I wonder how much wheel prices have changed, when this thread was made in 2008?

 

.......

 

Very simple: matter of quantities produced. Rims are made of formed aluminium, formed and rolled steel. And the moulds or 'masters' are very costable to make. The forming machines are expensive in investments.
The higher the production, the lower the costs of the moulds or masters, the forming machines and 'overhead' per unit produced. Simple technical-economical calculations.
Why is a bonnet of a Toyota cheaper than the tank of a motorbike? Simple, the tank of the motorbike is produced in batches of maybe 1000, the total quantity maybe yearly 25.000 (extremely high for motorbikes, only the top brand sold realize this) while car manufactures produce 25.000 cars per 3 months or shorter.

 

Im sure the powers that be figure a scoot is a luxury item.

 

How come motorcycle "x" costs more than car "x"?

For any "x", the answer is that there are about 25 times more registered cars in the US than registered bikes.

 

yes they have

 

Compare them to bicycle racing wheels.

 

They have to finish both sides of a motorcycle wheel, because both sides show.
On a car, you only see the part of the wheel that faces out.
Still too expensive, though.

 

Why renting a bike worth let's say $25K costs 4 to 5 times more than renting a car of the same price?