Considering a motorcycle

[YoungDr3amer]

With high insurance rates, excellent fuel economy, and extensive brands to choose from...

Would it be feasible to own a motorcycle?

I have only considered the idea of possibly owning a motorcycle next year to travel to/from work, school and other driving needs. However, I'm on the fence when it comes to making that initial investment.

It's advertised that even leasing a motorcycle would be cheaper than bus fare.

Anyone care to offer some personal information or experiences on your decision to owning/leasing a motorcycle?

[YoungDr3amer]

I sincerely apologize for this post being in the incorrect category.

Rookie mistake, it will never happen again!

[Rx-87]

Do you have your license yet?

Take into consideration the risk factors?

[MoreMiles]

You cannot really ride, at least not safely, in a winter snowy day. Brain injury (eg, half dead vegetable) cases are seen more frequently with motorcycles than cars. With the helmet usage, you are less likely to die after an accident. You are more likely to become a vegetable require full assistance from your family or private attendant, for basic body functions such as diaper change.

You mentioned in the other post that you are scared of traffic safety. You should be more concerned about this with a motorcycle.

[sexpuppet6000]

You cannot really ride, at least not safely, in a winter snowy day. Brain injury (eg, half dead vegetable) cases are seen more frequently with motorcycles than cars. With the helmet usage, you are less likely to die after an accident. You are more likely to become a vegetable require full assistance from your family or private attendant, for basic body functions such as diaper change.

You mentioned in the other post that you are scared of traffic safety. You should be more concerned about this with a motorcycle.

Being cool is way more important than safety. Duh! That is the entire premise of cool: being reckless and unsafe!
Sarcastic?

I don't see how riding a motorcycle in the gta could be more economical than riding the rocket. And why would to even want to ride a bike when you can ride so ething as cool sounding as THE ROCKET.

[phucyall]

Bikes are not actually as good at fuel economy as most people make them out to be. With pretty relaxed driving I get around 49 MPG on my bike. It is a somewhat larger displacement engine (650cc), but I doubt fuel economy of a 250cc bike would be much better, simply because you have to rev the engine much more to get the same performance.

As for safety, all those people commenting on how unsafe it is... have you ever ridden a motorcycle regularly? Riding a bike is as safe as you make it. It is up to you to be a defensive rider and watch others on the road. As long as you are careful and alert and don't do anything stupid it's perfectly safe.

You initial investments are as follows:
Cost of motorcycle:$4000 for decent used bike to as high as $12000 for a 600cc SuperSport
Cost of getting licensed: $17 for your M1. $400 for training course, which gets you a certificate for insurance discount and M2 if you pass the test at the end
Cost of gear:
Helmet - $300 for a decent one, upwards of $1000 for pointless "high end" one.
Jacket - $200 and up
Gloves - $150 and up
Boots - $150 and up
Pants $ 100 and up
Overall you are looking at about $1000 in gear

Recurring costs:
Insurance - being a brand new rider, if you get a new bike be prepared to pay $2000/year (and you always have to pay for a full year no matter how much you actually ride)

[phucyall]

Is that what the insurance companies are doing? Can anyone else confirm this is the actual case for them also or is this unfortunately just phucyall's insurance company.
This was the case with TD, StateFarm, Jevco (who I am with) as well as at least 3 or 4 other insurance companies I was getting quotes from before I settled.

If insurance companies did bike insurance by the month they would go broke. You can cancel your insurance after 4 or 5 months of riding, but good luck ever getting insured with that company again, or even getting the remainder of your money back since most companies ask you to prepay the entire amount in advance.

I would be very very impressed to find somebody who managed to get 1/2 year or even monthly insurance.

[Barayolayosa]

Is that what the insurance companies are doing? Can anyone else confirm this is the actual case for them also or is this unfortunately just phucyall's insurance company.

It's the case with all of them. Otherwise, everyone would just cancel their insurance in the fall and start it up again in the spring - the insurance companies would of course respond by doubling the price of your insurance thus making the same amount of money. Well, they decided to avoid the whole mess by just making you pay for a full year.

