I'm seriously considering a motor scooter to fight back against Exxon, etc

[Jersey Devil]

I have my office in my home (actually added onto my home) and don't commute anywhere yet last week it cost me $58 for gas in 8 days (a lot of short hops around town, to the Post Office, local offices for various matters, county court house, etc. On weekends and evenings I rarely drive long distances and use up most of my gas on short trips around town as well to get coffee, pick up some takeout, stuff like that.

So why not get a scooter that gets at least 50-60 mpg and tell Exxon to stuff their oil where the sun doesn't shine? My wife thinks I'm nuts (afraid someone will run me over) in the crowded burb where we live in NE NJ but hell, at this point I am thinking we have to do something serious to fight back or they'll keep sticking it to us forever.

[Waya]

1. I was thinking of....

...leasing a buggy and horse from the Amish here........:evilgrin:

[Jersey Devil]

3. Well, I wouldn't go that far

I rode in one of those buggies once when visiting Amish country in PA and my bottom starts hurting whenever I think of it.

[Waya]

5. Hmmm...got a point maybe....

....I've never been in one....so maybe I'll try it and then decide which pain is easier to bear - the one on my behind or the one on my wallet......:D

[phantom power]

2. Get it to fight climate change. That's what will kill us all.

[Jersey Devil]

7. Are you Al Gore?

I understand his movie is going to wake up a lot of people. I sure hope so.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount_classics/aninconvenienttruth/trailer/

[phantom power]

10. I may never sleep again. I'm a regular at the Environment/Energy forum.

[rzemanfl]

4. I could show you the scar from my experiment with low cost

two-wheeled powered transportation. About $20K including the hospital, orthopod, two surgeries. I did it to myself when the brakes only grabbed on the front wheel, couldn't have been going 5 mph.

[Jersey Devil]

6. Umm, yeah, that's what's stopped me so far

My best friend bought a Harley a few years back and had it a week before someone went through a stop sign and he broke his leg. But I'm still tempted to do it.

[Dr.Phool]

13. ALWAYS watch out for the other guy.

I've been riding Harleys for over 30 years. Have more than my share of scars. Just take it easy, and always be aware of your surroundings.

I've been trying to sell mine, but no offers. I may just keep it now. 50mpg.

[sproutster]

11. Youch that happened to me too, when my dad did my brakes backwards. :(

[rzemanfl]

14. Probably could have explained it better, brakes both worked,

rear wheel skidded and front didn't.

[Gato Moteado]

8. hell, some hybrids get that kind of mileage.......

.....if you want to screw exxon, get a bicycle and encourage others to do the same.

i have not owned a car for 1 year now. i walk or take the bus to just about every place i need to go. unfortunately, i do need a car because i will soon need to transport equipment to my property which is 3 hours away from the city i live in.

i lived in texas for 11 years. texans will never get rid of their cars. it's part of their culture. and two out of every three vehicles in texas seem to be SUVs and trucks....it drove me nuts. my old neighborhood there didn't even have sidewalks...so many neighborhoods in texas don't. but up in the northeast where you are, there might be ample public transportation. when i lived in chicago, i hardly ever drove my car.....i took buses and trains to school and work. if everyone who lived in a big city did that, eventually the only people buying gasoline would be texans and other mainly rural states. the gas prices would skyrocket then. more and more buses would convert to propane or some other alternative fuel.

anyways, you have the right idea.....you just need to get everyone else on your wavelength.

[Jersey Devil]

15. good advice

In fact, I have been walking a lot more, partly because I need the exercise. BTW, in suburbia public transportation sucks. You have to be in a city for that, at least around here. But my son gave up his car about 5 years ago and does just fine without it. He works in NYC and lives in Hoboken and has no real need for a car. Virtually everything is within walking distance (including his girlfriend).

[Gato Moteado]

22. if you get a motorcycle or scooter, be careful and always.....

...wear a helmet. we want to keep you around for a long time.

by the way, when i lived in chicago, i had a honda scooter. it only went 45 mph but it got close to 100 miles a gallon.

[Lady Effingbroke]

20. This Texan wishes she could get rid of her car.

Unfortunately, the only way I will be able to do that is by moving to a more public transportation-friendly location.

As it is, I ride a bicycle everywhere remotely feasible. However, it is damn-near impossible to be car-free in Houston.

[Gato Moteado]

24. i know.....i lived in the houston area for over 2 years

public transportation sucks and it's hard to get stuff done without a car. the city was poorly designed.

texans love their gas guzzling trucks. it's just a disgusting part of the texas culture. sometime when you're driving around, count the ratio of SUVs to regular cars on the road. even in austin, the SUVs outnumber regular cars....it's disgusting.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. 
[link:www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html|Click
here] to review the message board rules.

[Gato Moteado]

12. i love to see the gas prices continue to rise like they are doing...

