Car for a bike? Mixing it up

[F4sSprintST]

I've had a lot of nice sportscars. Have two right now

I ride the bike for the thrills, I haven't even driven my better car in a couple years. (Wife uses it)

Bikes are better!


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[wshtb]

Monthly payment on a 10 year old car? Get rid of it.

[PCHbreeze]

I missed the part about only mode of transportation. I had a bike as primary, even in the once a year rain of so cal, and still would take a pickup truck about once every 5-7 days cus yes it does get very old very fast, and not in the car/truck kinda way.

Originally Posted by PhilB

Motorcycles are WAY cheaper than cars of the equivalent type. There is overlap overall -- the higher-end bikes are more expensive to buy and run than the cheaper cars. I'm sure I could run a Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris or such for less than my Ducati. But why would I want to? Any good car that's fun to drive and has any performance and niceness to it would be far more to buy and run than any but the most exotic bikes. And when you step up to the exotic bikes that cost a lot to run, they are no contest with an exotic car -- you could ride a Bimota daily for a lot less than a Ferrari or Lamborghini.

Apples to apples.

PhilB

Bikes cost more in maintenance mile for mile, and most are not much cheaper on gas than an econobox car.

[PCHbreeze]

Originally Posted by wshtb

Monthly payment on a 10 year old car? Get rid of it.

I miss OC in that people more or less knew their place. I moved for work and it seems everyone from North Hollywood to Burbank to Glendale to Pasadena spends all their monthly income on a bmw/mb or some import 'luxury' car while still living with their parents...and some of them even after getting married. I'm surrounded by pathetic egomaniac mama's boys.

[Shamrock627]

Originally Posted by kevinwilly

I should also add that for reference, my wife's ninja 250 with liability and comprehensive is like 175 a YEAR to insure. And 75 of that is just the north carolina per-vehicle cost that you can't get around no matter what.

Yeah, when I had my 250, it was a whopping $18 a month, with PIP. But I was 37 at the time, not 20.

Originally Posted by Hyena

Just checked into the New Riders subforum. Great reads throughout! If that seller gets back to me about that 250, I'll probably pick it up should he decide he'll take a little less.

Also found this ***** 2005 Kawasaki Ninja -black- *****

Doesn't list miles, but is there any reason an 05 is better than an 04? Or should I just go with the cheaper one?

Yes, the reason that 05 is higher than the 04, is that the 05 is a Ninja 500, not a 250.

[bluspyder]

I'm a deff an advocate of the 500. I never got tired of mine even after 10k miles the first year.

And as far as gear goes. The Joe Rocket Survivor suit is going to be my next purchase. $360 on ebay, alleged 100% water proof. From what info I could gather only a aerostich is a better one piece suit. Potentially you could get fully geared out for the same price of a full leather jacket.

One more thing..... Thank you for being smart and not running into this forum looking for approval to buy a street triple or 1000.

[Süsser Tod]

Originally Posted by PCHbreeze

I missed the part about only mode of transportation. I had a bike as primary, even in the once a year rain of so cal, and still would take a pickup truck about once every 5-7 days cus yes it does get very old very fast, and not in the car/truck kinda way. Bikes cost more in maintenance mile for mile, and most are not much cheaper on gas than an econobox car.

I hate driving a car in the rain twice as much as I hate driving a car when it is not raining. When it rains it just means you'll be stuck in the cage even longer.

Bikes do not cost more in maintenance mile for mile than a car. A Ninja 250 will basically set you back 335 dollars in chains and tires for... 32K miles (I'm counting two rear tires, one front and a set of chain and sprockets). Add two iridium sparkplugs, which will have to be replaced... Same time as the engine goes, oil changes, brake pads and... That's about it. In between there it will need to have the valves adjusted, which are easily done and there are hundreds of tutorials out there.

By that time the Ninja will have also saved a lot of money in gas and parking.

Add $350 in gear and you're all set.-

It can be done on the cheap, and you can also get those numbers sky high if you think you need an Alpinestars 2 piece kangarro suit for commuting, Gold X-Ring chain, $1000 Arai helmet, etc. It has to do a lot with the perception of bikes in the USA as mere recreational vehicles.

[Süsser Tod]

Originally Posted by bluspyder

I'm a deff an advocate of the 500. I never got tired of mine even after 10k miles the first year.

And as far as gear goes. The Joe Rocket Survivor suit is going to be my next purchase. $360 on ebay, alleged 100% water proof. From what info I could gather only a aerostich is a better one piece suit. Potentially you could get fully geared out for the same price of a full leather jacket.

One more thing..... Thank you for being smart and not running into this forum looking for approval to buy a street triple or 1000.

The beauty of the 500 is that it just uses more fuel than the 250, but everything else costs the same! Tires are about the same, brake pads, chain and sprockets, sparkplugs, etc. On top of that, the 500 is easier to work on than the 250.

[MegaManX]

Originally Posted by Shamrock627

Yeah, when I had my 250, it was a whopping $18 a month, with PIP. But I was 37 at the time, not 20.



