What are you going to do with rising gas costs?

[jayryan]

$0.15 a gallon overnight increase here in the Inverness area. I'm not sure what I'm going to do if they increase even more as predicted. I do plan on pulling the 252cc injectors and putting the 210's back in along with either removing or replacing my MBC- it's broke...again :roll:  I'll gain back that 100mi. a tank I lost 8O

[hotani]

My last fillup was about $38 - yeouch. I do ride the bus most days to work, but I'm trying to make that *all* days.

[jfrahm]

Ride my bicycle more, ride my motorcycle more, take the bus a few times, and maybe buy a gas guzzling car at a bargain price.

I should also be buying oil company stocks.  Sheesh.
-Joel.

[03Indigo]

I'm just gonna stay home and watch TV

I will just stay off the turbo a bit more, to conserve and increase MPG.  I will also plan my errand runs a bit better, to group things together more, and no go for as many "joy" rides

Either way, gas is still WAY cheaper here in the states than most other places in the world...just look at Europe.

[hotani]

What? They pay the same we do..... per LITER! 8O

Yeah, I wouldn't be able to drive over there. Sell the car and get a bike and a raincoat. sheesh.

Glad my new place is 1.4 miles from the park-n-ride. That's walkable, and would be nothing on a bike - but who wants to take a bike over.... "The Bridge Of DOOOM!!?"

[gragravar]

I rode the motorcycle today.  and probably will pretty frequently.  it gives me a nice 45mpg rather than the allroad's 20ish.

[jayryan]

Either way, gas is still WAY cheaper here in the states than most other places in the world...just look at Europe.

Yeah, but I'm not terribly concerned with Europe's prices since I don't live there. What prices are here effects my life on a daily basis.

I've been seriously considering getting a motorcycle, but for now, I only live about 7mi. from where I work so finishing the basement and maybe making the house a bit more energy effecient will be the higher priority.

We are Americans though and I suspect that most people won't give two winks about it until it's somewhere in the $3/gallon range.

[hotani]

Its already broken the $3 mark in CA, maybe other places as well. Glad I got that MAF replaced in my car - my MPG went from 20 to 30 overnight! 8O

to quote a post over at pWorld:

When I filled up the company truck yesterday in San Francisco, premium was $3.16.

[ianacole]

Drive faster...if I get there faster I use less gas...right? :wink:

[92UrS4]

Yeah!

You know gas prices do suck, we can all do little things to conserve the gas we burn, namely in our cases not jam on the pedal so hard.

I have had like 10 people talk to me in the last couple days about wanting to buy a motorcycle because of fuel costs.  I just got done writing an e-mail to friend with the same thought and felt I would share my thoughts on that with you all.

Now keep in mind, most of the people coming to me have never owned nor ridden a bike in their life, so keep this in mind when I say the things I do.

Most of thgese people are reacting to rising fuel costs, think about this though. You can get a bike for under $1K, but it will probably need some attention and if you don't have the experience and need something for commuting this isn't a great choice. regardless even if you did get one for 1K here is my example for costs:

I have a 1979 Honda CM400A (paid much less than 1K for 3 years ago), I can go about 60 - 70 miles before I should fill up. I have about a 1.5 gal tank. My commute is 52 miles per day, so i basically would have to fill up every day. Based on regular unleaded price of about $2.70/gal and putting in 1 gal per day I would be paying $13.50/week for a 5 day work week.

In that same time driving my car with 700 miles on it and averaging about 25mpg which would translate to about 10 gals of gas/week I would be spending $29/week based on premium at $2.90/gal.

Obviously you can see an instant savings of about $16/week by riding the bike, if you could imagine being able to ride 52 weeks a year (doubtful here) then you could save about $830/year. So you paid $1K for the bike and pay about $100/year to insure it. So the first year cost is $1100, you save $832 on gas but you are still negative ~$300.  You'll find it would take about 3/4 of the next year to break even (more insurance costs). Not to mention if you are still making payments on a car and paying insurance  on it and you don't use it.  Just ripping yourself off.

Based on this example, if you are tying to do this because of high fuel costs it doesn't make sense. I know more modern bikes are more effecient and have larger tanks and so forth, but for showing value I felt this was a good example. Obviously with a different bike/car combo those numbers would alter. Also, my car is not operating at it's optium efficiency yet since it is so new.

So in the end, I tell everyone, if you want a bike because you want to ride, then do it. If you just want a bike because of gas prices think it through. Just remember, it takes time to learn to ride to be safe, and while September yields some of the nicest weather in Colorado, by the end of October things change pretty quick.

[Colorado_Baja]

Im gonna finish the Baja and let it suck up all the 85 it wants, Damn preimum.. if it goes up much more Ill have a Revo ECU for sale..

What up JR? Havent heard from you in a while..

Greg

[jfrahm]

CO is great for motorcycles and pretty decent for scooters.  You can get a riding day in 8 months out of the year easily, assuming you can get the bike out of the shed or wherever it's been stored.

