Gas prices and new riders? No rants!

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 and I 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 they don'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 dipshits and will buy more SUVs.

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ORIGINAL: Nauree

I think people are dipshits 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...

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ORIGINAL: Nauree

I think people are dipshits and will buy more SUVs.

 
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.

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ORIGINAL: Nauree

I think people are dipshits and will buy more SUVs.

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. 

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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

 
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 America get WORSE mileage than 20 years ago. A new V8 Toyota Sequoia is as 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.

I am riding mine a lot more as a DD. I have a Dodge Hemi and that gets about 13 mpg, and it sucks!!! Trying to get rid of it, but of course, no one wants it . But thank god we have a Jetta so when me and the wifey are home, we can use that.

But honestly, I see more people buying more expensive and gas guzzeling vehicles.

A new V8 Toyota Sequoia is as fast as my 1988 Mustang GT was in the 1/4 mile. 
 
I hear ya on that one.  I do like the fact that there are so many quick vehicles made today, but they are gas hogs.  What good is a 400hp truck if you can't afford the fuel for it.
 
The only problem I have with using the bike as a total DD is I have a 28 mile drive to work one way 5 days a week and it rains kinda alot here in OH.  I hate to ride in the rain, plus I work in an office so I have to dress nice 4 out of the 5 days a week.  Then from mid NOV to April riding is on a here and there basis due to cold, snow and ice, not to mention all the loose salt that is on the roads-it's not being on gravel.
 
Like I said I'm going to try to use the bike alot more when I can.

The last two years when we have had gas prices spike, there was an influx in riders and bikes on the road.  Down here you see bikes everywhere anyways.  Will there be an increase?  Yes.  Will it be a majority?  No.

So what if there are more riders out there. Just means less cars to hit you. It also means that we can see our bikes for more $$ when we decide to buy a newer one.
 
The problem is that people will keep buying large vehicles because they can. If you can afford a $50 vehicle, you can pay for the gas without problem. Also, you will see a lot of business owners driving around in these large SUVs because their fuel costs are tax deductable and the cost of the vehicle is a deductable expense over the first 4 years or so. When you get a significant tax break based on the whole cost of operation, who wouldn't buy the biggest coolest thing out there?
 
In Ohio I couldn't care less all winter how much it snowed, but now that I can see 40+ temps I want so badly to start riding again. I need to get some maintenance done before I can go riding again though.

I just bought a new to me car and one of the 2 major reasons for buying it was fuel economy, the other was owning another honda. hehehe
 
I get about 31mpg on my little 1.6L sohc vtec motor that pushes as much hp as my old car a 2.0L dodge neon.  For some reason I cannot figure out what car companies are doing these days.  My 1995 Honda civic has the same hp and gets almost 10mpg more than my 2003 dodge neon.  Somethings not adding up.  Anyways I always laugh at these new commercials with these awesome new cars that get 30mpg, OMG I'm SOOOOO impressed, too bad 13 years ago honda did the same thing.

i have a car loan and a bike... i fully intend on riding the bike as much as possible. i think the sale of gear will go up though because more people will be riding and will want more gear for all types of weather ya know? i dont know, we'll see i guess

id rather be surrounded by bikes than SUV's and soccer moms

We're selling our gas hog jeep to get a better gas milage car.  Guy took it out yesterday for a test drive and brought it back w/ no reverse.  Now it's in the shop to figure out what he did to you.  Point being, I'm still going to sell it, because I only needed it this winter to pull a trailer to go pick up motorcycles, so we could sell them this spring.  I'm all about doing my part to put more people on bikes, I won't sell to anyone to who doesn't have a motorcycle endorsment.  No, I don't run a shop, it's just something that my wife does while at home w/ the kids.

well.. i work for an Oil and Gas Co. so i dont pay for my gas, but if i did i would be driving a prius and my bike only, its about $70 to fill my Jeep GC with 89 octane. gas prices are retarded, but its also the reason i get a check every other week.

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so i dont pay for my gas

 
Can we come to your house to siphon fuel from your car to our cars???
 
 

people will continue to complain but do nothing about it. the suv driver will complain they are spending so much money on gas but still drive the suv when they are never filling it with people.

i think there will be some more rider but i do not think its going to be a noticible amount becuase if they are riding to save money on gas then they are probley only going from work to home. people who ride for fun are on the road a lot more.

I can't take my grandma on my bike to her doc's appointment, so i strugle with 3.33 a gallon of Chevron supreme, im on my v8 magnum 5.9 engine (yes it's a RAM)

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ORIGINAL: fishfryer527

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so i dont pay for my gas

Can we come to your house to siphon fuel from your car to our cars???

 
sure.. just dont let me catch you. 

i think gas prices are absolutly retarted and it is making some people very wealthy...i i have a hog..my camaro ss doesnt get the best mileage but 22mpg highway isnt bad for a car pushing 375 at the wheels....there is no way i'd give up my bike for an economy car..thats wwhy i got a bike..would you give up your bike for a vespa???**** no...let us have our gas guzzelers, and let us complain about gas prices....cause honestly what can you do about it?picket the oil companies...ride a bike 20 mi's to work...nope...and i'll be damned if you catch me in a honda (cage) or and jap crap car or anytype of fuel efficient vehicle...i love the rumble of my V8 nothing compares to it

Pickett the oil companies, No but it's a damn shame we can't unite like our Hispanic brothers and sisters did last year for immigration. If this whole country would stand up. Just one day and shut the whole damn place down. The US government might take us seriously, as well as major corporations and start working on a long-term solution. Venezuela sure got a wake-up call from its citizens on the subject and work out a long-term solution
 
Now back to the topic at hand. I think we will see a modest increase in our community of riders but it will not be the upper-middle-class

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ORIGINAL: fishfryer527

 I hope gas goes to $20 a gallon...

If it goes up this high, I'm going to have to live in a box under the freeway for I will be homeless.