Gas!

[Sir Humpsalot]

I wouldn't recommend anyone get a bike to try and save money on gas. If you want to ride then its a bonus that its cheaper per mile, but by the time you put the money out in a bike, a riders course, gear etc... your going to be increasing your danger to save pennies. Not really worth it strictly for the money savings.

Yet, I still ride to work almost every day.

I agree with you, but I tend to think that anybody who mentions getting a bike to save gas is really leaning towards a bike anyway and just needs a little push over the edge.

I mean, let's be realistic, the idea of risking life and limb to save a few pennies is absurd... yet the idea of having the time of your life every day on a bike is an incredible draw... and yeah, you get to save a few pennies... So I tend to think people who are thinking of the cost savings aspects really have other things that are drawing them to the sport...



Oh... and I forgot to mention one other thing in my cost analysis.... I used to work in downtown Chicago. Parking for my car, in an above-ground lot, cost $20 a day. Underground, heated, security-camera'd and security-patrolled parking for my motorcycle was $5 and a block closer. Not all garages give bikes a discount, but there's always a few enlightened places that realize that bikes take up no space and require no moving around (just stick them in a corner), so it's an extra five bucks in their pockets for basically no extra work.

So yeah, in THAT case, I gotta say, riding to save money makes sense. Riding, between gas and parking, saved me in excess of $100 a week.

 

[PeteOz77]

2 of my friends and I went on a bike cruise years ago. While fillin gup with gas in Wyoming, one of the guys commented on ho much money we were saving by driving bikes. I pointed out that while we were all getting around 40mpg, we were all consuming that much, so were as a group were only getting around 12.5mpg. It would have been cheaper to drive a motorhome! Nothing like cruising a superbike through Galcier national park and navigating "goin to the sun road".

 

[Bernie Brewer]

It may or may not save me money, but I'm using the gas prices as an excuse to get my old bike roadworthy again. I miss riding. Before I had kids I rode to work every day from early April into November, rain, shine, or snow. Yes, I have ridden my motorcycle in snowstorms. The kids are older now, so it's time to get the bike back out.

 

[Jonnio]

I agree with you guys about the gas as an excuse for something you already want to do. I mainly said something because I actually heard an HD commercial in my area the other day talking about what a great money savings you could have by buying a motorcycle and riding it.

I don't particularly want people like that on the road, both for their safety and my pocketbook. Rant: I pay a small fortune in bike insurance because of stupidity on the part of others. I would prefer companies not try to market to the uninterested on the basis of gas as they are more likely to go out and drive like they are in a car and become another statistic and an extra few bucks a month from me. /Rant

 

[Desert_Sky]

Im loving my motorcycle commute. it was a bit of a drag during the winter, but now its just beautiful in the mornings and on the way home.

35 bucks a month for gas aint too shabby either

 

[FishinDave07]

Its up to $4.00 +/- in some areas of North Miami

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Screw these gas prices...as soon as my son is out of school I'm going to ride my bike. I won't have to drop him off in the morning anymore, and can leave early to arrive at work on time. And by bike, I mean bicycle...MPG: inifiti. Riding a bicycle is one of those modes of transportation that gets faster the more you use it. Plus, it's a good workout...and a good "decompression chamber" after work.

And man I could use that today...power failure->shutdown hung on SBS/exchange server->corrupted RAID array->corrupted exchange information stores!!! All fixed now, though. I don't know how many beers it takes to erase this day from memory, but I'm going to find out in a couple hours!

 

[MikeFlynn74]

Im loving my motorcycle commute. it was a bit of a drag during the winter, but now its just beautiful in the mornings and on the way home.

35 bucks a month for gas aint too shabby either

Sadly you cannot ride in Alaska from Oct to March/April......

 

[AnonyBrew]

Sadly you cannot ride in Alaska from Oct to March/April......

Snowmobiles!

 

[NateKerx]

Meanwhile the Kuwaities are paying 25c and Iraqis pay 1.36

sigh...

well it is their oil

 

[BrewWench]

I thought you meant "gas" as in farting when I read the subject line. Pairing that with the mad face was very very funny to me!

 

[Ben25]

I just saw diesel at $5.54 a gallon today in Rockland County, NY. The best part is, half a mile down the road in Jersey, its only $4.60. (only... haha)

 

[MikeFlynn74]

well it is their oil

So why cant we pay lower prices with the oil we dril for in Texas, California, Colorado and Alaska, Gulf of Mexico......

 

[buckeyebrewer]

I just read something on CNN that gas is over $9 a gallon all over Europe...we are paying out the ass for gas but we still have it good. Hey that rhymed

 

[NateKerx]

So why cant we pay lower prices with the oil we dril for in Texas, California, Colorado and Alaska, Gulf of Mexico......

I personally feel like we in this country have had at least our fair share of inexpensive fuel, be it foreign or domestic. We are also fortunate enough here to have never had our country invaded or torn apart in a struggle to control out fuel reserves, which cannot be said about the countries you mentioned.

