It’s already midyear! For 2020, most of us spent less time on our two-wheeled mistresses because of the lockdown. Working from home allowed me more time to ruminate on the difference in my first year of riding last year. What better way to do a throwback than using excel sheets!
I received my 2B license in Feb 2019 and bought my first motorcycle in March. I religiously accounted for all my expenditure that whole year. From my excel sheet, I parsed and processed the data on all motorcycle spending. You’re welcome.
Let’s put this graph in context. I work full time in town and earn additional cash from working as a courier rider after work on weekdays and for the whole day during weekends. That’s five hours of riding everyday during the weekdays and 8 hours during the weekends. Riding as a courier means I have to service my motorcycle every month and spend more on fuel.
There are a few limitations to this visualisation. I did not include my loans in this data as it would just be a yayapapaya over all the other values. My loan per month is 700 SGD. I also removed the amount spent on my motorcycle tours. I went to Johor Baru four times last year for some trail rides. I went to Kemensah to chase some waterfalls in May. That trip cost 500 SGD for food, accommodation and motorcycle towing. I also went for a Himalayan tour worth 2500 SGD in August.
The bulk of my spending happened during the first months. I needed to invest in good protection. My trips in May and August are important for my data. I had to buy proper gear before the trips in March, April, and July so here’s a spike in the orange stream. I went for a holiday in November so there’s less fuel consumption. The expenses eventually ebbed away but I would have wanted to have more restraint. Also, I keep losing my gloves!
You can also see that there’s more maintenance work during the middle of the year. I skidded two times during the earlier months but the damage to the vehicle was minor. I had to change my tyres and breaks more often as I ride more hours for moonlighting. Sshhh.
This is tree map shows the number of times I bought certain items. Having a smaller tank means I had to pump petrol every riding day on four liters. I had a few parking fines from riding as a courier. Sshhh! I know riders who can’t stop buying helmets. Fortunately, I’m not one of them. But I do have too much boots. It’s also hard to find bluetooth head set that takes the wind into account. Also, have I told you I keep losing my gloves? Those who are mindful will probably spend less.
Since most of my expenses went to gear, I parsed how I used these items to see its worth. The longer lines are the items I used the most. I only donned my pants, jerseys, and armour when I head off to the trails. I still wear shoes, gloves, long sleeves, and lighter pants for courier riding.
My neighbourhood does not offer much transport options so I put my motorcycle to good use. The big yellow parameter is where I ride for my courier work. I rode around my community for 1700 hours last year! The other circles are my social visits. I need to go to a lot of art events for my studies. Platonic paktors are pretty tiring without a ride home.
Looking at this data visualisation tells me a few things: stop losing gloves, meet my friends more, and buy a motorcycle with more tank. Any sponsors?
