For most people, they either choose to drive a car or ride a motorcycle to get to their destinations. We all know that both of those options have their advantages and disadvantages. But in these austere times that we live in, motorcycles have the upper hand.
Are you used to the comfort and convenience that your car offers? If so, you might be wondering why you should sell it and buy a motorcycle instead. The answer is simple: money. If you are struggling to keep your car on the road, you have a big problem on your hands.
Some people start to avoid getting their cars serviced, and they soon become unreliable. If this sounds familiar, you should consider getting a motorcycle instead. But what are the benefits and cash savings you can enjoy from being a biker? Let’s examine them in detail:
Motorcycles are cheaper to buy than cars
Perhaps the most-obvious point one can make is that motorcycles are so much cheaper to buy than cars! For example, a brand new Kawasaki Ninja 300 costs a mere £4,799 to buy. A Volkswagen Golf S costs £16,975 brand new.
There are also comparisons that one can make between used motorcycles and cars. I know that you can’t do a like-for-like comparison of motorcycles and cars for obvious reasons. That’s why I just chose a couple of examples from the lower end of the scale.
Buying a brand new motorcycle offers reliability and value benefits over used models. But if your transport budget is quite tight, a used motorcycle is still better value-for-money than a used car.
Motorcycle insurance is cheaper than car insurance
The next observation to make is that motorcycle insurance is a damn site cheaper to pay for than car insurance! There are several factors that influence insurance premiums:
- The cost to repair or replace a vehicle or motorcycle;
- The availability of spare parts to repair accident damage;
- Desirability (from a theft point of view);
- The likelihood of an accident claim getting made;
- Driver’s background, place of residence and driving history.
Because cars cost more to make and repair than motorcycles, insurance premiums for them are higher. That’s excluding any driver factors that can affect the cost of premiums as mentioned a moment ago.
The only downside to motorcycle insurance is that some insurers charge high premiums for some models. But the good news is that they don’t all charge higher premiums.
Off-road bike insurance from Carole Nash and similar insurers is cheaper than mainstream insurers. As with any insurance, the key is to shop around and find an insurer that offers the best price and value-for-money.
You pay less for petrol
I know that today’s modern cars offer some good fuel economy figures. It’s no secret that petrol prices in the United Kingdom and northern Europe costs a lot. But what if there was a way of getting from A to B without spending so much time at the filling station?
Motorcycles are much lighter than cars. Most of the time, motorcycles only have one person on them – the rider. Even taking your weight into account, the total combined weight is still lower than the lightest road car.
These two-wheeled wonders don’t carry excess baggage like heavy interiors or air conditioning systems. Nor do they need a lot of glass and metal to keep them together!
It’s perhaps no surprise that even the heaviest of motorcycles can offer 50+ miles per gallon (combined). The only cars that can offer such attractive fuel economy statistics are ones powered with diesel engines.
Motorcycles are easy to get the hang of
Changing gear on a motorcycle is something of an art form to some people. Especially given that there is no typical gear lever and clutch pedal to operate.
But once you learn how to change gear on a motorcycle, you’ll wonder why you thought it was so difficult! In fact, most bikers reckon changing gear on a motorcycle is easier than in a car!
These days you can even buy motorcycles with automatic transmissions if you don’t fancy changing gear. And for the greener motorist, electric motorcycles are growing in popularity too!
Cheaper maintenance costs
Whenever you need a major service or some repair work done to your car, you usually have to sit down before getting told the cost! The good news with motorcycles is that you don’t have to worry about such problems.
Motorcycles don’t have many of the complex systems that cars have. One of the big selling points about bikes is that even DIY home mechanics can carry out most repair jobs themselves. That means they can save even more money on their maintenance costs!
If you plan to go down the DIY maintenance route, I recommend taking part in a local motorcycle mechanics course. There is only so much reading you can do from a Haynes manual before you get stuck. At that point, the last thing you want to do is admit defeat and get your local motorcycle mechanic to finish the job for you!
The Internet is also pretty useful for finding out how to carry out a range of jobs on motorcycles. YouTube is your friend, as there are hundreds, if not thousands of videos made by owners and enthusiasts to help you out.
What happens if I need a car sometimes?
It’s likely that most of your journeys will be solo ones, and that’s where you can benefit from owning a motorcycle. But what if some journeys need the comfort, convenience or space that a car has to offer?
In those circumstances, the answer is simple: hire a car when you need one! There are so many hire car companies in Britain that you are bound to find one local to you. And some firms like Enterprise offer weekend rental deals from as little as £15! All you need to do is pay for any fuel you use.
I hope you have enjoyed reading today’s article. Thanks for reading!
