Sell my car for a cheaper car and a bike too?
Discussion
Hi All,
Bit of help is needed! Im currently looking to sell my car an Alfa Spider, and have looked at about every car possible for a similar amount of money.
Today i had an idea of selling my car, buying a cheaper car for say 4-6k and also buying a motorbike for a similar price.
I motorbike is something i have always wanted, but never thought id realistically have.
Anyone else run a bike and a car, is it worth both or should i just spend the full amount on a newer nicer car?
Thanks!
Bit of help is needed! Im currently looking to sell my car an Alfa Spider, and have looked at about every car possible for a similar amount of money.
Today i had an idea of selling my car, buying a cheaper car for say 4-6k and also buying a motorbike for a similar price.
I motorbike is something i have always wanted, but never thought id realistically have.
Anyone else run a bike and a car, is it worth both or should i just spend the full amount on a newer nicer car?
Thanks!
Do it.
Riding anything over 600cc in a sports bike changes your perspective on speed and 'quick' cars.
Buy a boring diesel euro box car, and get a bike, you'll never look back. Having both is ideal for when you need to travel but the weather is not bike friendly, or you need to be suited and booted.
The bike is ideal for if you just need to get somewhere and traffic might be pants. And obviously very good for summer weekends
A bike is a hobby, not just a vehicle.
Riding anything over 600cc in a sports bike changes your perspective on speed and 'quick' cars.
Buy a boring diesel euro box car, and get a bike, you'll never look back. Having both is ideal for when you need to travel but the weather is not bike friendly, or you need to be suited and booted.
The bike is ideal for if you just need to get somewhere and traffic might be pants. And obviously very good for summer weekends
A bike is a hobby, not just a vehicle. My first question would be do you have a bike license? and if so when was the last time you rode? I have just got back on a bike for the first time after a 3 year break and its surprising how rusty you get. I only spent a few hundred pounds on a bike to see if I still enjoyed it and to get some practice as you dont want to drop a £4k bike due to some silly mistake.
To answer your question I ran a bike and car for years but the bike was used as my main commute and the car for weekends and loved it, I only stopped when my daughter was born but now I have a rusty high mileage Honda CB500 to get back into it.
To answer your question I ran a bike and car for years but the bike was used as my main commute and the car for weekends and loved it, I only stopped when my daughter was born but now I have a rusty high mileage Honda CB500 to get back into it.
I'm probably the opposite of most people, I commute on a motorbike and use a car as a weekend car and for shopping.
Keeps the mileage down on both.
Great fuel economy commuting, filtering halfs city commute times.
It's a good idea IMHO.
If your old enough for DAS. You can have a full bike license in just a few weeks.
As above ridden before?
Keeps the mileage down on both.
Great fuel economy commuting, filtering halfs city commute times.
It's a good idea IMHO.
If your old enough for DAS. You can have a full bike license in just a few weeks.
As above ridden before?
jackh707 said:
I'm probably the opposite of most people, I commute on a motorbike and use a car as a weekend car and for shopping.
Keeps the mileage down on both.
Great fuel economy commuting, filtering halfs city commute times.
It's a good idea IMHO.
I do the same, although I'm not too sure it keeps the mileage down. My 2001 bike is over 91k now...Keeps the mileage down on both.
Great fuel economy commuting, filtering halfs city commute times.
It's a good idea IMHO.
Don't be put off by bike insurance quotes. I bought an nc30 when I passed my DAS so insurance was cheap anyway. A lot of my friends were paying upto a grand TPFT on 600cc sports bikes or equivalent as new riders. Now it's more like 3-400 fully comp for them after 2 years NCD
Also don't ignore the initial cost of getting decent kit. There's a lot of s
t out there and I'd say you would need roughly a grand for a start. Bike kit has really taught me the meaning of "buy cheap, buy twice".
Also don't ignore the initial cost of getting decent kit. There's a lot of s
t out there and I'd say you would need roughly a grand for a start. Bike kit has really taught me the meaning of "buy cheap, buy twice".DO IT!!!