...it warms my heart to know that all those idiot SUV owners are getting taken to the cleaners.

[Waya]

17. Hmmm, yea...

...but all of us lowly morons who work for a living...and whoe wages do not increase in direct proportion to Gas prices...well, we're taken to the cleaners too.....and I'm sick of it....

[Gato Moteado]

26. hey i feel for ya......

and if you think $3 a gallon is bad, it's over $4 a gallon where i live and our wages are a fraction of those in the US.

i'll eventually need a car at some point in the near future....and a 4x4 at that. but i will not be joy riding with it. people in the states (and everywhere else) really need to curb their use of gasoline for the environment if nothing else.

[Sparkman]

16. ELECTRIC conversion of mini-truck, $3000 kit (powered by BATTERY)

HEY, AMERICA!
Why has the 40 mile range solution to hi gas prices taken 15 years to take hold?
ANY mechanic, can remove the gas engine, fuel tank and gas gage from small cars, then keeping the transmission (manual)bolt an adapter plate to the trans, and bolt an ELECTRIC motor to the adaptor plate. ADD 700-800 pounds of lead acid deep cycle marine batteries, cable, PWM speed controller and a charger, and you have a freeway-speed ELECTRIC vehicle that gets 40 mile range.
Charge the thing overnight, and maybe at work too. $4.00 per gallon gas may just drive enough interest to reduce the cost of these small companies conversion kits, AND charging station facility provisions at our jobs.
Did you all know that the city of Santa Barbara used ELECTRIC buses downtown? They have battery banks on removable pallets or trays for easy swap out for recharging while the bus goes back into service.

[TreasonousBastard]

18. NE Joisey? When I lived in Union County, I took my...

bicycle out to do some local shopping and it scared the crap out of me. Seems I had this huge target on my back.

Anyway, aside from the safety issues, I go along with the idea. Now that I'm out in the boonies of Long Island, I'm looking for a scooter myself. Just can't see blowing a gallon of gas to get a quart of milk. Never could, really, but now it's getting insane.

[Sparkman]

19. ELECTRIC NEV's (neighborhood electric vehicles) legal on 35mph streets

are like golf carts, with a cab and windshiel wipers. They cost from $4000 up, used, and will haul two people 10 miles at 25mph. Charge overnight and for trips on streets posted under 45 mph can't be beat for comfort/operating cost combination.

[movonne]

21. You probably won't be the only one...

[northofdenali]

23. As a motorcycle nut, I can assure you scooters can be terrific.

Get the largest CC you can afford, and by all means take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's training in your area. The training doesn't apply to just motorcycles, and could save your life, given that most drivers in "cages" (cars) don't see you. As far as getting run over, I've never been rear-ended but I have a LOT of lights on the bike, front and rear.

Do a little research, try them on for size, and don't forget a GOOD helmet and riding gear. Again, I emphasize, take an MSF training course. It's worth every penny. Their website directs you to courses in your area:

http://www.msf-usa.org/

[newswolf56]

25. This is an insane choice for adults. To motorcycle or bike effectively...

you have to take it up as a teenager. Like so many other physical skills the required reflexes and situational awareness is simply not something adults -- especially older adults -- are capable of learning. Couple this with the fact that in the United States, automobile drivers wantonly kill and maim more motorcyclists and bicyclists than anywhere else in the world, and you see why two-wheeled transport is genuinely suicide. And even among people who take up biking or motorcycling at an appropriately youthful age, EVERY such person I know (including some genuine Harley-type bikers) has been extensively hospitalized at least once for injuries inflicted by an angry or selfishly inattentive automobile driver: EVERY such person -- and several crippled for life.

When I was much younger I was a bicycle enthusiast, and when I lived in Manhattan I bicycled everywhere. Indeed Manhattan is one of the few places in the United States -- in my opinion the ONLY place -- where one can safely use two-wheeled transport. Attempting to bicycle in Seattle, I was driven off the streets forever in just a few days by savagely hateful automobile drivers: something I never encountered even once in New York. I have never bicycled again; I understand fully the poster above who says he felt as if he was wearing a target -- the aggressive fury of automobile drivers toward bicyclists and motorcyclists has to be witnessed to be believed. (In any case, now at age 66 I am much too old for bicycles -- and too fat as well: I quit smoking 11 years ago to "get healthy" and gained 100 pounds instead -- weight I cannot seem to lose no matter how little I eat or how diligently I exercise.)

[TheCentepedeShoes]

27. Mr 'pede got a moped

2 years ago. Uses it for trips to the grocery, drug store and just for fun. He likes to go down under the E-way to watch the trains. He built a box to bungee behind the seat and can carry a nice little bunch of groceries. We were talking about gas prices about an hour ago and he says he's going to take the 'ped to the VA for his checkup next week. I dunno, that's about a 12 mile (?) roundtrip with some tricky intersections. But, it gets 100 mpg.