While this piece does name a couple of motorcycles and scooters, it doesn't discuss the true cost of ownership. Tires, tune ups, chain replacement, protective gear, and added insurance costs remove much of the savings earned through high fuel efficiency. Here is a quick and dirty analysis of the cost of my car going 30k miles vs. a fairly average motorcycle going 30k miles, assuming you don't perform any maintenance yourself.

Car:

Gas @ 25 mpg and $4.50/gallon: $5,400.

Tune up at 30k mile interval: $600

Oil changes at 7,500 mile intervals, $40 each: $160

Half the cost of a set of 60,000 mile tires w/ mounting: $225

Total car cost: $6,385 or $.2128/mile

Motorcycle:

Gas @ 55 MPG and $4.50/gallon: $2, 455.

Tune ups every 15k miles: $500

New sprocket and chain every 20k miles: $400

Oil Change every 5k miles, $35 each: $210

Tires every 10k miles: $750

Extra insurance cost, driving 10k miles per year: $300

Motorcycle riding protective clothing (gloves, jacket, pants, helmet, boots): $600

Motorcycle cost: $5,215 or .1738 per mile.

The point of all of this is that a motorcycle that is twice as fuel efficient is really only saving you 10-20% at the end of the day.

Dave5555555:

... Here is a quick and dirty analysis of the cost of my car going 30k miles vs. a fairly average motorcycle going 30k miles, assuming you don't perform any maintenance yourself...

Your analysis is remarkably accurate. I figured it out when I rode my Suzuki DL 650 motorcycle for 33,000 miles over two years and while I did not save the calculations it was very close to yours. My bike was a mid-sized touring motorcycle, not too big, not too small, not too powerful, not too slow. Just right.

You can save even more by riding a smaller cycle with better fuel efficiency and lower maintenance costs. You can also easily spend a fortune owning a higher performance cycle which quaffs fuel and shreds tires. (It seems that some high performance bikes actually own their riders!)

Then there is the 'smiles per mile' statistic. Hard to put a price on that. I used to love starting up my cycle at 5:30 AM to blast down the highway to get to work just as the sun rose. It was even better taking the long way home on winding country roads after work as the sun was setting.

Even when it rained it was fun (OK, exciting) and I knew that the sun would be out again soon enough. I bought tires specifically designed to perform well in hard rain and the difference was remarkable (Dunlop D205 Sport Touring Tires).

No car can even come close to riding a motorcycle.

$750 for a set of 2 tires is totally crazy. i've got a buell xb9, uses pirelli scorpion syncs- $180 for the rear, $120 for the front. and that includes mounting.

there's no way you're spending $750 on a set of tires.

Also, what's up with the $300 'extra' charge for insurance? My buell costs me $300 a year for insurance, my '98 BMW M3 costs over $600 a year. Heck, even my '92 toyota corolla is about $400 a year.

I agree with you about the maintenance, though- there's more frequent work to be done on MC's for sure.

You are right about the individual line item costs being off but the overall 'guesstimate' of only about 10 - 20% savings is right for a motorcycle being used as the only means of transportation.

You will need to buy at least 'soft' saddle bags and a tank bag and probably also a rear cargo rack if your bike doesn't come stock with one (most don't, mine did). Your Buell XB9 is something of a road burner and you would not want to spend 8 hour long days on the Interstate on it unless you are superhuman. Better for that is the Buell Ulysses XB12XT.

The protective clothing costs can add up too when you are being prepared for 4-season riding, especially if you get into electrically heated hand grips, seats and vests which are not uncommon anymore.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that while the costs savings may be less than anticipated, the environmental impact, or footprint if you will...is considerably less on a bike.

Greenfun = Green + Fun

Unless...unless....you put on a nice Yoshimura pipe and blast out the neighborhood...or anywhere...and manage to convince the powers-that-be that having so much fun on the way to work oughta be deemed iliegal. :)

-osgo

Elvisizer,

Please keep in mind that my estimate was over the course of 30k miles, driving 10k miles per year on tires that last 10k miles (which are common). That means my $750 ballpark figure was for 3 sets of tires, meaning 6 total.

Yes, my worst ballpark was the insurance estimate, which will vary greatly based on vehicle, vehicle age and driving record. Still, my insurance quote with complete coverage on a motorcycle is higher than my insurance without it.