For instead of a spending £20k on a diesel hatchback I'm planning an even more sensible approach:
1. A small car for back up (ice/snow/torrential rain) so I've got a Smart Car (60mpg) £6,500
2. A sensible bike for commuting and the 'just jump on and go' ability: Honda NC750x (70mpg!) £6,000
3. Something bit more fun for the weekend/days off work (hooning mpg 20ish?) Ducati Streetfighter £7,500
I've got the first 2 - now I just need to work a bit harder and get the perfect 'mini' garage. I'm cheating a bit as the g/f and I also use a boring Tiguan for the 'family' car but as a single piston header as would be doing the above
For instead of a spending £20k on a diesel hatchback I'm planning an even more sensible approach:
1. A small car for back up (ice/snow/torrential rain) so I've got a Smart Car (60mpg) £6,500
2. A sensible bike for commuting and the 'just jump on and go' ability: Honda NC750x (70mpg!) £6,000
3. Something bit more fun for the weekend/days off work (hooning mpg 20ish?) Ducati Streetfighter £7,500
I've got the first 2 - now I just need to work a bit harder and get the perfect 'mini' garage. I'm cheating a bit as the g/f and I also use a boring Tiguan for the 'family' car but as a single piston header as would be doing the above
I run both.
Both were cheap too.
I got Saab 95 2.0 with 63k for 1300
And a Yamaha FZS 600 with 10k for 2600
Both pretty cheap to run, the Saab is dearer on insurance but isn't used much as I use the bike daily for commuting
Bike costs about 40 quid a week petrol for about 350 miles, not bad.
Both were cheap too.
I got Saab 95 2.0 with 63k for 1300
And a Yamaha FZS 600 with 10k for 2600
Both pretty cheap to run, the Saab is dearer on insurance but isn't used much as I use the bike daily for commuting
Bike costs about 40 quid a week petrol for about 350 miles, not bad.
Do it
I have a cheap volvo v70 and a yamaha XJ600.
The volvo only gets used for weekend family duties now as the bike is so much better for commuting.
I'll probably keep the XJ as a runaround and get a second more compromised (read fun) bike for the summer - you can get all manner of 80s and 90s superbikes for shed money, whack both bikes on a shared insurance policy and providing the fun bike does limited miles it won't depreciate much further (man maths at its best)
I have a cheap volvo v70 and a yamaha XJ600.
The volvo only gets used for weekend family duties now as the bike is so much better for commuting.
I'll probably keep the XJ as a runaround and get a second more compromised (read fun) bike for the summer - you can get all manner of 80s and 90s superbikes for shed money, whack both bikes on a shared insurance policy and providing the fun bike does limited miles it won't depreciate much further (man maths at its best)
Do it OP. I sold my Civic Type R, bought a £500 Ford Focus and used the rest of the money to do my DAS and get kitted up. Realistically, I'd budget £800 for lessons and tests and same again for protective gear. I then bought a GSX-R600 SRAD, and never looked back. It really is "buy cheap, buy twice" and once you've felt how solid good motorcycle gear is, you'll realise the cheap stuff is worrying flimsy in comparison.
The benefits of riding a bike are due to the antithesis they present to the experience of modern cars and motoring. Where modern performance cars are, for the most part, more and more insulated from the actual experience of driving with a motorcycle you're never switched off from the experience. I'm of the opinion that there are no "bad" bikes, just some that are more fun than others, sports bikes make more sense at higher speeds etc, but riding a motorcycle is life-affirming, pulse pounding and dramatically calming all at the same time. Whether you're riding through traffic on a comfy commuter like a Honda Deauville, or blazing across the countryside on a GSX-R, you're so much more a part of the experience than you could ever be in a car. Everything from the way you sit, to how you balance and move around on the bike affects the handling, the wind resistance you feel etc. That is the thrill of motorcycling to me; in a modern car you can drive like a knob and all the safety systems, the chassis design etc, will just about keep you on the road, but with a bike it will only ever do what you tell it to. Get it wrong and you'll come off. If it came down to taking a fast car or a 12bhp Honda CG125 for journey along some good roads purely for fun's sake, I'd take the bike every time, even something as slow as a 125, simply because no matter how powerful the car is, you can't lean it in the corners.
You'll also be saying goodbye to traffic jams as you filter through them, and you'll be first away from the lights every time. Even the generic commuter bikes have 0-60s in the 4 and 5 second ranges, and 0-100s in under 10 seconds. A 1990s sports bike that you can pick up for £1500 will have a 3.5 0-60 and a 0-100 in the 7 second range, and these figures skew the accelerative ability somewhat due to the fact that bikes are bad off the line but very fast once rolling. So that should give you an idea of what kind of performance you can expect, and it's so exploitable as being so small, you can overtake and position much more flexibly than a similarly accelerative car. Make no mistake, the first time you find yourself on a sports bike and you let it rip with full throttle up to the redline through the lower gears, you will find yourself arriving at a new personal definition of "fast", but more importantly, "fun".
