Ebike vs Motorcycle

[Razor1972]

6 hours ago, Rolf Hansen said:

I'd say it very much depends on what the aim is and exactly what you want to do with the bike.

If you don't travel highways, don't need to go fast, only want to use it for commuting and don't mind looking like you are delivering someone their pizza you can get something like a Bajaj CT125 or Hero Eco Deluxe. Both can be had for under R20k new and will give you a range of between 500 and 600km on a 10L fuel tank. It will still zip through traffic and will save you a heck of a lot of time and money. You won't look cool, you won't go fast but to beat traffic and the fuel price, nothing can compare.

Some smaller 2nd hand bikes that can be had are great for traffic in town but suck on the highway. They can double as weekend toys though. Like the mentioned CRF250/300. They won't blow your socks of in terms of power with 23/27hp respectively either but for a new rider it would probably be plenty, they look cool and make for great off-pavement toys. Can do highways but not great at it.

There are more powerful dirt bikes that make for even better toys but they are more dirt focused and in turn usually makes them less suited to higways/open road. Something like the WRF450 mentioned comes to mind but I suspect that will be too much of a handful for a new rider and for daily commuting the maintenance will kill you.

I currently use my DRZ400E for commuting when I do decide to go to the office. I only use it in town. It tops out at around 110km/h but does get there VERY quickly which makes it great in traffic. I have proper dirt tyres on it which makes me avoid wet tar like the plague

The Honda NC700/750 are built specifically for commuting and will give you 30km/l+ consumption. Services are not that cheap but if you can do simple maintenance yourself it makes it MUCH cheaper. It has manageable power, great onboard storage and has no problem doing longer distances on the highway.

There are cooler and larger bikes out there but maintenance becomes expensive and they can be a handful if you are not used to riding in traffic.

 

Not sure if any of that helps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you. This does help a lot. I mountain bike, but doesn’t mean I’ll do dirt bike riding. I don’t see it as something that’ll interest me. I would likely use a motorcycle only for commuting three times a week and maybe pick up my daughter from school now and then. The reason I was thinking ebike, is because I see it having a dual purpose and I’ve always wanted an ebike. But reading the advice (very good advice from everyone), it sounds like the maintenance will kill me, so that’s definitely not going to work. Thank you again. I’ll have a look at those cheap options. I’m not looking for cool 😄

[Razor1972]

1 hour ago, ChrisF said:

 

Your comment on wheel size is VERY true.

 

 

Very nice option for the commuter market ....

 

Nice comparison

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://news.maxabout.com/bike-comparisons/suzuki-gixxer-sf-150-vs-gixxer-sf-250/&ved=2ahUKEwjFzbjRwJ_4AhXdSEEAHWaMBfEQFnoECD0QBQ&usg=AOvVaw2iPRbYQeyVj1luTzKSNdXB

 

 

For optimal fuel evonomy ... the 150

 

For those that do a bit of high way driving the 250 seems a good fit ....

I mean I’m not looking for cool, but the Gixxer is one awesome looking bike and at that price 😍

[ChrisF]

8 minutes ago, Razor1972 said:

I mean I’m not looking for cool, but the Gixxer is one awesome looking bike and at that price 😍

 

Over the last 40 years I have had a "couple" of motorcycles.  Done about 200 000km on motorcycles, of which about half was done commuting.

 

The ABS on this Gixxer is VERY handy for a commuter bike !!!!!

 

The strangest feeling when the front wheel is fighting for grip on sand on the road as you head towards a car .... and you FEEL that ABS working away ..... IT WORKS !!

 

 

Wheel size .... I HATE the twitchy feel of a small wheel scooter ....

 

 

 

 

Cost of ownership ..... motorcycles aint exactly cheap commuters !!!

- insurance is way more ....

- Tyres are replaced more often than cars, and can be pretty expensive ....

- service intervals are shorter .....

- spark plugs on some models crippled me ....

- chain maintenance ....

 

Most long term bike commuters do it due to the convenience factor .... not being so reliant on the flow of traffic.

