Cost and convenience of a bike vs. a truck?
 

I've been constantly debating whether I should do a RTW trip on a bike or just buy a truck with a camper shell.

Obviously the bike is a completely different, in your face experience compared to the truck, but...

In terms of money and convenience:

The motorcycle would get FAR better gas mileage and be cheaper to run than the truck, but the truck can always be used to sleep and work in, anywhere, anytime, in any weather condition.

A truck would save you money on lodging and staying in hostels.

Even though hostels can be very cheap depending on the country, you must first go to them (you can just park anywhere in a truck and sleep), they are subject to availability (the truck is always available), and they can get up to $30 a night in some countries (that's like 6 gallons of gas for the truck, per day!). If you're tired on the road from driving, you can just pull over and sleep in the truck. Can't really do that on a motorcycle. And if it's pouring rain or snow, you can still just go into the shell and stay instead of finding lodging or pitching a tent in a downpour.

I'm currently living out of my car in Lake Tahoe and it's free. If I were on a bike, I'd have to find a campground, pay the campground fee, or stay at a hostel or motel between $30-$60 a night.

A motorcycle saves you money because of fuel if you're constantly traveling and moving about, but if you like to stay put in a spot like I do, a truck would be cheaper in the long run.

So I'm basically looking for some input. I still LOVE the idea of riding the world on a motorcycle, but I feel like it could get very inconvenient and expensive at times.

First of all :welcome: to the HUBB.
I think you have covered most things in your post with the exception of shipping costs, obviously much cheaper with a bike, the alternative is use a truck and take a small motorcycle in the back for 'playtime', I used to enjoy UK-Spain via France in my van with a dirt bike in the back, just the ferry across the channel to sort so it was real easy.
So it depends on where you plan to travel?

Thanks!

Well, I was planning on starting in California, head to the southern tip of South America, ship the bike over to the southern tip of Africa, head north to Europe, east to Asia, India, Vietnam, etc. ship over to Australia, tour AU, and then back to the States.

Some (cheap) vehicle recommendations would be most appreciated :)

I was also thinking about having a bike as a runabout as well. Would be the best of both worlds I would think, especially if there was a second driver. One could ride the bike while the other drives so each gets a different experience.

Are there non-trailer solutions to mounting a bike like a Super Sherpa to the back of a truck?

The 'truck' also saves on food - as you can buy and store the cheaper larger packets of food (that won't fit on the motorcycle. Also tyres last longer and are actually cheaper per mile. Insurance too can be cheaper.

OK?

Now - why a truck? Why not a 'panel van' ... smaller and lighter and easier to park and ship. And cheaper tyres easier to find.. and more fuel economy... they also are easier to 'hide' when parked overnight.

As for carrying a second vehicle ... bicycles are far cheaper, smaller and easier to carry...

Less is more?

Those who want to travel by motorcycle .. well they simply love motorcycle travel. :scooter: If you don't have that passion then you have other options.

Yeah, definitely feel you on the food thing. Eating at restaurants, even in 3rd world countries, can add up.

I've thought about the van thing as well, but I'd like to be able to go anywhere on this trip. This means places where I'm afraid a van would get stuck. And if I'm by myself... this could be life threatening.

In fact, that was my primary reason at looking at bikes in the first place. I love riding bikes and I love the fact that they can go practically anywhere. I've got images in my head of parking my vehicle next to a cliff in the middle of the forest miles away from civilization.

Thought about the bicycle as well, and having ridden bikes and ridden motorcycles for long distances, I much prefer the possibilities of a motorcycle, even though I love bicycles.

Rather than a truck think about a small diesel hatchback or estate car. a Citroen c3 has well over 500 mile range and does 60+ mpg the fiat panda diesel having a smaller tank has less range but same mpg. On good roads driven sensibly you could get over 70mpg.

I use an old fiat hatchback and arrange it with a "kitchen" in the boot, clothes and camping gear on the back seat and use the two front seats for me and partner. Works really well. also I often carry 10 or 5 litres spare fuel behind drivers seat.

these small ( up to 1600cc diesel cars are more economical than most bikes especially if you add in the carrying capacity (eg bigger tent). They really do have many advantages.

well, We went down the truck route. right or wrong, it's what we did.

And we love it. We now live in our truck, and concider it home, not just a temporary travel vehicle. except for 2 extended trips on boats, we've lived in it since Christmas 2011, and really like it.

you've hit on a lot of the upsides, and there are more.

