Want a motorcycle to save on high gas prices... Suggestions?

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SBK15 · #11 Unread post by **SBK15** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:31 pm

First off.. Theres no F*ing way a CB125 gets 100mpg..its from 1978 ..old technology. i have a kawasaki eliminator 125..single cylinder..and it only gets 80MPG..

In 5th gear it'll do 65 but the throttle will be pinned..

Mephza · #12 Unread post by **Mephza** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:26 am

SBK15 wrote:First off.. Theres no F*ing way a CB125 gets 100mpg..its from 1978 ..old technology. i have a kawasaki eliminator 125..single cylinder..and it only gets 80MPG..

In 5th gear it'll do 65 but the throttle will be pinned..

First off, crazy donkey, he was talking about the new cbr125's. If you go check it will say 08.
Second, it does get 100, give or take a few mpg.

To the OP, how tall are you?
CBR125 is generally for shorter people, its more of a 5'5 bike rather than a 6'2 bike. If you get what I am saying?
The yzf125 is generally the bike people are buying that's 125cc's. It can hit a whopping 78 miles per hour; with a full grown adult. It doesn't scream going 70 either.
Also, the Yzf125 is for taller people, like me. 6'4; I will never get on a cbr125, but I could (un)?comfortably ride the yzf125.

RhadamYgg · Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:57 pm

I've done a lot of work on attaining ROI on my motorcycle purchase. You have to be dedicated - ride it to work a large number of times before you can realize a significant savings.

First, figure out the difference in cost between driving to work and riding to work. Then divide all your costs totalled up by the daily savings and you'll get the number of days you have to ride to work in order to realize a savings.

Unless you have a very long commute or a really crappy car (mpg) you'll find it takes a long time before gas savings turns in to real savings - 2 to 3 years for most people.

RhadamYgg

Funderbird · Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:46 pm

Ca freeways, above 149cc is the legal motorcycle size.

Dystopian · Thu Jul 24, 2008 6:18 pm

RhadamYgg wrote:I've done a lot of work on attaining ROI on my motorcycle purchase. You have to be dedicated - ride it to work a large number of times before you can realize a significant savings.

First, figure out the difference in cost between driving to work and riding to work. Then divide all your costs totalled up by the daily savings and you'll get the number of days you have to ride to work in order to realize a savings.

Unless you have a very long commute or a really crappy car (mpg) you'll find it takes a long time before gas savings turns in to real savings - 2 to 3 years for most people.

RhadamYgg

Well, in my case, I drive a '99 Crown Victoria police interceptor (Woo!) and it gets 18-20 city mpg. I pay $180 a month for insurance.
My motorcycle gets around 60 (Listed) mpg and costs me at most $242 a year for insurance. In my case, the cost is significant.

Scott58 · #16 Unread post by **Scott58** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 6:31 pm

My rebel gets in the 80's mpg on the interstate and has been doing so for almost 4 years. In mixed riding it averages 78mpg and strictly intown has never dropped below 68 mpg. If gas prices are an issue and you actually want something that qualifies as a motorcycle (legal for all roads). This is a tough act to beat. having said that however, if you inseam is greater then 32" your going to want minimum highway pegs and probably forward controls for optimum comfort.

"Unless you have a very long commute or a really crappy car (mpg) you'll find it takes a long time before gas savings turns in to real savings - 2 to 3 years for most people."

That's not really true either. My car is probably going to last over 20 years now with the offset useage of the Rebel. When you consider increased longevity of your other vehicles the savings is substantial.

Gunslinger · Thu Jul 24, 2008 7:12 pm

My hat's off to anyone who is brave enough to take the Rebel out on the freeway. I know lots of people do it but I prefer something with a little more to give at the top end.

Mephza my myopic friend, the OP didn't say '08 he did say 1978.

Stick with the 250's if you want a good compromise between mileage and speed. Ninjas, Rebels, Viragos, Nighthawks are all good first bikes.

Funderbird · Fri Jul 25, 2008 4:34 am

250 rebel, good bike my nieghbor has one however, I wieghed 270 when I road his and it was a little slow. If you are a big guy, you might want to think about how you are going to ride it. Mostly freeway stick with something bigger.

RhadamYgg · Fri Jul 25, 2008 11:48 am

Dystopian wrote:
RhadamYgg wrote:I've done a lot of work on attaining ROI on my motorcycle purchase. You have to be dedicated - ride it to work a large number of times before you can realize a significant savings.

First, figure out the difference in cost between driving to work and riding to work. Then divide all your costs totalled up by the daily savings and you'll get the number of days you have to ride to work in order to realize a savings.

Unless you have a very long commute or a really crappy car (mpg) you'll find it takes a long time before gas savings turns in to real savings - 2 to 3 years for most people.

RhadamYgg
Well, in my case, I drive a '99 Crown Victoria police interceptor (Woo!) and it gets 18-20 city mpg. I pay $180 a month for insurance.
My motorcycle gets around 60 (Listed) mpg and costs me at most $242 a year for insurance. In my case, the cost is significant.

Wow - it should be fairly easy for you to get a return on investing and riding a bike to work. Of course, the insurance savings won't net you anything unless you sold your car and didn't insure it - which I wouldn't recommend unless you lived in that magical place where you could ride to work everyday or had ball big enough to ride to work every day anyway.

But fuel savings alone - even with a moderate mile commute - should do well.

I always wanted one of those police interceptors. I've owned two Crown Vics. Nice smooth rides.

RhadamYgg

RhadamYgg · Fri Jul 25, 2008 6:02 pm

Scott58 wrote: "Unless you have a very long commute or a really crappy car (mpg) you'll find it takes a long time before gas savings turns in to real savings - 2 to 3 years for most people."

That's not really true either. My car is probably going to last over 20 years now with the offset useage of the Rebel. When you consider increased longevity of your other vehicles the savings is substantial.

Well, there are a lot of other things I'm not (and I don't think everyone considers) really considering in my calculations. Decreased depreciation on my car due to it having fewer miles is one of them. I've ridden in to work 22 days - and a savings of over 1500 miles on my car. Every 1000 miles less on my car reflects a different price on KBB.

But as the car gets older this change in value is less. Also, the difference per 1000 miles less on a car changes per 1000, it might be 66000 reduced to 65000 might make the car worth 100 more, but the jump from 65000 to 64000 might only get you 80 more in worth.

Of course, if I stretch my car for 20 years instead of my usual 10, then the savings really kick in for every year I don't buy a new car and do keep my current one.

Especially with the first three years of car insurance and the 5 years of car payments - that could be significant.

I'll have to wait until 2011 to find out if I stretch my 2001 accord beyond my usual 10 years and consider if this is due to motorcycle riding or not. I did in fact just bump over 66000 miles on the car.

RhadamYgg