Yes, the reason that 05 is higher than the 04, is that the 05 is a Ninja 500, not a 250.

The insurance for our Ninja 250 is just under $21/mo, through Geico (same provider as our cars). Pretty excellent.

[Hyena]

Doh! That is a 500 isn't it.... How does the 500 compare to the 250 as far as mpg? Also, as a first bike, would the 500 be okay? It's pretty close to a 600, which apparently is not recommended as a first.

I have a helmet already so that will save me a little bit of money when buying my gear. I also have this weird, sleeveless armored piece. I think it's supposed to go under your riding gear?


Great stuff from all of you. I think I'm leaning towards getting a bike and a beater. Looking at some late 90s Honda Civics. Car when I have to, bike when I don't. Paying insurance on both won't be fun, but even then, it should be lower than what I pay now for the Z.

[PhilB]

Originally Posted by Hyena

Doh! That is a 500 isn't it.... How does the 500 compare to the 250 as far as mpg? Also, as a first bike, would the 500 be okay? It's pretty close to a 600, which apparently is not recommended as a first.

I have a helmet already so that will save me a little bit of money when buying my gear. I also have this weird, sleeveless armored piece. I think it's supposed to go under your riding gear?


Great stuff from all of you. I think I'm leaning towards getting a bike and a beater. Looking at some late 90s Honda Civics. Car when I have to, bike when I don't. Paying insurance on both won't be fun, but even then, it should be lower than what I pay now for the Z.

The 500 is a good choice for a starter bike. It's a parallel twin, not an I-4. The 600 sportbikes make about twice the power of that 500, and are otherwise much more difficult to handle. The 500 is probably a better choice for overall transport, as it will handle highways better than the 250. The 250 is adequate, though.

PhilB

[Hyena]

I plan to go take a look at at least one of these bikes this weekend. What should I be looking for? When buying used cars, I usually take them to a shop and pay for a mechanic to look it over after inspecting it myself. I get the feeling I can't really do that when shopping for a bike, as motorcycle shops aren't as common.

[Nero Diablo]

The other thing if every day riding is your thing is a largish capacity scooter around 150cc plus, lots of storage reasonable weather protection cheap tyres etc.

No one has mentioned it yet but done any training MSF course etc?

What to look out for a bike general wear and tear damaged frames and swingarms as they will next to impossible to sell again. Bikes that have been patched up after a fall most people don't replace bar ends and leavers so they will most likely be rashed up there. Leaks around forks and the like may be a sign of wheelies and general abuse condition of the chain is it at a constant tension as you roll the bike forward if it has tight and loose spots then its shagged and will need replacing. Blowing smoke service history etc.

[USAFgsxr750again]

yes, you definitely have to be dedicated. i got my car in a wreck that put it in the body shop for almost 3 months (March thru end of may) in South Dakota. i rode to work everyday and only needed a ride home after work once cause a snow storm came up. i actually LOVED riding every day. I will admit that i got lucky cause most of the bad weather happened on the weekend. the coldest i rode to work was 20. the worst was sleet, 35 degrees, 40mph winds with gusts up to 60. now THAT was dicey. still made the 15 mile trek without too much trouble.

yep, you gotta really wanna ride to endure riding everyday no matter the weather or situation. some bikes are better for it, others..... not so much. and the gear... better to have it before you need it than after ya need it. BTDT.

i have to admit tho, riding year round definitely made my tires last a lot longer. 13k on Avons on he Busa. WOOT.

[kevinwilly]

Originally Posted by Süsser Tod

I hate driving a car in the rain twice as much as I hate driving a car when it is not raining. When it rains it just means you'll be stuck in the cage even longer.

Bikes do not cost more in maintenance mile for mile than a car. A Ninja 250 will basically set you back 335 dollars in chains and tires for... 32K miles (I'm counting two rear tires, one front and a set of chain and sprockets). Add two iridium sparkplugs, which will have to be replaced... Same time as the engine goes, oil changes, brake pads and... That's about it. In between there it will need to have the valves adjusted, which are easily done and there are hundreds of tutorials out there.

By that time the Ninja will have also saved a lot of money in gas and parking.

Add $350 in gear and you're all set.-

This only applies for the ninja 250 and 500. A regular sportbike is just as expensive to run as most cars. Maybe not a sports car, but a run of the mill sedan? Absolutely.


And of course you hate driving in the rain more than driving when it's not raining. Nobody LIKES driving in the rain. But I'll take driving in rain ANY day over riding in the rain. Unless it's like the middle of summer and raining in the afternoon. But this time of year? yeah, riding in the rain sucks.

But more than that- getting CAUGHT in the rain on your bike when you don't have your rain gear? THAT sucks.

Also- there's no way you can get enough gear to ride in every season for 350 bucks. No flipping way. You be hard-pressed to get a decent helmet (200 bucks) and jacket (150 bucks) at that price. I mean, you CAN find stuff cheaper, but not a whole lot. And not stuff for 4 seasons.