Gas prices affect your riding?

[the Ferret]

LEAVING POLITICS OUT OF IT

With gas prices approaching $6 a gallon in some parts of the country, does that mean you will be riding your motorcycle more or less or about the same?

I know as a daily rider Im feeling the pinch. It's costing me about $4 a day now to ride as I usually use about a gallon of gas per day on my daily rides, up about a dollar a day.

I wont be cutting back on my motorcycle rides, but I will be cutting back or combining trips in our 4 wheeled vehicles, or limiting other trips out, like going out to dinner.

For some it may encourage more motorcycle riding, say to work, because their motorcycles get far better gas mileage than their cars. We saw this during the oil embargos of the early 70s, which led to a boon in motorcycle sales, when gas went up to over 50 cents a gallon lol. (with price inflation would be $3.17 a gallon today)

How are these gas prices going to affect you?

 

[Rocky_imp]

Consider yourself lucky - well................ sort of
Converted to US dollars and gallon, our gas is $7.52 in Canadian dollars.
Gas went up three times in this province in the past few days.
I don't have to commute or go anywhere all the time so my driving/riding (when summer comes) won't change that much - but who knows what grim reality awaits us by then.

 

[the Ferret]

Geezalou $7.52 a gallon that hurts.

If gas went to $7.52 a gallon here, their would be a revolt lol

Come to think of it this may be a boon to Tesla and Harley Davidson Livewire sales

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Geezalou $7.52 a gallon that hurts.

If gas went to $7.52 a gallon here, their would be a revolt lol

Come to think of it this may be a boon to Tesla and Harley Davidson Livewire sales

Federal, provincial taxes weight in pretty heavily. In addition, we have pay "carbon taxes", another increase round scheduled for April 1 in Ontario, Canada.

Yea.

Gas prices is encouraging me to ride more and drive less. Basic arithmetic.

 

[Nachodaddy]

Geezalou $7.52 a gallon that hurts.

If gas went to $7.52 a gallon here, their would be a revolt lol

Come to think of it this may be a boon to Tesla and Harley Davidson Livewire sales

Yesterday I put 1.9 gallons of gas in my bike and it was over $7. We are on our way.

 

[misterprofessionality]

Theres a 56 y/o woman in my office who's never ridden motorcycle in her life who is seriously and diligently asking me for advice on purchasing a motorcycle because shes terrified ofupcoming gas prices. Yea. People are thinking about it.

Im certainly feeling like a smart guy having just purchased a 125cc bike that gets 95mpg flat out. Gonna be commuting on that some.

 

[PowerDubs_imp]

Haven't had the bike out yet this year... but no, the price wouldn't bother me even if it was $15

Heck- one of my cars has a 24 gallon tank..and 12 cylinders. That adds up.

 

[j3gq_imp]

Geezalou $7.52 a gallon that hurts.

If gas went to $7.52 a gallon here, their would be a revolt lol

Come to think of it this may be a boon to Tesla and Harley Davidson Livewire sales

This assumes that electricity is cheap or cheaper. Isn't true now, won't be true then or soon. I stopped at a motorway gas station a few weeks ago, where a man was charging his e-car and I asked him about the cost. He shrugged, didn't know, and then said "look at the charging station display". We couldn't find it for a while, finally down in a hidden menu we find the price charged to his credit card: ~ 1.650$ per kWh. He looked happy and said, "see, not expensive". I smiled and said good bye.
One liter of car gas or diesel contains about 10 kWh, dig ?
Charging at home will be cheaper, ... a little.

Haven't had the bike out yet this year... but no, the price wouldn't bother me even if it was $15

Heck- one of my cars has a 24 gallon tank..and 12 cylinders. That adds up.

And this car is a ... ?

Theres a 56 y/o woman in my office who's never ridden motorcycle in her life who is seriously and diligently asking me for advice on purchasing a motorcycle because shes terrified ofupcoming gas prices. Yea. People are thinking about it.

Im certainly feeling like a smart guy having just purchased a 125cc bike that gets 95mpg flat out. Gonna be commuting on that some.

The cost of gas is about 30% of the total cost of buying, owning and maintaining a car. The recent increases are about 25% on the gas price. 30% times 25% = 7.5% of total. If this makes you thinking about a m/c, I wonder what you start thinking about when gas prices double ?