All I can say OP, is get it done. Once you've put the startup costs in of getting your gear, licence and bike sorted, it's very cheap fun thereafter. Consumables don't cost much and servicing is cheap for the performance on offer. I dread to think what a 7 second 0-100 car must cost in consumables, tax, insurance and servicing. I wouldn't be without a car, as sometimes you do need the practicality and weather protection. If I was rich enough, I'd have a fast car as a winter and wet weather toy, but for pure fun stakes, the bikes are going to win every single time.
The benefits of riding a bike are due to the antithesis they present to the experience of modern cars and motoring. Where modern performance cars are, for the most part, more and more insulated from the actual experience of driving with a motorcycle you're never switched off from the experience. I'm of the opinion that there are no "bad" bikes, just some that are more fun than others, sports bikes make more sense at higher speeds etc, but riding a motorcycle is life-affirming, pulse pounding and dramatically calming all at the same time. Whether you're riding through traffic on a comfy commuter like a Honda Deauville, or blazing across the countryside on a GSX-R, you're so much more a part of the experience than you could ever be in a car. Everything from the way you sit, to how you balance and move around on the bike affects the handling, the wind resistance you feel etc. That is the thrill of motorcycling to me; in a modern car you can drive like a knob and all the safety systems, the chassis design etc, will just about keep you on the road, but with a bike it will only ever do what you tell it to. Get it wrong and you'll come off. If it came down to taking a fast car or a 12bhp Honda CG125 for journey along some good roads purely for fun's sake, I'd take the bike every time, even something as slow as a 125, simply because no matter how powerful the car is, you can't lean it in the corners.
You'll also be saying goodbye to traffic jams as you filter through them, and you'll be first away from the lights every time. Even the generic commuter bikes have 0-60s in the 4 and 5 second ranges, and 0-100s in under 10 seconds. A 1990s sports bike that you can pick up for £1500 will have a 3.5 0-60 and a 0-100 in the 7 second range, and these figures skew the accelerative ability somewhat due to the fact that bikes are bad off the line but very fast once rolling. So that should give you an idea of what kind of performance you can expect, and it's so exploitable as being so small, you can overtake and position much more flexibly than a similarly accelerative car. Make no mistake, the first time you find yourself on a sports bike and you let it rip with full throttle up to the redline through the lower gears, you will find yourself arriving at a new personal definition of "fast", but more importantly, "fun".
All I can say OP, is get it done. Once you've put the startup costs in of getting your gear, licence and bike sorted, it's very cheap fun thereafter. Consumables don't cost much and servicing is cheap for the performance on offer. I dread to think what a 7 second 0-100 car must cost in consumables, tax, insurance and servicing. I wouldn't be without a car, as sometimes you do need the practicality and weather protection. If I was rich enough, I'd have a fast car as a winter and wet weather toy, but for pure fun stakes, the bikes are going to win every single time.
Edited by Mastodon2 on Sunday 6th April 15:38
Yes, do it! I have ZZR1400 which costs £130 to insure, £70 tax and does 40mpg, goes like a rocket sled too. I have the Monaro which I don't use that much but I've spent way, way too much on it to ever sell. If somebody offered £30k I'd consider it but I know no one will. Everyday car is a Disco 3 which does everything from commuting on crappy days to trips to the dump. Practical car and a bike are the bare minimum I'd say
thanks for all the responses guys.
i havent done my full bike test yet, i only have my cbt which i did last year and bought a honda nsr (2 stroke screamer) and really enjoyed it, but just decided to move onto a car.
Bike wise i dont know what i would go for a harley really appeals to me but not sure if i would be making the most of having a bike as a fun toy by having one?
And in regards to the car i would be tempted by an old defender or something like that! another scratch iv been dying to itch...
i havent done my full bike test yet, i only have my cbt which i did last year and bought a honda nsr (2 stroke screamer) and really enjoyed it, but just decided to move onto a car.
Bike wise i dont know what i would go for a harley really appeals to me but not sure if i would be making the most of having a bike as a fun toy by having one?
And in regards to the car i would be tempted by an old defender or something like that! another scratch iv been dying to itch...
callywally18 said:
Bike wise i dont know what i would go for a harley really appeals to me but not sure if i would be making the most of having a bike as a fun toy by having one?
Anything Harley-esque isn't really the same as any other bike. More about show, noise and cruising around. If that's what you want great, but the impression I got was that you wanted a fun bike that you could go for a blast on. Without being too (obviously) anti-Harley, not something they are much good at. Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff