Considering moving to 2 wheels...

Invertigo

Invertigo

Invertigo

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19 Sep 2010
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The North
I've been driving now for 3 years, and while I love it, the cost of car ownership is a bit much recently. I'd like to give biking a try, both for the cheapness compared to my current car and the enjoyment.

My friend at work makes biking sound amazing, and she's promised me a ride out when she gets some new rear footpegs for her bike. Along with this, I plan to do one of the free sessions through http://www.geton.co.uk/ to get a feel of it myself.

With me being 21 in summer, I think I'd prefer to go for the DAS route, though I assume this means I could only learn via lessons, as I don't much fancy buying a 125 to sell as soon as I pass.

Any tips/advice you guys have would be much appreciated
 
I would certainly recommend doing the free lesson to see if it is for you along with CBT as that would only set you back a £100 or so. If you are serious I'd also get the bike theory test out the way as soon as possible as that can take a couple of weeks to book depending on how busy you local centre is.
 
running costs are cheaper, however you need to take into account the fact you have to buy a bike, then you have to buy: helmet, boots, gloves, jacket and trousers. It isnt cheap at all, it might be worth you taking your CBT, running a 125 for a year or so to get some experience and move from there. Also 125cc bikes do 80mpg + which is a bonus!
 
Burnsy2023 said:
You don't drive my car.

Car Insurance: £550
Car Tax: £215
MPG: 26

Bike Insurance: £260
Bike Tax: £16
MPG: ~100 on a 125
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Helmet: £75-£500
Jacket: £50-£300 (every 2-3 years)
Trousers: £50-£300(every 2-3 years)
Gloves:£30-£150(every 2-3 years)
Chain/lock: £30-£100
CBT: £100 every 3 years
Time taken to kit up and get changed at other end of each journey: £???

I'm a biker, but it's not a financial decision. It's how it started off but I'm painfully aware it isn't actually viable on that basis.
Plus a 125 returning 100mpg is going to be massively dreary to ride, if that figure is attainable at all.
 
Once you've passed your test and got your kit then bikes cost pennies to run in comparison to a car. As pointed out by Luke though, the kit can cost a bit and you need to put aside about £600 for your CBT/DAS before you can get started.
 
eidolon said:
Once you've passed your test and got your kit then bikes cost pennies to run in comparison to a car. As pointed out by Luke though, the kit can cost a bit and you need to put aside about £600 for your CBT/DAS before you can get started.
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This.

Overall bikes are way cheaper although have the obvious drawbacks.

I would definiatley take a ride with someone to experience being a passenger if you aren't used to it. If you can do a CBT for £100-120 then you are set as that will give you a good indication if you will enjoy it or not (although riding a bike with absolutley NO GUTS is a bit weak).

If you enjoy the CBT then look into going ahead with the DAS and pass direct on a 500. I believe you can get 3-4 day courses these days that train you up for MOD1/MOD2 and get it all done and dusted with tests at the end.

The initial outlay in cost of gear is a little offputting but as a first time rider and money being tight you can always check ebay for some good second hand gear. Depends on how much you intend to be riding overall. If its all year then splash out more and get a good set of summer/winter gear. It's all about suiting your needs against your available budget really.
 
Luke said:
+1

Do it if you want to ride a bike. It's not worth it to try and save pennies as it never works out that way.
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Maybe if you want a decent sports bike, but you can run a smaller bike very cheaply. After the initial investment in boots, gloves, helemt, jacket etc. the running costs of a middleweight commuter bike (i.e. Tax, insurance and fuel consumption) are all significantly cheaper than a car.
 
ditto I keep thinking of this for the last few year, every year my milage drops and costs go up. Alsp I wil probably get offered a bike for free, just needs a few minor repairs. we think it may be a cbr500 not sure, dead relative been sat in a garage for last few years.

I don't commute, I've started using the train to go to my sisters/brothers as it is now cheaper than fuel, I've started walking to the shops.

So I'm paying
£500 for insurance
220 tax
Then mot+ consumables
26mpg on a crappy 1.8 but I am harsh on it. Never get anywhere near rated mpg on any car.

For what I doubt its even 2000 miles a year. Wouldn't be surprised if it's closer to 1000 or less now I'm not doing 300 mile round trips anymore.

But then it's so convenient, want to go places with other people, they can just jump in. Buy something large of eBay, just go pick it up.


Edit-
Actually I've done 4000 miles this year, more than I thought, but can subtract 1500 from that as I know use trains and probably 8 miles a week for the shop.
 
