Trip Cost Calculations
I want to give all prospective motorcycle travelers an idea of what it costs to travel long distances by motorcycle here in the US. Here is a rundown of our last trip across the US.
This trip was from Phoenix, AZ to Key West, FL and all around the southern US. Final mileage was 8,526 miles traveled and double checked by SPOT GPS Tracker. We left April 6th, 2016 at 5:32 PM and arrived May 22nd, 2016 at 5:39 PM, 46 days away from home!
Let's go over some costs:
Gas for 2 bikes total from receipts, 17,052 total miles traveled for 2 bikes. $1,043.82. We had a wide range of costs and generally used Plus or Premium fuel.
Bike maintenance costs:
1 rear tire for the Ulysses from Cycle Gear Columbus SC $112.87 Continental Conti-Motion... Not a long lasting tire, barely made it back home, 3,500 miles... Not recommended!
1 Fuel Pressure Regulator for the VFR from Kent's Powersports in Austin TX with 2-day shipping, $109.23.
Oil and oil filters changed three times on the road each bike Mobil 1 and K&N filters $143.45 for both bikes.
1 right front brake pad clip from Honda Little Rock $5.76 BTW it never worked so the safety wire lasted 4,000 miles!
The rest was normal road maintenance like chain adjust and lube on the VFR, which was a pain in the a$$, and fairing tightening due to taking it offroad a lot. The Ulysses needed nothing, so low maintenance, love that bike!
Total maintenance costs: $371.31
Lodging for 11 nights total, 2 in Abilene (not planned VFR breakdown), 5 were for the MotoGP in Austin (budgeted and planned for) and 4 were in Florida City (supposed to free camp but the Coast Guard shut that down...), 1 in Memphis (dead hooker hotel, planned for not expected to stay in such a crappy and creepy place). $605.71
The rest of the nights were as follows:
Wild and free camping 30 nights, cost $0. Thank you www.freecampsites.net!!!
Staying with relatives 4 nights, cost $0 Although there are some costs for meals I bought them in the misc section.
Food, that's where we spent way too much... Our initial thought was to cook at night but we arrived so late each night due to sightseeing and big mileage days, so unfortunately fast food... $1,497.33
Miscellaneous like: scuba and snorkeling, souvenirs (MotoGP, the tickets were purchased months earlier and not included), shirts (MotoGP), attractions, beer, fancy meals to celebrate my middle sons b/day in SC and buying dinners with relatives, etc. $525.88
Total cost of the trip $4,044.05
Average daily cost $87.91 for 2 riders on 2 bikes
Average daily cost per person $43.96
Average cost per mile driven for 2 bikes $.2371(rounded to $.24) or per bike $.1185 (rounded to $.12)
Let's take out the MotoGP costs, the scuba, and snorkeling, the not planned for motel nights, and if we were to make dinner at least 30 nights... I want to give a truer cost of a normal long trip. I'm taking out the MotoGP items, 4 nights not planned for lodging, scuba and snorkeling, the breakdown items purchased, and 30 nights of eating out and replacing that with buying food to cook or dehydrated food from home. We have a dehydrator and planned to use it but didn't... our fault.
Total budgeted cost now $2,738.05
Avg. daily cost $59.52 for 2 riders
Avg. daily cost per person $29.76
Avg. cost per mile $.1605 (rounded to .16) for both of us
Avg. cost per mile per person $.0802 (rounded to .08)
For those of you planning a trip hope this helps out. When planning a trip I usually start my budget at the .08 cents cost per mile and add from there. You can adjust your cost per mile depending on free camping or motels. I usually factor in a couple of hundred extra for breakdowns. We have AAA towing and can fix most anything on the bike short of rebuilding the motor. You might need to factor in more or have your credit card balance low enough to handle problems on the road. If you have any questions please ask, I'd be happy to help!!
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