Operating costs vs Maintenance

Wow I mean like wow, I know Chacal was already informing me about how a bike you buy for 500 isn't going to cost 500 to repair or maintain,

but seriously this things parts are sometimes more than my Audi's.

I recently purchased 712 shinko tire for the front, rear is halfway so that will last but the tire was $62 after shipping, now since it my first bike, I figured I know cars but safety wise I will let someone else change my front tire for once. sooo 1 day later, as I find out my local shops turn around time and 80 dollars I have a new tire in the front, now I just want to know, is that a justified price.

anyway, I believe my shifter fork is bent from previous abuse, something I will invest time and money into later, for now Babying the Xj sounds good

oh and I have read a lot about tire spinning on center stand, well mines in first gear and with the clutch pulled in, it spins, not stoppable by foot, perhaps by brake, haven't tried but it doesn't cause issues when I'm on it, and I'm only 170 pounds.

anyway just and update rant of how things are going, thanks for reading.

 

Most shops you don't buy the tire from are going to bend you over and charge you full labour price to install it. So $80 to mount it doesn't seem all that out-of-ordinary to me.

As for the tire spin thing -- although as far as I know its a normal thing; if you can't stop it by lightly touching it, then you've got a clutch adjustment in your future! Mine will turn SLOWLY if it's in-gear with clutch pulled in - but just laying a finger on the tire stops it. Does the same if it's in neutral.

 

out here it's $90 if i take the bike in. to do BOTH tires.

both shinkos will run me $125. tubes were $35. $90 for labor. that's $250 to have both tires installed.

the front is tube type. i'm hoping it'll slide off more or less. the back one is tubeless. i don't expect the back tire to come off at all. if i do it myself.

tubeless tires are generally a tighter fit. as they don't contain tubes to hold air pressure. both wheels are spoked though. so tubes are required.

unless i want to convert the rims to tubeless rims.

having a motorcycle in general ISN'T cheap. and to make matters worse. parts don't last as long as car parts either. motorcycles are a pretty expensive hobby.

i like $500 bikes. but only if they're complete and cost me minimal amount of dollars.

 

$80 is about double the going rate around here; but I guess it depends a lot on where you live.

The place I get my tires (car and motorcycle) gives a discount on mounting/balancing if you buy the tires from them, if you carry in a tire then it's $40.

Altus is right about the spinning rear wheel. When it spins with the bike in neutral and the clutch out it's just internal transmission drag and you will be able to stop it with your toe.

It will also do it in gear with the clutch in, but then you also add the small amount of disengaged clutch drag to the equation, and stopping the wheel takes a bit more effort.

It will ALL vary according to how warm/cold the oil is when observed.

As long as the bike isn't "creeping" when in gear with the clutch in, and you can still easily select neutral when standing still and the engine running, then your clutch is fine. Poking at the latently spinning rear wheel isn't really a valid test of anything...

 

yes yes, well I figured my unruley use of the rear wheel understanding won't get me anywhere.

I believe my Rims are tubeless, as they did not mention anything about the tubes themselves

anybody know where I can get the shifting forks for cheaper than 105 for the whole set of 3?

 

Did you check with chacal (XJ4Ever, our resident parts source?)

And yes, Yamaha's cast rims are tubeless.

 

Wow, I only paid $25 for a tire mount and balance...

 

$80.00 is for a mount and balance ... IF they took the wheel off is about right.

You save just bringing-in the Wheel.

Neutral Creep can be very annoying.
Adjust your Clutch and let the Oil warm-up ... might help.

If your Rear Wheel just starts gaining rpm's while the Bike is on the Center Stand ...
Brake the Wheel and HOLD the Wheel from Spinning with a Hammer Handle.

Look for the Link in my Signature and Adjust the Clutch.

 

My operating costs for the year:
Seca 750 - 3,500 Miles, 2 oil changes $30, 2 cables $35, mount FREE replacement Avons $80,
Seca 900 - 2,000 Miles, 1 oil change $13, brake fluid and supplies $15, tire wear budget for both bikes $80
registration - $42 X2= $84

5,500 miles ~ 45 MPG ~ $2.70 Gal = $330 for gas, $337 for other expenses works out to $0.12 a mile !!

 

TIME as usual is right.

Speaking to the original post: Once you've spent the necessary time and money to reverse 25+ years of neglected maintenance and age deterioration, the actual operating costs are very reasonable.

But you have to get there first. You can't count all the stuff you have to buy or do once or for the first time as "operating expenses" those are recommissioning costs. The more thorough you are resurrecting the bike, the more economical it is to operate.

How again did you get a set of Avons for free? Is it something I need to worry about?

