True cost of bike ownership

shifty_uk

shifty_uk

shifty_uk

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Hi guys,

First time in this sub-section so if these questions have already been answered i apologise, just point me in the right direction.

I've always fancied riding but premium brand cars amongst other things have always been priority. Getting to the stage now where i'll have the means and space to do both.

So, I'm wondering what the typical annual outlay is for casual bike ownership - maintenance, consumables, insurance, petrol and so on?

By casual i mean, a spirited trip or two every month, a lot more in the summer obviously - i dont think i could quite get away with commuting due to keeping up appearances but i wouldnt say no for the cost save over running an exec saloon!

I'm sure many of you are in a similar situation.

Cheers!
 
shifty_uk said:
Hi guys,

First time in this sub-section so if these questions have already been answered i apologise, just point me in the right direction.

I've always fancied riding but premium brand cars amongst other things have always been priority. Getting to the stage now where i'll have the means and space to do both.

So, I'm wondering what the typical annual outlay is for casual bike ownership - maintenance, consumables, insurance, petrol and so on?

By casual i mean, a spirited trip or two every month, a lot more in the summer obviously - i dont think i could quite get away with commuting due to keeping up appearances but i wouldnt say no for the cost save over running an exec saloon!

I'm sure many of you are in a similar situation.

Cheers!
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Hi, it depends what you'd want tbh - really you'd need to get compulsory basic training (£100 or less) then look at getting direct access training (assume you're over 25, so could do that and then ride what you want and not be restricted on power of bike you could ride) which will maybe be £500 or so.

Also depends on where you live, age, occupation etc and whether it's going to be garaged as to insurance costs - as a new rider don't know if car NCB has any effect. If it does great, if not the insurance cost as a new rider is likely to be steep for the first year at least ( I paid 700 for the first year fully comp on a middleweight sporty 105bhp ish bike for offroad parking without ncb in Southampton, grade c area in terms of risk by insurers), though that will drop considerably with a few years NCB.

If it's just for weekend blasts then mileage won't be very high, and fuel consumption for a middleweight sporty ish bike is likely going to be maybe 45-50mpg bute depends if you're going to be going for spirited riding tbh. Service costs depend a bit on brand etc, but for weekend toy shouldn't be too much each year.

You'd have to buy gear to ride in and helmet etc - say 500-1000 all in.

Bike cost is going to depend upon what you want really.
 
Just as a early indication from me, who's only been riding a month but...

CBT & DAS equalled about £700.
I then bought a Triumph Daytona 675 but cost of buying a bike is irrelevant really but for me, a new ride with no NCB (car NCB doesn't go toward bike) and aged 38, my insurance is £440 a year. That garaged with pillion cover and drive other bike 3rd party.

All my gear e.g. textile 2 piece, boots, gloves and helmet etc was about £1000 but that's not an annual cost.

Tax is about £80 a year.

I do about 40 miles a day commute and it costs circa £30 per week in fuel. I expect my tyres to last about 6-10k so one set per year at ~£200-300. My servicing with my mileage will be annual if not more and a garage will charge anything from 80-300 depending on type of service needed...80 being oil and 300 high mileage big service Inc. valves etc. But for a casual rider your tyres will last much longer and your servicing will be less. Plus oil changes yourself will save you a lot.

Any other costs are extras really like buying chain lube, cleaning stuff, upgrades and so on.

There's probably more but can't think right now .
 
Lots of routes you could go

Could go for an older sportsbike which would be cheap to buy and buy parts for and maintain, also be cheaper to insure,same goes for a classic bike that would also be tax exempt

If your just starting out on biking your main expense would be the tests and insurance and riding gear IMO,bike prices would depend on the age of the machine ect

With a year or two undr your belt and no claims the costs will drop

I don't own a car so can't really compare running costs,

Edit:doing most of the maintainance yourself will save you a lot,oil,filters change,pad changes ect
 
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The biggest cost is generally test and gear. Once you've done those you can make it as cheap or as expensive as you want.
 
I think that insurance is hugely effected by miles on a bike. I got insurance straight after doing my direct access last year at age 25 - £230 fully comp with pillion and 3rd party. But only 3000 miles per year on a Yamaha FZ6N

Other costs really depend on what you want to do. Bare minimum for maintenance would be chain lube, cleaning products, oil and filter and if you aren't using it very much a trickle charger on the battery would be hugely beneficial.

I ride once or twice a month using about £15 petrol each time and probably spend another £10 a month on the above maintenance if you spread it out over a year.
 
I find I buy more bits and pieces for my bike, something I never used to do for my car.

For example this month I bought £100 worth of guards / bash plates. Last month I bought £120 worth of crash bungs.

When I bought the bike I spent £370 on new exhausts.

I won't count essential kit because that's part of the bike cost (lid, gloves, boots, jeans, jacket) but I've spent £130 on a camera, £180 on a headset, £370 on a GPS although you could argue it's not really part of biking considering cars use them as well.

