So do you think since gas prices are going up and they are now saying gas could be $5.00 a gallon by Labor day that there will be alot more bikes and scooters on the road this summer? I think there will be andI also think the accident and death rate will go up as well. The reason I say this is there will be alot of riders that are really not into bikes and do not know how ride them, but got them to save on fuel. I see that most scooter riders around here do not wear any gear or a helmet. I know theydon't go that fast, but a car can still hit you on a scooter the same as on a bike.

So what's your thoughts on this topic. I don't want this to be a gas price rant thread, but an opion based thead about the increase of new riders due to the high gas prices. I know I will be using the bike more this year for transportation rather then just fun.

 

Well thats no fun limiting our bitches.

Depends if you already have a car loan it will cost more to have a bike payment and additional insurance. Can't just sell your car and only have a bike.

Now if someone has a paid off vehical it may come into play.

 

I'd love to see 75% + of American citizens ride 2 wheeled transportation of some kind... it'll eventually get safer for all of us I think.

 

In the UK we are taxed to death and are paying close to £5 a gallon (about 4.80 where I live) that must be nearly 10 dollars for you guys...think I'm going to give myself completely to bikes and sell the V6....

 

I think people are dip****s and will buy more SUVs.

 

That's the trouble I think...it doesn't hurt the kind of folk who can afford these things anyway...just us hard workers who were already budgeting the best we could to run a car...

 

I think your right-sad, but true. I want to sell my Dakota and I think it will not sell to well, just becasue it's a truck. It has a 3.7 v6 and will get about 20mpg if you drive it nice, but still. I'm just glad I have my car for the DD. it's gets between 26-30 mpg depending how I drive it.

Like was said- the cost of the bike may not offset the cost of fuel for alot of people.

 

Agree 100%. How the hell do people afford to drive hummers, or I should say wanna be hummers (the only real hummer is the H-10)???

I see more people getting into cheaper forms of transportation even if the have a car loan. They can still save some money with a cheap used scooter or bike after the initail buying. Some of those little things have 600cc engines so they can go faster than you think.

More two wheels transportation may make it safer in the long run for the rest of us. But our accident numbers will have to go up and with that so will our insurance rates. One of those catch 22 deals.

 

We pay about $3.50 gallon which I think is 1.7 pounds (british) or 2.2 euros.

Only an idiot wouldn't wear a helmet on a public road. Body armor is smart too, but a helmet is a must.

But I like high oil prices. I have owned oil company stock for a while, I believe Honda stock will be good due to their fuel efficient line-up (I own Honda stock too) and the average age of cars in the U.S. is 9.4 years old. I made money on ethanol plays and solar. To me,I simply hedge my costs against my investments (like the airlines)and I either profit or break even from it. Sometimes instead of bitching about the prices of things, we just have to be clever enough to profit from it. Since 1973 the Arabs have told us flat out that they control our oil and when they want they can f**k us, we have been dumb enough to ignore their warnings and threats, we deserve these high prices for being stupid, selfish and wasteful.

We Americans have been irresponsible by diving SUVs and Trucks as daily transportation and it is about time that we recognized that. The average MPG for vehicles sold in Americaget WORSE mileage than 20 years ago. A new V8 Toyota Sequoia isas fast as my 1988 Mustang GT was in the 1/4 mile. I hope gas goes to $20 a gallon, we bikers will be the only ones on the road and it will be 10x safer.

I think that the U.S. government should subsidize MSF for everybody so that the cost of the class is not a barrier to entry. I believe that there should be no sales tax for scooters and under 500cc motorcycles. There should be zero % loans for bikes under 500cc. All these changes will reduce our demand on foriegn oil and raise the dollar.

I do feel bad that there is a rise in prices for food and other goods, but again, this is the bed we have made, now we have to sleep in it. We elected officials that gave us what we wanted although we were too dumb to know it was bad for us.

 

Yeah I will have to agree there are to many money mongrels out there that will continue to drive their suv's and what not around. I can almost guarantee there will be a rise of some sort though being as many of my friends are also buying bikes now because their trucks are going to be to expensive to drive to and from work. As for the european gas Jules come on your gas pays taxes out of it. They charge 4 bucks a gallon than rape us on tax season for highway repair, road construction, and all those other shinanigins.