RE: PH2: The Spyder Club

[CooperS]

Pothole said:

You can get a few hours on a demo bike from friendly dealers in any case...

Whenever you like? Don't think so....

[Pothole]

CooperS said:

Pothole said:

You can get a few hours on a demo bike from friendly dealers in any case...

Whenever you like? Don't think so....

Keep going...I'll keep looking for that spare £80 a month. You're deluded if you think membership of this club will get you on the bike you want 'whenever you like' in any case.

[BlackPrince]

Pothole said:

Keep going...I'll keep looking for that spare £80 a month. You're deluded if you think membership of this club will get you on the bike you want 'whenever you like' in any case.

Its cheaper than renting a bike. I used one of their trackbikes for CSS 1 and 2 last year, and it was a lot cheaper (considering the extra days you get) than renting one of the bikes from CSS (I lived about a 10 hour drive from the track + ferry so couldn't be arsed).

Not a member anymore but thats because I've moved. Was looking into hiring bikes for a European + TT trip next year and its a lot cheaper to do Spyder Club than to hire bikes. And forgetting about the cost for a minute, Spyder Club has bikes that are a lot more interesting imho than the avg hire company.

Ultimately its a luxury, but a luxury that doesn't cost the moon and in this economy thats a good thing

[ellisd82]

£1300 is the cheapest package for where I live lol. Screw that!

[Pothole]

BlackPrince said:

Pothole said:

Keep going...I'll keep looking for that spare £80 a month. You're deluded if you think membership of this club will get you on the bike you want 'whenever you like' in any case.

Its cheaper than renting a bike. I used one of their trackbikes for CSS 1 and 2 last year, and it was a lot cheaper (considering the extra days you get) than renting one of the bikes from CSS (I lived about a 10 hour drive from the track + ferry so couldn't be arsed).

Not a member anymore but thats because I've moved. Was looking into hiring bikes for a European + TT trip next year and its a lot cheaper to do Spyder Club than to hire bikes. And forgetting about the cost for a minute, Spyder Club has bikes that are a lot more interesting imho than the avg hire company.

Ultimately its a luxury, but a luxury that doesn't cost the moon and in this economy thats a good thing

This is really getting a bit tedious.

I'm sorry that you appear to feel that I've put you and others in a position where you need to defend the club.

You don't.

You can agree that my needs and wants are very different from yours and that I have the intelligence to have assessed the situation and all the costs, advantages and disadvantages relating to it and decided, on balance, that FOR ME this does not represent anything like the value for money touted by the author of the article.

I have never rented a bike. I can't see myself renting one in the future. If I do a trackday or School I'd rather use something similar to what I ride everyday than a hugely expensive, massively more powerful and focussed 'latest superbike'. YMMV, as may the article writer's.

[Pugsey]

Not a bad idea - although £cost is much more than quoted if you live in deepest Devon!
My problem though is that I freely admit to being a fair weather biker. This morning is a classic case. Great weather for once and after a coffee I'm off for a blast - not planned and no idea where I'll end up. You can't get them to deliver that quickly! And sods law says that it'll pxss down on any hire days you prearrange! As for using them to try bikes - I can get a half day (often 24hr) demo from a dealer on any bike mentioned on their fleet, no problem.

If you look at all the clubs other activities/social side and view the hire bit as an 'add on' then I guess it'll work for some.

Good luck to them though.

[PILCH 23]

slevin911 said:

950 quid!! are they mad,what A waste of money if you done this 3 or 4 times A year you could buy A pretty good bike.

Comprehension grade D minus. Re-read the article.

[PILCH 23]

Pothole said:

CooperS said:

Pothole said:

You can get a few hours on a demo bike from friendly dealers in any case...

Whenever you like? Don't think so....

Keep going...I'll keep looking for that spare £80 a month. You're deluded if you think membership of this club will get you on the bike you want 'whenever you like' in any case.

I think it is clearly not for Pothole because it doesn't appeal to him which is 100% fine. However, Pothole can't accurately comment on the availability issue because he has never been a member. I haven't had problems with availability over my last three years of membership.

Edited by PILCH 23 on Thursday 23 August 10:13

[PILCH 23]

Biker's Nemesis said:

Thats not a Transit van, looks like a Sprinter too me.

Correct. It is a very fast Sprinter LWB.

[PILCH 23]

John D. said:

slevin911 said:

950 quid!! are they mad,what A waste of money if you done this 3 or 4 times A year you could buy A pretty good bike.

Its not £950 per day though is it? If you actually read the article it states it works out about £100 per day as long as you don't want the Panigale every time.

Doesn't seem bad to me but can't see it replacing actually keeping a bike of your own in the garage.

John D is correct. It isn't a substitute for a bike or two in the garage it is a luxury addition for those that want to ride lots of different and exotic bikes. I think Jon Urry makes the mistake of suggesting that people might do this instead of having an everyday bike. I think that it is a rival to buying something like a Panigale, MV Agusta F4 etc.. as a 2nd or 3rd bike. If you compared the number of days you might use your second/third bike against its cost of insurance, maintenance (lots for an MV), and depreciation (lots) then Spyder Club is a cost effective rival. However, it is a luxury product and most members that I have met do have multiple bikes.

