Motorcycle fans pay an average of £5995 for their first new bike and ride it for 2700 miles in the first year – creating a bike cost per mile of £2.22. By year three of owning the motorbike, riders average just 585 miles, hiking the cost per mile to £10.25.
The cost projections come from research undertaken by motorcycle transport and storage company WMB Logistics (pictured), which interviewed 2139 Britons aged 18 and over who said they’d owned a brand new motorcycle for a minimum of three years.
Participants were asked what age they had been when they had purchased their first new motorbike (not counting any second-hand bikes they had previously) and the average was 34 years old.
To create a cost per mile, respondents were also asked to estimate how many miles they had ridden on their bike throughout the first three years. The results were as follows:
•   Year 1 – 2700 miles – £2.22 per mile
•   Year 2 – 1450 miles – £4.13 per mile
•   Year 3 – 585 miles – £10.25 per mile
When asked to estimate how long they spent riding, the bikers stated they had spent roughly 45 hours on the seat in year one, as opposed to 19 hours in year two and seven hours in year three.
When asked why their riding times and distances reduced so drastically after the first year, respondents said “it got tougher to find the time” (37%), “lifestyle changes” (32%) and “the novelty wore off” (18%).