 

[bioman_imp]

I guess my opinion on this will not make me popular here, but as far as I am concerned: gas should be much more expensive. We just cannot continue pumping exhaust fumes in the air like there is no tomorrow.
Higher gas prices (if stable for the long term) will hopefully result in serious investment in public transport which (even for gas-powered systems like most public buses) is just much more efficient than individual vehicles. It may also lead to more people choosing bicycles for shopping & commuting. And high gas prices may result in even more work-from-home (and therefore less commuting) and finally in more electric vehicles, which are better for local air quality - especially in urban environments (I am fully aware of pros & cons of battery manufacturing & disposal, and of electricity production: that's an other discussion).

Of course I am a hypocrite: I am riding & polluting on my CB1100 just for fun. But I try to offset the negative consequences of this hobby by the above measures.

In short: yes, I may ride a bit less if gas will double or triple in price, but overall I think it is a good development.

 

[misterprofessionality]

Geezalou $7.52 a gallon that hurts.

If gas went to $7.52 a gallon here, their would be a revolt lol

Come to think of it this may be a boon to Tesla and Harley Davidson Livewire sales

This assumes that electricity is cheap or cheaper. Isn't true now, won't be true then or soon. I stopped at a motorway gas station a few weeks ago, where a man was charging his e-car and I asked him about the cost. He shrugged, didn't know, and then said "look at the charging station display". We couldn't find it for a while, finally down in a hidden menu we find the price charged to his credit card: ~ 1.650$ per kWh. He looked happy and said, "see, not expensive". I smiled and said good bye.
One liter of car gas or diesel contains about 10 kWh, dig ?
Charging at home will be cheaper, ... a little.

Haven't had the bike out yet this year... but no, the price wouldn't bother me even if it was $15

Heck- one of my cars has a 24 gallon tank..and 12 cylinders. That adds up.

And this car is a ... ?

Theres a 56 y/o woman in my office who's never ridden motorcycle in her life who is seriously and diligently asking me for advice on purchasing a motorcycle because shes terrified ofupcoming gas prices. Yea. People are thinking about it.

Im certainly feeling like a smart guy having just purchased a 125cc bike that gets 95mpg flat out. Gonna be commuting on that some.

The cost of gas is about 30% of the total cost of buying, owning and maintaining a car. The recent increases are about 25% on the gas price. 30% times 25% = 7.5% of total. If this makes you thinking about a m/c, I wonder what you start thinking about when gas prices double ?

Oh, i bought because I wanted the bike, not because I was worried about fuel. the excellent mileage is just a side effect.

As for my co-worker, she's thinking about it because there isn't enough electric charging infrastructure around here to justify a fully electric car, and she finds plug-in hybrids to be extremely hard to find right now. In her mind, going from her SUV that's barely granting her 20mpg to something that easily grants her 70mpg is a big win. when you ask "what will you start thinking about when gas prices double?" that's kinda where she is. her fear is exactly that. what to do when gas prices double or triple? she's trying to more-than-triple her mileage in anticipation of just that.

 

[Gone in 60]

Just got back from a week-and-a-half long business trip, during which the world started tearing itself apart.

Regular near me had been steadily increasing to $4.65 when I left, and was at $5.50 when I returned last night. Getting ready for catching up in the office this morning, and eying the Bonneville or the CB300R... The Bonnie is the comparative gas hog now (yes, I know, not really). I had been playing a game of hypermiling the 300, and with my fully American weight, my work stuff, and freeway speeds, have been managing around 65 mpg average. Sorta glad I bought this little bugger recently.

Needled my way through heavy traffic to the office. What I'm interested to see is whether traffic will lighten a bit as regular commuters start eying the work-from-home thing again as an alternative to driving - it worked recently during the lockdowns.

 

[Tev62]

We went to $8.27 to a US Gallon this weekend. My lad is now getting 125 MPG (US) on his Honda CB125F and that is with the throttle pinned. The bike is genuinely able for 150 MPG (US) if you accelerate smoothly. It is a great bike for country roads ~50 MPH but freeway type roads would be its nemesis.

If I commuted to work on a bike I would not choose the CB or any other big engine bike, 300cc would be just the ticket with cheap servicing, tyres and chains etc.

 

[QimmiQ_imp]

I'm about where you are Bioman. Gas prices suck but its time to get off of fossil fuels.

