Selling your car for your dream bike.

We don't often get a chance at our dreams. Get the bike!

 

It's worth it if it's worth it to YOU. Some people ride a LOT, but there priorities are elsewhere. My brother rides around 15K a year, dreams of owning a Ducati, but instead rides an EX500, and spends all his money on guns and ammo (he's got somewhere around 100 guns). Other people ride little, spending more time washing, polishing and adding doodads than riding. They seem happy also. Just about any time you have a bike and NEED a car there's a compromise between the two for how much you can spend (and how nice they each are) on each. That balance depends what you want or need.

Out of curiosity, what's your dream bike?

 

I'm finding myself in the same situation except I already have all the vehicles and now I just have to decide which one to sell. I've ridden my new bike almost every day since I bought it so my sports car will probably be on the market soon.

So with this new bike, do you think you'd ride it most days if you had it? If yes then I'd say go for it!

 

Go for it. I wanted a '58 Corvette, so bought one back in 2001. Then a few years ago I got back into motorcycles and now I'll be selling the Vette in the spring so I'll have room in our one car garage to work on the bikes. Priorities change, deal with the change if/when it comes.

 

My Bike is my only ride, with my wife's paid off Jetta being my fall back vehicle if things get too frosty. I say go for it, all you need is an old corolla and keep up the maintenance on it.... hell get a chevy s10 (or equivelant) so you can haul your bike to the track as well.

As a fellow SVer, what are you planning to out-nice the SV?

 

I just sold a really nice E30 and a guitar to buy an Aprilia.

Even with the weather being shitty, I have no regrets. Cars are too much work and money for the lack of performance.

 

NO!

A good reliable car is almost a necessity and a car provides so much more utility than a bike. Especially in any climate challenged environment. There is no such thing as a cheap car. Low value cars have a way of consuming disposable income on repairs and downtime.

If we were in San Diego or FL, the answer might be different.

 

Wrong.

I paid $4,300 bucks for my 1993 Toyota Pickup back in 2003. It had 84k on it. Today it has 200k, and has never once non-started. It looks uglier now, but has hauled everything I've asked of it. Newer and more expensive does not equal more reliable.

 

A proof that a cheap vehicle can be reliable (a classic):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaFXsMvvBz0

I went through it in the opposite order: bought a bike, then realized I don't really care that much anymore about driving my 1965 Mustang. Sold, and don't regret it. If you need a car on occasion, there's always Car2Go and Home Depot truck rentals, if it doesn't happen too often, you may actually save money vs. owning the car with taxes and licensing and insurance. If you still need a car often, there're always Toyota pickups and Honda Civics that will run forever.

 

He's not wrong, he said "low value", not economical. As someone that has had several Toyota pickups and a few Honda cars, I can tell you they are NOT "low value" vehicles. When I think of "low value" vehicles I think of cars where they put too much of their budget in styling or doodads to make it look or feel like a good car, instead of building a good reliable car. I worked with a guy that traded in his family 4 Runner for a top of the line Kia about 10 years ago. I asked him "you traded in your Toyota for a KIA?", he said "Oh yeah, Kia's are MUCH better cars than they used to be, they've got leather, power windows, door locks and sunroofs. You're thinking of the OLD Kia's", haha. A few years later he practically gave the car away after having numerous problems with the power windows the leaking sunroof and a transmission that failed.

Anyway I get a kick out of people that say "yes, get your dream bike and a cheap car" or "no you need a good car" as if we know what he needs.

 

All up to you. But I noticed you said "dream bike" in the title. So for me: life is short, go for your dreams. One day you might have responsibilities keeping you from getting them as easy.

If you'll still have a good car (even if not a really nice one, but a good one) then there is nothing really lost in switching where your luxuries are at, just how it makes you feel about what. You'll have to figure out what matters more.

But again, to me... if it's a dream we're talking about... well let me put it this way, in 20 years will you look back and regret not getting it, or will you regret what you gave up getting a lesser car for it? Will you remember the car at all if there is no dream attached to it?

Dreams change, best enjoy them when they are around. Otherwise you just waited all your life wondering if you'd regret chasing them.

 

You never did say what the dream bike is...

 

Noooooooo! I'm considering the same thing.

:secret:I still have my first car which is an all stock 1968 Camaro that I've owned for over 25 years. I've been in the same boat for the last 5 years- the car doesn't excite me like it did the first 10 years and I've been considering selling it but just can't bare to part with it for what I'd get out of it. My '68 C10 gets a lot of attention and it's actually faster/handles better and it much more useful! I'd rather have a beautiful Ducati or MV Agusta in my garage but I just can't bare to sell my baby for those, especially since they'll only depreciate rapidly and my Camaro is just increasing in value every year.

 

As long as your car meets your needs and is reliable, there's nothing wrong with spending the majority of your cash on a bike. For most of us on this forum, bikes are our passion and inevitably consume our time and resources. It's only logical that one would take precedence over the other when money is tight.

I'm driving a less than optimal Durango until I can afford to buy a deisel truck. I have the exact bike that I've wanted for years, however, and I'll keep paying to add more awesome to it. I get more enjoyment from my bike in 2 hours of riding than a month of driving my car.

 

That should bring a really nice sum. I just put it out for the price I was willing to part with it and waited until right buyer came along. A car that sits, rots...

 

I have a bunch of cheaper cars and cheap bikes

Where do I fit in?

 

I had a dream car; Porsche convertible but the payments were high. My wife suggested the purchase of a new motorcycle. While I was shocked at the suggestion, I went out and rode a new Harley Fat Boy and a full, track-only Suzuki TL1000R race bike (this is 15 years ago). Race bike won and I never looked back.

After buying the fully built TL1000R, the Porsche was downright boring. At the time I could have afforded to keep it but the Porsche was sold relatively quickly.

I sold the TL1000R and bought a GSXR1000 that I built eventually into a turbocharged, intercooled monster with magnesium wheels, carbon bodywork and lots of other bits that 10 years ago were extremely rare.

For 6 years I rode either the TL or the GSXR daily without a car to myself; if weather got bad I drove the wife's car. The money I saved in gas and car payments all went into new performance modifications for the bike.

It got stolen. Fast forward a few track bikes later, and a few crashes on the track later, I sold my last race bike and bought an autocross/race car thinking that if I bought a very fast and well sorted track car that was street legal, that it would scratch the itch and I would be safe inside a cage.

Sure the car is fun, but it isn't nearly the same. The car is currently so over-powered that it will roast the track tires at freeway speeds when boost kicks in, even by accident when you roll on the throttle at 20% with a coffee in your hand (happened the other day...instantly sideways on the freeway when I didn't want to be. The car has barbaric power). I did a freeway pull against a GSXR600 and stayed nose to nose with it; this car is serious.

Anyway, even with that type of a vehicle I still found myself to be stir crazy because I didn't have a bike.

Step up to the question; a few months ago I finally broke down, after 3 years of not having a bike, and I bought a BMW S1000RR (being the dream bike). The my car just sits now. I drive it when the BMW is getting serviced.

Even a brand new high performance car, if I were to buy one, could not hold a candle to a mediocre bike. If a bike like an S1000RR enters the scene, no car that cost less than my house would be able to capture my attention for long.

So, all things being equal, get a bike and never look back. I have wrestled with this question over the last 15 years, and the car will never win