Experts ranging from economists to petroleum geologists to environmental scientists have been warning for years that petroleum will not remain an indefinitely viable fuel source, consider $4.00 at the pump just another warning shot.

 

[MikeFlynn74]

Meh I think it should be 10$ a gallon to encourage alternatives.

The less money we give to the middle east the better the world is

 

[Jaybird]

Im buying a Schwinn scooter. I am gonna get laughed at sooo bad but I dont care*** I really do care *** but my other mode is a Ford F 250 crew cab diesel lifted w/ some 35'S so 70 MPG is a BIG jump from 15
Diesel here TODAY is 5.30 a gal but tomorrow its gonna be 8.99 Im sure

 

[PeteOz77]

Meh I think it should be 10$ a gallon to encourage alternatives.

The less money we give to the middle east the better the world is

Yeah, well that's just, like, your opinion man! -The Dude

 

[wihophead]

Meh I think it should be 10$ a gallon to encourage alternatives.

The less money we give to the middle east the better the world is

You are aware that the we import most of our oil from Canada with Mexico being second?

 

[EvilTOJ]

ORLY, wihophead?

 

[wihophead]

Ok, so Saudi Arabia pulled ahead of Mexico slightly so far in '08. The point being that the majority of our imported oil does not come from the middle east.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

BTW it's not just gasoline. I just paid $4.51 per gallon for heating oil. Last year it was around $2.25. Ugh.

 

[wihophead]

This would be the biggest problem. It isn't just gasoline that is rising at an alarming rate, it is everything derived or associated with petroleum.

If gasoline jumps to $10 a gallon what do you think will happen to food, electricity, heating and raw material costs just to name a few. A lot of people are just making it now....if fuel prices make that big of a jump all hell might just break loose.


The reason the price of gas is low in the countries mentioned is because their supply out weighs their demand and it is also government controlled.

Our demand greatly out weighs our supply and it is not government controlled.

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

Im buying a Schwinn scooter. I am gonna get laughed at sooo bad but I dont care*** I really do care *** but my other mode is a Ford F 250 crew cab diesel lifted w/ some 35'S so 70 MPG is a BIG jump from 15
Diesel here TODAY is 5.30 a gal but tomorrow its gonna be 8.99 Im sure

What scooter are you getting? I getting the Schwinn Valo 150! Hopefully getting it Tuesday!

 

[Mirilis]

I saw that Diesel was 4.69 this morning when i was filling up on the way to work. I noticed when i Pulled in a guy in a semi was hitting the Diesel pump and when i finished paying i went back to my car and noticed his pump had well passed the $200 mark.. i thought to myself... damn im glad im not a trucker.

 

[Jaybird]

What scooter are you getting? I getting the Schwinn Valo 150! Hopefully getting it Tuesday!

Yep thats the one!!! comming in June. Oh Im gonna get laughed at!!!! (all the way to the pump) FK the oil co's
JJ

 

[wihophead]

Yep thats the one!!! comming in June. Oh Im gonna get laughed at!!!! (all the way to the pump) FK the oil co's
JJ

I don't think you have to worry about getting laughed at....I have a feeling we will be seeing a whole lot of scooters on the road this year.

If I didn't own a motorcycle and didn't live 27 miles from work via the freeway I would look into one.

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

Exactly laughing all the way to the pump! Really though I will have no shame driving this at all I cant wait.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

You are aware that the we import most of our oil from Canada with Mexico being second?

That's really a moot point. It's an international economy. America could buy all their oil from Venezuela. All that would do is drive every other country to buy from somewhere else. So the net effect on the flow of money would be nil.

We don't buy oil from Iran, but guess what- everybody else does, so our little "embargo" there really doesn't mean much of anything. Remember the Food for Oil program with Iraq? The freakin French were buying the oil under our noses.

It's a global economy. Where we get "ours" from has to do with logistics more than price. Buying from one source does not deprive the other so long as there are more willing buyers..

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

This would be the biggest problem. It isn't just gasoline that is rising at an alarming rate, it is everything derived or associated with petroleum.

If gasoline jumps to $10 a gallon what do you think will happen to food, electricity, heating and raw material costs just to name a few. A lot of people are just making it now....if fuel prices make that big of a jump all hell might just break loose.
...

I think about this too, but am not sure it would be a completely bad situation. If products have very long shipping routes, perhaps they would become more expensive than local products. Maybe it wouldn't be so cheap to buy produce from central and south america anymore...maybe it would make U.S. products more affordable. Who knows...this might even stimulate locally-grown produce and small local manufacturers of goods. This could happen, but I wonder about how high gas prices will need to get for this to become feasible. If transportation costs get prohibitively expensive for global distribution, maybe we'll see global markets recede...my point is, we'll never find out if oil keeps being cheap and plentiful.