Why I sold my motorcycle

This is just a short diddle on the keyboard today, but I wanted to explain why I sold my bike, and the resultant effect it had on me. I originally posted this on Instagram which has had a lot of interest, so figured it was worth converting into a longer post to put up on here!

Why I sold my bike

I recently sold my bike. It wasn’t an easy thing to do, but was something that weighed on my mind for some time. I really enjoyed riding my super sport motorcycle, it was something I did with a bunch of good mates. Unfortunately I didn’t ride it as often as I would like, due to a high workload and working away from home so frequently.

This meant it just sat in my apartment complex, well protected under a cover and in a secure area, just doing nothing. The registration cost was about $600 per year, and insurance another $400, meaning it cost at least $1,000 a year without even being ridden.

Further to this was the cost of Petrol and maintenance. Because I am pretty handy, I do all the maintenance myself. This was on average $200 per year over the five years I owned it. This included oil and filter changes, but also included new fork seals and oil, rebuilding the water pump and coolant / radiator flushes. I also replaced a battery and added a kill switch, and an Anderson charging socket (all DIY projects). I got a lot of enjoyment from tinkering with it, but it did take up a lot of time!

This means the bike cost about $1,200 per year, plus whatever I would spend in petrol. To sustain this cost in FIRE, I would need to hold at LEAST an extra $30,000 worth of index funds 😳 That’s starting to tie up some serious dollars, and would take something like 5 months to even earn in the first place, meaning to keep it I would have to keep working for almost another half of a year or so, PLUS longer to account for any petrol I wanted to burn through!

I would love to have kept it – riding it was the probably the second best thing you could do with your pants on! (flying being number one), the thrill and rush of the adrenaline when you opened the throttle was incomparable…and it was pretty fun to take girls out on dates on the back of. I guess I will just have to find a new way to scare potential future wives – I still have light aircraft I can hire to do that job so not all is lost 😂

The proceeds of the sale are going straight into index funds, helping to incrementally work toward FIRE. Selling the bike actually brings FIRE something like over seven months closer – this is made up of both the lower cost of living without it, and the gains from investing the value of the bike! I chose to invest this money into Milton (ASX:MLT) because it was trading undervalue at the time! ⏰ 🔥

Selling the bike also forces me to unwind more during my downtime from my high workload job; rather than speeding around and undertaking ‘adrenaline junkie’ risk seeking behaviour, I am out on the bicycle improving my physical health (instead of risking it) or reading books to educate myself and stimulate my mind.

In this regard, I think I will be more productive and relaxed at work, and be able to focus more on my writing, socialising and being happy. By committing to less activities, there will be far more time for spontaneous things like unplanned social interactions – which I think is one of the biggest keys to happiness.

I have also come to terms with some suppressed feelings I have had about riding the bike – Unfortunately I have had some friends seriously permanently injured and deaths in my riding groups. Its not something you want to think or talk about, but it something in the back of my mind every time I gear up. You can’t let fear stop you, but it is always there as a reminder. Given my focus is on thriving for the future to become a great dad, I’m glad this is a decision I have made which helps safeguard my future.

Since the bike is gone from the garage, I feel calmer when I go down there. When I get my car and drive to work, I am no longer ‘relieved’ that it hasn’t been stolen or a car has backed into it by mistake. I am no longer worried that I’m not riding it enough, that the seals are drying out and internals corroding, that the petrol is going stale or the battery is running out, and that the bike is depreciating in value. Now I feel a calm sense of space and freedom.

Actually, even further to that, I have since let me neighbour place all of their storage things in my cage – since I don’t have anything taking up space in there anymore. This means they are able to rent out their storage locker on the valuable ‘Sydney Storage mania’ which is helping them to pay down some of their personal debts! Total Win!

I guess as I grow up I am going the way of Mr Money Mustache and Mr Frugal Toque – check out the article ‘Man sells motorbike, Experiences Bliss’. Both of these highly influential financial independence bloggers started out like me with super sport bikes, but as they matured on their path to Financial Independence and early retirement, discovered that its not required and actually quite detrimental to the process. As Mr Money Mustache says – at any time he can ‘reach his hand out into the stream of used motorcycles’ and pick one up super cheap!

At least the bike has also gone to a good friend and someone I know who will look after her, and there was a promise of being able to go for a ride in the future if I ever felt the burning desire to turn some money into loud noises with the twist of a wrist.