Thinking about getting a motorcycle in Ireland? You NEED to watch this first.
Everyone makes it look cheap… but the reality is very different.
In this video, I break down the REAL cost of riding a motorcycle in Ireland — from buying your first bike, to insurance, gear, fuel, and all the hidden costs nobody talks about.
This is the stuff I wish I knew before I started.
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⚠️ This is part of my €40 → €500 YouTube challenge
Last month I made less than €40… this month I’m trying to hit €500 by testing different types of videos.
This is one of them.
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💸 COST BREAKDOWN (TIMESTAMPS):
00:00 Intro
01:00 €40 to €500 (Why This Videos Exists)
01:56 Setting The Expectation
02:25 The Bike
03:36 The Insurance
04:51 The Gear
06:02 Running Costs
06:56 Hidden Costs
07:41 Real Reflection
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📘 MOTO TRIP GUIDE:
Planning to ride in Ireland?
Get my full guide here:
https://bit.ly/4eJcx5V
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📺 WATCH NEXT:
I Tried Turning €40 into €500 on YouTube (Day 1) →
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📱 FOLLOW ME:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr.motoloco/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mrmotoloco
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💬 COMMENT:
How much do YOU think it costs to ride in Ireland before watching this?
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HASHTAGS:
#motorcycle #ireland #motovlog #motorcyclelife #irishriders #motovlogger #youtubegrowth #motorcyclecost
29 Comments
As others have said .costs to be us older riders are proportional.
Good to see videos made here thou.
You don’t sound Irish
such a good video to come across right the day before i buy my first bike!
You can get a decent bike for €4k. Gear will cost you around €1.5k. Insurance €250 a year and tax €88. Not bad compared to a car and you are not stuck in traffic. Gear will last you few years. The same bike for almost 10 years now.
A grand a year on maintenance, ah stop
Lol in northern ireland, my insurance for 2 bikes came to 175 quid, and i thought i was being ripped off! 😂 tax was 160 for both!
I passed my A Test 2 years ago in July, Now age 46 it costs me 280 Euro for insurance on my Honda Deauville NT-700.
Back in 2002 when I was 22 years old I was quoted just over 5,000 Euro's to insure a 1.2L Fiat punto ! that was with Quinn direct who were about the only ones at the time quoting younger drivers at all , sheer madness, I don't think it's that mad today. All that robbing and thieving and Quinn direct are still costing the Irish tax payer today with levies on our insurance !
I think people want to start off on bikes that are too powerful and going to get them screwed in insurance costs and a lot of people keep seeing 600 cc bikes as starter bikes , for learners, this attitude "must have the biggest fastest bike "
People need to improve their skills before the move up big in power and insurance companies love to charge more for sport bikes because they know people are going to want to ride them far in excess of the speed limits and this is too dangerous on the poor quality of Irish roads.
Bikes can be very expensive especially the big touring and ADV bikes and I don't really like them much.
Biking is cheaper than running a car, look at the amount of people into huge debt to get that new reg and have no choice but to go with PCP finance ? they can't afford the 2nd hand car for 15,000 yet they're drive out of the showroom in a 40-50 k + car on PCP because of the cheaper monthly payments ignoring the big balloon payment at the end ? then the depreciation when they go to trade it in.
A bike is still vastly cheaper than owning a car, unless of course you want to get a really cheap old car.
There's nothing wrong with riding a 125 or a 350 – 500 cc bike and the insurance is going to be a lot cheaper and the speed limits have come down on a lot of roads in 2026, the N80 Carlow to Enniscorthy is a prime example of how ridiculous things are getting in Ireland, due to one notorious black spot they reduced the speed limit from 100 – 80 Km/hr on the entire road, absolute joke and they have the speed van on this road a lot and this is many roads now so having powerful or fast bike is pretty useless now and you can loose your license fast. All L roads are not 60 Km/hr or 38 Mph !
Anyway, I love biking, best thing I ever did was get the license and a bike, I absolutely love it.
Some of the points are correct, a lot seems exaggerated.
Here's my take on current situation:
1. Buying the bike – buy a two or five old, don't look for cool, look for reliable, low mileage, think Honda, get a scooter if you have to.
2. Call your insurance before you buy the bike, shop around, add experienced second rider if you can, even if they might never ride the bike.
3. Prepare for a ton of additional spending if you live in questionable areas e.g. any city centre. Think much higher insurance, better locks, alarm etc.
4. Get solid helmet, decent jacket, shoes and gloves but don't splash out like mad and get solid rain overalls e.g. Scotts.
5. Clean and maintain the bike yourself – it is easy and there are tons of videos online. You don't need more than a 30cm wood stick to prop the back and oil can to catch the oil. Fine, a funnel too.
6. Your bike's wear will exponentially increase the more stupid you are on it on the road e.g. harsh acceleration, hard stopping, bad gear changes etc.
7. All above decrease over time signifficantly. While entry is quite high, over time it gets much more affordable and enjoyable.
9. Get decent disc lock with alarm, U Lock and chain and a cover. Use as many in combo as you can, especially parking over night.
8. And most importantly- ride and have fun. Avoid icy roads and if it is lashing all day – you can take a bus or train for that one time, you don't have to go to shite weather every time.
Did I miss much?
I bought a Japanese import Honda Shadow in 2005. It was 1996 and is still going as good as new. There were only 300 k on it. I bought my first bike in 1971 and am still riding.
