Driving is expensive. It’s just the plain, simple truth. Between rising tax, insurance and fuel, having a car has never felt more costly – yet is a necessary expenditure most of us can’t give up. But what if you could reduce those costs, even by up to half? Could swapping four wheels for two actually save you money? Let’s go through whether or not switching to a motorbike can save you serious money year on year
Cheaper To Insure
Apart from the initial purchase of your vehicles, insurance is the next most expensive cost, so you want to save where you can. Once you’ve got your license and gained a bit of experience, motorbike insurance can end up significantly cheaper than car insurance. Even as a complete novice, premiums can be lower than your usual costs for your car.
Obviously, things like experience, the type of bike and claims history factor in here – but on average people can have premiums that are up to 30% lower than their car insurance. This is often the case because they cost less to repair or replace, cause less damage to others in a crash and have much smaller engines, making them significantly cheaper to insure. Most of the time, it’s cheaper, but it can really depend on circumstances.
Reduced Running Costs
A big tick in the corner of bikes is that they have significantly fewer day-to-day running costs when compared to cars. Because they are so much lighter, even though their engines are tiny in comparison, they end up being far more fuel efficient, achieving higher MPG than most cars.
Road tax is another great example of a potential cost saving. They are taxed at much lower rates on average than cars unless you opt for a more sustainable electric vehicle. Other legal requirements like the MOT also end up being a lot cheaper, costing around half as much as that of cars. There are a few circumstances where it can be more costly, but if you’re not interested in anything with a particularly big engine (or modding a bike), you can enjoy the savings you could make.
More Affordable Ownership
A massive selling point of getting a bike over a car is the initial cost of the vehicles themselves. Bikes are going to be enormously cheaper. You can get something for a couple of thousand pounds. Even those considered luxury bikes can cost around only £25,000. When you buy a new car, with cash, you’ll easily be expecting to pay over £15k for even the most basic model.
So, unless you’re going for a top-of-the-range bike model, getting a motorbike is going to cost you significantly less in the first place, giving you plenty to spend on insurance and all the other costs that come with having a bike.
Making the switch from car to bike won’t be the correct decision for everyone. But if your sole aim is to cut costs, however possible, then making the swap might be for you. This way you can reduce your yearly expenditures whilst not limiting your mobility so switching could be the best financial decision you can make.
