A motorcycle is the cheapest way to own a private vehicle in Singapore, but cheap is relative. A new entry-level Class 2B bike on the road costs roughly $18,000 to $28,000 in mid-2026, of which about $10,000 is the Certificate of Entitlement alone, which closed at $9,989 in the 17 June 2026 bidding. Before you ride, you also pay around $700 for the licence. After you buy, the running costs are small next to a car: road tax of about $63 to $400 a year, insurance from a few hundred dollars, and petrol most people keep under $130 a month. Folded over a 10-year COE, a typical bike works out to around $450 to $600 a month all-in. This guide breaks down every number with the verified 2026 figures, so you can see what you actually sign up for.
There are three cost stages with a motorcycle, and people usually only think about the first one. Stage one is getting your licence, around $700 if you pass everything first time. Stage two is buying the bike, where the price is the machine plus the COE plus taxes. Stage three is the running cost you pay for as long as you keep it.
For a new entry-level Class 2B bike in 2026, the on-the-road price sits around $18,000 to $28,000. A mid-size or used bike can be far less; a litre-class sports bike or big tourer is far more, mostly because of a higher import value and the tax on it. The single largest line in that price is the COE, which closed at $9,989 in the second June 2026 bidding.
Running costs are where a bike beats a car by a wide margin. Road tax is about $63 to $400 a year for most engines, insurance runs from a few hundred to over a thousand, and petrol for a small bike is often under $130 a month. Spread the purchase over a 10-year COE and add the running costs, and a typical bike lands around $450 to $600 a month, against roughly $2,000 for a mass-market car. See our breakdown of car ownership costs if you want the side-by-side.
Before you can buy anything, you need a Class 2B licence, which covers motorcycles up to 200cc and 15kW. You earn it through a riding course at one of the three schools, Bukit Batok (BBDC), ComfortDelGro (CDC) or Singapore Safety (SSDC), plus the Traffic Police tests.
The all-in cost is around $700 if you pass every test on the first attempt, covering enrolment, theory lessons, practical lessons, the safety gear deposit and the test fees. Retakes add up fast: a failed practical means paying for more lessons and another test booking, so the people who blow past $900 usually failed something.
Traffic Police test fees rose on 13 March 2026, the first increase since 2016. The theory tests (Basic Theory, Riding Theory) went from $6.50 to $7.20, and the Practical Riding Test went from $33.00 to $40.00. Both step up again: theory to $8.00 in March 2027, and the practical to $45.00 in 2027 and $50.00 in 2028. The new fee only applies if you book on or after the effective date, so a test booked earlier keeps the old price.
After Class 2B, you can upgrade to Class 2A (up to 400cc) after one year, and Class 2 (unrestricted) after two more years on 2A. Each step is another course and test, so the bigger the bike you want, the longer and pricier the licensing path.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| School fees (enrolment, lessons, gear) | ~$550 to $650 |
| Basic Theory Test (TP) | $7.20 |
| Riding Theory Test (TP) | $7.20 |
| Practical Riding Test (TP) | $40.00 |
| New Class 2B licence issue | $50.00 |
| Rough total (first-try pass) | ~$700 |
A motorcycle's on-the-road price is built from four parts: the machine price the dealer charges, the COE, the registration taxes, and small fixed fees. The machine itself is often the smallest of the big three once the COE is high.
A new Class 2B commuter such as a Yamaha NMAX or a 125-150cc Honda has a machine price in the rough range of $4,500 to $8,000. Add the COE and taxes, and the on-the-road price typically lands around $18,000 to $28,000 in 2026. A used bike with a few years left on its COE can cost a fraction of that, because the previous owner already absorbed the COE and early depreciation.
Motorcycles bid in Category D, their own COE category. It is a permit to own the bike for 10 years and is set by a twice-monthly bidding war, so the price moves constantly. In the 17 June 2026 exercise, Cat D closed at $9,989. Through the first half of 2026 it has bounced between roughly $8,600 and $10,000.
