The Real Cost of Greenlaning

[daveuprite]

Four rear tyres seems like an awful lot in those hours if not racing.

Yeah I am a bit hard on rear tyres. I just love spinning everywhere like a loon. Can't help it. If the bike isn't fishtailing about I'm not happy. Which does mean I get through a lot of Mich AC10s. It might be more like three rears per year in reality, but I largely destroyed one over 5 days off-road in Spain last month.

If you actually bought decent tyres you might get some grip
The AC10 is Michelin's universally hated bastard child

Oh I find them perfectly OK. Several of us use them. Good value at £75 a pair too.

I've tried other tyres too but personally I'm not at a high enough level off-road to notice the difference really, so I generally buy whatever's on special offer.

Good thing about AC10s is that they have mirror tread, so they're reversible. When you've rogered the blocks on the leading edge you just turn the tyre around for another few days of fun.

[Mikekitts81]

I think the title should be the running / maintence cost of green laning as you dont metion the price of getting the bike itself which can range from 1500 - 5500, 6 grand so in total no less than 4 grand in your first year alone if you get a cheap 1500 pound bike. You also missed out on bacon butty costs and brew prices which will hike the prices up through the roof .

And then theres the fact you never just want one bike as you need another for when one is broke so a price of a second bike is another lump sum .

Then theres the endless days you pay for taking the wife out buttering her up before dropping the iam off out at the weekend on bikes wont see you for 3 days or the iam off on holiday for a week or 2 hoping shes gonna say yes ....

[daveuprite]

I think the title should be the running / maintence cost of green laning as you dont metion the price of getting the bike itself which can range from 1500 - 5500, 6 grand so in total no less than 4 grand in your first year alone if you get a cheap 1500 pound bike. You also missed out on bacon butty costs and brew prices which will hike the prices up through the roof .

And then theres the fact you never just want one bike as you need another for when one is broke so a price of a second bike is another lump sum .

Then theres the endless days you pay for taking the wife out buttering her up before dropping the iam off out at the weekend on bikes wont see you for 3 days or the iam off on holiday for a week or 2 hoping shes gonna say yes ....

Well yeah, of course there is always the cost of getting the bike/fleet in the first place but I didn't include that because it varies so much depending on what someone wants to spend. I did include depreciation, and these bikes don't lose so much money as you might think as long as you pick well in the first place and maintain them really well. I could probably sell up my Beta for only 600/700 less than it cost me 3 years back. Naturally the costs I estimate also depend on doing your own maintenance. God knows what it would come to if every single operation was done by a dealership.

Luckily I don't have the nagging wife issue. Tracie loves the fact that I enjoy my hobby and she could hardly talk anyway with the time/money she spends on our herd of horses and donkeys. I've never quite understood partners who don't want their spouses to go and have fun in the mud. As long I also spend some time with her occasionally pretending to be interested in scented candles Tracie seems more than happy for me to go and nob about in the woods...

[Cone]

Capex+Opex=Totex

[Mikekitts81]

S.w.o.t would be better adoubted in this situtaion rather than opex capex totex we could add up all the costs of everything. but would we not be better of looking at the strengths weakness opportunites and threats ... strengths better mentality in ones self always happy and having a life full of enjoyment ... weakness the bikes sometimes break but some of us enjoy also fixing them happiness again ...opportunites you meet people from all walks of life and make new friends and always have a freindly hand willing to help bonus if you ask me happy again ... threat the theifing toe rags that follow us home to steal are pride and joys ... yea its crap but insurance covers that so no worrys there apart from a wee broken heart until your next joy comes along but all in all it all seems happy to me and happiness is priceless

[XF650]

Really don't know what you guys are on about!

My little XT225 cost me peanuts, does 90 mpg on the road and never drops below 65 mpg greenlaning. Many thousands of miles later, I'm still on the same tyres. If I want it to spin & fishtail, snow & ice are great but, ya, it will do it in soil too. It's great fun, doesn't break down, extremely cheap service intervals (wash the filter & about 1 litre of oil) AND, when I sell it, I'll get my money back, no problem. Dirt cheap - excuse the pun.

Don't know what you guys are on about lol!

[andrew882]

Capex+Opex=Totex

At least interest rates are shite at the moment, so we can discount opportunity costs as non material.

[daveuprite]

Well my economic approach to greenlaning is rooted in ideas which stress the importance of macro-economics, post neo-classical endogenous growth theory and the symbiotic relationships between growth and investment, people and infrastructure.

[Cone]

Well my economic approach to greenlaning is rooted in ideas which stress the importance of macro-economics, post neo-classical endogenous growth theory and the symbiotic relationships between growth and investment, people and infrastructure.

It sounds like your trying to involve politics and motorcycles. You know how that’ll end up!!

[daveuprite]

Well my economic approach to greenlaning is rooted in ideas which stress the importance of macro-economics, post neo-classical endogenous growth theory and the symbiotic relationships between growth and investment, people and infrastructure.

It sounds like your trying to involve politics and motorcycles. You know how that’ll end up!!

Not me. It's a bastardised quote from the lovely Gordon Brown - remember him? Good example of over-thinking...