Mr. Greenfun,

Motorcycles aren't green because they usually lack catalytic converters and run leaner. The level of emissions spewing forth from motorcycle tailpipes varies greatly from model to model, but the LA Times article below states that your average motorcycle emits ten times the pollutants of a car: <link>

Dave5555555:

...Motorcycles aren't green because they usually lack catalytic converters and run leaner. The level of emissions spewing forth from motorcycle tailpipes varies greatly from model to model, but the LA Times article below states that your average motorcycle emits ten times the pollutants of a car...

I read the LA Times article and also a German article comparing cars and motorcycles <link> which said that due to the lack of catalytic converters motorcycles do emit more unburned hydrocarbons. The increase was not 10 X greater (LA Times claim) but instead of 0.2 gr/km for cars it ranged from 0.3 - 0.8 gr/km for motorcycles. Up to 4 X greater. Also carbon monoxide was doubled from 1.0 gr/km to 2.0 gr/km. The nitrogen oxides cited for smog causation in the LA Times article were noted to be equal for both cars and motorcycles in the German article at 0.15 gr/km.

Many new street legal motorcycles have an electronically controlled fuel injection system with a fairly high compression ratio. This results in both more complete combustion and higher power output than earlier technology provided (a happy coincidence, cleaner burning equals more powerful). If only such new street legal motorcycles are considered then they are only somewhat worse polluters of unburned hydrocarbons than are cars. That is entirely due to their lack of catalytic converters (which do nothing incidentally to improve MPG or to lessen carbon dioxide emissions). More MPG still means less carbon dioxide produced and less dependence on non-renewable fuel, the primary concerns.

Also, the LA Times article's lumping together of off-road vehicles with street legal motorcycles is both disingenuous and obfuscates the facts.

One problem I have with your numbers is that you didn't include ANY cost for insurance for the car. So you're penalizing the motorcycle for $300/year insurance (everything but collision on my Yamaha FJ1200 cost about $230 the last year I was riding it (admittedly a few years ago) but the state-required liability was just $60/year. Do you feel it's unnecessary to insure a car but it's a must with a motorcycle, or are you just skewing the numbers to support your point?

What kind of bike are you riding again? 2 tires cost 750 bucks? $400 on chain and sprocket every 20k? Extra insurance costs - not required in my state. $500 tune ups every 15k?

Bikes have a large upfront cost associated with them - but its a one time cost that can be applied over ALL the bikes you own. Periodic maintenance is highly variable but certainly not nearly as expensive as you claim - unless the person is commuting on a super sport bike. Anyone doing so can hardly be claiming to save gas that way.

Eigenvector:

... Extra insurance costs - not required in my state. $500 tune ups every 15k?...

My 2005 Suzuki DL 650 V-Strom cost much more for insurance than I thought was reasonable (both in Texas and New Jersey), and I bought only the minimum since I paid cash for the bike and owned it outright from the word go. I had the dealer change the oil and filter every 3k miles per manufacturers reccomendation at around $60 a pop. At 15K miles per year that alone added $300 to the annual bill. Add in having the valves adjusted every year plus the usual plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter and it all adds up.

The bike actually ran stronger (faster) than new when I gave it away with 33,000 miles on it (I lost my house and had no where to keep it). I broke it in properly and had all scheduled maintenance and it ran perfectly after two years (it needed new suspension components though). The speedo said it would do 126 MPH and the pucker factor said that was probably close to true. The KLR 650 is my second choice for a do it all bike (yes, I rode it on dirt roads too, just not rutted single track, the oil cooler is just dying to find a big rock).

Perhaps the difference here is that I work on my own vehicles. If you're paying 60 bucks to change the oil then you're getting ripped off frankly. At 2 bucks a quart (very high price), that's 6 bucks in oil, so that means you're paying 54 dollars for an oil filter. I priced it out on my bikes (I own two), 20 bucks every 3,000 with oil filter. Plugs, should never have to replace them within reason, maybe every 50,000 miles. Adjust the valves, no cost because I do the work - and it's simple work as well. Motorcycles are designed to be worked on at the side of the road - even RS1200's (or 1200 RS's for that matter). Fuel filter, like $0.99, air filter - washable and essentially a lifetime part, plug wires - maybe 30 bucks every 30,000 miles, 50,000 miles if you replace them with the plugs (which you should anyway). Tires are a consumable and can get pricey fast. I blow through a set every 5000 miles, so that's about $250 bucks a set - and those are good tires not cheapies.

Now for people who live in apartments, working on the bike can be a challenge so I can see where a dealer would come in handy. But for a homeowner - there is no reason to go to the dealer, even the tires can be changed at home for very little effort. I completely overhauled the engine on my other bike (31 years old), replaced rod bearings, head gaskets, you name it - probably took 10 hours total time and 2 tech manuals for the bike. Runs perfectly fine, I even refinished the gas tank.

