Cheaper Biking Considerations

[Ingah]

Before i start, having had some quite negative posts before when posting about this sort of thing - if you're the sort of person that's going to have a whinge at me or others for thinking about saving money whilst biking, or try to suggest i should buy an (expensive and impractical) bus pass instead, then you are welcome to keep your opinions to yourself and spend your time looking at other threads instead. I don't care if people are snobbish regarding bikes, so long as they don't bother me with their narrow-mindedness. Equally if saving money on biking doesn't interest you, then good for you (you're probably doing better financially than me!), but it's only fair to warn you - you're probably on the wrong thread!
Rant over. Thread begins (warning: long post):

As with all motor vehicles i assume (i wouldn't know as i only have bikes ), it's quite expensive (all in) to keep them on the road (largely due to taxation i'd wager, but i'll leave that rant for another day). And so i wanted to know where people cut the costs, save the money, and hopefully through doing so i can work out what i should be doing differently as i'm finding a lot of my money over the past few years has been spent on my bikes / biking related bits (so much that between bikes, the girlfriend and a 1st year of uni i've gone through a compo payout and a small sum i'd saved for uni - as well as part time job earnings and student loan). We could probably all save a fair chunk of money if we knew how.
Note: I'm not looking at "just cheap" (cheap is easy), i'm looking at better value for money (as i'm fully aware that many cheaper things are a false economy in the long run - otherwise it would be really simple to save money and this thread wouldn't have been posted).

One tip i have learned and can share, is to use engine oil and a paintbrush on the chain, rather than the cans of chain lubricant (i use fresh but very cheap supermarket 10W40 for this, others use their old used bike oil but i feel safer with fresh stuff). Another tip (i'm not so good at bothering to do this, admittedly), is to clean the chain regularly too, so it'll last far longer (thus saving money on chains/sprockets, and potentially avoiding the posts i read of chains snapping and all the damage caused - up to and including deaths). I've also heard that DID chains are good and strong often OE chains (at least, i've read it in a few different places), so if it doesn't cost much more, it's the one i buy (after carefully considering the cheapest one in the shop of course )

Regarding my own expenditure, I own a CG125 (since 2007. It was my first ever bike and i'm currently restoring it, as i stupidly let it sit outside half-knackered and unused for 18 months, with the intention of seeing if i can soon put up with it's poor performance in an attempt to save on petrol costs for my frequent 12 and 50 mile roundtrips), and an old CB500 that i have spent megabucks (i was part unlucky, part stupid. It needed way too much TLC for what i paid) repairing and servicing (on the upside, seemingly everything on it is new now ), that doesn't return as good fuel consumption as i expected. I'm considering an RXS if i find the CG too slow to cope with, it should provide a happy medium, and should be very simple and cheap to run. I now own a good selection of decent quality tools (enough so that purchases are now infrequent), and mechanically have nearly learned enough to avoid paying my local garage for labour (something i'd suggest to almost anyone is to learn to service/repair as much by themself as they can as labour is so costly). One thing i've noted about what i do (possibly an expensive habit?), is that i buy a hell of a lot of bits in my Honda dealer (usually because i have no idea what the funny looking part is called and who else would sell it - Honda always have them diagrams they can look it up on), and have a habit of buying OE parts due to fears of aftermarket parts being worse quality or not fitting/working as well (to this end, does anyone know what parts are usually good to buy from aftermarket providers?). I do already know not to buy things like official Honda mirrors, mild steel exhausts, and to try to find a bearing shop for wheel bearings. The Honda dealer is of course all too happy to reinforce the "OE parts is best" idea I know breakers yards are always an option for some parts, but buying a unknown/used part that is subject to wear and tear doesn't seem wise in many circumstances.

Engine oil's another thing. I tend to buy Hein Gericke semi-synth 10W40 (£20 / 4L) for the CG125 (getting a free oil filter for my CB500), and whatever decent looking 10W30 semi-synthetic motorbike oil i can find for the CB500 (this time, some Motul stuff at ~£25 / 4L). It's been suggested to me that any old car 10W40 will do for the CG, so i'm going to swop to that in future

Gear's another bug-bear for me, i seem to be constantly needing and struggling to afford new gear - it's expensive (the part time pizza delivery work probably isn't helping with gear wear/tear), so i'm also thinking some manufacturers/models of gear must last longer than the low-end stuff i've been buying. The only example i'm aware of is the (fairly expensive) Alt-Berg boots apparently protecting well and lasting many years and 6 figure mileages. It seems that i need to visit the factory for fitting though, as they don't allow returns for poor fit on the bike boots Regarding helmets, i tend to drop/whack mine all too often, so i've considered Arai (so i can send it back for them to check the lining rather than replacing the cheaper HJC helmet every so often due to being concerned after it's taken yet more whacks). Gloves, i'm pig sick of replacing Aldi £13ers (the crappy velco on them keeps going/losing it's stick). I struggle to get gear that fits well (which is really important), so it's not just a case of going and picking up a more expensive glove. Ear protection, i've found Alpine MotoSafe earplugs, re-useable, last anything from 6 months to years (been through a couple of pairs), and cost something like £15 which isn't too bad (probably far cheaper than all the disposables i would've been through in that time, and less faff to boot). Although i have heard of custom earplugs for something like £50 (anyone know where?), and the idea of never having to replace my plugs again appeals somewhat! (along with being able to have a headphone in it maybe). I made use of offers like cheap neck warmer / waterproof oversuit (when i can be bothered with all the faffing of getting into it) / balaclava / motorbike socks, when they came up in Aldi/Lidl.

