Bike and car running costs

[M1ke]

I was thinking earlier about how everyone says bikes are cheaper to run than cars.... I don't see the logic in this.

Ok so if your 17 then insurance is cheaper on a bike by £500 or so but if you add up the running costs of a bike I reckon are higher than a car.

Tyres on cars last 25,000 miles and most car tyres are only £20-£40 each. In 25000 miles most bikes would have needed 5 new back tyres and maybe 3-4 new front ones and we know bike tyres are about £100 each.

MPG petrol wise also isn't that much better for bikes. You have bikes like the vtr1000 which get really crap mpg just like some cars such as volvo estates, and then you have some bikes such as CG125 that get really good mpg just like pug 106's (although the cg125 is probably quite a bit better) etc.

Ok car tax is higher thats one down side but everything else seems to be in favour of cars being cheapiest. Car servicing isn't much higher than bikes and bikes need servicing more often.

So to sum it up, is biking really cheaper than using a car?

[TheShaggyDA]

The AA have a good breakdown of running costs, but at the end of the day, it's down to your own circumstances :-

https://www.theaa.com/allaboutcars/advice/archive.html
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[Keith]

Probably not cheaper, but much more practical, especially at young ages.

Although they are much cheaper to buy and insure, it will mount up in the long run, even more for the 2 smokes. Its not something i think about (even when my bike drinks petrol and i get about 90 mile to a tank), after all, i'd much rather hop straight onto a bike than pay about £600 to learn how to drive.
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[Trunecka]

We like to think so. But any money we save probably gets spent on the bike anyway.

It certainly isn't the case for two-strokes, find an efficient four-stroke and it could be true. Thinking along those lines, many of the best-selling bikes do happen to be efficient four-strokes.

I would guess that in general the money we NEED to spend on running bikes is probably similar to that for cars, but the TOTAL amount we spend on biking in general far exceeds that of car ownership (excluding purchase price.)
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"I'm gonna get free, Ride into the sun..."
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[G]

Look at the performance of the two.

For your money you get a lot, lot better bike.

If you go for a bike that only has a bit better preformance than a car then it probably will be cheaper.
You do also need all the kit etc as well. Though it obviously has serious advantages, especially in big cities like London.

Go for a bike that has the performance of a £60k supercar and most things, including the tyres will be cheaper. Servicing will probably also be cheaper, but more regular.

I believe the CG is quoted as having 120 miles per gallon... a bit better than the 106 I suspect .

[Shade_BW]

[M1ke]

Yes I do, My mum pays £18 per tyre for the escort, I paid £45 each for some 106 tyres each and that had stupid sized alloys on.

I do know that BMW tyres etc are more expensive (£100 a tyre if you want good ones) but im talking average non sporty everyday cars.

[MarJay]

My dad has to spend £200 per TYRE on his Goodyear Eagles!

Also, think about storage space... A car costs for parking and garages etc, whereas you could probably fit four or five bikes in a single garage!

On the whole bike parking is free or at least cheaper.

If your car breaks down then you need to get the AA, whereas with a bike (especially a CG125 or something) all you need is a mate with a van.

Cars are obviously more comfortable in the wet and less ring pinching in snowy/icy conditions, but thats what winter hacks are for!
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Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Shade_BW]

then yer buying cheap shit tyres that aren't rated for a decent speed, have no grip, and will wear out in no time.

With the cost of fitting, balanceing etc you're looking at, at least fifty quid for a cheap but decent road tyre for a car, and that's only after a puncture.

If your going to swap tyres through old age, then you are going to swap at least two, if not four tyres at the same time. Factor that in to your equations.

Shade
Cars have 4 wheels
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[cagiva gezzer]

I think i worked my 125 cagiva out at 10-20 pence per mile including everything apart from insurance and initial cost.
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[kev]

My latest car cost me £50 and my fuel is free at the moment so running a car is very cheap for me.

Budget tyres are actually quite good these days, I have been using them on my cars for about 4 years now and haven't had any problems at all.
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[M1ke]

The tyres my mum gets are actually remoulds and yes are probably quite shitty. However my mother doesn't go over 70mph and I wouldn't say she really throws it around the bends either I have driven her car and to be fair I was quite impressed with the tyres grip. They will no doubt wear out quicker than the expensive brands.

I was under the impression that alot of car drivers didn't really care much about getting quality sticky tyres as most car owners just use their car to get from A - B and not throw the car around back lanes

I would say the average car user spends no more than £40 per tyre, I may be wrong but thats the impression I had.

