Gas prices

[Harsha Jay]

it is getting real. Can't believe I just paid 74 bucks to fill up. Ouch ouch ouch!

I am checking out the metro maps/passes now and locking up my premium gas sucking bavarian until the prices cool off.

[Pat Farrell]

Hey, if you can aford the maintenance on a beemer, you can afford the gas prices. Or get a motorscooter....

Last time I was out, high test was $4.02 here. I think its been over $4 for a while in other places.

I expect that in August or so, the prices will drop some, but the days of $2/gallon are likely gone forever. When I was in college, I remember paying $0;259 per gallon, you too can tell folks you remember when it was only $4

[Kishore Dandu]

It is a wakeup call for those gas guzzlers.

Some tips:
1. Driving at 60 miles/hr on highways saves some gas compared to driving at 70 etc
2. Push your local goverment for more local transportation and start using it as much as possible.

[Cameron Wallace McKenzie]

Originally posted by Kishore Dandu:

2. Push your local goverment for more local transportation and start using it as much as possible.

I simply can't stand public transit. It's just filled with people who can't afford cars.

Personally, I'd like to see the price of gas go up a bit more. Then the price of that H1 Hummer I've been looking at should go down. Who wants to drive an H1 when the price of gas is $5 or $6 a gallon (other than me, of course).

-Cameron McKenzie

[Stevi Deter]

I save money on gas by riding my horse.

[Pat Farrell]

Originally posted by Cameron Wallace McKenzie:
Personally, I'd like to see the price of gas go up a bit more. Then the price of that H1 Hummer I've been looking at should go down. Who wants to drive an H1 when the price of gas is $5 or $6 a gallon (other than me, of course).

I want them to raise gas taxes. $8/gallon or $2/liter would be fine with me.

The current Wall Street Journal has a short article about the value of SUVs. They say that a two year old Suburban is worth $16K, which is amazing, it was a $40K truck, that's a lot in two years.

[John Smith]

Originally posted by Cameron Wallace McKenzie:

Personally, I'd like to see the price of gas go up a bit more. Then the price of that H1 Hummer I've been looking at should go down.

Other benefits of higher gas prices would be less congested roads and cleaner air. If my commute time is cut in half because the poor bastards can't afford gas, I am all for it!

[Tony Alicea]

And if you could kill all of those poor bastards without getting caught, the price of food would go down also, right?

[Tony Alicea]

The not so high gasoline prices in the USA are due to the way the capitalist system works.

If you don't like it, change it.

But in reality, if you don't like it, TOUGH!

This is what we will get until the end of time.

There are other countries that also want oil, now that they are developing fast like we did in the USA decades ago. It is now their turn. We in the USA will have to deal with it...

[Tony Alicea]

Originally posted by Harsha Jay:
it is getting real. Can't believe I just paid 74 bucks to fill up. Ouch ouch ouch!

I am checking out the metro maps/passes now and locking up my premium gas sucking bavarian until the prices cool off.

And it was a first for me too yesterday: $45! (my new car doesn't use that much gas).

[Alan Wanwierd]

A combination of lifestyle factors together with rising fuel prices, increased congestion and limitied parking options has led me to drastically change my transport options a few times over the last few years.

I did drive a Diesel Landrover Discovery for a while - which was fun, but diesel prices have skyrocketed even faster than petrol (now costs 30% more for diesel than regular unleaded).

Eventually the impending huge maintenance bill scared me off and we sold the Disco - ..

I've been catching buses for a bit - but the WAITING, the poor timetabling, lack of reliability and the overcrowding is driving me insane - I just cant handle it - by the time I get to work I'm compeltely enraged and ready to go on a gun-totting rampage against anyone who iritates me..

So my next plan - fuel efficient, traffic beater, goes where and when I like and with $0 parking costs. The only downside is the ever present danger of death as other road users do their bit to try and reduce the road-using population:

[Stevi Deter]

Those of us in the US really need to get a reality check. Our gas is still pretty cheap, comparitively.

[Tony Alicea]

The "low price of everything" mentality here in the USA will soon give way to the mentality of actual market prices for everything.

We Americans have always thought that for some unexplained Cosmic reason, we will not suffer from the adversities that other countries suffer up to and including food and energy prices.

Well, we don't have enough military power anymore to say to China or India to STOP using that much energy or food or we will kill you!

Our children in the USA will be the first ones to live in a culture where everything won't be available just for the asking.