I too ride the iconic Canadian checkered 2016 CB1100 (except I'm on the East coast) which is not much better on gas than my old 2001 Civic the way I drive it. So still fighting my own hypocrisy. But he**. I love this bike. lol

I also don't need an 1100. A middleweight UJM-styled modern retro would be more reasonable on gas and still spark excitement. I got pulled over with just a warning at 140kph on some local twisties by a kindly RCMP officer. You have to love rural small town Canada. I need to check myself.

I would definitely switch to an electric bike. They would easily work on my work commute and even I think most of my casual weekend riding. So home charging would work well.

There are some stunning models out there. Some are a bit too sporty of a riding position for my 250 lb/6'2" frame but I sat on a LiveWire at a bike show in 2020 and it felt great. It was on a mounted roller set up, so you could start it up and give the throttle he**.

Prices just need to come down a bit especially the LW. But I ride as a hobby and for joy, so my decision won't be completely about being practical or sensible. A set of handlebar risers on this bad boy might just do the trick - https://damon.com/hypersport

The other benefit of electric would be the eventual end of this loud pipes business. LOL

 

[pdedse]

While gas prices may not affect mc riding much, it likely will affect how far I ride the boat this summer on the Columbia River. Fortunately, one can just boat out a ways to get away from traffic, drop anchor and while away the afternoon reading / swimming / camping. That just takes a few gallons of gas. But pulling tubers and boarders for a full afternoon, that could top $100 easy. But the kids are grown now and I don't do that but once or twice a summer.

 

[emptysea]

I'm likely to commute on my bike more often. I suspect Cheryl might be doing the same. However, the reality is that we both live very close to our offices, so the difference in consumption would be minimal.

We are both planning on more and longer recreational rides this season and the price of gas will not interfere with those plans. To offset the higher cost, we might have to order one less post-ride cocktail per night --- wait! That's crazy talk. Maybe, we'll just try to ride a little slower to save fuel --- wait!! That's crazy talk, too. Hmmm... let's see, the kids are too old to be sold on the black market. We owe too much on the house to sell at a profit and live in our truck. I could take a second job, but then we're back to crazy talk. I guess we're just going to have to dig in to our retirement accounts and plan on moving in with one of our kids when we run out of dough. Problem solved.

 

[Sparky80_imp]

I guess I'm more frugal and cheap than most of you.
The higher gas prices WILL affect how many group rides and solo trips I take on my bikes. Granted, the increase in prices don't financially affect me to the point where it changes my life any, but filling up my FJR will cost me almost $30. That's a lot for a joy ride around western Texas on roads I've done many a time.
Maybe I'll ride the Zuma 125 more...

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

... maybe the choice will be made for all of us.

It wasn't long ago driving by a gas station that had no gasoline. Conversely, lining up at a gas station for over an hour could be an option - plus the rising price as you get closer to the pump. :dodgy:

Back then the reasons were much more subdued. Today the risks ahead are much less so.

I guess we'll find out.

In the meantime, a 150 cc Honda scooter gets over 100 mpg. Terrible in the winter, but maybe some knobbies would fix that.

 

[Houtman_imp]

I also do not care if gas prices go up , we have been spoiled with low gas prices in the USA . We might see less large SUV's in the Walmart parking lot .

 

[redbirds_imp]

I have been using the NC750X for nearly all errands now. With some throw over saddle bags and the frunk even groceries are no problem. Running 70 mph on the four lane between Waycross and Patterson averaged over 68 mpg. In rural areas is where the fuel price really hurts. There are folks around here who are already living close to the edge and the higher fuel costs are destroying businesses especially restaurants and department stores. The domino effect is making everything far more expensive. There is zero public transportation, farmers are hurt by diesel fuel prices. Running farm equipment just doubled in price. Fuel for school buses, the list goes on and on.

 

[PowerDubs_imp]

I guess I'm more frugal and cheap than most of you.
The higher gas prices WILL affect how many group rides and solo trips I take on my bikes. Granted, the increase in prices don't financially affect me to the point where it changes my life any, but filling up my FJR will cost me almost $30. That's a lot for a joy ride around western Texas on roads I've done many a time.
Maybe I'll ride the Zuma 125 more...

How many miles per tank?

How many smiles per gallon?