Comments on: Break Even Point for Fuel Efficiency Enhancements http://www.thenumber42.net/2009/07/01/break-even-point-for-fuel-efficiency-enhancements/ Mostly about software testing, but a little bit about life, the universe, and everything Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:13:38 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Chris http://www.thenumber42.net/2009/07/01/break-even-point-for-fuel-efficiency-enhancements/comment-page-1/#comment-1326 Chris Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:00:39 +0000 http://www.thenumber42.net/?p=155#comment-1326 When gas was going up; myself driving a truck; a fairly significant number of my friends factored in buying a motorcycle to replace their suv to "save money on gas". I worked out a spreadsheet that made all of them cringe on the point... (Erie; a bit worse weather wise that pgh; so numbers were worse there, I also factored in increasing gas prices). I am going to use your formula and modify it a bit to do the same... (bike cost) * (truck mpg) * (bike mpg) -------------------------------------- (gas price) * (bike mpg*truck mpg) In [6]: (5000*15*40)/(2.99*(40-15)) Out[6]: 40133.779264214048 from kbb.com... (http://www.kbb.com/KBB/CompanyInfo/MotorcycleFAQ.aspx) 8. What is the average yearly mileage for a motorcycle? Obviously mileage will vary from year to year and model to model. A simple guide could be to consider the type of bike you are looking at: If the bike is a sportbike 600 c.c. to 999 c.c., and since these bikes are traditionally weekend only bikes, you can expect to see lower miles, about 3,000 miles per year. Tourers or Sport Tourers usually see a lot of miles, but these are generally freeway miles, between 5,000 to 6,000 miles per year. This is nationally; due to weather; I will half that for Pittsburgh (shorter riding season + rain), and I'll round up so 3500/year. So, that gives us... In [7]: ((5000*15*40)/(2.99*(40-15))/3500) Out[7]: 11.466794075489728 If you buy a *cheap* used bike; put no money into repairs at all (or offset normal vehicle maintenance with the bike maintenance; in my experience, bike is a bit more prone to breaking down) it will take you ~11.5 years to break even on gas alone. Doesn't factor in entertainment value or hospital bills either...:) -Chris When gas was going up; myself driving a truck; a fairly significant number of my friends factored in buying a motorcycle to replace their suv to “save money on gas”. I worked out a spreadsheet that made all of them cringe on the point… (Erie; a bit worse weather wise that pgh; so numbers were worse there, I also factored in increasing gas prices). I am going to use your formula and modify it a bit to do the same…

(bike cost) * (truck mpg) * (bike mpg)
————————————–
(gas price) * (bike mpg*truck mpg)

In [6]: (5000*15*40)/(2.99*(40-15))
Out[6]: 40133.779264214048

from kbb.com…
(http://www.kbb.com/KBB/CompanyInfo/MotorcycleFAQ.aspx)
8. What is the average yearly mileage for a motorcycle?
Obviously mileage will vary from year to year and model to model. A simple guide could be to consider the type of bike you are looking at: If the bike is a sportbike 600 c.c. to 999 c.c., and since these bikes are traditionally weekend only bikes, you can expect to see lower miles, about 3,000 miles per year. Tourers or Sport Tourers usually see a lot of miles, but these are generally freeway miles, between 5,000 to 6,000 miles per year.

This is nationally; due to weather; I will half that for Pittsburgh (shorter riding season + rain), and I’ll round up so 3500/year. So, that gives us…

In [7]: ((5000*15*40)/(2.99*(40-15))/3500)
Out[7]: 11.466794075489728

If you buy a *cheap* used bike; put no money into repairs at all (or offset normal vehicle maintenance with the bike maintenance; in my experience, bike is a bit more prone to breaking down) it will take you ~11.5 years to break even on gas alone. Doesn’t factor in entertainment value or hospital bills either…:)

-Chris

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