Motorcycle COE is far cheaper than the $120,000-plus a car commands, but it is still often more than the bike it sits on. Check the latest LTA result before you commit, because a $1,000 swing in the COE is a real change to your budget.
The Additional Registration Fee is the main registration tax, charged on a tiered scale of the bike's Open Market Value (OMV), the import value Singapore Customs assesses. For motorcycles the tiers are gentle compared with cars: 15% on the first $5,000 of OMV, 50% on the next $5,000 (to $10,000), and 100% on anything above $10,000.
On a bike with an OMV of $5,000, the ARF is $750. On a bike with an OMV of $10,000, it is $750 + $2,500 = $3,250. A pricier bike with a $15,000 OMV pays $750 + $2,500 + $5,000 = $8,250 in ARF, which is why a big-displacement bike's tax bill balloons.
On top of the ARF sit three smaller charges that apply to every bike: a flat registration fee of $350, excise duty of 12% of the OMV, and 9% GST charged on the OMV plus excise duty. These are modest on a small bike but scale with the import value.
Listed prices move with the COE and the dealer's stock, so treat the figures below as a 2026 reference, not a quote. The pattern holds even as numbers shift: a Class 2B commuter is the cheapest way in, a Class 2A bike costs roughly double once you add the bigger engine's tax, and a Class 2 machine can run higher still.
A small-capacity 2B commuter (think a 125-150cc scooter or a learner-friendly naked bike) typically lands around $18,000 to $28,000 on the road new. A 2A bike in the 300-400cc range, such as a popular 370-390cc single, often sits in the high $20,000s to mid $30,000s. A Class 2 bike of 600cc or more spans a wide band, from the low $30,000s for a mid-spec model to well over $50,000 for a litre-class sports bike, driven mostly by a higher OMV and the 100% ARF tier above $10,000.
The dealer's advertised price almost always already folds in the COE, ARF, registration fee, excise duty and GST. Always ask whether the figure quoted is on-the-road and includes the COE, because a machine-only price hides the largest cost on the list.
Once the bike is registered, the recurring costs begin. For a small commuter bike these are genuinely low, which is the main reason riders pick two wheels over four.
Road tax is set by engine capacity and billed twice a year. The current 6-monthly formula for petrol motorcycles is $40 for engines up to 200cc; $40 plus $0.15 for each cc above 200 for engines from 201cc to 1,000cc; and $160 plus $0.30 for each cc above 1,000 for larger engines. A long-standing rebate factor of 0.782 is then applied, which is why your actual bill is lower than the raw formula.
In practice, a 150cc commuter pays about $63 a year, a 370cc bike about $103 a year, a 400cc bike about $109 a year, a 650cc bike about $168 a year, and a litre-class bike pushes toward $290 to $400. Electric motorcycles are taxed on motor power rather than cc, plus a flat annual component. For the full mechanics of how road tax is computed and renewed, see our road tax guide.
Insurance is compulsory before the bike can be ridden on the road, with Third-Party Only the legal minimum. Most riders take Third-Party, Fire and Theft, or comprehensive for a newer bike. A rider over 23 with at least two years of experience and no no-claim discount pays around $566 a year for Third-Party, Fire and Theft on a typical bike.
Premiums swing hard on age and experience. A new rider under 25, or anyone on a high-powered bike, can pay well over $1,000, while a seasoned rider with a long no-claim discount pays a few hundred. Compare options before renewing; see our guide to motorcycle insurance in Singapore.
A small bike sips fuel: at roughly 2.5 to 4.2 litres per 100km, a daily commuter spends around $80 to $130 a month on petrol, far less than a car. Motorcycle season parking at HDB estates is cheap, often around $20 a month, and many short-term lots charge bikes a fraction of car rates or nothing.
ERP applies to motorcycles too, but at a lower rate than cars, and many bikes are charged less per gantry. A city commuter might spend $40 to $50 a month on ERP; someone who avoids priced roads pays almost nothing. Under ERP 2.0 the charging moves to a distance-and-location model over time, so watch the rates if you ride through town daily.