[Pat Farrell]

Originally posted by Alan Wanwierd:
So my next plan - fuel efficient, traffic beater, goes where and when I like and with $0 parking costs.

Right, you buy a $6K bike that does 150 MPH to save gas?

There are smaller bikes that get a lot better milage than that Ninja, not as much fun.

[Cameron Wallace McKenzie]

Originally posted by Tony Alicea:
And if you could kill all of those poor bastards without getting caught, the price of food would go down also, right?

You know, I was starting to think that I was the only one who thought this way. I'm glad there are others of equal or greater intellect that are on the same wavelenght as me.

We Americans have always thought that for some unexplained Cosmic reason, we will not suffer from the adversities that other countries suffer up to and including food and energy prices.

Mr McCarthy? Mr. McCarthy? Could you please have a talk with this young man?

Well, we don't have enough military power anymore to say to China or India to STOP using that much energy or food or we will kill you!

I see an aircraft carrier between Taiwan and mainland China that says otherwise.

Have we hijacked this post enough?

-Cameron McKenzie
[ May 21, 2008: Message edited by: Cameron Wallace McKenzie ]

[Kishore Dandu]

Originally posted by Cameron Wallace McKenzie:


I simply can't stand public transit. It's just filled with people who can't afford cars.

Personally, I'd like to see the price of gas go up a bit more. Then the price of that H1 Hummer I've been looking at should go down. Who wants to drive an H1 when the price of gas is $5 or $6 a gallon (other than me, of course).

-Cameron McKenzie

In Dallas area(where i live) we do have express buses that start in sub-urbs and end their run inside the downtown, nonstop. I hardly see any of the above types you mentioned in those buses. Do some more research, there could be some that match your comfort level.
(folks in NY, DC and Chicago do take the public transport as part of their life; i hope the same carries over to other major cities in the USA)
[ May 22, 2008: Message edited by: Kishore Dandu ]

[Ulf Dittmer]

Originally posted by Kishore Dandu:
I hardly see any of the above types you mentioned in those buses. Do some more research, there could be some that match your comfort level.

Sometimes something gets posted here that should have the sarcasm emoticon next to it, but doesn't. You seem to have replied to just such a post.
[ May 22, 2008: Message edited by: Ulf Dittmer ]

[Zachari El Badary]

Originally posted by John Smith:


Other benefits of higher gas prices would be less congested roads and cleaner air. If my commute time is cut in half because the poor bastards can't afford gas, I am all for it!

Yo bro,

If you'd like to stick it out, you will be left 'penniless' pretty quickly. Gas companies would love you of course! besides poor bastards will save money and still breathe cleaner.

[Rambo Prasad]

you buy a $6K bike that does 150 MPH to save gas?

There are smaller bikes that get a lot better milage than that Ninja, not as much fun.

Just curious to know if it is possible to drive bikes in Winter when it is snowing in US..

Do people there drive 100 cc bikes for commuting from home to office...?Are people permitted to drive motor bikes on all roads...?
[ May 22, 2008: Message edited by: Rambo Prasad ]

[Peter Rooke]

2. Push your local goverment for more local transportation and start using it as much as possible.

- Please no, in the UK many roads have now became, bus lanes. Even one of the major motorways that serves London (the M4) has a bus lane on it! You don't get many busses, but all people in cars sit in long traffic queues in the other lanes.

As for petrol (gas) prices - try �1.07 - its mostly tax!!

My bike (ZX-6R)is quite thirsty, but I guess it depends on how you ride. Allegedly, these bikes are rumoured to go faster than 150mph to…

Another idea is to run on Chip Fat

[Pat Farrell]

Originally posted by Rambo Prasad:
Just curious to know if it is possible to drive bikes in Winter when it is snowing in US..

One can ride a bike in the winter, but it gets tricky. Anytime its below 32 F or 0 C, any water can become ice and that is very tricky.

One winter I commuted by motorcycle, and I remember being terrified driving over a long bridge in rush hour in the dark evening when it was sleeting. That was no fun, none at all.

There are roads that restrict two wheel vehicles, only a few ban them in general. There are roads with minimum speeds, and so the 50cc bikes can't meet that.

I used to race on tracks, and sometimes for fun after a deep snow, I'd go out on my bike and do flattracking, or "drifting" as they call it now. But that was for fun on empty roads, not commuting.

[Peter Rooke]

Oil's going up again --> Crude oil just hit $135. Wish I had invested in this a while back...

