OBJECTIVES:: In Colombia, in 2014 there were 5,546,029 registered motorcycles. According to the press, accident and mortality figures are increasing. METHODS::  Official mortality statistics and life expectancy tables were used to estimate number of years lost for motorcycle drivers and/or passengers, for year 2014. A three times per capita GDP was applied to estimate the monetary cost. GDP in 2014 was $ 15,893,361 or US $ 7,944. Exchange rate: Col $ 2000.60 = 1 USD. RESULTS:: In 2014, 11,948 motorcyclists died, including both drivers and passengers (10,331, 86.4%, were men), a 27% increase compared with 2010. The most affected five-year age-group was 20 to 24 years, with 552 dead (488 men and 64 women). In total, the motorcyclists who died that year in Colombia lost 122,488 years of potential life. If the financial value of life used in cost-effectiveness studies (equivalent to three times the per capita gross domestic product per year of life earned) were applied, those deaths would have a social cost of $ 5.84 trillion pesos (US $2.7 billion). CONCLUSIONS:: To cover this cost, each motorcycle should contribute $ 1,053,049 (US $ 526) per year to the health system to compensate for the deaths associated with them.