more bikers in the future !

[dswheeler]

does any one think that there will be more bikers in the future , due to saving fuel , and the environment stuff ?

[Kickstart]

Hi

Not sure. Way too many people are too risk averse to consider a bike, while for decent size bikes the fuel savings are small compared to the extra costs of tyres, etc. While you can save money with a CG125 or the like, if you need a car as well then it probably isn't likely you will save enough to cover the cost of the bike and make it worthwhile.

Ie, if you do 5000 miles on a bike doing 100mpg rather than a small car doing 40mpg (and plenty of cars will do way more than that) you save about 75 gallons of petrol. At (say) £5 a gallon that is £375 saved. Knock the cost of insurance, bike gear and buying the bike off that and it becomes barely worthwhile.

All the best

Keith
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[aaronb74]

Money saving isn't the first thing that springs to mind when thinking of bikes (I had no idea what bike fuel economy was like until I started riding). Certainly when you take into account the cost of learning to ride and buying the gear, it's not worth it from a cost saving point of view. Also, bikes are simply not practical for many things like going shopping, etc.
____________________
Current bike - 2006 ZX6R

[Ol]

IMO, with the new bike test introduced in april i can only see more and more people getting put off biking.. but do imagine there will be an increase in Scooterists (not just chavvy "ped riderz", but people using scooters as a cheap way to commute etc)
____________________
Previous: Cub50, NRG50, TS50, YB100, CB125, NSR125, ZZR600, CBF1000, SV650s, ZX6R B1H, XT250, Mito Powered Crosser, WRF450, , FZ600, VN800, GSXR600 - Currently CB1000R

[Kwaks]

[yen_powell]

Another 10 years and bikes will be the only thing actually moving on the clogged roads, so expect the rise of the commuter to keep biking alive.
____________________
Blackmail is a nasty word........but not as nasty as phlegm!
XT1200Z and a DR350 in bits

[ms51ves3]

You'd probably get more bikers on the road because of the state of public transport in this country rather than because they want to save money.

[el_oso]

my bike is way more cheap to run compared to my car.
insurance is £800 vs £140
petrol bike 70mpg(ish) vs car <40mpg
gear £350 for bike £150 car (stereo)
cost of bike £700. cost of car £3500
tyres on a car may last longer but there are four of them to replace. where as a bike only has two.
spares for a car a more expensive + there is more to go wrong.
my bike doesn't get stuck in traffic like i do in my car
plus my bike is a lot quicker, faster and funner
____________________
Duke 390
Previous: '05 XR125L | '96 XJ600S Diversion |'05 Suzuki GSXR1000 | '05 Honda CBR125-R | '97 YZF 600R Thundercat | '11 Honda CBR250
Car: Jeep Wrangler 4.0L

[ClaireBear]

I definitely think there will be more bikes around, not sure if they will all be paying out to do their main test, maybe just sticking to their cbt.
With insurance and the cost of running a car quite high, I would imagine a lot of people would just do their cbt and run around on that, especially teenagers as the cost of lessons are through the roof and so are the test fees!

I have noticed around where I live there are a lot more 'winter bikers', they are no longer the sunday hack idea. I am finding bikes are keeping their prices at the moment as well, they arent dropping at all! good for some I suppose lol

[Alexio]

Seeming as my 100MPG bike is the only vehicle I've ever had,
and that I've done thousands and thousands of miles on it all over the south of this country,
and that insurance (£250 this year) is so much cheaper than for a car (for someone my age, like 1/4 the price),
and that tax is so much cheaper,
and that it gets me through traffic on my way to work,
and that I've saved on the cost of parking in town for 1.5 years,
and that it's so much more convenient and faster to jump on and get in to town and park than any little car (I go in to town and back a LOT)......

I think I'm sticking with my CG. I went to and from town about 40 times this week. about £2 petrol. Definitely cheaper, more fun and more satisfying than public transport.

So possibly in the future commuter bikes shall rise in popularity, but I imagine not for motorway use.
____________________
will never give up his CG. I look at my fuel gauge more as a progress bar than a fuel gauge.
G: With my GSXR I do often effectively use it as a scooter with a clutch in town.
ms51ves3: why does it need 500 miles? Are you teaching it how to be a piston?

[rob_scott92]

i think that there wont be as many bikers around in the future due to the new 'not allowed to ride unsupervised with L plates' law

Besides, in my view a lot of the learners round by me are just on peds at 16 then get a car at 17 and dont touch a bike again! It only seems to be a small percentage that will actually do the bike test and get a bigger bike.
although i'm sure this isn't correct for everywhere, but from what i've heard there are already alot less people serious about bikes than there used to be

Rob

[tsmith]

bike saves me a fortune

i do approx 10,000 miles a year.
car gets 35mpg
bike gets 70mpg

bike tyres cost 20 quid more than car tyres do, but the bike only needs two of them.

insurance for the bike is way cheaper. tax is cheaper. parking is always free.

[Glory Hunter]

Slightly OT but saw a lovely sight the other day:

I was parking up outside my office after lunch and I heard someone making BRRM, BRRM noises behind me. I turned around and saw a middle-aged woman with a pushchair with a little girl of about two in it. As I took off my helmet, her grand-mother explained that the little girl loved bikes, she then proceeded to push her around all the other bikes parked there still doing the BRRM, BRRM noises!

The next day I was stopped at some lights and heard the noises again and turned around to see Nan, kid and this time grand-father too altogether going down the road.

So, with a bit of luck, in about 14 years, we may have at least one other to bolster our number!
____________________
2003 Suzuki VanVan - Sold
2000 Honda CB500 - written off by a spoilt brat with no manners
2005 Yamaha XT660 - I'm in lurve....

[soforene]

As long as there's not an increase in the number of knobheads razing aroud on their pissant scooties.....