[marc weber]

Originally posted by Rambo Prasad:
... Just curious to know if it is possible to drive bikes in Winter when it is snowing in US...

As Pat pointed out, this is a Bad Idea.

I can imagine bikes being used where "snow" means a light dusting or maybe a bit of slush. But in Minneapolis, bikes are stored during the winter.

[Cameron Wallace McKenzie]

I'm from Toronto, but I remember being in St.Louis once when a 'light snow' hit. I'd never seen such craziness on the roads. I'd say a bike is probably safest where there's no snow, and second safest where there's lots of snow. For the places where people don't really know what to do when it snows, the bikes should stay off the road (and so should the drivers as well.)

-Cameron McKenzie

[Pat Farrell]

Originally posted by Cameron Wallace McKenzie:
I'm from Toronto, but I remember being in St.Louis once when a 'light snow' hit.

St Louis gets just enough snow to cause real problems. I've lived there, I now live outside Washington DC. Washington is the worst. (altho Charlotte and even Dallas occasionally get snow or ice, and it stops the town).

Washington is always right on the snow/sleet/rain line. Ten miles north, its snow, fifty miles south its rain.

Folks never learn to drive in snow. Go north, say Boston or anyplace in Canada, and its no big deal. They get snow, the plow, folks drive.

In Washington a two inch snow can shut the city for days.

[fred rosenberger]

Originally posted by Pat Farrell:


St Louis gets just enough snow to cause real problems.

and we get it just seldom enough that nobody learns how to drive on it.

[Cameron Wallace McKenzie]

And more to the point, not often enough for people to invest in snow tires. They really do make a huge difference.

-Cameron McKenzie

[Jim Yingst]

I bicycled on snow quite a bit last winter - the trick is to only do it when the conditions are right, and on paths that are suited to it. It can actually be pretty fun if you're on fresh powder and away from cars. I almost always used sidewalks, not roads, as the latter would quickly have their snow pounded into slush, which is no fun at all to ride on. Ice can be a problem too, but it's not too difficult as long as you're careful and keep the speed down on turns. And as long as drivers in the area know how to drive in snow, and/or you're on a sidewalk well away from the cars. At least in Boulder, Colorado this was a perfectly viable way to get around town on most days. It's possible that it wouldn't work as well in other locations.

[Vikas Kapoor]

And, How's the condition in philadelphia? Is it safe to drive bikes there?

[Pat Farrell]

Originally posted by Vishal Pandya:
in philadelphia? Is it safe to drive bikes there?

Philly is north of Washington DC, so they must get more snow and less rain. I would not expect a lot more, its not as far as Boston.

How safe it is there anytime is really a question of where, Philly is a big place. Out in the main line suburbs is a different world than in the city.

They have a freeway that the locals call the Sure Kill Expressway. Its scary in a car.

[Tony Alicea]

Originally posted by Alan Wanwierd:
...by the time I get to work I'm compeltely enraged and ready to go on a gun-totting rampage against anyone who iritates me..

So my next plan - fuel efficient, traffic beater, goes where and when I like and with $0 parking costs. The only downside is the ever present danger of death as other road users do their bit to try and reduce the road-using population...

(emphasis mine)

That was very funny (and I'm an American!). You should write comedy
[ May 23, 2008: Message edited by: Tony Alicea ]

[Tony Alicea]

Originally posted by Rambo Prasad:


Just curious to know if it is possible to drive bikes in Winter when it is snowing in US..

It is perfectly safe; I know. I've done it in Miami. While it snows in North Dakota!

(Sorry! Could not resist!)

[Vikas Kapoor]

Originally posted by Pat Farrell:
They have a freeway that the locals call the Sure Kill Expressway. Its scary in a car.

I heard that the crime rate is also high. Hows the living there? suggested to live there?
[ May 23, 2008: Message edited by: Vishal Pandya ]

[Vassili Vladimir]

I think that I'm going to buy a house near to my workplace so i can go there by bike!

[Tony Alicea]

That's what I try to do every time I relocate for a new job: live as near as possible from the office. For the last 8 years (the longest I've been at the same job) I have lived under two miles from the office (1.6 since late 2003).

One thing to remember is that you don't want to get to work all sweaty (by riding a bike). (Not much of a problem here; everything is a flat surface. I remember when I lived in unincorporated Jefferson county near Denver, riding a bike was a real workout...).

Also here in S. Florida we get the occasional downpour that can flash flood a street corner in no time (although in recent years it has rained <em>less</em>...)

