It's Too Expensive

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:02]Oh, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Hope you're well.

[00:00:09]Had a chat with the guy yesterday. 21 years old, passed his A2 license at 19 years of age, was riding a Honda CB500R.

[00:00:20]Lovely bike. He got his girlfriend with him. She was on the bike and uh had a good chat with him. He was telling me that to buy the bike and to pay for the insurance, he was paying more than the monthly mortgage that his mother was paying for their house that he lived in. Yeah. And this just sounds absolutely ridiculous.

[00:00:47]Absolutely ridiculous. Just as a note, this particular bike, the GSX400, cost me about £110 fully comp uh to ensure for the year. And absolutely beautiful. It is going up for sale.

[00:01:05]I need to uh I need to do the uh um the the the fork seals. Uh one of them is leaking. Uh but it is 25 years old. And that's another thing when people ask when it as it's up for sale, is it absolutely perfect? No, it isn't.

[00:01:24]It's 25 years old. You know, why would why do people think that it's going to be like a brand new bike? The PE Anyway, off subject. Let's not digress.

[00:01:37]So, had a word with this young kid, 21 years old. He was paying £4,200 for his insurance.

[00:01:51]Suzy, come on. By the way, digress.

[00:01:55]Again, took Suzie out yesterday on the Triumph Tiger with her new pet carrier.

[00:02:02]This is the first time that I've taken her out. We've had such a long winter.

[00:02:05]Uh, need to keep her warm. Here's a photograph. She absolutely loved it. Had a great time. Actually, I was on the bike with Suzie uh with Suzie uh when I met this guy. Anyway, 21 years old 54 £4,200 a year for his insurance. Yeah. So, that's some £380 a month, £350 a month, I don't know off the top of my head. and he's paying for the higher purchase of his Honda CB500 which I guess is a similar amount maybe 2003 300 he's paying more than his mother's mortgage and I I find this incredible and the point here is I can understand why there's so many uninsured drivers or riders that are on the road now we hear of so many accidents where the driver of the car will speed off away from the accident because it's obvious they're uninsured.

[00:03:13]You know, they'll they'll either hit another car and speed off or they'll even worse they'll hit a motorcyclist and speed off. Yeah. It's not only here in the UK, it's over in the US. It's a terrible situation and you would think the government would control it.

[00:03:31]talking about governments, he also uh was looking forward to the new taxation policy that reform was bringing in to be able to pay for his motorcycle and his insurance. He was having to work 60 hours a week. He didn't he did say that he was doing 40 hours overtime a week. Fortunately, his organization was demanding uh the the demand from the organization was giving him the ability to work overtime. And uh basically what he was saying, he was bouncing up and down with excitement that in the future he believed that the new reform taxation policy would come in assuming they get u assuming they get elected for the government. uh and uh the work or the pay that he received after 40 hours wouldn't be taxed.

[00:04:34]That's amazing.

[00:04:36]Uh it really is a kick to the taxation system of the UK.

[00:04:41]Absolutely unbelievable. So he was quite excited about his future when it came to performing overtime beyond 40 hours a week. the additional six uh the additional 20 hours that he worked which wouldn't be taxed.

[00:04:58]There we are. That's that one. So that would make his life a bit easier. Have you heard about this new taxation policy that reform are kicking out? I mean it only came out was it Sunday? This is comes out on Tuesday. It was Sunday and I'm recording this on Monday. It was yesterday that this policy came out. Uh I don't know how they're going to fund it. It's going to cost five billion uh and they'll take it away from somewhere else. Yeah. But we'll not get into the politics about that. The point here is it's just it's just amazing how much the young are having to pay for insurance. And it almost sounds like unadulterated theft.

[00:05:45]£4,200 for a Honda 500.

[00:05:51]Yeah. And he's passed his test two years prior when he was 19.

[00:05:57]Yeah. It's just unbelievable.

[00:06:00]And it's And he he couldn't he he couldn't believe that I was paying for the for the Triumph Tiger that I was paying just over £100 fully comp. And you know the kids are today. I I I really do feel for them. I really do feel. And I No, no wonder there are so many uninsured drivers on the road. It's unbelievable. Unbelievable.

