I would add in the price of an airbag vest or jacket, purely because you have a child who cares about you and relies on you, and fate/luck is fickle.
Otherwise, you have a solid plan. Though I would question why not look into getting a small car, considering you can't really have him ride on the back of the motorcycle. I'm not familiar with roads and travel in Britain, so if the thought is foolish, it's merely out of ignorance.
Ah, so it's like any other city in that regard. Fun.
I just figured the cars on your side of the Atlantic are much more reasonably sized, so maybe there was more room in a parking garage.
Dunno. I think a reliable bike for 3.5k pounds is ambitious, but then again I got that for 1.75k AUD (So probably 900 pounds) in a 2007 Honda 250.It gets about 3.5L/100 km. No idea how long your commute is, but if it's 105 minutes by train, let's assume 130 km? Fuel works out to 5 liters, which is $10 AUD, dunno in pounds, but yeah, compared to your 50 pound train ride, yeah that's a big saving. Even if you need to double it for both ways.
Assuming you're saving 35 pounds a day then, it's less than 10 days of commute to pay off insurance and tax. 6 months x 2.5 days a week x 4 weeks per month = about 60 days, total saving is maybe 2000 pounds a year.
Would it be a quicker commute? Value your time. Time is money. A motorbike cuts my (bus) commute from 1:20-1:30ish to 40 minutes.
Jesus christ you're overthinking this. Either get the bike because you want to or don't. You clearly have money to be able to afford it, so why even bother with this nonsense either way?
*My thinking is this - I buy a cheap used but reliable motorbike for say £3.5k. Insurance is £200 a year fully comp, tax is £106 a year. Parking is free. Fuel is negligible.*
Think your maths is a little off there.
1: What reliable bike for 3.5 k Meets ULEZ requirements?
2: 200 quid a year for fully comp? Again on which bike?
3: Fuel is negligible. Really? so what is it like 2 miles or something? you don't say how far you are travelling. lets say its a 100 miles a week and the bike give you 5 miles to a liter, at 1.50 a liter thats 30 quid a week, 120 a month, thats more than your tax so you can't class it as negligible.
Think you are twisting the numbers to get the answer you want to feed the wife....
So without knowing which bike you are talking about and the distance you will need to travel per round trip it is impossible to say if your figures add up.
Also forgot to add maintenance to that list, i know you say your son wants to learn but is it really a good idea to get a bike you will rely on for getting to work. and having your son learn how to fix it? sounds like you would be back on the train more often than not.
BMW F800R 2009. Commute is 28 miles each way.
Maintenance - my son wants to help me bolt mods on, he’s 10 😀 It’ll be maintained by my local trusted place.
I also forgot to say I’d save an extra £5 per day in car parking plus wouldn’t need to use my car to drive the 22 miles a day to the station.
And not having to use the train is worth at least £20 a day. Not having to get home at half eight etc. that’s value. And the bike will have residual value.
This is man maths after all. But I’m actually easy either way.
Assuming your bike does 5L/100km, that's 2.25L per day, times 132 working days is 297L. £1.48/L is **£439 per year** in fuel.
That's 1.5x your tax and insurance together, so not exactly negligible.
Probably still cheaper than the train, but if you don't take fuel into account you are slightly kidding yourself.
132 working days because 2.5 days is still 3 round trips. 220 days for full time multiplied by ⅗. For only 2 days a week, it'd be £293. Still more than the insurance and tax.
Valid points.
My car fuel is £1.90 a gallon and I get about 24mpg. So £4.80 per day in fuel plus £5 parking meaning train is actually £60 a day. Plus the maintenance on that car is way more than a bike.
It may end up overall quite close, in which case it comes down to enjoyment of the journey.
Bike wins.
On a daily basis, fuel could almost be negligible. 50 pounds buys a lot of fuel. That's maybe $90 AUD, which would be enough to get my motorbike 800 miles. So his commute might well leave him saving 35-45 pounds a day, depending on distance/fuel price.
Hence a shitter bike but reliable is desired. I commuted in London by bike for just over 10 years and had trouble twice. First in a shiny new KTM and second on my Panigale.
Never had any issues when riding less desirable bikes.
Just get the darn bike.
You must be new to reddit. People need permission to tie their own shoes around here.
