Save money
Can you afford not to read this? So the snake oil ads would say (and still do). Put another way: don’t waste money. If you can possibly help it. Here are some tips
Face it. If you want to save money, faffing about with old motorcycles is a particularly poor way to go about it. It didn’t use to be this way. No. Old bikes were frequently given away as field bikes, when there were fields instead of retail parks and housing ladders.
We are not, however, going to lament the passing of the old ways, the insane shift from a 40,000 mile 1978 Honda CB250N Superdream being a valueless encumbrance to a £1500 eBay listing. That would be too depressing. Instead, we’ll examine ways and means of keeping a lid on outgoings as we continue to squeeze some sort of borderline enjoyment from what is now becoming an increasingly cash-heavy pastime.
And yet, it's not all doom and gloom (that would be the Superdream). There are plenty of ways and means of maximising fun and games without riding down the road to runination…
1) ARE YOU USING YOUR BIKE?
First; ask yourself how much you actually ride your bike (or bikes). Second; do you derive more pleasure from building bikes or riding? If you’re not riding a bike at least once a week (when the thermometer’s not reading minus), then it starts to become an expensive luxury.
And if you’re not in the garage making improvements or fixing issues, then that too makes your ‘pride and joy’ or ‘the collection’ more of a financial burden than a source of joy and reward. Think hard about selling. You don’t have to own a motorcycle to be into bikes.
Yes, there is a certain pleasure to be had from standing in a garage looking at the thing of wonder that is a motorcycle. But if big trips abroad, or even modest jaunts to the coast are no longer on the agenda, then your money is tied up in a redundant object.
Yes, it might be ‘better than money in the bank’ but it will deteriorate if not used for its intended purpose. Carbs gum-up, rubber parts perish, tanks rust, bearings get notchy. Use it or lose it.
2) BUY LOCAL
These days it’s daft to take a punt on a bike in the north of Scotland if you live in Cornwall. And vice versa. Jeez, a tank of diesel’s hardly worth the candle if there’s anything remotely iffy about a possible buy. And if you keep doing this to ‘find the right bike’ you’ll soon be down by £300 before you’ve even shown it a spanner.
Buy the right bike as close to home as possible. And if a good bike that maybe wasn’t exactly what you wanted lands in your lap – don’t be an idiot. Take it (assuming it’s not that Honda CB250N Superdream for £1500). You can always mov