[00:06:30]What do you think? Have Have you had accidents with uninsured drivers? Have you had an accident where someone's sped up sped away from the accident? I don't really know how to describe it.

[00:06:44]Where where they've sped away from the accident and not being caught by the police or they have been caught by the police. Tell me a story in the comments below. How much is your insurance at this moment in time? Like I said, this is £110. Admittedly, I'm what, 59 with well over 12 years worth of no claims bonus on the car and on the motorbike.

[00:07:09]Haven't had an accident for years for I mean I'm talking decades.

[00:07:15]Uh and you know I know also I live in a place that's like sleepy hollows. It's just sleepy hollows and nothing tends to happen here. Fingers crossed.

[00:07:29]Dutch wood, whatever. It's just amazing how this I I have no idea what you go on go compare or something like that and see a price of £4,200 and then accept it. My goodness, he really must be dedicated to motorcycles.

[00:07:56]He really must be dedicated to getting a bike and using that bike to enjoy himself in his free time beyond the 60 hours he works every week and then using that bike to get to work and back on cuz it did look like it was being used daily. Yeah, it wasn't immacular.

[00:08:19]He bought it uh two years ago when it had got 6,000 miles on it and apparently now it's got something like 30,000 or 20,000 miles on it. So, it's done lots of miles. He's obviously using it for work and enjoying his rides at the weekends, which is absolutely fantastic to see a young person on a motorbike.

[00:08:40]You don't see that too often. uh and we should do but at £4,200 for insurance I can certainly understand why the young are not riding motorbikes. I mean the price of motorbikes is really good at this moment in time. If we think about inflation over the last four years the price of motorbikes have remained fairly static fairly static. I was having a look at the GSX GSX S1000 Suzuki and that's now 105,000 at Potteries. I'm not advertising but four years ago that bike which is a fantastic bike was £11,000.

[00:09:25]So something, you know, inflation doesn't seem to have attached itself to motorcycles.

[00:09:35]Yeah. Too much. I appreciate the Royal Enfields have gone up in price, but I think they're seeing uh themselves as a little bit more successful and they think they can charge a bit more. If they go much more than the £7,000 for a 650, I don't think many people will be buying it because then, you know, if you look at the difference between £7,000 for a Royal Enfield 650 producing 47 horsepower or 45 horsepower and the distance and an extra three three and a half grand for a GSXs 1000 Suzuki. Okay, you may as well just save a bit more and get the Suzuki.

[00:10:24]I don't know. That's my That's how my mind works. I'm not saying I'm right or wrong. I'm not but it's just how my mind works. You know, you're getting you I don't need to explain it anymore, but you can understand the economies that motorcycles haven't gone up in price when it comes to the inflation impact over the last four years.

[00:10:50]You tell me what you think.

[00:10:53]Are you suffering from uh the costs of motorcycle insurance? Because I'm certainly not.

[00:11:00]You know, the you know, I did say to this young guy, I did say with age comes certain uh benefits, should we say. And uh he couldn't believe that the tiger was costing £110.

[00:11:16]The Tiger's £110. This is £110. It's nothing relatively.

[00:11:23]And that, you know, the insurance that I've got for all the bikes, I can take them abroad into Europe. I I can do 6,000 miles a year. And based on two bikes, that sounds about right. In fact, this one is This one doesn't do anything. Yeah, it's the Tiger that will be doing the mileage. I don't want to put mileage on this. It's only got 3,000 miles on it and it needs to be kept low from my perspective to keep its value high on on the understanding that it's completely OEM and has never been touched other than oil changes and things like that.

[00:12:06]But you tell me what your thoughts are.

[00:12:10]I don't know.

[00:12:13]What a strange world we live in. I can certainly understand why there are so many uninsured drivers or riders in the UK.

[00:12:24]I really can.

[00:12:27]Ride safe. Tell me what your thoughts are. If you're subscribed, thank you very much.

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