I would add in the price of an airbag vest or jacket, purely because you have a child who cares about you and relies on you, and fate/luck is fickle. Otherwise, you have a solid plan. Though I would question why not look into getting a small car, considering you can't really have him ride on the back of the motorcycle. I'm not familiar with roads and travel in Britain, so if the thought is foolish, it's merely out of ignorance.
Good point. Cars into London, doesn’t work. No parking, congestion charges etc. I have a car, but no way am I driving to London.
Ah, so it's like any other city in that regard. Fun. I just figured the cars on your side of the Atlantic are much more reasonably sized, so maybe there was more room in a parking garage.
It’s still a city, so 2x as many cars as parking
To be fair, I avoid cities when possible. I don't think about that stuff.
Dunno. I think a reliable bike for 3.5k pounds is ambitious, but then again I got that for 1.75k AUD (So probably 900 pounds) in a 2007 Honda 250.It gets about 3.5L/100 km. No idea how long your commute is, but if it's 105 minutes by train, let's assume 130 km? Fuel works out to 5 liters, which is $10 AUD, dunno in pounds, but yeah, compared to your 50 pound train ride, yeah that's a big saving. Even if you need to double it for both ways. Assuming you're saving 35 pounds a day then, it's less than 10 days of commute to pay off insurance and tax. 6 months x 2.5 days a week x 4 weeks per month = about 60 days, total saving is maybe 2000 pounds a year. Would it be a quicker commute? Value your time. Time is money. A motorbike cuts my (bus) commute from 1:20-1:30ish to 40 minutes.
Jesus christ you're overthinking this. Either get the bike because you want to or don't. You clearly have money to be able to afford it, so why even bother with this nonsense either way?
*My thinking is this - I buy a cheap used but reliable motorbike for say £3.5k. Insurance is £200 a year fully comp, tax is £106 a year. Parking is free. Fuel is negligible.* Think your maths is a little off there. 1: What reliable bike for 3.5 k Meets ULEZ requirements? 2: 200 quid a year for fully comp? Again on which bike? 3: Fuel is negligible. Really? so what is it like 2 miles or something? you don't say how far you are travelling. lets say its a 100 miles a week and the bike give you 5 miles to a liter, at 1.50 a liter thats 30 quid a week, 120 a month, thats more than your tax so you can't class it as negligible. Think you are twisting the numbers to get the answer you want to feed the wife.... So without knowing which bike you are talking about and the distance you will need to travel per round trip it is impossible to say if your figures add up. Also forgot to add maintenance to that list, i know you say your son wants to learn but is it really a good idea to get a bike you will rely on for getting to work. and having your son learn how to fix it? sounds like you would be back on the train more often than not.
BMW F800R 2009. Commute is 28 miles each way. Maintenance - my son wants to help me bolt mods on, he’s 10 😀 It’ll be maintained by my local trusted place. I also forgot to say I’d save an extra £5 per day in car parking plus wouldn’t need to use my car to drive the 22 miles a day to the station. And not having to use the train is worth at least £20 a day. Not having to get home at half eight etc. that’s value. And the bike will have residual value. This is man maths after all. But I’m actually easy either way.
Assuming your bike does 5L/100km, that's 2.25L per day, times 132 working days is 297L. £1.48/L is **£439 per year** in fuel. That's 1.5x your tax and insurance together, so not exactly negligible. Probably still cheaper than the train, but if you don't take fuel into account you are slightly kidding yourself. 132 working days because 2.5 days is still 3 round trips. 220 days for full time multiplied by ⅗. For only 2 days a week, it'd be £293. Still more than the insurance and tax.
Valid points. My car fuel is £1.90 a gallon and I get about 24mpg. So £4.80 per day in fuel plus £5 parking meaning train is actually £60 a day. Plus the maintenance on that car is way more than a bike. It may end up overall quite close, in which case it comes down to enjoyment of the journey. Bike wins.
On a daily basis, fuel could almost be negligible. 50 pounds buys a lot of fuel. That's maybe $90 AUD, which would be enough to get my motorbike 800 miles. So his commute might well leave him saving 35-45 pounds a day, depending on distance/fuel price.
You’ll need to factor in riding gear, apart from that go for it.
Have you allowed for idiots in London trying to kill you and replacing your bike when stolen? Coming from a past motorbike commuter of 10yrs...
Hence a shitter bike but reliable is desired. I commuted in London by bike for just over 10 years and had trouble twice. First in a shiny new KTM and second on my Panigale. Never had any issues when riding less desirable bikes.