Forget the motorcycle if you are trying to SAVE MONEY.
Do, the math.
Washington state, maybe 3 months were the weather might be good enough to ride.
maybe 3 days a week.
Subtract the gas money saved from the Jeep, add the gas money for the bike, add the repair bills from falling on wet roads, getting run over on wet roads, paying speeding tickets, buying more cloths, paying insyurance and registration.
Using your figures, and guessing you will get twice the gas mileage on a 500cc.
You will save $60 per month, $240 if you rode every day for 4 months.
The insurance alone is more than that, right?
Which means you're losing money, and the bike never pays for itself.
I'd say the probability of an accident doubles on a bike and goes up by a factor of 10 in bad weather.
Oh, and here is a test, get that crotch rocket in the other post, get started up on a nice green lawn (to simulate wet roads), then rev it up a little and dump the clutch. I'll bet a hundred dollars you fall over, now image the car behind you at the red light didn't notice and drives right over you.
Get the motorcycle if you
LOVE to RIDE.
I commuted to college in NJ on a Suzuki 250 two-stoke back in the 70's.
Dennis;
1966 Harley XLCH
1988 Yamaha FZR1000
1995 KTM 300 EXC
1977 Yamaha YX125