Routine servicing runs about $150 to $400 a year for a small bike, with a larger bill every couple of years for major service, tyres and brakes. Budget roughly $600 a year averaged over a decade. Then there is gear you should not skip: a decent helmet, gloves and a riding jacket. A safe motorcycle helmet alone runs $150 to $600, and good gear is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.
A motorcycle must pass a periodic inspection once it turns three years old, and then every year after that, for the life of the bike. That is stricter than a car, which only inspects from year three onward every two years until it hits 10. So from year three you have an annual inspection on the calendar.
The cost is small. A standard motorcycle inspection at VICOM is $20.71 including GST, with an emission test of $2.18 for bikes registered from 1 July 2003, and a re-inspection of $10.36 if you fail the first time. Pass it before the due date or LTA can suspend the road tax, so treat the inspection notice as a hard deadline, not a suggestion.
When you deregister a bike before its COE expires, you get money back, which softens the real cost of ownership. For motorcycles the refund comes from one source: the COE rebate. According to LTA, the Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF) rebate is only for cars and taxis, so a motorcycle does not get any ARF refund on deregistration, only the unused COE back.
The COE rebate is a pro-rated refund of the unused portion of your COE. LTA calculates it as the quota premium you paid multiplied by the number of months (and days) left on the COE divided by 120 months. So if you deregister a bike with 5 years left on a 10-year COE you paid $10,000 for, you get back roughly $5,000. You generally have to deregister and dispose of the vehicle within the stated window to claim it, so check the current LTA rules before you scrap or export.
Because there is no PARF rebate on a bike, the Budget 2026 cut to the PARF schedule, which reduced car and taxi rebates and halved the cap, does not change a motorcycle's refund at all. The COE rebate is the figure to factor into your real depreciation, not just the purchase price. For the full mechanics of both rebates, see our guide to COE and PARF rebates.
Here is a realistic all-in figure for a mid-size Class 2A bike (around 375cc, OMV roughly $5,000) bought new in 2026, financed with a typical loan, and kept for the full 10-year COE. Treat it as an illustration; your insurance, ERP and petrol will differ with your bike and habits.
The total comes to around $66,000 over 10 years, or roughly $550 a month. Strip out the loan interest and ride a smaller commuter, and you can pull the monthly figure under $450. That is the honest number to sit with, and it is still a quarter of what a comparable car would cost over the same period.
| Cost | 10-year total |
|---|---|
| Bike + COE (machine ~$15,900 + COE ~$9,200) | ~$25,100 |
| Loan interest (5-year loan, ~6% flat) | ~$6,000 |
| Road tax | ~$1,030 |
| Insurance | ~$5,660 |
| Petrol, parking, ERP | ~$22,000 |
| Servicing & maintenance | ~$6,000 |
| Total (before rebates) | ~$65,800 |
If you take a loan, the interest is real money on top of the bike. Bike loans are quoted on a flat rate that works out higher than it looks once you account for the falling balance, and dealer financing tends to carry a steeper rate than a bank loan, so compare the two before you commit. A loan does not make the bike cheaper; it spreads the cost and adds interest. Run the monthly figure through your personal budget before signing, compare it against four wheels with our car cost calculator, and treat the full all-in number, not the deposit, as the real price.
The biggest lever on what a bike costs you is whether you buy it new or used. A new bike eats the COE and the steepest depreciation in its first years; a used bike lets the previous owner take that hit. As a rough rule a few years old, a second-hand bike with COE still running often sells for around half the new on-the-road price, though condition, mileage and remaining COE swing it a lot.
What you give up with used is the full 10-year COE clock and, sometimes, the maker's warranty. A bike with three years of COE left is cheaper to buy but you pay for the COE again sooner, either by renewing it or by buying your next bike. The honest comparison is cost per year of use, not the sticker. A used 2B commuter can be the lowest-cost route onto two wheels, while a near-new bike makes more sense if you plan to keep it for the long haul.
Whichever way you go, check the COE expiry date and the inspection history before you pay. A cheap bike with a year of COE left and a worn engine is not cheap once you factor the renewal or replacement. If you are weighing two wheels against four, our cheapest new cars in Singapore piece sets the floor on the car side, and our guide to selling a vehicle covers how deregistration and rebates work when you exit.