You can spend long periods of time in places you like as you can bring a LOT of food and water with you. We spent 12 days in Torres del Paine national park, and only spent about 2$ us while we were there (on a carton of milk). We could park for free in some of the car parks, and had enough food for that amount of time.

We are now parked outside of a tourist office in Coyhaique for the night. It's lashing rain, but we park for free and get free wifi. Town camping is possible!


The costs are the big down side. We spent 77,000 chilian Pesos on an oil change (probably about 150$US?) Shipping is the killer in terms of costs but you dont do that so often. Fuel is hefty with the truck getting about 12mpg (uk gallons), but then we do less miles than bikes do. So far our average is 85km per day.


if you want to save cash, then look hard for vehicles with better mpg, but make sure they can carry what you need and can be secure for safe sleeping in towns etc. it's best if you can stand up inside, and have your own toilet - great for town camping and rainy nights/mornings.


Also, if there is 2 of you and planning on 2 bikes, your total fuel bill per mile is twice that of using 1 bike....


Merv.

Well, I'm concerned about Carnets. I don't have $37,000 lying around for the Carnet on a $20,000 used truck if I choose to go to Egypt, for example.

What truck do you have and configuration?

if you're worried about finances, stay away from trucks. they guzzle diesel faster than you can pump it in, and all costs are higher than going by 4x4-car or bike.

but if you want the luxury of a decent bed at all times, a well equipped kitchen, a shower, and all the other amenities, and the possibility to carry a few weeks of food/water/diesel, and carry your bike just for fun or additional exploration, the truck's your ticket.

it has lots of benefits - but saving money isn't one of them.

Try hiring a camper van. Go on a trip and see if
i) the size of the thing suits you
ii) the fuel consumption is ok

Hiring it is a lot cheaper than getting one and finding out it does not suit. Same applies for the bike.

The hire companies sell off the older stock, they can be good as they are already converted, have regular servicing. And the camper vans don't get thrashed. So could be a good source?
----------------
There are lots of different ways of doing things.
Consider
Buying a cheap ($200?) bike in one country .. use it until it fails or you need paperwork to cross a boarder, then dump it (give it away).. and then buy another one ... might be cheaper than a carnet!

You could do the same with a car/panel van.. even change vehicle types depending on the country/weather ... and it will definitely save shipping costs!

Tyres on a motorbike might last as little as 6K miles while tyres on a 4 wheel vehicle might be good for 60K miles and they don't cost 10 times as much as the bike tyres.
Just about everything to do with 4 wheels is cheaper than for motorcycles with the exception of the MPG; but even modern 4 wheel engine designs can get good MPG returns.
Somewhere in another thread it was mentioned that a Fiat Panda diesel car will provide "cheap" overland transport, compared with a motorcycle.
What can a 4x4 Panda do?

Regarding taking a motorcycle within a truck, I would look very carefully at the paperwork involved for that; 2 CdPs?, 2 insurance requirements, what else??

From reading other posts in other threads, it is a Unimog.

Loads of people are doing this, IMO.
I have done it, for one.

I wrote into a magazine about this type of travel some time ago, there was a section on 4WD car vs. a motorcycle, and here´s a quick summary of that (...really it´s just my 0.02, and I admit, that I´m heavily biased towards bikes, but if I couldn´t do it that way, would have no problem taking a car then):

4WD Car, pluses:
+ Good comfort
+ Luggage space
+ Good shelter from the elements
+ Shelter in an the unlikely event of an accident
+ Parts possibly a bit cheaper, and definitely easier to carry spares
(+ Depending on the car, possibility to sleep, cook shower, etc)

Motorcycle, pluses:
+ You don´t have a metal cage around you, while you ride, so you experience everything, all sights and the scents, more ´pure´ or ´undiluted´
+ Usually cheaper to buy and equip
+ Usually better fuel economy
+ You don´t get stuck in traffic
+ Cheaper on ferries
+ Can go just about anywhere, where you can walk, even very narrow paths
+ In practice, much easier to get across rivers, that you cannot drive/ride through (can use any makeshift barge, etc)
+ In the cities, easy to park away from the street for the night (even into accommodation hallway, or even your room!)
+ MUCH cheaper to transport across the oceans, airfreight a realistic option (this one´s a really big plus)
+ Depending on model, more simple & easier to fix and maintain, than a car
(+ Motorcyclists are like a ´brotherhood´, so help or company is never far away (but I´m not saying, that travellers on a car would be left without help or company, either!))

WILD CAMP!!!! Also try couchsurfer, ADV tent space and the Hubb Communities. Simples...