I started a channel myself I have 100 subscribers I feel famous 😂 it’s just my hobbies I post time to time….i didn’t care once i was able to drive and safe I wanted the biggest bikes i could ive owed them all over the years I’ve lost count currently have a Honda 2000 CBR 900 fireblade a 2001 Kawasaki ZX-12-R and 2007 BMW 1200 GS/Adventure
Like anything really. Be the same for a car. Sure new cars nowadays are about 30 grand. And tbf ya wouldn’t really be getting a motorbike in Ireland unless you’re comfortable in life. Be kinda stupid if you were struggling to make ends meet and then get a bike. It would make no sense. 10 grand all in would get ya a decent starter bike. Full set of gear. Insurance tax and sure a few odd mods to the bike like a nice looking exhaust. Heated grips and better mirrors
Im sorry but riding in Ireland may not be cheap but its also not expensive. Ill give you my personal break down from start to finish less then 1 year ago. Im not a computer so prices are there thereabouts. Context 32 y/o male from the west of ireland.
Theory test – €45
IBT – €700
Bike (14 MT07) – €4100
Insurance – €480
Gear (XLMOTO) pants jacket gloves and boots – €250
Helmet – €400
Yes i get the hidden costs, like tyres and shit but in the grand scheme of things, to go from nothing to on the road on a nice bike for sub €6k isnt bad. And also i wanted a fresh (ish) bike. Buy 03 bandit for 1500 and your on the road for cheap.
Keep the cost down by getting a fixer upper project bike and learn how to do all the work yourself maintenance etc. Its enjoyable and saves a bit
What a load of exaggerated crap 😂😂😂😂😂 Ive had several bikes and it's no more expensive than car
the rob you here insuranc tax then you have to pay some dick to tell you how to drive a bike which will cost you 500 to 600 to do over three days plus pay for the test its self and after al;l that and you do the test the will fail you to get more money out of you nothing but a scam for ex cops our the rest who are making money for nothing its like if you whant to work on a building site you have to pay some fool to tell you how to work thats your safety pass then you have to do a induction course what a load of thieveing crap sick of the scum sucking leaches in this country let the other european countries insurance companys trade here let the people buy our veichles from europe let us have free will to choose who and where we want to buy our stuff i thought that was what aeuropean citizen meant but not here the rob you every chance the can get it is a den of thieves running this country into the ground not to mention how much petrol is here
I’m riding my r1150rt 20 years it’s £135 fully comp,it cost more to tax? in the occupied six mind you I’m riding 51 years,
Cost of anything in Ireland is robbery
I bought myself a Piaggio liberty 125cc from megabikes 3 months ago the insurance was cheap and tax was 67 euro for a year,
I drove manual bikes when I was in my 20s the last manual bike I had was a Yamaha TW 125cc,
I only keep bikes for a year and then I trade them in for a New one 😁 especially scooters.
But I love my Piaggio right now.
you`ll defo won`t make money with those crap lies stories 😁😁 being a punk don`t expect that your insurance will cost a few hundreds. Bikes and gear same prices every county, if still moaning go online and ship online from most famous websites that 80% all over the europe order
Awesome video mate!
Ah awesome video, very informative. Its nice to see someone in Ireland posting videos, very helpful for us newbies trying to get into riding here in Ireland. . Did the theory test last year and tried doing some research after I passed the theory test but most of the content out there is from the US or the UK. Look forward to watching more of your videos!
my fireblade cost me 370 this year to insure so not to bad but i need a new leather jacket and trousers because i got fatter
I finally got the go ahead to ride a bike, booked the theory test for this month but other than chatting to an IBT instructor, I have no idea where to start. Many thanks for making this video mate.
I think the cost is somewhat outweighed by the fact that Ireland is an absolutely incredible place to ride. Last month, my husband and I went from Wicklow to Kells and back, with extra stops and detours we ended up being out for 13 hours and I have zero regrets. A beautiful but expensive country lol
I just moved to ireland and I still have a motorbike in my home country. I'm planning on buying something on late 90's or early 2000's like a yamaha xt 600. I'm 23 years old. Do you think insurance in my case would be too expensive? Well, I'm not a new rider but I'm still young.
Love to see Irish biker content❤
From reading some of the comments it truly is mad getting a bike here.
I'm an 18 y/o male trying to get into riding. I done my IBT and started to look at bikes & insurance. The cheapest insurance I could find was 1.8k(TPFT) for a 125f, mad how the prices of insurance change just from age.😭
I think I'll just need to make some more money before I consider looking any further.😭😩
Adrian Flux/bikesure in Northern Ireland quoted me £500 fully comp for a first time CBT rider on a new 2026 Voge R125S, when the direct debit email came out it was £1280 a month for 9 months including interest it would have been £13460 for the first year, I nearly had a fucking stroke. phoned bikesure straight away this morning and they said a mistake has been made and my original quote stands, but until I see the figures change I'll just wait.
Insurance is the problem here. All the rest is pretty normal anywhere else and even waaaay more expensive than here in Ireland
Even in the U.S. maintenance on a motorcycle cost more than a small Honda car. 2 motorcycle tires cost same as 4 truck or 4 suv tires. 90$ usd for me to change my own oil. I can change oil on trucks and car for 90$.