Contemplating swapping my car for another bike

Getting really bored with how much a car is costing to run these days so seriously tempted into flogging the car and getting a bike to commute on (wouldn't use the cat as its too precious lol)

Just updated my car insurance to my new address and due to it being a 'higher risk' area than ive been in for the 3 years my insurance is now gone up to £745 (on a diesel focus estate) which is a joke considering im getting on for 30 with over a decade of no claims and never had any convictions or claims. My insurance is costing me more now then it did 7 years ago on an import toyota mr2 that had a 3.0 v6 in it

Anyone else ditched their cars and now only have a bike?

I did, for a while - just before I met my current wife!

Then the practicalities of carting two people around on a bike got in the way, so caved in and went car-route again, haha.

Now we've got two cars (Alfa GT and Punto) and the 'Cat as a weekend toy

I've never owned a car in the UK, just the two Thundercats. Bike is for weekends and holidays, my commute to work is a mile+ walk. Bought my flat because it's on the tram route, only 150 yards from the stop and even less to a bus stop. If the weather is too bad to use the bike to go shopping I'll Oyster it on the tram.

I'm single, so it makes things a whole lot easier. I am a member of Zipcar, a car club, so I can rent a car or van by the hour, but if I've done 150 miles a year on 4 wheels it's a lot.
If I had to commute into London I'd prob get a 125 or even one of those Honda cub 90cc things - but doubt it would agree to my weight.

Time to change your insurance company , i think. Being an 'old git', i've just been quoted around £150 fully comp for my Merc C180k, er indoors only pays around £250 for a new MX5. I only use my car for when we take the dog out and for hols (2004 and only 15000 miles on the clock). Always use the cat for work as it makes it so enjoyable to go!

Thing is the other half has a car and as of September she will be working in London for the next year so I have the use of her car if I really need it ... im going to have a look at insurance quotes as mines £745 and its not even fully comp so I must be getting bent over .

Just like the idea of always riding a bike just dont want to always use the cat and A) make it dirty lol and B) get bored of riding it ... I know im still pretty new to riding the cat but I just dont want to lose that feeling of it being an occasion getting out on it

Lots of people get a bike for winter hack. It doesn't add that much to the insurance either. As long as you don't try put a named rider on either then it gets complicated...Seems a boat load of brass for insurance on the car though! Bloody hell!

Unfortunately I couldn't manage without a car. However, my insurance doesn't cost that much!! Is that definitely the cheapest you could get? Mines around £400 for a BMW 330i.

Regards,

Mike

My old Kwak GPX750R was tatty, started first time everytime, went like absolute hell when the sun was out and cost me pittance to buy and even less to insure (classic insurance).

Something like that could be a good route for a winter hack!

yep turns out im getting bent over ... just banged in my info into confused.com and cheapest came back from ASDA at a jaw dropping £297 ... how on earth can my insurance company that ive been with for years be nearly £500 dearer at least there is only a month left on my policy

which means ive technically got another £500 quid to spend on bikes

Insurance companies couldn't care less about loyalty now. Best to check comparing sites every renewal time

bingowatts wrote:Insurance companies couldn't care less about loyalty now. Best to check comparing sites every renewal time

Exactly. It's wrong but it's true. That's what I used to do. Although I go through IAM Surety now.

Regards

Mike

mikeyzf600 wrote:

Exactly. It's wrong but it's true. That's what I used to do. Although I go through IAM Surety now.

Regards

Mike

Even with IAM Surety it pays to get a couple of other quotes to use for haggling - they'll usually have a bit of slack they can take out.

I just had a very competitive quote for the bike from Saga, of all people - but that's not much help to a nearly-30-year old!

bobh wrote:

mikeyzf600 wrote:

Exactly. It's wrong but it's true. That's what I used to do. Although I go through IAM Surety now.

Regards

Mike

Even with IAM Surety it pays to get a couple of other quotes to use for haggling - they'll usually have a bit of slack they can take out.

Yeh that's what I do. Did a quote on the bikeinsurer first and sent them the results and they were able to go cheaper.

Car insurance has become ridiculous now, tbh admiral wanted £1200 for tpft for a MICRA 1.0, thats bloody crazy, i ammended my insurance from a ybr 125 to the thundercat for an extra £200.

i am getting the feeling as well that insurance companies dont give a toss about loyalty. Just shop around really

I cover Scotland (including the Islands) for my 'soon to be last' employer and used my own car(s) until they decided to save some cash and give me a Peugeot Partner van and take my car allowance off me.
It's not as bad as I thought it would be (unless it's wet and it becomes a potential death trap with it's cheap tyres), but it isn't a patch on using my Accord, which was serviced and always got fitted out with top quality boots.
(The van has two shitty Falken (Teaspoon Aquaplane Drifter+) on the front, a Toyo on one side of the rear and a Dunlop on the other )

Anyhoo,
I can't claim mileage any more, since the van is fitted with a tracker and a TomTom Pro.
TomTom put this out: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
It's nonsense (if you have plastic tyres that'd spin up on sandpaper, how accurate are their "fuel economy" figures going to be?)
As a result I can't use the bike for small jobs any more, but the last quote I got on the car for Comprehensive Class 2 Business Insurance @ 50,000 miles p/a, excess of £250, free windscreen cover, legal cover, breakdown recovery and replacement car cover, was £568.

As usual, how much you pay is probably down to your postcode.
Your car could live in a bank vault overnight, but if you have a shitty postcode they'll charge you as much as a neighbour who leaves his car in the street. :/

see that's the thing, they ask where its going to be parked and I tell her that it stays in a secure underground car park with 24hr CCTV that is underneath my flat so the chances of it getting nicked is pretty much 0 and she says sorry it doesn't make it any cheaper ... so why ask?

Postcode is all that really matters to them.

alleycat wrote:see that's the thing, they ask where its going to be parked and I tell her that it stays in a secure underground car park with 24hr CCTV that is underneath my flat so the chances of it getting nicked is pretty much 0 and she says sorry it doesn't make it any cheaper ... so why ask?

Suffered the same thing while serving in the forces mate.
Bike or Car was within a secure Army Barracks, add to your security mix, razor wire and patrolling armed (with fully automatic combat rifles) guards. Still made no difference to the quote, . . . and in some instances made it go UP . . . they regarded military personnel as a higher risk