Thought Provoking Article By kz1000st (Read 1,691 times)

[kz1000st]

www.motorcycle-usa.com/320/1898/Motorcycle-Article/Scooting-thru-Vespanomics-101.aspx

I thought this part pretty much summed up the pluses of scooter ownership.

As a progressive choice in alternative transportation, scooters make a whole lot of sense. The benefit to American cities is worthwhile and municipalities should take steps to encourage scooter use. Governments could also stir sales with tax credits, as California is already doing for ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle) scooters like the electric-powered Vectrix.

[jct842]

Thats the truth. takes a long long time to justify scooter cost/gas savings against a decent cars mileage. I ride because I like to ride.
Not sure no matter how long I rode the 86 aspencade that I paid $12,000 for that I ever would have broke even on the better gas mileage. It got 40-45 mpg. I know a guy who will drive 10 miles to fill up to get 2 cents better price! I check mileage once in a while just to check health of vehicle. poorer mileage = some thing is wrong with ride. john

[Bashan]

Think about this, we buy gobs of oil from countries that would like nothing better than to see us crash and burn. We are paying for their hatred driven efforts to irradicate us through our spoiled arse attitudes of wanting to drive our behemoth trucks, SUVs, and RVs wherever the hell we want whenever the hell we want. I'm sure it's the same around your corner of the country, unnecessarily huge vehicles with the gas pedal planted to the floor whenever possible. There's usually one or two people in these three ton slags of steel. And don't act like you're not part of the problem, most of you reading this are guilty as hell of driving a vehicle that's way too big for what you really need and use it to buzz down to the store two or three times a day. Everything is always everybody else's fault in America...it's the immigrants, it's the Arabs, it's the liberals, it's the conservatives. Well start with yourself, look in the damn mirror! You can do something RIGHT NOW! Get smaller vehicles, get scooters! Who cares about the "cost effective return blah blah excuse me while I vomit!"? We need to do something right now....TODAY! And that something is get out from the choke hold of these boneheads that don't give a crap about us other than taking our oil money and trying to blow our arse up. That picture of George Bush holding hands with that white frocked disingenuous megalomaniac still drives me over the edge! Buy a scooter, get a smaller vehicle, go hybrid, get off of your arse and get a bicycle! Who cares about gas cost/return on your investment? This is crunch crisis time and we have our collective heads up our collective asses. Rich

[scootmonk]

well said bashan, i agree with every word.

[dhennessey]

I've just recently got into the scooter world, buying used Linhai's for my wife and myself. Some have said, "Is this your mid-life crisis?" My answer is no. This is my answer to our economic crisis.

Buying used scoots at less than $1,000 each, they will pay for themselves in about a year just looking at gas savings alone. I work from home, so much of my car trips had to do with going to the post office (daily), the grocery store (just about daily), and dropping off and picking up kids from school, work, friends, etc. On top of that, meetings around town a couple times a week. In Atlanta, I can ride the scooter all year long, ride 2-up with the kids to do the abovementioned activities, and save the whole time I'm doing it! The environmental positives are an added blessing, but not part of the initial decision.

I hope to see more people using scooters to get through the economic situation we're all in. Much of the rest of the world has seen their benefit economically. It would benefit US citizens to do the same.

[inca32]

You guys must be liberals with all that gloom and doom stuff, I will just keep my SUV and drive it all I want!

[kz1000st]

I've saved over $500 in gas this riding season by using the two wheeled vehicles in my fleet. The 150cc scooter alone has seen 2,000 miles so far and I'm not done yet. None of those are joyride miles either. The minivan went over three weeks on the last fill up, as opposed to the weekly fills it gets in winter. My version of Vespanomics.

[Bashan]

Oct 3, 2011 20:01:15 GMT -6 inca32 said:

You guys must be liberals with all that gloom and doom stuff, I will just keep my SUV and drive it all I want!

[/b][/quote]
See, here we go again. We MUST be liberals....they GOTTA be conservatives! That's a huge problem in this country, we're polarized sitting on opposite sides of some peudopolitical fence that the TV talking heads have constructed to get wealthy. Well I personally am neither liberal or conservative and don't appreciate being stuffed into your little stereotyping box. My belief system is complex, multifaceted, and always open to rethinking and new input. But that's not the issue here. We need to stop this malignant dependency on oil and quit stuffing money into countries' coffers that hate us. You want to keep plowing through barrels of oil with that SUV? The Saudis love it! Enjoy yourself. Rich

[jct842]

it bothers me to see all the gas guzzlers with only a driver out driving around aimlessly wasting gas. and the moms sitting in front of of the grade school idling for 15 min waiting to pick up billy who lives 2 blocks for the school! and its 75 degrees out and the sun is shining. and all the kids who just have to have a pick-um-up truck to drive the 2 blocks to school. thats almost to close to get a bicycle out for! john

[inca32]

This is a free country, if you want to drive a shoe box then go ahead but don't force me to accept your way of life! The US of A could solve the oil issue by getting ride of all the regulations preventing the exploration and drilling right here at home so don't give me all this baloney about we have turn our life style back to the last century to "save the planet". We have done a pretty food job of cleaning the environment up and still enjoying the American lifestyle. I love my SUV and my scooter. If you want your kids to walk 2 miles to school in 3 feet of snow, then do it. I will drive mine.

[89newbie]

Ok 2 cents more. Vespanpmics, how many of us have Vespas? My last bike JCL150C, $950. far cry from Vespa. Next, Drive one of our old Dakota 4X4, yep two both paid for, 2 trucks gives us a 2 wheel backup. Long trips use the bigger one, if towing, the bike trailer . Shorter trips small truck. Both tucks american made, 18MPG and 24 MPG. (highway) Town driving they suck 12 to 14, so I ride bile. Last month saved about $110.00 on short trips. No brainer for me Bike is a deal!

[89newbie]

Oct 5, 2011 8:00:40 GMT -6 inca32 said:

This is a free country, if you want to drive a shoe box then go ahead but don't force me to accept your way of life! The US of A could solve the oil issue by getting ride of all the regulations preventing the exploration and drilling right here at home so don't give me all this baloney about we have turn our life style back to the last century to "save the planet". We have done a pretty food job of cleaning the environment up and still enjoying the American lifestyle. I love my SUV and my scooter. If you want your kids to walk 2 miles to school in 3 feet of snow, then do it. I will drive mine.

Ahhhhh snow. Diving kids in that weather is justified because we all know how many rotten drivers are out there and its not safe to walk for them. I remember delivering the morning papars in that kind of snow, it was safe then, not now.

[royldoc]

I got lots of shtuff and some times I need to haul some of it, I'll use the truck. Some times I'll take the grand kids out, gotta use the Explorer they won't all fit in the truck or because of bad weather. If I just want to enjoy a nice afternoon or run some errands I ride one of my scooters.

Roy

[inca32]

Amen!

[Bashan]

Oct 5, 2011 8:00:40 GMT -6 inca32 said:

Don't give me all this baloney about we have turn our life style back to the last century to save the planet.

[/b][/quote]
Where did I say save the planet?! Reread my post, I said we were stuffing money into the pockets of the psychos that would love nothing better than to see us burn alive. We are doing this by wasting cubic miles of oil driving ridiculously wasteful vehicles. And well said John, one lady sitting in her land barge waiting for her brat to get out of cheerleading practice. God forbid the kid might WALK home and spoil her do. By the way, this is a friendly, spirited debate and this is what forums are for. No hard feelings from me by any means. Rich