The Real Costs of Motorbike Parking

So we sent out a survey to you, the urban riders of America, to learn what parking your motorbikes really costs you. You may be surprised to learn that your parking costs are made up of more than the quarters you stuff in meters. Our Real Cost of Motorbike Parking survey was sent out far and wide and captured 1,483 respondents from all corners of the country and below you’ll see the insightful data points.

Addicted to Meters: Cities that offer motorcycle parking are about 50/50 split on whether they charge for it or not. Either way, 60% of motorbikers park in metered spots when riding in the city, while 18% park in lots or garages leaving the remainder (16%) parking at city designated or unmarked free spots.

Paying to Park: Thankfully, cities typically charge less for motorcycle parking than cars. If your city has metered parking, expect to pay about $38/month or $450/year at the meter. Those that find motorbike-friendly garages or lots are averaging $59/month or $680/year.

Tickets Add Up: Whether we parked illegally, overran the meter or forgot to put our license plate on, there are many reasons we get parking tickets. The good news is that on average, we only receive 2.18 tickets/year. Conversely, tickets are not cheap. The average parking ticket can cost $50 or more so expect to shell out $119/year, and that’s before any late payments or court dates. What if you get a ticket and get towed to the impound? Well, add another $125/year for towing due to a parking infraction, an unfortunate event that has happened to 41% of is in the past year.

Your Worst Nightmares: May of these costs are to be expected, but damage and theft are the dark issues when parking in the city. Luckily these costs are fairly infrequent but cost a TON when they happen. Nearly half of motorbikers have experienced some sort of damage to their bike when parked and on average this costs upwards of $225/year. 17% of bikers said the damage cost them more than $1000.

In San Francisco, motorbike theft rates reached the highest in the nation in 2015 and if we don’t properly secure our bikes when parking we can all fall victim. Good thing that only 18% of bikers have experienced a theft when parked, but the cost per incident can be staggering. The average cost of theft to motorbiker is $2300 and 20% of them estimate costs to be above $5000.

More than Meters: As bikers, we must be aware that the real costs of motorbike parking include way more than the pocket change for meters. All in all, motorbikers should expect to pay an average of $1,275/year on parking which includes, meters, garages/lots, tickets, towing, damage and theft. And now for the big number… there are 19 million motorbikers that ride to/in a major city on a weekly basis; with each one anticipating real costs of $1275/year, collectively bikers in the U.S. spend $24.3 billion each year on motorbike parking.

Data based on a CurbNinja 2016 survey.