Efficiency as the primary reason (excuse) for riding?

[gene46]

I started riding 2 years ago (at the young age of 52) looking for efficient transportation. I wanted to sell my 4 cyl Nissan truck to buy a full size, but I didn't want to take a hit at the fuel pump. I drive close to 30,000 miles a year. I decided that if I could ride a motorcycle 10,000 miles a year that my fuel savings would average to the same driving a full size truck the rest of the time. I wasn't prepared to fall in love with riding! In the past year (since 9/2014) i have ridden my bikes 18,800 miles and drove my truck 13,500! I bought my first new bike 4 months ago after doing a lot of research. Efficiency and overall operating costs were still the main reason for my bike choice. The final 2 bikes in my decision process were both Hondas. The CTX700 and the Shadow Spirit 750. The real deciding factor was insurance expense which is low on the Spirit, $300 per year vs. $1250 per year on the CTX700. I am extremely happy with my bike choice. My 8000 mile average is 56.2 MPG. That includes a lot of playing! The maintenance and insurance costs are low.
Here is a question for you. How many of you use your bike as primary commuting transportation? Are there other riders out there that look at efficiency as their primary purchasing decision?
By the way, I still don't have a full size truck. Why spend all that money when I will not be driving it much? ;D

[KrisCook]

I bought the Rebel back in September of 2008, when Premium was going for up to 4.59 a gallon. I was already in love, though. I think I was born in love with two wheels, and no amount of forbidding my parents could do could kill it.

[gene46]

I know about it being in your blood, and starting riding when were a little older. Well, you haven't been riding very long either, but didn't you just turn 29? I understand about the parents. My mother has lived through a husband and 2 sons that have raced cars (drag and circle track) and boats. She was never discouraging but never encouraging either. After all of that, when I show up at a family event (even with beautiful perfect weather) she says "You rode that bike TODAY?"

[klaviator]

I ride because it's fun and it's in my blood.  However, efficiency is also important to me and I do use my bikes as my primary commuter.  My truck normally has cobwebs on it as it often sits for weeks at a time.  I currently have 5 bikes, soon to be 4.  My biggest gas hog is my Versys which gets 45-50 MPG.  I rarely use it for commuting.  For commuting I use my scooters.  My Kymco 150 gets around 70 MPG and has very low operating costs as far as other servicing and insurance.  My newest scooter is a 400cc Yamaha and it gets 55-60 MPG.

Some time in the future I plan on replacing my Kymco with a scooter that is less of a gas hog.  Most of the newer fuel injected scooters that are around 150cc get 80 to 100+ MPGs. 

[DachshundUberAlles]

"Efficiency" is a relative term when it comes to motorcycles. They get you in other areas to offset the fuel savings, tires being the chief "get". I have ridden them for 40+ years because of the enjoyment, never allowing myself to believe that I was coming out money ahead with them.

[IceCold4x4]

Efficiency was the excuse I gave my wife.  However II put 8k on my bikes so far this year and onky 500 miles on my car.  So ya.  Def my primary.

[Argh Oh]

My bike is not particularly cost effective.(Insert snide comments here). As a relative newbie that wasn't part of the plan anyway, and I just love riding. If I'm really gentle I'll get 46mpg, honest. That however happened only once. I average about 1K miles/month just because. For comparison sake I have a faithful 95 Accord and the bike's cost per mile is about 40% higher when all is said and done. But it sure is FUN!

[DachshundUberAlles]

My bike is not particularly cost effective.(Insert snide comments here). As a relative newbie that wasn't part of the plan anyway, and I just love riding. If I'm really gentle I'll get 46mpg, honest. That however happened only once. I average about 1K miles/month just because. For comparison sake I have a faithful 95 Accord and the bike's cost per mile is about 40% higher when all is said and done. But it sure is FUN!

I learned long ago that I don't care about the $ per mile because that is more than offset by the smiles per mile.

[MadMax]

Like some of the others have indicated, I only pay attention to mileage as a means to help offset the cost of tires and maintenance.  Aside from that, it does "seem" like a savings when a single 400 mile trip costs less than $15 out of pocket.  It does catch up to you though.

[jrobinson]

My bike gets 40mpg and the truck gets 14mpg. 60 mile round trip to work, so I take the bike as much as possible.

Oil change - $12 oil filter and 4 qts of syn oil. $55 for bike. $7 oil filter and 5 qts syn oil. $60 for truck. Both get chnages around 8-10k

Tires - 20k miles on front and 10k on rear- $425 20k on bike. 40k miles on truck tires. $800

I think overall I save money when riding.

[klaviator]

$200 per week to see a shrink if I were to stop riding........It's cheaper to keep riding ;D

[Guidedawg]

I purchased the bike for recreational riding, but the much improved gas mileage over my SUV was also a factor and it quickly became my primary commuter.  However, since my commute is under 5 miles and 10 minutes I can't really justify it solely on that :)

Still, the back and forth to work, home for lunch, back to work, and home again does add up and it's a lot more fun.

[Argh Oh]

I didn't consider the Shrink cost...hell, I've already saved THOUSANDS $$ !

[gene46]

My fuel cost savings are significant. I ride 75+ miles per day, 58 MPG vs 24 MPG. In the past year, I have had no mechanical failure on my Hondas. I haven't had to buy tires yet, due to when I purchased bikes. At 8000 miles the tires on my Spirit still have a lot of wear left. Oil changes are financially the same for my bike and truck. The savings on white coat fees are amazing!