[Grubby]

Seeing as I recycle waste aircraft fuel I'd have to say that the car is cheaper even if the tyres cost me £45 a throw, mind you I have got a mate who works at a tyre fitting company!
Also i guess you'd have to factor in the bike side of things, Busa's ain't the cheapest things to run Having said that with the tuning I've had done on it I've had 170 miles out of it before the reserve light came on. As for tyres I run Avon Azzuro's which gives me an extra 1.5 mm of tread over "normal" busa tyres & again my mate gets me tyres on the cheap so I pay £200 including fitting for them, same price as a set for the car near enough, trouble is they only last for 3,500 miles of everyday use, whereas the car's last for about 15,000!
Summing up....The car get's it...................even if it is a 5 series Beemer

[Davo]

[iCraig]

Well it does depend on what you compare, if you compare an R1 to a Fiesta then it isn't a fair comparision.

An R1 would probably compare to a Ferrari and such like, which is what £150,000 to buy compared to £8000, Insurance on the ferrari it soon mounts up!

For me my bike is cheaper to run than any car, granted its only a GS500, but cheap none the less, I get 60MPG no matter what I ride like, I get 15,000 Miles from the front tyre and 8,000 from the rear, Insurance is only £300 TPFT, Tax is only £45 and servicing is cheap too.

An equivilent car like a fiesta would cost more, £1000 to insure, £80 a year to tax, 40MPG would equal to more petrol, servicing would be cheaper granted, but repairs would cost.

[Kickstart]

Hi

Depends on the vehicles you compare.

I would suspect that car tyres are generally far cheaper, but car tyres are also far more variable in price. Think the new ones on the 155 were £90 each (205/50 16s), but then the 205/50 15 on the Maserati are quite a bit cheaper, and the 185/60 14 on the P4 are a hell of a lot cheaper even for Yokahama A539 tyres.

Servicing again varies. Sure most cars have long service intervals. However the Maserati has reasonable performance and that has a 6000 mile service interval, and that is a change of oil, air filter, oil filter, both fuel filters, plugs, etc. 24000 miles is cam belt change and the belt is £50 or so before it is fitted. The insurance on the Maserati was £1300 for the last year it was insured on a normal policy (now on classic insurance). Distributor cap is ~£250 and another £95 for a rotor arm (although those prices might now have dropped). 20mpg in general use The later ones with the 24 valve engine are even more expensive to run (every other cam belt change you have to change the cam chains that drive the exhaust cams from the inlet cams, and that is an engine out job).

All the best

Keith
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[aqualung1]

[Trunecka]

How much adrenalin do you spend per annum on your bike vs. your car?

Worth the money in the end, mostly we ride because we like riding.
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[Kickstart]

[M1ke]

Speaking of sliding cars, I was so close to spining a one and half ton volvo estate on friday night I certainly had a moment and i'm pretty sure I didn't grin afterwards either!

Like keith says, if you have the right car they can be fun.

[Robby]

No matter what I've had, I've always managed to flush all of my spare cash into my bike or car.

Cars are more reliable. I know bikers like to say bikes are really reliable, but being realisitic an engine is worn out by 50 or 60k, and likely to have some kind of major failure before that (camchain, snapped rod).

Bikes eat through tyres and chains, need more frequent oil change often with more expensive oil, parts cost a lot.

With bikes you have a higher chance of an expensive crash or slide. Anyone who bought a new NSR and then crashed it and bought now fairings will know about this.

Bikes do generally win on fuel, but its not a huge saving if you work it out. Assuming around 40mpg in commuting against 25 or 30 from a car, the difference is only 10-15mpg. Based on a 1000 mile month that makes about a £40 monthly fuel saving from using a bike.


Cheap car tyres I have no trouble with. My last set of four 205/55 R15s cost me 180 quid fitted and balanced, they havn't been on long but they stick to the road nicely in the wet and dry, and are still V rated.

4 new shock absorbers cost me 160 quid. About the same as a new budget rear shock on a bike, but these will last about 80k on the car.
I change the oil regularly, its a chain cam engine so it makes sense. Thats about £10-15 every 3000 miles for oil and filter.

Any little bits and bobs I need I can generally pick up for next to nothing at a breakers.

And cars are fun. You just need a big one, or a slidy one.

[M1ke]

So in conclusion are you saying cars are cheaper from your experiance robby?

[Frost]

I think cars are far more expensive per mile than bikes.

However most on these forums use and abuse the bike far more than they do a car, hence it works out about the same, or possibly slightly more expensive for the bike.

[Robby]

Yes mike. And the more miles per year I do, the cheaper car running gets in comparison to bike running, seeing as the higher cost of car insurance is negated by the costs of running a bike.

Oh and this is comparing "similar" cars and bikes - Suzuki VX800 against Merc 190E 2.6. Both lazy and torquey, big and heavy.

[dodsi]

for me...

1.2 golf... £1500 er-5 £1500

er-5 insurance.. £280 Golf £1200

performance better on an er-5 and similer fuel consumption

tyres £60 for both vehicle so £120 for a er-5 and £240 for a golf

tax is way cheaper on a bike

bikes for me are much cheaper than cars

no parking costs etc!