Riding Cost in Japan
Five famous motorcycle makers - Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Yoshimura - are all in Japan. Some foreigner may consider Japan as motorcycle paradise. However, it is not true. Japan is not the suitable country for enjoying motorcycles.Although the reason is various, I will show you about the riding cost this time. Roughly convert, if 100 yen is 1 dollar / Euro. Probably, you can imagine how much is the cost to ride motorcycles in Japan.
Remember, there is no exaggeration in this content.
About tax
The tax system of Japan is complicated. I made the chart of the tax about motorcycle.
In 750cc motorcycle case:
| At the time of purchase | |
| Consumption tax (BAT) | 5% of the price |
| Weight tax | 5,000 yen ( Not necessary for secondhand ) |
| Tax of maintenance | |
| Weight tax | 5,000 yen every two years |
| Owning tax | 4,000 yen every year |
Toll road (Pay road)
Highways of Japan are not free of charge. Most of all highways are toll roads. When I use the highway from Osaka to Tokyo (about 600km), I have to pay 9,000 yen for the road charge. Moreover, tandem riding on the highway by motorcycle is forbidden. F**K!
p.s.
Tandem ride on the highway was permited since Apr, 2005.
Gasoline, oil cost
There is no oil fields in Japan, we have to import crude oil by tanker from over sea. So the price of gasoline is very high. Past 1 or 2 years, the price of gas is about 120 yen.( NOT Gallon But Liter ) By the same reason, genuine engine oil is 1,200yen/L, Motul 300V is 3,000 yen/L in this country. Crazy!
Tire cost
Both Dunlop and Bridgestone are Japanese company. But tire for motorcycle is very expensive. For example, D208 -Not GP- the tires for my GSX-R costs about 40,000 yen. ( F and R, include exchange charge ) Insane!
Insurance
Compulsory traffic insurance costs about 20,000 yen every two years. And if you are under 21 years old, it costs about 84,000 yen per year to make a contract of voluntary traffic insurance.
Well.....Still do you think that Japan is motorcycle paradise? :-&
Postscript(Jul, 2006)
>> Well.....Still do you think that Japan is motorcycle paradise? :-&
It passed 4 or 5 years since I wrote this paragraph, I still believe that Japan is not a paradise of motorcycles. But I must think it again....Not a paradise, but it may be better than Ireland.
I received an email from Rony, and I cannot believe the price of traffic insurance in Ireland. 4300 euros!!!! 627800 yen!!! I couldn't own my GSX-R in Ireland... :-(
Conclusion:
There is no motorcycle paradise on the Earth...