Running costs climb with engine size, so the class of bike you ride changes the monthly figure as much as the purchase does. A Class 2B commuter is the cheapest to insure, tax and fuel; a Class 2 machine costs more on every recurring line. The table below shows a realistic all-in monthly figure for a typical bike in each class over a 10-year COE, built from the road tax, insurance, petrol and servicing figures earlier in this guide. Treat it as a planning band, not a quote, because your own insurance and riding habits move it.
The gap between a 2B and a Class 2 bike is real money over a decade. The same rider who can run a small commuter for roughly $350 a month would pay closer to $600 on a big bike, before any loan interest. If the monthly figure matters more than the badge, the smaller engine wins on cost every time.
| Class | Road tax/yr | Insurance/yr | Petrol/mo | All-in per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class 2B (150cc) | ~$63 | ~$410 to $570 | ~$80 to $130 | ~$300 to $400 |
| Class 2A (375cc) | ~$109 | ~$490 to $700 | ~$110 to $140 | ~$450 to $550 |
| Class 2 (650cc+) | ~$168 to $400 | ~$850 to $1,200 | ~$120 to $160 | ~$550 to $700 |
You cannot dodge the COE or the licence, but the rest of the bill is yours to shape.
A new entry-level Class 2B bike costs roughly $18,000 to $28,000 on the road in 2026, of which about $10,000 is the Category D COE (it closed at $9,989 on 17 June 2026). A used bike with COE left can cost far less. Add about $700 for the licence before you buy, plus running costs once you ride.
Motorcycles bid in Category D. In the 17 June 2026 exercise, Cat D closed at $9,989. Through the first half of 2026 it has moved between about $8,600 and $10,000. It is set by twice-monthly bidding, so check the latest LTA result before you budget.
Around $700 if you pass every test on the first attempt, covering school enrolment, theory and practical lessons, gear, and Traffic Police test fees. Retakes push it past $900. From 13 March 2026, the practical riding test costs $40.00 and each theory test $7.20, with further increases scheduled to 2028.
Most bikes pay about $63 to $400 a year, set by engine capacity. A 150cc commuter pays about $63 a year, a 400cc bike about $109, a 650cc about $168, and a litre-class bike $290 to $400. Electric motorcycles are taxed on motor power plus a flat annual component.
A rider over 23 with two years of experience and no no-claim discount pays around $566 a year for Third-Party, Fire and Theft. A new rider under 25, or one on a high-powered bike, can pay over $1,000, while an experienced rider with a long no-claim discount pays a few hundred.
Yes, by a wide margin. A typical bike costs around $450 to $600 a month all-in over a 10-year COE, against roughly $2,000 for a mass-market car. The COE, taxes, insurance, road tax and petrol are all lower for a bike. The trade-offs are space, weather and safety, not cost.
Buy a used small-capacity bike with a few years of COE left, keep the engine modest to cut road tax and insurance, stay claim-free to build the no-claim discount, and avoid loan interest if you can pay cash. A second-hand 125-150cc commuter is the lowest-cost route onto two wheels.
Used is cheaper to buy. A few-year-old bike with COE still running often sells for around half the new on-the-road price, because the first owner absorbed the COE and the steepest depreciation. The trade-off is less COE time left and possibly no warranty, so compare cost per year of use, not just the sticker price, and check the COE expiry before you pay.
A motorcycle is inspected once it turns three years old and then every year after that, which is stricter than a car. A standard motorcycle inspection at VICOM is $20.71 including GST, plus a $2.18 emission test for bikes registered from 1 July 2003. Pass it before the due date or LTA can suspend your road tax.
If you take a loan, expect to put down a deposit and finance the rest. A bike loan is usually quoted on a flat interest rate, which works out higher than it looks once the balance falls. Paying cash avoids interest entirely. Run the full all-in figure, not the deposit, through your budget before signing, since the deposit hides the real cost.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.