:scooter:

The diesel 4x4 Panda does about 50mpg (imperial) as does the larger Fiat Sedici



if that helps

Welcome to HU :)

I'd go the bike option and the minimalist approach, less expense, drama and considerably more fun! Finding accommodation or a campsite is half the fun! Here is one of my favourite sites regarding accommodation.

homestay, looking for host families, homestay accommodation

Good luck with it all, Dave.

I used to subscribe to all of these points, in the sense that I thought them to be sacrosanct, absolute "rules".
But, perspectives do change, especially with increasing age, and "absolutes" can also change.
For instance, ferry costs for the UK to mainland Europe are a variable in a pretty competitive market (but that latter does fluctuate); the least I have ever paid to cross the channel, one way from France to Britain in the depths of winter and including a bit of haggling, was £4.50 - I have never managed to match that price for a bike + rider.
Also, a ferry crossing for a 4 wheeled vehicle with up to 9 passengers can be obtained for "peanuts" some times; put 8 of your mates in to that vehicle and the cost/person is suddenly negligible (I'll be doing this very thing in April).

Regarding spares: I have found that nearly all spares prices for 4x4 are far better value than the equivalents for bikes; in this I have been very pleasantly surprised at how cheap bits and pieces are compared with the asking prices for 2 wheel parts of similar role. e.g. shockers.

Also, I don't suppose anyone in a 4 wheel vehicle would consider spending hundreds of $/£/Euro on bespoke luggage complete with special brackets to hold it onto the vehicle. :innocent:

Now, admittedly in my old age, I think the "cage" argument is not fully correct; one could always travel with an open top car, for instance, if you really want to smell the blossom etc rather than the inside of your sweaty helmet lining. :innocent:
Without all the motorcycling dress, especially the helmet, a driver in such a vehicle would look far more like a human than a bike rider (there is loads of discussion in here about arriving in some far-off-place on a bike and how to "greet the locals").
- in my case, a sun roof and wind-down windows work fine. :innocent:

New motorcycles are not particularly cheap nowadays, in the western world; especially so in recent years as western nations move away from 2 wheels, generally onto 4; economies of scale basically. The same thing is happening in India and China and, no doubt, elsewhere in the world.
This trend has been magnified by the use of bikes as leisure vehicles; toys with expensive price tags, in the extreme.

I still agree with most of the points however, but, in summary, there are no absolutes and there is a place and a time for various modes of travel.

Finally, bikes are more fun!!

ps A driver and co-driver can cover a lot of ground with 4 wheels, nominally indefinately - that's not too feasible on a bike (try doing it without pulling over for the change of driver + I have also made a cup of tea in a 4 wheeler for the on-duty driver).

Thanks.
I recently acquired a 17 year old diesel Landcruiser that probably does 1/2 that MPG (I have yet to check it out but it can run on veggie oil apparently), but the depreciation should be cheap. :D

For me, the cage vs. no case thing is probably the biggest single upside for a motorcycle. And come to think of it, it's not just the cage, it's also about the different feeling of riding a machine, versus driving one. A convertible car, ok nice, but doesn't seem popular on a RTW-trip, so maybe there are a few drawbacks.

But good point, that there are no absolute truths in this, just opinions really.

Sorry i'm so late back, hope you will get this.

We have a unimog 1300, which is about as slow and thirsty as an alcoholic sloth.

none the less, we love it, and it suits our travelling style perfectly.

You can see it at Moglander's Travels | The travels of Moglander, and all that sail in her.

Merv.

I don't think there's any one answer that works for everyone. I don't ride my motorcycle nearly as much as I did say 15 years ago; for trips of more than an hour I usually take the car. My shoulders and joints are getting creaky and don't take the punishment like they used to, and I've done enough slogging down the highway in cold wet weather to last me a lifetime.

On the other hand, when the weather is good and the road is curvy, nothing beats the fun of a motorcycle. And I would think for a RTW trip, shipping a motorcycle from continent to continent has to be cheaper and less hassle.

One other comment - the claim that a motorcycle is going to be expensive for parts and maintenance. Mmmm.... depends a LOT on the brand and type of motorcycle. If you strip the splines on a BMW's drive shaft in the middle of the desert, that's going to be pricey. On the other hand, if you look at some of the trip reports of guys riding around the world on the likes of a Honda Cub or a YBR125, they are spending just pennies per mile on maintenance and fuel. Now, mind you, they aren't as fast and can't carry nearly as much gear, but it's a question of what the traveller needs vs wants.