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Originally posted by Pat Farrell:
Philly is north of Washington DC, so they must get more snow and less rain. .

It's not just a north/south thing though. New York (City) and DC seem to get comparable amounts of snow. We (NYC) get it a day later or earlier than DC. And sometimes one city gets more if the storm veers off to sea. But for normal storm that go up/down the coast, the amount of snow one city gets is a pretty good predictor of what the other city gets. This doesn't happen every time, but for the big storms it's been common. Maybe the placement of the ocean is a factor? Or the closeness in temperature. Looking at this week, DC is about 5 degrees warmer. Which means there would be a small window for the difference between snow and ice.

I would not expect a lot more, its not as far as Boston.

Boston definitely gets a ton of snow.

[Pat Farrell]

Originally posted by Jeanne Boyarsky:
NYC ... similar...

I think NYC has two things that hold down the snow, first, its got all that warm water. Second, its got a lot of building and ashpalt heat. Go 50 miles up river and they get much more.

I do think NYC handles the snow better than DC does, but then, nearly everyone does it better than DC. Boston handles a foot better than DC handles an inch.

DC doesn't get much snow because of all the hot air from politicians :-)

[Alan Wanwierd]

..Right, you buy a $6K bike that does 150 MPH to save gas?

Actually its a AU$3.5K bike and I doubt very much it'd reach 150MPH its only a 250cc. In fact with me on the back it's highly unlikely to ever get beyond about 120kmh (about 80mph?).

Fuelwise I'm told this bike will use less than 4lt/100km (strange measurement I know but thats how economy is measured here in Australia). By comparison a good economical 1.6lt hatchback car will struggle to use less than 8lt/100km and I'd be lucky to find something roadworthy for under AU$10K. Add in $20 a day parking vs $0 a day parking, $600 year vs $300 vehicle registration etc etc and pretty soon this bike looks like a good budget option.


and of course yes - it should be fun!!

I had my 1st day of rider training yesterday and spent ages humiliating myself stalling on hillstarts (clearly my clutch control needs a little work!) - it'll be a while before I'm confident enough to take on the peak traffic.

No concerns over snow & ice here in Brisbane - but there is a mild concern that in midsummer out in 40C heat all the necessary protective clothing is going to be SERIOUSLY hot! I've even heard riders comment that lane-filtering at lights is absolutely essential to avoid sitting still in traffic for 30 seconds and getting heatstroke!
[ May 25, 2008: Message edited by: Alan Wanwierd ]

[Pat Farrell]

Originally posted by Alan Wanwierd:
Actually its a AU$3.5K bike and I doubt very much it'd reach 150MPH its only a 250cc. In fact with me on the back it's highly unlikely to ever get beyond about 120kmh (about 80mph?).


I've even heard riders comment that lane-filtering at lights is absolutely essential to avoid sitting still in traffic for 30 seconds and getting heatstroke!

From the photo, its impossible for me to tell if its a 250, 600 or 1100.

I haven't kept current with the 250cc bikes, but a 600 ninja will come close to if not exceed 150MPH.

If you fall off, which is far too often, you need leather or some of the new microfiber stuff. Yes, its hot. I dumped my bike at about 130 MPH ~~200kpm. While I was in the hospital, they talked about another guy who had crashed that same day. A bit later, I saw him, covered in road rash head to toe, torn clothes, etc. We talked a bit. I asked "what happened" and he said "hit some gravel on my moped at 20pmh, you?" and I replied "seized at 130", I had two small holes where my leather gloves wore thru. I was wearing racing leathers (I was on a race track). That was all that was wrong, altho I had a really bad headache.

Do you mean 'lane splitting' where you drive up between stopped cars at a light? Its fast, but very dangerous. Its legal in California, but illegal where I live. Be warmed, it really makes the dudes in cars angry. They tend to open car doors in anger.

[Henry Wong]

Do you mean 'lane splitting' where you drive up between stopped cars at a light? Its fast, but very dangerous. Its legal in California, but illegal where I live. Be warmed, it really makes the dudes in cars angry. They tend to open car doors in anger.

It also seems to be done on the highway, which I never understood. Why would you want to share a lane with a car? Particulary since the driver of the car is unlikely to see you?

Another side point, a 250cc Ninja makes little sense to me. The bike is designed for speed. Heck, even the position of the rider is designed to lean forward. This is *not* comfortable in stop and go traffic, but is comfortable at speed, when the wind is helping with taking some of the driver's weight off of the handle bars.

Henry