Hello again Lemmy! I have another question.
Context: I took a motorcycle safety class, was nervous but enjoyed it, researched motorcycles, found a few I liked, talked to a dealer about them but ultimately, I couldn’t finalize a deal, talked myself out of it basically.
I was curious how others might justify a purchase that has no purpose other than wanting something.
For clarity, I don’t need anyone to justify me buying a motorcycle. I want to read about your thought processes for buying something you want 🙂
As always thanks for replying and have an awesome day/night!!
I find it helpful to try to quantify the time I’ll enjoy with a thing before I buy it. Or maybe there will be some amount of cost savings if it’s a tool. You could do both with a motorcycle.
Unless you get a shitty Harley, it will almost certainly be more fuel efficient than an ICE car/truck, so if you plan to commute by motorcycle at all, there is some cost savings there. That will probably offset the cost of registration and insurance, and maybe regular maintenance, so not really a net gain, but at least pays for itself to some degree.
So after approximating the cost after those savings, then you can approximate how many hours per year and how many years you expect to enjoy the thing for. Divide the cost by that number of hours. Would you pay that hourly rate for the enjoyment you expect to get from it? If so, buy. If not, don’t buy.
There are obviously some abstract things to factor in too, though. Would you make friends through your motorcycle? Do you enjoy working on stuff so in addition to the riding do you plan on doing aftermarket work on it? Is there a bucket list aspect to this?
I can tell you that, as a former motorcycle owner, I would probably not get one again. They’re super fucking dangerous, almost entirely because other drivers are fucking morons. It’s impossible for me to ride without being on edge with the assumption that every other driver is actively trying to kill me. At this point, I would only get one as a fun time to ride once in a while, and the upkeep isn’t worth it for that. Even an electric one would be hard for me to justify for myself because of insurance, registration, and ride gear.
That all being said, there are considerations that you and you alone will need to apply to this decision. I just strongly urge that if you do buy a bike, you wear all recommended gear. Never shorts. Never sandals. Never without a helmet and jacket. Dress for the slide, not the ride.
Specific to motorcycles everything you mentioned was going through my mind. Wit the exception of the time quantification. It would be used for nothing more than tooling around and maybe learning to ride on a track.
I truly have no need for one.
Would agree that anyone who rides needs to be diligent and safe. Motorcycles truly are not at the top of anyone’s mind when driving.
I do have a better appreciation for them after taking the safety class.
Appreciate your perspective and detailed post!!
This is how I finally let myself buy video games I’ve wanted for years. I find the average playtime, divide the cost by that and look at the “per hour” price rather than the whole price. Bonus points if it’s on sale or second-hand.
I usually exceed said playtime since I’m a slow gamer but it’s still a good way to return the value of joy to our limited time on earth.
And here is me starting for a motor license in a few weeks.
My use case isn’t very high way oriented so hopefully i’ll stay whole…
Good tips all around tho :)
One thing to consider is the type of motorcycle you may buy and how new / old it is.
Safety is definitely a concern. Newer motorcycles can have some rider safety features. The one I was looking at… well drooling over actually… had ABS, traction control, slipper clutch, quick shifter (not exactly a safety feature per se).
So there are things to help make them safer, not to mention air bag jackets.
Just some additional perspective.
The reasonable voice in me tells to get my license and a second hand bike for max 3k ish. The unreasonable voice wants a new Triumph Scrambler 400x or a Suzuki Gsx 8s. Scrambler new is 7.5, almost no used models in my country. Gsx 8s can be found used around 8k.
One is a way safer fun 400 cc bike. The other quite bit quicker. Both financial disasters tho lol. Will probably end up on a older bike with less tech.
Fair enough, I do realize not everyone can get something new. Was really just lowering the fear factor a little by noting the availability of the tech these days 🙂
Whatever you end up with, I hope you truly enjoy every minute riding!!
Excellent. Idk if you have deer or similar stuff in your area, but be very vigilant. If you lock up your rear tires and fishtail, just keep your tire locked. If you let off the brake while not perfectly straight, your bike will violently realign and you’ll get bucked off.
Overall, I recommend these motorcycle safety courses to all drivers. It pushed me to be much more actively aware while driving.