David, I drive about 75 miles a day commuting to work. Last year I
invested in a small motorcycle
http://www.kawasaki.com/HTML/MOTORCYCLES/SPORTBIKES/250r_frame.asp
I've got 11k miles on this bike and so far it gets 55 to 60 mpg
reliably. My car is a Mustang GT 2001, it only gets 19-21mpg on my
commute on the highways.
This bike is fun to ride and very low powered as compared to other
"crotch rockets" At 250cc, it still has enough power to outrun just
about any car from the line, so accelerating in traffic is no big deal,
but isn't powerful enough to pull wheelies or anything crazy. It's top
speed is about 90 mph, although I haven't seen that speed on it. It's
light, around 300 pounds dry, so doesn't handle strong winds as well as
a bigger bike, but for the gas mileage, I can't complain.
I bought a new one, with TT&L, it cost me right at $3500
For maintenance, I've changed the oil every 4k miles (oil and filter can
be purchased at Walmart for that bike, I use regular motor oil), and
after 6k miles, I started using synthetic oil.
I had to replace the rear tire at 8k miles, cost me $195 mounted and
balanced. I've also spent about $600 on gear and accessories. The gear
includes a helmet, winter jacket, winter pants, winter gloves, summer
jacket, summer pants and summer gloves. I purchased all but the helmet
through http://www.newenough.com/index2.htm All of this gear is a must
in my opinion, in case of an accident, the armor in all of this will
protect me from any road rash, etc.
I've also taken the motorcycle safety course which was $150.
Even though the oil changes are a bit more often than my car and the
tires are more expensive, I'm saving about $200 a month in gas alone,
plus it's fun to ride. It took a bit to get used to riding in traffic,
and heavy traffic, but I've adapted. I'm saving a lot of miles on my
car and enjoying my commute a bit more. I only drive my car when the
weather is bad. I don't suggest riding in the rain if you can keep from
it, bikes are harder to deal with.
Kawasaki has a cheaper bike
http://www.kawasaki.com/HTML/MOTORCYCLES/CRUISER/elim125_frame.asp but I
wanted the sport bike look, and I've been told this bike is way under
powered for it's weight. A lot of the safety courses use this, so if
you want to trial ride it, find a course using them.
Hope this information helps you
Charles
David Locklear wrote:
My hybrid Honda just passed 191,000 miles. I haven't
spent a penny on it, since the last report. Gas mileage
for the last tank was 43.2 mpg, but I was driving conservative. In
my opinion, the motor/transmission is still mechanically
in good shape.
I was hoping to have a report on the new Lexus sedan as
they are advertising it on the radio. However, these ads
are just a trap to lure you into their stores. The sedan
has not arrived in Houston yet. Toyota has TV ads now
for the hybrid Camry, however, I would be surprised to see one of those
until late in the year.
I have been researching large motor scooters to see if one might reduce
my transportation cost. Does anybody out there know anybody that has
one of the
big scooters? ( please e-mail me privately )
Here is a futuristic one:
http://www.bikeweb.com/images/suzuki_g_strider_000030-600.jpg
Here is a web-site comparing scooters:
http://www.scooterdiva.com/2006guide.html
The biggest scooter, a Suzuki, only gets about 4 miles
per gallon better than my hybrid car. The scooters
seem to end up in the shop often and
with more costly repairs than my car. They also
only have a range of 200 miles. So it doesn't look
like a scooter will cut my transportation cost. Right?
David Locklear
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