I like to change the oil once a year. That's about £45 not including the time it takes me to do it.

Last year I also changed the tyres, mine are relatively cheap at £125 for the pair.

Petrol costs me about £30 a month (I commute 10 minutes away) but also cost me £300+ this year when I did my trip to Scotland.

A few weeks ago I changed the brake fluid, £15 plus my time but I only do this once every 2 years.

I bought some brakes pads which I'm going to fit next week which are £40 - I replace these about once every 2 years

Then in a few weeks time I have my 12k service, I've heard it could be £350+

Not to mention my cleaning kit, oils and lubes which would probably come in at about £30-50 a year.

A few things listed there also apply to cars, like the service, gps, new oil and so on, but generally owning a bike and maintaining it do a decent standard is probably pretty similar to a car.
 
You could save a fair amount by doing the main parts of any service yourself and just have the difficult parts done like valve clearances
 
wazza300 said:
You could save a fair amount by doing the main parts of any service yourself and just have the difficult parts done like valve clearances
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Yeah that's the plan with regards to oil changes, brake fluid changes, safety checks and so on. I just wouldn't manage with valve clearances, ECU checks, compression etc. Even spark plugs are a pain on my bike so those might be worth doing on a service, although some people get away with 24k+ miles on one pair.
 
I managed 9 years out of the original set of plugs on mine,around 40k

it started to get harder to start of a morning/flooding,changed them and it was fine
 
millsd44 said:
I think that insurance is hugely effected by miles on a bike. I got insurance straight after doing my direct access last year at age 25 - £230 fully comp with pillion and 3rd party. But only 3000 miles per year on a Yamaha FZ6N
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Wow I wanted to stab you when I read that. :p My insurance will be £1400 this year and I'm 34, Ok it hasn't been a great year but even before all the incidents my insurance wasn't gonna be that cheap.
 
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Stovepipes said:
Wow I wanted to stab you when I read that. :p My insurance will be £1400 this year and I'm 34, Ok it hasn't been a great year but even before all the incidents my insurance wasn't gonna be that cheap.
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£1400, why so much? Is it your first year?

I think it's probably just how old the bike is. My insurance never ask me how many miles I do (they originally did, I said 8k which was way too much) so I think maybe it's the age of the bike because every year since I've owned it, it's halved in price.

I bought brand new, the first year was £950, second £460, third £265. It's comprehensive with personal cover, pillion cover (which is free anyway) and I can ride other bikes.
 
you havnt had much luck,i remember when they stole your er6,it was a nice machine aswell

I would be out of London like a shot after that,must be rife with crime
 
Why is everyone's insurance so much? I've only got a Shadow 500 but nevertheless mine was £170 p/a on the day I passed my test? And I live in a very, very rough area?!

Kind Regards

Alec
 
allllec said:
Why is everyone's insurance so much? I've only got a Shadow 500 but nevertheless mine was £170 p/a on the day I passed my test? And I live in a very, very rough area?!

Kind Regards

Alec
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Googles shadow 500...


Ahh, that'll be why :D

But actually, your bike choice is probably why it's that cheap - cruisers are probably less likely to be crashed/stolen/ridden like there's no tomorrow than most other bikes :)

My insurance was just over £100 TPFT right after passing my test, for the year. That's on a honda CB400 - anything 600cc naked style was around £500 fully comp.

An OP - biggest cost is the inital cost to get set up, that's CBT Theory & DAS - £1000. Gear - anywhere from £300 to £1000+.

Ongoing costs aren't too bad, first bike if you're mature (over 25) insurance should be around £500pa, tyres are £100 each roughly.

I'd hate to add up what I've spend on bikes, my bike is only worth £1500 but I'm sure all my other kit (full set of textiles, leather jacket, kevlar jeans x2, rucksack, additional luggage, helmet, and so on...) totals more than my bike :eek:
 
Thing is as well, for me my bike is more than just a weekend toy, it's a weekday commuter, it provides me with the means of having cheap holidays (£110 for 3 days away in Dorset and Devon?) so if it's just a weekend toy that only comes out on sunny summer weekends and does no more than 3000 miles a year (saw 3 848 evo's, all riding together at a petrol station today that looked like they were having one of their last runs of the year!) then having £5k's worth of bike and £2k's worth of kit is going to feel like the cost of ownership is high.

Get out lots on the bike, and apart from tyres (which aren't exactly that expensive) and petrol, the value vs cost is a lot better. I've done probably 9000 miles on my bike since January this year, been to Wales and back and just got back from a 3 day trip. I'll probably hit 14000 miles this year, and it'll only be higher next year as I have more trips away planned.

One thing is for certain though - premium bikes are a loooooot cheaper than cars!!! £15k buys you a top of the range, 200bhp basically road going motogp racer - what brand new car can you buy for £15k? That gets you a poverty spec Audi A1!!!
 
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