Car drivers could save £6500 by switching to bikes
'It costs 47% more to drive a car on the average commute than to ride a motorbike in the current economic climate' says financial expert
A RECENT study has shown Brits could save up to £6,500 a year by swapping their car for a motorbike, say Bennetts Insurance.
A leading Personal Finance expert calculated that it costs 47% more to drive a car on the average commute than to ride a motorbike in the current economic climate. It’s not only the increasing motoring costs such as fuel and tax that are on the rise, the credit crunch is also making it much more expensive to borrow money and as inflation hits its highest level for 16 years, Brits are at risk of falling into increasing debt.
Crikey folks, it looks like the message is finally getting through.
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Don't know where/how they get those figures - my 'daily commute' (VFR800) returns about 42-45mpg whereas my wife's car does more like 60 and her tyres last a tad longer then 6k and it only needs a service evry 12k and, and....... ..maybe they included an element for the time saved?
Posted: 15/09/2008 12:15
Maybe you should switch to a maxi-scoot instead. Your wife's car would then be beaten in every respect other than service intervals. Anyhow, the figures were probably worked out against a 125cc not an 800cc. Try comparing RS4/EvoX/WRX/R32 type motors against your 800cc and you're probably getting a fairer comparison...
Posted: 15/09/2008 12:54
Ooh look, research sponsored by Bennetts bike insurance. What "expert"? Dave the post boy and his sidekick, Casio-man?
Posted: 15/09/2008 13:25
Save £6500 a year??? at 47% that means they think someone is spending £14000 a year on commuting. I spend £30 a week on fuel on a daily 25 mile round trip - thats about £1500 a year. Plus servicing, tax & insurance call it a generous £2500 a year. So even if I could save 47% (which sounds VERY optimistic) it'd be saving more like £1200- some way off £6500! I'd like to see how they make up £6500
Posted: 15/09/2008 13:59
Of course car drivers could just switch to a budget car and save several thousand a year that way. I'll bet you can quite easily find a small car that will do 60mpg, and still do 80mph.
Posted: 15/09/2008 15:05
They must've based it on my car. That only does about 10 mpg in town  and if I'm lucky I may get 25 mpg. 
Posted: 15/09/2008 15:18
653957 345759 2349349 2296 1 484545 584587453 Please feel free to rearrange the above random numbers into a sensationalised story
Posted: 15/09/2008 16:57
£653,957 loons wages £345,759 after tax £2,349,349 last years bonus( 2% of the money saved by not paying out claims he shouda) 2.296 bikes he drops per trackday
( avg) 1 wife £4845.45 waitrose bill( month) 5.84587453 seconds til PM telling me off ( and threats of murder)
Posted: 15/09/2008 17:18
£653,957 loons wages £345,759 after tax £2,349,349 last years bonus( 2% of the money saved by not paying out claims he shouda) 2.296 bikes he drops per trackday
( avg) 1 wife £4845.45 waitrose bill( month) 5.84587453 seconds til PM telling me off( and threats of murder)
I don't pay that much tax
Posted: 15/09/2008 17:20
OK, so what would we estimate the costs of commuting by car, against the cost of commuting by bike. Using say an average every day car like say a 1.4 litre car, against a very average commuter bike like a CB500? Say around 25 miles e/w per day. the problem as I see it is how you realise the reduction in costs on the car, because most people would still want to keep a car, hence they would never see any gains for not owning it. Like depreciation, tax and insurance.
Posted: 15/09/2008 17:23
i save about 3000 per yr, parking in london is 700 quid odd (subsidised) for the the car,...road tax, fuel at 25 mpg as opposed to 55 on the bike.... insurance...etc etc i'm still in a stupid amount of debt though,
Posted: 15/09/2008 19:13
I used to pay £5.00 per day to park in docklands, then it went up to around £7 if I recall correctly. So that's betwen 1200 and 1500 per year. I recall buying a season ticket at one point so presumably that saved a few quids. - call it £1200 then. The rest is mostly academic as I would still keep the car (as I need one), so the costs for the bike are all additional. Fuel costs were much the same. Servicing the bike is easily more expensive (unless you buy a snotter). Tyres would last maybe 6 months, car tyres two or more years. This ignores the costs of bike kit, clothes etc. The primary saving is in the car parking. And time, cost in your time and you are onto a major winner on the bike. When I moved into central london, using the car became an impossibility of course, so it's not possible to cost that realisitically - maybe that is how this survey works. I mean at £8 per day congestion charge plus car parking (How much?) you'd easily spend thousands. That said, both car or bike are still way cheaper than using public transport.
Posted: 15/09/2008 20:12
What if you don't live in London though. I reckon I save about £60 per weel in fuel for 6 months of the year (the Pennines aren;t too biker friendly in winter), so that's c£1500. No parking costs either way, I still have a car (although it shoudn't depreciate as fast, due to less miles). The bike though is used exclusively for commuting, so it outwoeighs the car savings. Basically £1500 is it less clothing that's only used on the commute. There's actually fcuk all in it, apart from the time, oh the lovely extra time in bed in the morning - Priceless
Posted: 15/09/2008 20:21
Ive worked out i save about £150/month riding. Parking in Bath centre where i work is £8/Day. Plus my car does 34mpg, and the bike 50 plus. And i am never late,just tootle round the traffic..
Posted: 15/09/2008 21:23
I'd save next to nothing if anything at all. In fact it would probably cost me more. The bike uses more fuel than the car. Would cost an absolute fortune in tyres. Servicing (every 4000 miles instead of 18000) would be more expensive, the initial cost of commuting kit. Plus I'd be colder and wetter in winter, wouldn't be able to listen to the radio, would have problems on the (rare) days I have to wear a suit, and couldn't carry anything to/from anywhere of any real weight. Or of an odd shape. Such as tyres. Also, when I did commute on the bike I was less inclined to use it at the weekend. Not sick of it as such, but it's much easier to persuade SWMBO that I need a ride to relieve the stress if it's locked in the garage all week.
Posted: 15/09/2008 21:38
Shhhhh, I commute every day and it saves time but not money. I tell the wife its cheap so I don't have to sit in a car. I did the same journey by car last week and it took an hour rather than 10-15 mins by bike. Although getting into the kit and changing into a suit at the other end could eat into this time.
Posted: 15/09/2008 22:29
Depends entirely on what you spend your money on. If you're unwilling to get in the spirit then don't expect to see any cost-saving going on. For me, as a 'reluctant' Londoner the bike means I can waltz past long streams of poorly driven and often stationary cars. The only really recurrent cost with the GPZ is in the tyre department, other than that all servicing is easily done at home and is - mostly - easy. I paid £500 for it and have easily covered 10,000 miles in four months including a 4500 mile run around the Spanish costas, France and Portugal. It also returns a regular 60+ mpg around town, you'd struggle to find a car which manages the same fuel economy in the same urban setting. It will cruise at 110 on the motorway and has enough steam to see off even the most pretentious of wannabee shitsters in S- Class Mercs away from the line. Sweet. I'd call that value for money... Horses for courses really, I cut out all the parking costs, don't pay the c-charge and can say I genuinely enjoy being on the road. How many London bound cagers can say that? Yes I could get a travelcard but then how much independence would I lose? No the bike is freedom, you can't complain about the cost of things if you're unwilling to make the effort to be a conscientious consumer.
Posted: 16/09/2008 06:20
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