It does take a while to hit the break even point and it's not a good idea for a person who is not excited about riding to get one just to save gas.  A $1000 bike willprobably need repairs and catch-up maintenance, then there is riding gear, insurance, plates, etc.  It all adds up.  And the exposure to risk on a bike is significant enough that I discourage people from riding unless they love it.  It's dangerous, you gotta want it badly enough to offset the risk.

-Joel.

[03Indigo]

Yeah, but I'm not terribly concerned with Europe's prices since I don't live there. What prices are here effects my life on a daily basis.

Fair enough, but we have had it good for a long time, that is all I am saying.  The grass is always greener on the other side, and in this case, the other side is ours!!!

Increased costs of living are a drag, but it is gonna happen...we will all adapt and in 5 years, we will say...remember when gas prices were under $3 per gallon?  I remember when it used to always be under $1 per gallon when I first started driving.

[92UrS4]

I remember the lowest I ever paid for gas in Colorado was $0.89/gallon and that was probably 12 years or so ago.

[03Indigo]

other things to do to save on milage is to decrease the size of rim you are running, and the width of the tire....as well as the type of tire.  We all know the tires we run eat up milage.  I remember when I went from my 195-15's to my 235-17's that I lost about 6mpg overall on my B5.5 Passat.  When I first got it and drove it like a normal car, I could easily get 32-34mpg...as I started driving it hard and with the tires and heavier rims on it, I droped to the 24mpg range, and at best could get something like 27mpg.  So....if you are REALLY concerned, you can go back to a 15 inch rim and smaller tire...that will help your average MPG over time.

[hotani]

Yeah I remember in high school it was 0.85 or so, then the first Gulf war came around and it shot ALL THE WAY up to 1.25, everyone thought that was sooo expensive, look at us now.

[Colorado_Baja]

I remember the lowest I ever paid for gas in Colorado was $0.89/gallon and that was probably 12 years or so ago.

I think the lowest price i ever paid for gas in CO was $0.99/gallon that was for 7-11 85 when I was a sophmore in highschool so 5 or 6 years ago.

[03Indigo]

BTW...Costco has not changed their prices as of yet, 91 oct is still $2.749 and 85 oct is still $2.649...I just filled up both the MINI and Subaru this morning.

[92UrS4]

We filled up Sunday night at 11pm after watching the news, paid $2.77/gal for premium for each car.

[BHase]

I'm going to be doing the same thing I always do, just now I'm going to purposely avoid looking at the price on the pump station and I'm no longer saving any receipts.  Ignorance is bliss, to use a cliche.

Oh yes, and in certain parts of Illinois, gas is now over $3.00/gallon, with that price expected to hit St. Louis this weekend.  I might be in the advance lines of the rising gas costs. You can set your financial forecasts according to me!

Ben

[evil_O]

Hmmm... maybe I will buy different cars.  Wait... already did that.  

My wagon had doubled my gas mileage from the f150 and the '3' is getting 400 miles to the tank (14 gal) in the city... on mid grade.  

I think we are good for now, but we still feel the pinch.

One other thing... looking for another job - same field - with better pay!

[Spicoli]

Most days I ride my bike to work anyways... but not gas is getting crazy, which just further entices me to use 100 octane (still only $5) and ride my bike even more.  My work is remodeling, and since parking is going to be such an issue, the owner is offering $3 a day to anyone that rides their bike in... that is double the incentive

[92UrS4]

That's like a gallon of gas per day! So if you ride 5 days a week, that will get you 5 gals at the end of the week!

[hotani]

That's awesome. It'd be a bit far for me to ride a bike to work!

Speaking of incentives, Boulder is giving out eco-passes for people who work in town. This is an amazing step towards getting people to take public transportation. A one way ride on the express bus I ride every morning to Denver is about $3. With eco-pass its free. I have to pay for mine, but I get it through work pre-tax which comes to about $15/month. Not as good as free, but certainly worth it.

[aowhaus]

My Passat is pretty much my weekend Target and Home Depot hauler.
I don't really drive much and I was shocked at my last fillup on saturday -- $36 on premium (I remember paying only $25 for a usual fillup).

My moped is my main ride.  I fillup every two weeks which the latest fillup costed me $3.40.  My moped pretty much paid itself off in gas and parking (parking near my office costs $5/day, $10 on game days).

I'll probably walk to work when it gets too snowy to ride my moped -- I really need the exercise.

[evil_O]

Sounds like I really need a moped.

[92UrS4]

I do miss living 2 miles from work. It was awesome back in the day.

[BHase]

I live 2.5 miles from my school, and I have a really nice bicycle, but I'm afraid to ride it. That's for several reason, the first of which is that I live in St. Louis and I don't feel safe with the type of driver that frequents our roadways.  Second, my books are so heavy that I feel riding a bike with them on my back would be quite the balancing act.

Ben

[hotani]

Sounds like somebody needs a trailer:


:lol:

[BHase]

Awesome! I'd get mad props at my school for tying that up in front of the building...

Ben