Am I being stupid

I've been pondering over this ever since I passed my cage test (exactly 12 hours ago) and I'm struggling to make up my mind, but I think this is the most practical solution right now: http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=93936

The situation: I'm a student, with small part time income, and student loan next to £0 being offered. Working as much as possible this summer to keep me going for a bit, I'm gonna need a form of transport during the winter.

I love my bike, I love biking, but it just isn't practical whilst being a student.

Any views/advice would be appreciated, as I cant decide what to do.

Is there an alternative?

A colleague of mine, used to do the bangers and cash over winter, until very recently.

He'd get a car for no more than £500 with tax and M.O.T to see him through to end of March. On one occasion he made £50 back, usually he broke even in some cases he lost £100-ish.

The usual money backs like, SORN, reduce insurance to theft only that kind of thing.

Can you do a car share or anything like that?

Selling the bike might be necessary, but only after you exhaust all other possibilities

Hope you get it worked out.

Cheers

car sharing wouldn't be easy, nobody from where I live goes to the same university, and for my current work I'm contracted out different places.

The main cost is the insurance, at my age a 12 year old 1 litre car at third party is still at the four figure level, say I have that for 6 months, then its £500ish, plus the cost of the car, on top of that I've got the costs of the bike. winter storage (no garage) and even then, this year I have only enjoyed being out on my bike 4 times, the rest of time has been commuting. I know I will have a different heart when the weather improves, but that is if the weather improves.

[Supervox]

Why is the bike not a practical solution whilst you are a student ?

I'd have thought it would be ideal - much less than running a car.

Is it just the thought of riding through the winter that turns you off the idea ?

If so, then I have to say :-

(a) Some of the best rides I've had have been in the winter months.

(b) Properly protected (I use Scottoil F365) your bike shouldn't suffer any major corrosion problems.

(c) You will improve your riding ability by learning to control your bike in all kinds of weather.

If there is another reason - then please ignore all the above !!

Cam's idea is a good un when talking about budget 4 wheel transport. Buy something at 500 quid with six months MOT in October and sell it spares or repair for 150 quid in April. Insure it third party only and buy six months road tax. You can't run a car any cheaper than that.

As for the bike, do you need an 06 plate? I know plenty of guys with reliable bikes that are between 5 and 10 years old. I'm assuming you paid 4 grand new for the bike on 0% finance. By my calculations if you've had the bike a year and manage to get say 3300 for it, you've got about 650 quid equity. If you put that down as deposit on a £1500 quid bike, you'll reduce your payments from 111 quid a month to 30 quid a month. The below advert is from Autotrader.

2001 SUZUKI SV650, 16000 Miles

Price:
£1,500



function openWindow(url, windowName, features) {window.open(url, windowName,features); }




Features:

• 16,000 miles
• 650 CC
• Y reg (2001)

Full Description:

Glossary of Terms

11 months MOT, 2 months tax, new battery, 2 new tyres, always garaged, 1 lady owner, excellent condition, no time to use. £1,500. no offers

Private Seller:

Contact number: 0151 4201964 or 07950 112226
Distance: 177 miles from ml7 5sy

I had great fun winter riding 2 years ago, especially falling off (at low speeds) 6 times on the one road laughing all the way to work in the snow (my 125 was fun). But that aside.

Its the practicality of the car, Theres no gear you have to change out of and carry round with you round uni, theres no frozen/wet me sitting in a lecture theatre shivering. I am not relying on the bus on the few exam days that the snow decides to fall and from my maths I worked out that the car would be cheaper overall

Ralph- with the bike, that was what I was contemplating doing, but with the situation of lack of student loan, and little income, I would have to take a break from one, again its mainly the insurance costs. I'm not saying its the bike or the car indefinitely, just that my negative funds say I cant afford to insure the two, never mind own the 2. I would get a bike in the next year or so if I managed to get work whilst studying, to keep my no claims if nothing else.

Onyer... you're not studying computing perchance? SQL? If so then pm me. I might have some freelance stuff I can put your way.

How about selling the bike and buy decent winter gear and an enduro jobie, eg. DR400. They are cheap, low insurance and go down the road well if you live in a **** snowy area.

IMHO Scottish winters are worse than English winters.

Where I am now is usually 5 degrees lower than when I was in England. And Ice and motorcycles don't go.

Originally Posted by stuartyboy

Onyer... you're not studying computing perchance? SQL? If so then pm me. I might have some freelance stuff I can put your way.

Nah, I'm doing mechanical engineering, but thanks for the offer.

Originally Posted by Horney

How about selling the bike and buy decent winter gear and an enduro jobie, eg. DR400. They are cheap, low insurance and go down the road well if you live in a **** snowy area.

A warm cage somehow just seems that little bit more tempting.