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Teeps
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 - 06:49 pm: | 
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Fltwistygirl Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011
How will this affect you and your family's way/standard of living?
Guess I'll be paying more to fill the tank of the Ulysses and the Fit.
On the bright side; higher fuel costs means less squids on the road.  |
Darth_villar
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 - 07:13 pm: |
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I think it means more squids on the road... less cages though  |
Eryngium
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 - 07:28 pm: |
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This leads nicely into a question I need to ask anyway. I commute to work on the Uly; a ride that takes about 15 minutes. I've read the statement here, multiple times, that you should ride at least 30 minutes to burn off all the condensed water vapor. At current gas prices I'm even more motivated to use the bike as much as possible. What is the long-term, cumulative impact of frequent short rides? Sure, I could take a longer route, but that kinda defeats the purpose. |
Itileman
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 - 07:31 pm: |
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Diesel fuel is almost a buck ahead of that. Necessities for work include a 3/4 ton F250 turbo diesel and a tandem axle trailer. My lucky customers are going to get to pay more. Can't find a hitch big enough for the Muell. |
Ourdee
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 - 07:33 pm: |
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Hooper, Put on a balaclava then the helmet. Works for me.
A #3 on the clippers. Ha! throw that stupid plastic thing away, flip the clippers over, and go for broke like a man. |
Teeps
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 - 07:38 pm: |
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Darth_villar Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011
I think it means more squids on the road... less cages though
Not necessarily. The "squids" tend to be from a lower position on life's economic ladder. They seem to hunker down and stay put when money runs low. |
Dfishman
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 - 07:48 pm: |
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It kills me.My charter boat runs on diesel & it is $4:20 a gal now.If I go up on my price for a trip I LOOSE business.If I stay the same price I loose money.Charters have been off 40% the last 2 years so there is no cushion in the account for hard times.It sucks,but such is life. |
7873jake
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 - 08:47 pm: |
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Eryngium, I was going to tell you that I have been able to fudge 4 days of work on ~15 minute commutes without significant sludging *as long as I run it for an hour or more at some point through the week*.
Then I looked at your profile and saw you roam around at the complete opposite end of the Earth from me, Wisconsin.
I can cheat like I described when I'm working around the south in the spring and summer and commuting on the bike. You guys have something like 9.675 months of winter up yonder? Does your fan ever even come on?  |
Eryngium
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 - 09:10 pm: |
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Jake
I would have been happy to have had that answer and a requirement to ride more.
I was going to say you exaggerated a bit on the length of our winter, but there's snow in the forecast for tonight, tomorrow, and possibly later this week. I can take the winter - during the winter. Winter during spring sucks. |
Rarebird
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 - 09:26 pm: |
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Pauly- we've got snow in the forecast for tonight as well. After freezing (and soaking) my nards off teaching new motorcyclists in a parking lot all weekend, I couldn't bring myself to bundle up for the ride into work tonight- regardless the cost of gas!
You're right- winter during spring DOES suck! |
Bluzm2
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 - 09:32 pm: |
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I won't change much...I ride to/from work most every day. I'll do it more often in the rain from now on. But this snow shit has got to STOP!!!
We will probably change the car arrangements with my wife too.
Park the 2010 Escape (about 20 MPG) and have her drive the old PT (around 23 or 24 MPG).
Every bit helps.
I save over 1/2 by riding the bike to work. It's 16 miles one way so figure over $2.50 per day in savings.
Re helmet hair... a bit of water and a comb work wonders. Curly hair sucks, pull the helmet off and you look like a dandelion. |
Motorbike
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 - 10:02 pm: |
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Fltwistygirl, With all due respect, when I said it is physically impossible to ride year-round in Minnesota, I was referring to two wheeled motorcycles, without studs in the tires which are illegal anyway. The ice is what will get you. The second your bike gets one or both wheels on ice, down ya go! Bikes with sidecars may still slide around but will not just tip over in a split second. |
Bigdaddy
| | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 - 10:35 pm: |
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I will be 4 wheeling in the CR-Z (not the most economical hybrid, but I can squeeze nearly Uly like mileage out of it). The M2 will knock down 50mpg easy peasy and still have the fun. The Uly is nearly the same. The AWD Denali will become a pollen collector. |
Etennuly
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 08:47 am: |
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It is always fun to see how much money people will spend to avoid buying higher price gasoline. I have seen people with vehicles they would normally keep for years to come, trade out spending many thousands more on purchasing a "gas saver". Some quick calculations showed that their break even point on gas savings alone for keeping the old "guzzler" vs the cost of the new "squeezer" was on the order of twenty some years.
I guess the choices are the "giving" of one's money to the lesser of the evils. That alone justifies buying a Buell! |
Hooper
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 10:25 am: |
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When I told my wife that I save over 1/2 my car commuting costs by riding, she said, "Yeah, but your risk goes way up." Hard to win.
Thanks for all the helmet hair advice...unfortunately, genetics and advancing years are conspiring to assist me with the problem.  
Good thing Trump doesn't ride...
(Message edited by Hooper on April 19, 2011) |
Andymnelson
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 10:45 am: |
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helmet hair, solved.
