How cold will you ride?

[Steph]

And now for the weather report: Might get up to 53 degrees F. on Sunday here. Rain is predicted though. If the rain holds off, might be able to get a ride in.

[sendler2112]

At that rate it will take about 10 years and 100000 miles before I break even.

Are you trying to pay for the gear and the Forza completely with the gas savings? What about the depreciation of a $20,000 car over 100,000 if you didn't ride the bike.

[AustinPCX]

At that rate it will take about 10 years and 100000 miles before I break even.

Are you trying to pay for the gear and the Forza completely with the gas savings? What about the depreciation of a $20,000 car over 100,000 if you didn't ride the bike.

Yep, you got it. How can you say you're saving a fortune in gas if it cost you a fortune to do so? Sounds like you are justifying spending money on gear based only on what you save on gas and minor maintenance.

Most people aren't getting rid of their car when they buy a scooter so they aren't saving much in overall operating cost for the car.

[sendler2112]

You didn't figure anything in to reducing the miles on your car's lifespan by riding the scooter.

[AustinPCX]

You didn't figure anything in to reducing the miles on your car's lifespan by riding the scooter.

Most people don't put enough miles on their scooter to affect their cars lifespan or trade in value. Plus you are reducing the scooters lifespan and trade in value at the same time.

[sendler2112]

My scooter cost $4,000. My car cost $18,000. I rode the scooter 17,000 miles last year. I drove the car 9,200. I would drive the car less but there is snow on the ground today.

[homie]

I have a 2007 Dodge Ram with only 50K miles on it right now. That's eight years old with an estimated eight more at this rate to reach its first 100k. The vehicle is long since paid off saving me the monthly payments over what could be time to trade for new. Then there is the fuel savings from choosing to ride a scooter (Segway) over the V8. If I didn't have winter months I would have half the mileage on the truck it shows now and it will probably die of rust over the course of two decades before I buy another.

Using a gas sipper single person human transporter saves thousands indirectly over time... there is no doubt. But you have to choose to ride it I'm a believer in any type of scooter with a piston over battery because electric scooters have higher maintenance fees. With PCX we are in a very sweet spot and I will never ride Segway again after what I see with the little Honda's

[wojtek_pl]

Yes... I do wonder why I need a car. Adding all costs, insurance etc. it would be cheaper to use taxi from time to time when I need it and rent a car for vacation (if any).
But... I like cars and I like to have a car. And I pay for satisfying that desire.
Still, the scooter is cheaper than a car, though when I add all the clothing I bought, the difference is not that big unfortunately. I could have 20 years of bus tickets for that. But I do save on TIME. So, I'm buying time for the money. All depends what you prefer to have: time or money.

[Mel46]

We have 2 cars and 2 scooters. While the use of the scooters is limited to good weather, we save enough on fuel to justify having the scooters. We don't put much mileage on our cars anyway, so my oldest one,an SUV, is 11 years old with 85,000 miles on it. We originally paid almost $30K for it. My wife's scooter now has 10,000 miles on it. We paid around $4K for it. Much of that mileage would have been put on the SUV if we had not had the scooters. We can go for coffee, go grocery shopping, go to friends and relative's houses to visit them, or just go to the mountains for the day, all on the scooters. The SUV gets 18 mpg in the city and 26 - 28 mpg on the highway. The scooters each get over 100 mpg. Split the 100 in half because we take two of them when we go places, and we would still get 50 mpg. Essentially, we get twice the gas mileage when we use the scooters. That adds up.

Then, of course, there are the other savings that have been brought up, such as car depreciation, oil changes every 3,000 miles, etc. Yes, you have an initial investment in gear for the scooter, but it goes with you if you trade for a newer scooter, so it is a one time investment.

And then there is the fun factor. How do you put a price on fun??

[fish]

Yes... I do wonder why I need a car. Adding all costs, insurance etc. it would be cheaper to use taxi from time to time when I need it and rent a car for vacation (if any).
But... I like cars and I like to have a car. And I pay for satisfying that desire.
Still, the scooter is cheaper than a car, though when I add all the clothing I bought, the difference is not that big unfortunately. I could have 20 years of bus tickets for that. But I do save on TIME. So, I'm buying time for the money. All depends what you prefer to have: time or money.

I envy your public transport systems (city bus) - here in small-town America there are very few who want to use a bus except the very poor - so very limited bus system, no Taxi service. Nothing will get me to work on time in the morning snows except my wife taking me in her car ('her car' because she works, too. and only I am stupid enough to own a scooter instead of a car, in a land where it snows!)
But, at my age - I am allowing myself to ride into my sunset years on the thing I want (Honda scooter) and in the color I want (Red!) and weather/road/conditions be-damned! I do not mind getting cold and wet.....fellow American citizens in F-150's trying to kill me is another matter!




Fish

[Steph]

@Fish - No car! that is rare for where you live. But, That's cool. It's 18 miles one way to my work. How far is your ride to work? Never would consider winter commuting to my work. I could have no snow on the way in then have 8 inches on the way home. I would be in trouble if I was on my scooter.

[homie]

@ No car! Never would consider winter commuting to my work. I could have no snow on the way in then have 8 inches on the way home. I would be in trouble if I was on my scooter.

Steph if we lived in Chicago we wouldn't need a car at all. Heck my son doesn't know what use there is for land line phones or rigid bed frames when you can buy more comfortable queen size inflatable air beds for 50 bucks. Entire posse of friends that when they get together for LAN parties I hear "you don't look anything like I imagined" It's a whole new world of thifty youth with new ideas how to live and they wonder what we ever needed some of the most basic stuff for.

[homie]

At least some things are timeless

[Vesper2112]

When I decided to get a scooter, the gas savings would essentially be used for the scooter payment (and coming out ahead currently). So yeah... the added lifespan of my car was factored in (I drive them both about equally with around a 30 min drive to work and back).

[you you]

Different equation over here. My main car does over 65mpg but on diesel. And is a basic compact at around $18,000.

[SECoda]

Diesel here is roughly 50% more than the bottom grade of gasoline where I live. I think the demand must be too low. For the same size cars it is not cost effective right now. With the US boosting oil output so dramatically these days see gas holding the same or falling for at least the next year.

[you you]

Diesel here is roughly 50% more than the bottom grade of gasoline where I live. I think the demand must be too low. For the same size cars it is not cost effective right now. With the US boosting oil output so dramatically these days see gas holding the same or falling for at least the next year.

Over here diesel is cheaper but is taxed more so it ends up slightly more expensive than petrol.

Our petrol or diesel price is mostly tax

[DAB]

Right, here is a bike that you can ride even when icy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_egrDnq ... e=youtu.be

[SECoda]

Cool. You mean those blades are spinning inches away.

[wojtek_pl]

So, first ride in -5 Celsius behind me. Wasn't that bad. My feet get a bit cold, my hands were fine.

Biggest problem was the fog on my glasses inside the helmet and ... ice on the inner side of the helmet visor... That is really annoying and puts a big hold on winter riding. I need a heated helmet visor.