Yes, Motorcycles Can Be Way Cheaper Than Cars
Posted by admin at 30 November 2017, at 23 : 07 PM
If you’ve been thinking of skipping the new car and trying life a little on the wild side with a motorcycle, it’s not uncommon for a war to wage in the head. Weighing the pros vs the cons, hesitating and mulling over every data-point until you’re more confused about whether to buy one or not than when you began. The financial aspect of that decision plays a key role in many minds, but it might soon become clear that the hog might be the much cheaper option in the end.
Get ahead of those upfront costs
Let’s just start by saying that on average, a newly bought motorcycle is almost always going to be less expensive to buy than the equivalent car. It isn’t all down to the cost of the vehicle itself. When buying a car, the cost of the lessons, theory test, and practical test can sometimes add up to over $900. With a motorcycle, as soon as you pass your CBT, you’re free to ride. It is smart to spend a little of those savings on advanced learning, however.
Save as you go
Another cost that motorcycles easily have cars beat in is their fuel economy. For a $4000 motorcycle, you can get a machine with an MPG of around 60. That’s more than a brand-new Toyota Prius, often worth four times that much when bought new if not more, which has an MPG of around 51.
Cheaper to run
What about other recurring, obvious running costs? For maintenance, motorcycle parts also tend to be cheaper than car parts. With auto insurance, you will usually end up paying less because it’s a smaller vehicle that’s worth less money. However, motorcycles are often considered a high-risk item by insurance providers, so that can hike up the costs.
What about the hidden costs?
There are hidden costs to just about every major purchase in one’s life and motorcycles are no different. For instance, they don’t tend to last as long as cars do if you don’t aim at helping them live a longer life. You might spend more in the long-run replacing old motorcycles than you would if you were replacing cars as you went along, instead. Safety gear is another necessary expenditure, especially if you have helmet laws in your state. But really, you should be willing to fork over some cash for a safer ride, anyway. These are considerable costs, but so long as you take care to keep motorcycles living as long as possible, they shouldn’t outweigh the savings by any stretch.
So, are motorcycles cheaper than cars? The answer is yes and no. If you aren’t smart with your purchases, the services you use, and how you take care of it, then, no, it might not be cheaper. With the tips above, however, that answer flips over to a resounding yes, instead.