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Reppyboyo said:
Biking isnt that much cheaper than owning a car nowadays mind.
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It is cheap, insurance is a quarter or a car, tax is a quarter of a cheap car. Again mpg will almost certainly be better than a cheap car. Less tyres, easier to work on etc. The tax free cars with decent mpg are thousands of pounds. Compared to a large bangertastic saloon.
 
Luke said:
Helmet: £75-£500
Jacket: £50-£300 (every 2-3 years)
Trousers: £50-£300(every 2-3 years)
Gloves:£30-£150(every 2-3 years)
Chain/lock: £30-£100
CBT: £100 every 3 years
Time taken to kit up and get changed at other end of each journey: £???

I'm a biker, but it's not a financial decision. It's how it started off but I'm painfully aware it isn't actually viable on that basis.
Plus a 125 returning 100mpg is going to be massively dreary to ride, if that figure is attainable at all.
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That is not more expensive. 200 for kit every few years is cheaper than the saving you make on car tax in just one year.
 
AcidHell2 said:
But then it's so convenient, want to go places with other people, they can just jump in. Buy something large of eBay, just go pick it up.
Click to expand...

This is the bottom line - if you still need a car (and most people will), then it becomes less likely to save money unless you do a lot of miles on the bike. But if you have more than one car, and the bike can replace one then you'd be hard pressed not to save money if you actual use the bike.
 
See I don't have another car, but everyone drives, so someone else would just have to pick up more of the car driving. That's what makes it such an annoying choice, love biking, but cars are so convenient,but at the same time is it really worth the outlay, when that money could be spent on better things.
 
I've been looking into this more recently, and I think I might get my CBT done and pick up a 125 for a while, just to get a feel of biking.

My brother has a full set of gear that he will let me use, as he bought it all with the intention of buying a bike himself, did his test, and 8 years later there's still no bike!

I'd probably be looking at a sports style bike, and am quite curious about the Yamaha YZF-R125. It seems to be one of the better performing 4 cylinder 125's, though for the price I could easily pick up a slightly older Caviga Mito or Aprilia R125.

The question is, when I do my full test, if I do DAS, I'd probably sell the 125 on and get a 5-600, so having a 125 that can be unrestricted to 33bhp isn't really necessary.

There's always the CBR125R, which is a bit cheaper. I've heard they're quite small though, especially compared to the Yamaha. Guess it's a case of go try it out. Or the older bikes, such as the NSR125 and TZR125...

The reason I'd pick a sports 125 over, say, a CG125 is purely because, if I got a bigger bike, I'd want a sports one. It seems to make sense to get used to the riding posture of being hunched over. Plus they're gorgeous! :p


Ideally, I dont want to be spending more than £2000 on a bike, preferably about £1500
 
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Invertigo said:
I've been looking into this more recently, and I think I might get my CBT done and pick up a 125 for a while, just to get a feel of biking.

My brother has a full set of gear that he will let me use, as he bought it all with the intention of buying a bike himself, did his test, and 8 years later there's still no bike!

I'd probably be looking at a sports style bike, and am quite curious about the Yamaha YZF-R125. It seems to be one of the better performing 4 cylinder 125's, though for the price I could easily pick up a slightly older Caviga Mito or Aprilia R125.

The question is, when I do my full test, if I do DAS, I'd probably sell the 125 on and get a 5-600, so having a 125 that can be unrestricted to 33bhp isn't really necessary.

There's always the CBR125R, which is a bit cheaper. I've heard they're quite small though, especially compared to the Yamaha. Guess it's a case of go try it out. Or the older bikes, such as the NSR125 and TZR125...

The reason I'd pick a sports 125 over, say, a CG125 is purely because, if I got a bigger bike, I'd want a sports one. It seems to make sense to get used to the riding posture of being hunched over. Plus they're gorgeous! :p


Ideally, I dont want to be spending more than £2000 on a bike, preferably about £1500
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Don't waste your money on a YZF or any 125 that costs more than about a grand. Whilst the YZF or CBR125 look sporty, they just aren't (I had the CBR) Either do your DAS and get a 600 class bike or buy a cheap CG125, run around in it for a few months and sell it for what you paid for it before doing your DAS.
It's almost summer, might as well just book in for your DAS now otherwise you'll end up doing it in November, just in time for Winter.

Come on, you can have a license in a few week if you hurry, get it done :D
 
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