Becides, here in Calgary, it's not uncommon to ride every month of the year. I've had my bike out during many chinooks, where in the middle of February it could be 15 degrees!

[D-3vil]

You CAN get seasonal insurance (at least that's what I was told this year) and Jevco is one of the companies offering it. As is StateFarm, if I recall correctly.

However, it is actually CHEAPER to insure for a whole year. If you choose seasonal, you'll pay about 80% of the full year rate (insurance companies aren't stupid, they know people on average ride 6-8 months per year) and next year when you try to get another policy you won't have been insured continuously, thus paying more.

I bit the bullet during the first year and shelled out $2800 for insurance for my SV650. Now in my second year, the annual rate is less than $1000 (after mutli-vehicle discount is factored in).

To the OP: riding a bike is a much more involved process than driving a car. If you plan to mainly ride it downtown, then I would recommend against it. There are too many aggressive drivers on those streets and having to continuosly cross streetcar tracks gets tiring really quickly.

That being said, if you do go for a bike, choose to get one with ABS. It'll end up being a more expensive bike, but recent numbers show you're 40% less likely to be involved in a crash. This should result in cheaper insurance rates (offsetting the higher initial cost) and a better riding experience.

Also, stay away from the pocket rockets. They're uncomfortable to ride and wear you down faster than other bikes. Since you'll be doing the bulk of your riding getting to work and back, comfort and ease-of-riding should be at the top of your list.

[SeeYouNextTime]

First of all, how far is your commute. That will determine whether or not motorcyling is favourable to bussing

BUT, what you could think about is an electric bike. A basic setup, not including the bike can be had for less than $1000, including high end batteries. This can get you almost 50kph on the flats and over 60 km per charge.

I am thinking of one of these over a scooter/motorcycle. Plus, no insurance

[Ryus]

As for safety, all those people commenting on how unsafe it is... have you ever ridden a motorcycle regularly? Riding a bike is as safe as you make it. It is up to you to be a defensive rider and watch others on the road. As long as you are careful and alert and don't do anything stupid it's perfectly safe.

Umm.... Its not totally up to the bike driver regarding safety, have you ever seen how people drive in the GTA?? No matter how defensive/alert/careful you are, you can never prepare yourself 100% against other drivers.

A fender bender while driving a car is just that, a fender bender. A fender bender in your bike with another vehicle equals someting more serious, not just the physical damage to material things. Like what an above post said, maybe even a vegetable eeek!

[Barayolayosa]

I bit the bullet during the first year and shelled out $2800 for insurance for my SV650. Now in my second year, the annual rate is less than $1000 (after mutli-vehicle discount is factored in).

$2800 :eek:

You must have gotten full coverage?

I only get public liability and fire/theft on my bike - I just can't justify that kind of an insurance bill for something I only paid $12k for brand new. Plus, I have a 2003 Honda 919 and I've only racked up 11,000km since '03 - I don't ride it often enough to justify the full coverage.

[D-3vil]

$2800 :eek:

You must have gotten full coverage?

I only get public liability and fire/theft on my bike - I just can't justify that kind of an insurance bill for something I only paid $12k for brand new. Plus, I have a 2003 Honda 919 and I've only racked up 11,000km since '03 - I don't ride it often enough to justify the full coverage.

The 919 is a sweet bike :) I'm thinking of moving up to a VFR800A this coming spring, but we'll see what state the bank account is by then.

Yeah, the $2800 was for full coverage on a brand new bike, so I was expecting it to be on the expensive side. However, fire & theft would have been about $2300. I figured it's worth the extra $500, considering most people drop their bike in their first year. Luckily I haven't had to use it, but I don't regret going for it.

[Barayolayosa]

Wow - $2300 is still a hefty amount for liability. All the same, for an extra $500, I agree - I would have gotten the full coverage as well.

Those VFRs are really nice machines. Better snatch one up soon though, I hear they're not going to be making them any more!

Here's a pic of me with my 919 taken in Kananaskis:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v166/Barayolayosa/IMGP1547.jpg

Another of my bike along with some others in Newfoundland:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v166/Barayolayosa/HornetsNest.jpg