Edited by PILCH 23 on Thursday 23 August 10:15

[Pothole]

PILCH 23 said:

Pothole said:

CooperS said:

Pothole said:

You can get a few hours on a demo bike from friendly dealers in any case...

Whenever you like? Don't think so....

Keep going...I'll keep looking for that spare £80 a month. You're deluded if you think membership of this club will get you on the bike you want 'whenever you like' in any case.

I think it is clearly not for Pothole because it doesn't appeal to him which is 100% fine. However, Pothole can't accurately comment on the availability issue because he has never been a member. I haven't had problems with availability over my last three years of membership.

Edited by PILCH 23 on Thursday 23 August 10:13

You don't think increased popularity will cause any availability issues, then?

[LordFlathead]

I always am straight with the dealers about not being interested in 'buying right now' but could I have an extended ride? Yes is normally the answer.

I've had a GSXR1000 for 4 hours
A CBR1100RR Blackbird for a whole afternoon
A GL1800 Wing for a whole day
A ZX10 for 3 hours..

I wouldn't rent for £950, I would take a long ride to see if the bike was for me then find a way to buy it. As much as this is new for bikes it's not for cars and with a bike it normally takes you the best part of a month to get to know it properly so what's the point?

[PILCH 23]

Pothole said:

PILCH 23 said:

Pothole said:

CooperS said:

Pothole said:

You can get a few hours on a demo bike from friendly dealers in any case...

Whenever you like? Don't think so....

Keep going...I'll keep looking for that spare £80 a month. You're deluded if you think membership of this club will get you on the bike you want 'whenever you like' in any case.

I think it is clearly not for Pothole because it doesn't appeal to him which is 100% fine. However, Pothole can't accurately comment on the availability issue because he has never been a member. I haven't had problems with availability over my last three years of membership.

Edited by PILCH 23 on Thursday 23 August 10:13

You don't think increased popularity will cause any availability issues, then?

Interesting point. In theory if the club becomes 50% bigger over the next couple of years then there will be more funds for more bikes. That would hopefully see 15 or so bikes on the fleet rather than an average of ten. That would be better for members and the start of an upward spiral.

[nightflight]

There's a good article in this weeks MCN, which shows how, with sensible buying, you can buy bikes with virtually no depreciation. I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford more than one bike, but I've made sure that I've bought what I consider to be bikes with either low depreciation, or even the chance of them increasing in value. I've got a Blackbird, an SP2, and a GSX 1400. All kept mint, and all bought second hand. It makes a lot of sense.

[PILCH 23]

Kevin Ash article:

http://www.ashonbikes.com/content/spyder-club

[slevin911]

John D. said:

slevin911 said:

950 quid!! are they mad,what A waste of money if you done this 3 or 4 times A year you could buy A pretty good bike.

Its not £950 per day though is it? If you actually read the article it states it works out about £100 per day as long as you don't want the Panigale every time.

Doesn't seem bad to me but can't see it replacing actually keeping a bike of your own in the garage.

I did read the article its for 10 days which I still think is A rip off.Maybe its just not for me,I would rather spend that money on A bike that I couse you whenever I want.One of the best parts of biking is the ownership.

[slevin911]

PILCH 23 said:

slevin911 said:

950 quid!! are they mad,what A waste of money if you done this 3 or 4 times A year you could buy A pretty good bike.

Comprehension grade D minus. Re-read the article.

Is it not 950 for 10 days no? is that not what it says in the article?

[snorky]

A bike for £950, insured, MOT'd and taxed - what a fabulous Paginale-beater that would be???
here's one for £999
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

and it's only "K" reg...

Edited by snorky on Thursday 23 August 15:22

[PILCH 23]

slevin911 said:

PILCH 23 said:

slevin911 said:

950 quid!! are they mad,what A waste of money if you done this 3 or 4 times A year you could buy A pretty good bike.

Comprehension grade D minus. Re-read the article.

Is it not 950 for 10 days no? is that not what it says in the article?

Have a look at website for details on pricing: http://www.spyderclub.co.uk/membership/index.php/3...

Also you have to compare like for like.

You make the fair point that for £2,830 you could buy an old Fireblade, Aprilia RSVR or GSXR750 (or many other 2nd/3rd hand bikes) and that you'd still have that bike at the end of the year. But it would need insurance, servicing, road tax, an MOT and maintenance. The advantage of owning a bike for most bikers is that you'd have a motorbike to use whenever you want.

In contrast 30 days on Spyder Club bikes would cost £2,830 delivered to London, insured and maintained. However, the critical point is that the bikes are normally the latest greatest exotics which if you had bought one would cost lots to own and run.

The most critical point is that Jon's article probably misrepresents the raison d'etre. This is not a recession focused idea to reduce the motorcycling costs of the average biker. It is a luxury trinket for people that love riding bikes and want to ride lots of the new exotics. It just happens to cost about the same as owning an exotic 2nd or 3rd bike but gives you flexibility over which machines to ride and doesn't commit capital to another depreciating asset.

Edited by PILCH 23 on Thursday 23 August 15:34

[Dr Jekyll]

It's only 100 miles per day though. Hardly a good day out.