 

Rick, apparently my clutch plates must have had friction from the oil, after applying the rear brake 2 times it stopped spinning

so just bent forks, auto canceling doesn't work, still need stainless steel brake lines, perhaps change to a handle bar mount brake fluid master cylinder/reservoir.

so much things and so little money, I think I talked to chacal about items and for now they are out of my price range, especially the brake lines, I was kinda hoping to get a oil cooler too, since its about 100+ degrees here during summer. ($236 for SS brake lines and Spin on Adapter)< thats like my whole paycheck for 2 weeks

bigfit your right, recommissioning costs are always more, and maintenance goes down, this wasnt a extremely neglected bike but I can see it was riden hard at some point.

but hey gas mileage is great, and its so much fun to ride around. even grocery shopping on the motorcycle has me cutting costs =P

timetoride, wish my costs were broken down so easily and cheaply

 

I like the cost of ownership numbers here and it is pretty cheap riding, even with all of the safety, insurance, and maintenance items up to speed. Now to justify a two-seat trainer?

 

Even for a new Rider with auto insurance claims of totaled vehicles my insurance was $302 a year.

 

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic ... rt=15.html

Schooter was kind enough to host a couple pics of my old Avons- - 2 year old. These were under a factory recall.

 

I was thinking about buying a new bike. Found out that bikes don't depreciate too much, so "pre-owned" isn't that good a deal. The only new bike I would want....$10,000. (Triumph Street Triple)

My "to-do" list for my Maxim, plus parts bike, plus what I've already spent...prolly less than $3000. And I plan on all new suspension and brakes.

I like my Maxim better than I would like a new Triumph...unless I could get a new Triumph for 2 grand. And even then it would look just like all the other new Triumphs, and I would be placed in that little box with all the others.

And I have I bike that I work on myself, saving maintenance costs. I save time and money riding to work (SoCal, save about 45 minutes on a 10 mile drive). I save money by not putting miles on my car. Insurance is cheap. Parts are cheap. How much do you think tires for a new sport bike are??? Not 62+80=$142, I'm sure.

Not to mention how much money I save by not having any other hobby or life outside of my motorcycle and this forum... :idea:

 

One other thing that you might want to check out, because i ride my bikes i put fewer miles on the cars that equated to a nice break on the car insurance call your insurance company and ask them about a low mileage discount.

 

you gotta work a little more then cuz life aint cheap... deliver pizza's on friday and saturday nights on your bike and you'll make like 200-400 bucks off of all the drunk people haha in one weekend..

i totally understand that parts can get pricey but e-bay has a lot of stuff for cheap.. and for your insurance.. if you go in and see if you can get a collector licence plate (since 25 years and older is an antique haha) and as long as you have it fairly stock looking you can get a huge discount.. here in BC it's $25 a month for collector bikes. and if you only want to insure it for 3,6,9 months you can rather than the whole year.. find out and save.. more research you do the more you can save as goes with anything...

i picked up my bike for 500 bucks..did an oil change when i got it and changed the handlebars and it ran great with gas be'n my only expense... now rebuilding the thing for fun which is the costly part...

 

bikes are like cars. they depreciate just as much. as soon as the dealer no longer owns it and it rolls off the floor and onto the road.

i remember buying my maxim. one month later i wanted that v65 magna. the maxim was $2100 but i'd only get $500 (something around that number) for trade in.

 

Snowwy, look at the prices for newer bikes on CL, etc., and you will see that RETAIL prices aren't that far off from new prices. I bet you could get $2100 for that Maxim, TODAY, if it was in excellent condition.

I did some research, and I guess on a percentage basis, maybe the depreciation is about the same (I was looking between new and 4 year old vehicles). However, 1/3 of 30000 is still a lot more than 1/3 of 9000. Maybe that's what I was thinking...for $3000 more, that new bike is worth it. But for $10000 more, that new car isn't...at least thats the thought process...whether or not it's valid.

Plus, you will ALWAYS get FAR LESS on a trade in than it is worth, but it does get out of your hair a lot easier.

Plus, bikes don't seem to follow the Blue Book value all that well...there's a lot more emotional attachment, it seems.

 

You can pick up an old XJ (or any '80s-'90s bike that suits your fancy) with a solid motor; go through it from stem to stern, replace everything you don't like the looks of, upgrade, personalize, rechrome, powder coat, spare no expense and still spend under $3000 and you end up with a BRAND NEW old bike. A really cool one at that, unlike anything else you'll see on the road every day, even if you went bone-stock.

For a third the cost of a new-new one. And cheaper to maintain thereafter in almost every case as well.