 

[DuncanCT]

I've just got a bike license for recreational purposes. Interesting to hear the communities comments on the following:

Honda CRF250/300L

Kawasaki Versys-X 

Hero Xpulse 200 (sorry Hero not Xero)

Edited June 9, 2022 by DuncanCT
error

[Rolf Hansen]

4 minutes ago, DuncanCT said:

I've just got a bike license for recreational purposes. Interesting to hear the communities comments on the following:

Honda CRF250/300L

Kawasaki Versys-X 

Xero Xpulse 200

I know about the Versys-X but have not seen or ridden one. Should be the dog's bollocks for a small adventure bike.

The 300L has significantly more power than the 250. Nice bikes. Great looks and Honda reliability.

I went to ride the Hero Xpulse 200 yesterday. Seems very well built and very well specced for the price. Nissin brakes with ABS upfront. LCD dash with turn-by-turn navigation, Metzeler Sahara tyres as standard. The power delivery is very smooth and the bike is very nimble. Brakes are strong. I would not take it offroad in standard guise, the front-end and bars feel way too low. They are expecting the Rally model in a few weeks that has longer travel adjustable suspension front and back, rally style seat and two sets of tyres, one off-road and one more road biased. Much less power than I am used to but that can be expected from a 200cc.

[ChrisF]

11 minutes ago, DuncanCT said:

I've just got a bike license for recreational purposes. Interesting to hear the communities comments on the following:

Honda CRF250/300L

Kawasaki Versys-X 

Xero Xpulse 200

 

My neighbour just added his third motorcycle to his collection:

- R1 for Sunday fun ....

- Honda CRF250 as his primary commuter

- He now added the original 650GS to his collection ..... not sure where this will fit into his collection .....

 

 

PS - I had a 650GS as a commuter, and it was superb.

[Mongoose!]

mmm. Sometimes this cheap way of commuting can also bite back...

Last week I saw an oil leakage at the rear end of my motorcycle.

Was the rear shock leaking. (non serviceable part according to agents...) new one R25K

guess nothing last forever....(2010 F800 GS' 40 000 ish km; zero off road millage' owner since new...😥

There goes all my fuel savings for the past 11 years. 😜 

....currently send off to some kind of aftermarket suspension guru, and waiting feedback for if it can be "service/fix" ...

Yesterday was my first bicycle commute to work again in a very long time...lol

[Razor1972]

47 minutes ago, Mongoose! said:

mmm. Sometimes this cheap way of commuting can also bite back...

Last week I saw an oil leakage at the rear end of my motorcycle.

Was the rear shock leaking. (non serviceable part according to agents...) new one R25K

guess nothing last forever....(2010 F800 GS' 40 000 ish km; zero off road millage' owner since new...😥

There goes all my fuel savings for the past 11 years. 😜 

....currently send off to some kind of aftermarket suspension guru, and waiting feedback for if it can be "service/fix" ...

Yesterday was my first bicycle commute to work again in a very long time...lol

Ouch. 

[Trance Dance]

10 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

Over the last 40 years I have had a "couple" of motorcycles.  Done about 200 000km on motorcycles, of which about half was done commuting.

 

The ABS on this Gixxer is VERY handy for a commuter bike !!!!!

 

The strangest feeling when the front wheel is fighting for grip on sand on the road as you head towards a car .... and you FEEL that ABS working away ..... IT WORKS !!

 

 

Wheel size .... I HATE the twitchy feel of a small wheel scooter ....

 

 

 

 

Cost of ownership ..... motorcycles aint exactly cheap commuters !!!

- insurance is way more ....

- Tyres are replaced more often than cars, and can be pretty expensive ....

- service intervals are shorter .....

- spark plugs on some models crippled me ....

- chain maintenance ....

 

Most long term bike commuters do it due to the convenience factor .... not being so reliant on the flow of traffic.

 

You can always get around the high cost of insurance by buying an off road bike. These (and harley) are insured at much lower rates than road bikes, especially sport bikes. 

[ChrisF]

3 minutes ago, Trance Dance said:

You can always get around the high cost of insurance by buying an off road bike. These (and harley) are insured at much lower rates than road bikes, especially sport bikes. 

 

BMW had very nice inhouse insurance 👍