With security, i saved plenty of cash on theft insurance (for what good it would do me for my cheap bikes and high excesses) and on future upgrades, by buying an Almax series 3 as my first (and hopefully only) lock and chain. As the guy from Almax said, people tend to start with the basics and end up accumulating a load of locks and chains. Thought i'd save the expense

I found Oxford First-Time panniers seem to hold up well (first panniers and still got 'em despite minor crash damage to an outer zip or two), although they were £48 when i got them (not bad tbh), and i saw them in the shop the other day for £30! I've been wanting a top-box for a while (to reduce faff-factor), but i can't work out how to sort a lockable one out for a reasonable price (3 figures isn't reasonable imo). Tank bag from Aldi was good at £20 and i still use it today to put my Almax in.

I tried out a loobman chain oiler, but found it annoying as it kept moving about and was hard to get in exactly the right place to lube both sides of the sprocket without rubbing on it too much, so i've disconnected it (it also annoyed me when i took the rear wheel off and then realised that means it needs re-aligning). It was a good idea to try i suppose - plenty of other people find it alright.

One thing that'd be really cool / useful. Anyone know how i can get ahold of the Honda shop style diagrams that name / give a price quote for all the parts in my bikes? (Bar working at Honda, i can't work out if it's even possible - i suspect they probably don't want to let it out so 3rd parties can't use it to sell their own parts. A shame).

That's all i can think of for now, i'm sure i can add more as i remember it. Let's see if anyone else can come up with something.
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-- Ingah

[iooi]

[Moo.]

Oil. I used asda own brand 10w40

Usually £14 for 5 litres, atm its £10 for 5 and they do smaller ones (which are better value) £4 each for about 3 litres
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A2 Passed 18/6/10

[pepperami]

I cant think of any particular money saving tip right at this moment.
however, you mentioned what types of bikes you own, thats a start, cos you can now use BCF`s vast bank of knowledge!

i also own a CG and if i want to know anything specific about it i use the search button
there is a small army of CG owners on this forum and what has not been discussed in the past about them is not worth knowing.

if you`re concerned about using used engine oil on your chain, try this, possibly , maybe ? let the oil sit and settle for a while.
then pour the top half off and strain before using.
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[crowe]

I personally find the Lubeman* quite good. I lubricated my old chain with a chain-spray but it made it sticky and i believe it's what helped it stretch. So always use oil and as often as you can!

Take more care of your helmet (i put mine in topbox) and just get a cheap one. some £40 ones are equally as safe as £300+ ones**

A CG you say? I read here*** that certain 'super unleadeds' give better MPG/performance than regular.

I don't spend a lot on gear but i always wear all my gear. Boots £40 (nitro) Akito trousers+jacket about £110, gloves about £17 and helmet £35 off ebay (RRP £100+).
Ebay is your friend.

Check on this forum for Aldi+Lidl biking offers. Wait until a few people have posted and then buy the good stuff.

Pound shops will likely have a cheap WD40 which you could spray under your bike as a cheap/basic waterproofer. Cheaper than ACF50!

Invest in a cover if bike is left outside and it might be worth getting a trickle-charger to stop your battery dying (this happened to my old bike and had to buy a new battery!)


*https://www.chainoiler.co.uk/
**https://sharp.direct.gov.uk/
***https://hondacg125.awardspace.com/general.htm#Petrol


Crowe
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Kawasaki ER-5

[G]

First tip - Don't start racing. I failed to do this, with the money I spent I could have bought a Ferrari (2nd hand, of course, nice 360 I was thinking ).

Get your loobman set up right. I've used them on several bikes and they're fine if you put some effort and possibly extra bodging in to getting it set up correctly.

Most half decent drive chains should be ok.

[L4Isoside]

Stick with just the cb500 and just do everything on the cheap.. im betting it wont cost an awful lot more than the cg. 'Cept for MPG.

And regarding gear, what are you doing to it? All my gear came to a bloody high amount (around 1k) because that's what i had saved for it. Its gone through two crashes, a winter and (part) of a summer. (or two half summers so far) and still useable today.

Don't be put off by a slight scratch or bump either. Mine's been ripped etc from my first off, the bottoms i had repaired but the leather top I've kept as is.... held up well second time around aswell.

Infact i've hit my helmet around and stuff before, scratched it etc. Doesn't need replacing, infact the only reason im replacing soon is because it actually hit the floor in my last off.

Useing the internet would save you alot (or even research) rather than popping in to a honda dealer every 5 mins.

Look here for honda stuff aswell: https://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/

[Damon]

[G]

[Robby]

You can find all the microfiches on www.cmsnl.com

If they don't cover your model of bike (may be too new) then have a look at the for an older one. I use the site to identify parts and parts numbers, then feed the part number into David Silvers for a price.

[flumpy7]

https://fiche.ronayers.com/

get the part number you need from the above website and as others hace said david silver spares will get it for you.