'll be able to keep the truck going without needing to replace it or do major work on it during that time. Plus, my insurance dropped when I quit putting a lot of mileage on the truck, and it's just listed as a utility vehicle now. Having said all of that, the truck isn't nearly as much fun to drive as the motorcycle either and there's a lot of value in that!

[k1w1t1m]

I do all my own maintainance. With a 99 Landcruiser, 99 Camry, 80 Goldwing, and 00 GZ the bikes win hands down.

[alanmcorcoran]

I put something similar (re reduced usage on cage made possible by bike) in the old post as burkbuilds did here. Didn't see the double dh post til now.