Do bikes require more maintenance than cars?

油井緋色

油井緋色

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Im just wondering. I've never really had to maintain a car because my father is a great...well, father. In the past 3 months I've been spending an average of 90 dollars to fix little things or just buy stuff (lube etc.).

Either I'm just looking at things in hindsight, or I just notice things more now because I maintain my own bike, but it seems like I'm doing A LOT more for the bike than my father did for our cars.

Long story short: What needs more maintenance? Cars or bikes?
 
Bikes are higher maintenance.

That being said, a lot of people neglect their cars and have no idea you have to do more than just change the oil.
 
It depends on your bike. Some bike require very little maintenance. Self-adjusting hydraulic valve lifters and timing chain tensioners, shaft drive, long oil change intervals in some of the less-stressed motors can make some bikes require little more than gas and go for the most part.

Others require more frequent valve adjustments, more frequent oil changes, drive chain cleaning and lube on a very frequent basis especially if riding in the wet.

It also depends on how you store it as well. If you fail to properly winterize and prep your bike, you could also be looking at more spring time maintenance to get things running right again.

It mostly depends on the kind of bike you have and also on how you ride it. Riding any bike hard will tend to increase the amount of maintenance you have to do on it.
 
caboose483 said:
That being said, a lot of people neglect their cars and have no idea you have to do more than just change the oil.
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+1

I get the impression that a lot of people get surprised when a car requires maintenance. I used to do all of my own maintenance on my cars, but the fancier the car, the more there is to do. Now I farm it out to a mechanic.

My bike is easier to fix so I spend more time fixing the little things, while I'll let the car languish away because it'll either cost too much to fix, or take too goddamn long to fix.
 
caboose483 said:
Bikes are higher maintenance.

That being said, a lot of people neglect their cars and have no idea you have to do more than just change the oil.
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Are bikes still by far cheaper to maintain and use? I mean, I feel like I've been lying to myself that riding a bike is by far cheaper than driving a car after all the $$$ I've spent on maintaining my bike.
 
油井緋色;1634677 said:
Are bikes still by far cheaper to maintain and use? I mean, I feel like I've been lying to myself that riding a bike is by far cheaper than driving a car after all the $$$ I've spent on maintaining my bike.
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Your only saving money if a motorcycle is your only vehicle. If you already have a car your not saving any money because its EXTRA expenses you have to pay for.
 
its not cheaper riding a bike by any means.

used bike vs used car you can spend the same amount. insurance and riding gear will be the the main contributor to the higher operating cost of a motorcycle.
 
Red_Liner740 said:
its not cheaper riding a bike by any means.

used bike vs used car you can spend the same amount. insurance and riding gear will be the the main contributor to the higher operating cost of a motorcycle.
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Well the only thing I've been laughing about is gas costs....then I look at insurance and maintenance which makes me =(
 
油井緋色;1634677 said:
Are bikes still by far cheaper to maintain and use? I mean, I feel like I've been lying to myself that riding a bike is by far cheaper than driving a car after all the $$$ I've spent on maintaining my bike.
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Depends on the car and the bike.

However an older (2000ish) compact 4-banger car would be the cheapest thing to buy and maintain IMO.
 
油井緋色;1634694 said:
Well the only thing I've been laughing about is gas costs....then I look at insurance and maintenance which makes me =(
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Again, all those costs, insurance, maintenance, fuel, etc depend on the specific bike you ride and how you choose to ride it.

Basic insurance coverage on some bikes can be no more expensive than a car. Same goes for maintenance. Throw in fuel savings that some bikes are great at, and riding can be a cheaper alternative to a car even if you still need to maintain a car or truck for whatever reason.
 
The older generation ninja 250s are probably the best bikes to own if you're looking to save money and still want to have fun. If you fit on one well enough, that's the best way to go.
 
By the time you add plates, insurance, fuel oil, filters, tires, chain, sprockets and other items the cost per km for even a small bike is more than a cheap used car. For fun I'm ignoring depreciation as I assume that you're happy to ride a 10 year old bike. We ride because we enjoy it. You can pretend that you're saving money if you want.
 
油井緋色;1634677 said:
Are bikes still by far cheaper to maintain and use? I mean, I feel like I've been lying to myself that riding a bike is by far cheaper than driving a car after all the $$$ I've spent on maintaining my bike.
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I have been writing in a excel document since 2009 every single dollard I've spent and motorcycle is MORE expensive than a car, this year alone, including insurance, excluding monthly payment, my motorcycle is more expensive by 1000$. around 5000$ so far for my bike and 4000$ for my car....
 
my motorcycle is less expensive than my car, way less expensive than my truck. insurance on the bike is 1/4 what it is for either the truck or car and i get 3-4 times the mileage of the truck and 2x the car. tires don't need replacing as often but the truck takes 31s... 4 of them and they aren't inexpensive. the car takes 16" 225s they are not cheap either.
 
Generally, bikes do require more maintenance than a car... However, the way I try and make myself feel better about it is by looking at how much more I would be spending on maintenance for a car of equal performance. I had a 400+ hp car that I tracked (which was no where as fast as my R1), and maintenance costs were much higher. You think $300 for a set of track tires is expensive on your bike? Try pricing out four r-compound 315/40/17's :)
 
vince492 said:
I have been writing in a excel document since 2009 every single dollard I've spent and motorcycle is MORE expensive than a car, this year alone, including insurance, excluding monthly payment, my motorcycle is more expensive by 1000$. around 5000$ so far for my bike and 4000$ for my car....
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Yeah I'm starting to notice that too. Every month something stupid happens. I too track everything I spend via excel. Maybe this is going to end up being an expensive hobby =/
 
油井緋色;1634748 said:
Yeah I'm starting to notice that too. Every month something stupid happens. I too track everything I spend via excel. Maybe this is going to end up being an expensive hobby =/
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LOL it is an expensive hobby. I'm not sure who told you it was anything otherwise, but they probably lied to you.
 
油井緋色;1634677 said:
Are bikes still by far cheaper to maintain and use? I mean, I feel like I've been lying to myself that riding a bike is by far cheaper than driving a car after all the $$$ I've spent on maintaining my bike.
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In my opinion, bike requires more attention, wouldn't even call it preventative maintenance. Chain and cables lubed, all nuts and bolts tightened, tires with proper pressure, liquid levels checked, suspension checked. The best part about the bike is that pretty much everything on the bike can be easily done by yourself. Spend your money on tools (i.e. mastercraft maximum tool kit(s), which constantly go on sale at CT at 70% off) and buy the shop manual for the bike (I gave you that one already lol).

Unless you live in a condo, I never understood those people who always take their cars and bikes to the garage, even for basic oil/filter change (especially considering that many of those shops never change the filter anyway).
 
Off the top of my head there are three reasons bikes are a little more maintenance intensive:

1) Bikes are "higher strung" in that they tend to get much more power per CC than a typical car engine (not always true though).

2) Physical Package Size, the bike is much more compact which means that to do the same job as a car the part is smaller uses light material, and therefore potentially less durable. For example put the valve train components of a bike beside that of a car and look at the size...

3) The most important one is "safety". When something fails on a bike there is usually an immediate need to fix it. On a car people drive for years with stuff broken and don't even know it (I was wondering what that clunking noise was...). Or they do know and just deal with it, if they have a leak in a tire they fill it once a week, if the motor leaks large amounts of oil, they top it up, etc. etc.
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