Now I'm not trying to impress you with my mechanical skills, because I frankly am not all that. What I'm trying to say is that there's no reason a person with decent tool skills couldn't do the work themselves. All they need is some help to get started. Unfortunately what I found is that Usenet and the WWW is not a resource for that.

Bikes couldn't possibly emit near enough to match cars - they don't have the displacement to do so. In fact the amount of pollution produced is almost directly proportional to the fuel economy, those pollutants are coming from the fuel and air consumed. in a bike running 650 cc's - that's trivial compared to a car running a 1.8 to 2.0 liter engine.

Depreciation is actually an expense, but few consumers consider it. Take the purchase price of your car and bike, divide by the useful life (or subtract the resale value after one year) and you've got your depreciation.

I would expect that a old boat (old big car) would have the lowest depreciation, as you can buy them for a song. Old motorcycles can also be had cheap, but require more maintenance. There is a trade off between depreciation and repairs, and finding the sweet spot is the trick.

Eigenvector:

...Now for people who live in apartments, working on the bike can be a challenge so I can see where a dealer would come in handy. But for a homeowner - there is no reason to go to the dealer, even the tires can be changed at home for very little effort. I completely overhauled the engine on my other bike (31 years old), replaced rod bearings, head gaskets, you name it - probably took 10 hours total time and 2 tech manuals for the bike. Runs perfectly fine, I even refinished the gas tank.

Now I'm not trying to impress you with my mechanical skills, because I frankly am not all that. What I'm trying to say is that there's no reason a person with decent tool skills couldn't do the work themselves. All they need is some help to get started. Unfortunately what I found is that Usenet and the WWW is not a resource for that.

I was a Sergeant living in an apartment when I bought the Suzuki DL 650 and my toolbox was 2000 miles away. Also to keep the engine under warranty I had the dealer do all work. I had to rent a car to get to work while the bike was in the shop (I was on 24/7 recall).

In a previous life I worked at the local Honda shop one summer selling parts just when the paper parts book was replaced with the microfiche machine. The boss gave me the book for my CB 450 K5 and I bought a Haynes book too. It showed me how to fabricate a special tool to remove the centrifugal oil filter's center nut (you were supposed to use electrical conduit but I sacrificed the metal clamp on my Mom's mop for it).

That winter in the basement I literally disassembled every part down to the last little roller on the starter motor's clutch or on the main bearings. Anything which could be taken apart was, got cleaned, inspected and put into a brown paper bag labeled with it's contents. The bags were kept in a steel cubby hole shelf.

I hand lapped the Stellite coated valves which could not be ground (no replacements were available) and had the valve guides knurled and reamed. I used a rat tail file to smooth the bumps in the port passages. I had previously melted a hole in a piston when I advanced the timing a little too much so it had a recent re-bore and new pistons. Of course all new seals and gaskets and woodruff keys, lock washers and clips were used during assembly. I used a vise grip to flare the master link rivets on the valve chain during re-assembly. I fitted K&N air filters and re-jetted and rebuilt the carburetors.

I also replaced many bearings and upgraded the suspension with Koni shocks and rebuilt the fork with new springs and air pressure caps. New swing arm bushings, conical bearings in the steering head for more rigidity and a new set of Dunlop K-80 tires gave better grip and handling. Finally five coats of hand rubbed metallic brown lacquer went onto the gas tank. That was a great summer of riding.

I have fixed everything from a push lawnmower to an APC.

Eigenvector:

Bikes couldn't possibly emit near enough to match cars - they don't have the displacement to do so. In fact the amount of pollution produced is almost directly proportional to the fuel economy, those pollutants are coming from the fuel and air consumed. in a bike running 650 cc's - that's trivial compared to a car running a 1.8 to 2.0 liter engine.

I generally kept the engine at around 3,500 RPM so the exhaust was considerably less than an engine with 2 or 3 times the displacement at the same RPM. The redline was 9,500 RPM though and there was a time or two when the engine would stay there for quite awhile, during which times the exhaust volume was equal to a 1.8 or 2.0 liter engine at 3,500 RPM.

More to the point is the composition of the exhaust. With no catalytic converter a motorcycle has up to 4 X more unburned hydrocarbons and double the carbon monoxide output of a car even with it's smaller engine. The Kawasaki Ninja 250R now has two catalytic converters and some other bikes are beginning to use them too. They offer the best efficiency overall.