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Electraglider_1997
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 11:06 am: |
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Etennuly,
But you can apply the same logic to motorcyles, kind of. If you really wanted to save on gas big time then you'd buy a used 250cc bike and get closer to 80mpg or better. Or if you had a short commute then a ZERO electric motorcycle would really save some bucks, but only if the buying costs were offset by nice Fed and State rebates like in California. |
Strokizator
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 12:17 pm: |
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Dang Andy! A phrenologist would have a field day with that melon. |
Paint_shaker
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 12:56 pm: |
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Locking gas caps= Thieves cutting the gas line or drilling the gas tank. |
Electraglider_1997
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 01:18 pm: |
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Paint shaker,
That is one reason I rarely if ever go to a movie on my motorcycle. I don't like leaving it unattended for hours at a time. Back in 1986 I had my Honda 900 stolen from the apartment complex parking lot I lived at. Got the bike back but learned my lesson that lowlifes abound and nothing is safe or sacred these days from these scum suckers. |
Scooter808484
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 03:05 pm: |
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Locking gas caps= Thieves cutting the gas line or drilling the gas tank.
My friend runs a child care center and had their school bus tanks drilled twice. Makes you want to come out and find the charred corpse of a gas thief under the bus. Sacrifice of the bus would be worth it. |
Electraglider_1997
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 06:42 pm: |
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Scooter,
That would be a youtube video worth watching. |
Scooter808484
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 08:32 pm: |
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He's got a surveillance camera so if it happens, I'll be sure and post it! |
Motorfish
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 09:29 pm: |
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I recently found out, and I don`t know if it`s true, that the Canadian term "hosers", referred to the trash that siphoned gas from people back in the 1970`s gas crunch. Just some useless knowledge for those who didn`t know. |
Fltwistygirl
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 09:54 pm: |
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"Fltwistygirl, With all due respect, when I said it is physically impossible to ride year-round in Minnesota, I was referring to two wheeled motorcycles, without studs in the tires which are illegal anyway"
Gotcha, I tend to lump all bikes, two and three wheeled, together, and I love seeing and waving at trikes, spyders and hacks!. Thus my apples and oranges comment. Were I ever to move back to the tundra full time, I'd be a side hack chick, most likely a Ural. Familiar with the two wheels on ice deal , grew up on the Mesabi Iron Range riding dirt bikes. Was not always patient enough for the snow to melt so did my time on ice, snow and "snert" (snow + dirt), and got the scars to prove it!
"I recently found out, and I don`t know if it`s true, that the Canadian term "hosers", referred to the trash that siphoned gas from people back in the 1970`s gas crunch. Just some useless knowledge for those who didn`t know."
Kewl bit o knowledge. This thread brings up the siphoning thing and other petrol related crime.
Do we think we'll see an increase in m/c theft? Will I need to spend more time at the shooting range honing my skills?  |
Sayitaintso
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 10:15 pm: |
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"I recently found out, and I don`t know if it`s true, that the Canadian term "hosers", referred to the trash that siphoned gas from people back in the 1970`s gas crunch. Just some useless knowledge for those who didn`t know."
If that true its very cool, I always thought it was just a Second City / Doug and Bob McKenzie thing |
Motorfish
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 10:28 pm: |
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Awww, take off, hoser.  |
Froggy
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - 12:12 am: |
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quote:Fltwistygirl, With all due respect, when I said it is physically impossible to ride year-round in Minnesota, I was referring to two wheeled motorcycles, without studs in the tires which are illegal anyway
I guess you have never seen me ride my Buells year round in upstate NY. Ice isn't much of a problem once you figure out how to ride on it, I don't need studs. 
Cars suck. |
Sparky
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - 02:22 am: |
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I'll be buying more ARCO... you can pay cash on the island |
Court
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - 06:37 am: |
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>>>>Some quick calculations showed that their break even point on gas savings alone for keeping the old "guzzler" vs the cost of the new "squeezer" was on the order of twenty some years.
I was able to "prove" to the SCU that by ditching the Ford F-150 for a Porsche that the Porsche would pay for itself . . .
The car it seems gets more traction than my argument did.
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Conchop
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - 07:50 am: |
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The Uly gets good gas mileage, but I give it up on tires.
Squeal and squall all you want. The robber barons made off with the middle class wealth and faux news made you like it. Do you really think those jobs are coming back? Do you think your next job will have a benefits package? Do you think you're going to be a millionaire? I hope you can.
But I really think we're all going to have to think responsibly and develop a new American sustainable lifestyle. Look at the story of gold. The really wealthy ones are stocking up on gold. Unfortunately, our economy is vulnerable. Sustainable living is the next economy for a lot of us. Technology can make for living sustainably and a sense of happiness.
BTW - The cost of a barrel of oil has about $25.00 worth of "speculation" built in. So despite the tire mileage, I'll ride the Uly wherever I can, whenever I can.
Good luck to all! We're gonna need it!
PS - you may want to consider growing a garden - a big garden. That food you grow might eat better than snow this next winter. |
Court
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - 09:51 am: |
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>>>Do you really think those jobs are coming back?
Goodness no . . but there will be new ones you can't possibly imagine.
>>>Do you think your next job will have a benefits package?
Yes . . but Lord . . PLEASE don't let the government "help". Let my compensation and benefits flow from the value of my talent and the value I bring to a firm.
>>>>Do you think you're going to be a millionaire?
Easier going forward than ever in the past to those who understand the world. |
Froggy
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - 10:44 am: |
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quote:The Uly gets good gas mileage, but I give it up on tires.
Yes, for some reason nobody ever factors in the hidden costs like insurance, tires, riding gear, and maintenance into the equation. Even my Blast, which gets 85mpg when it runs, has 0 insurance cost, still has a higher cents per mile cost than a run of the mill family sedan. |
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