Peak Oil News and Message Boards

Free wrote:What's with this Diesel-bike, the Enfield Bullet?

http://www.enfield-deutschland.de/

(german website, but I am sure google will bring up the english producer of these bikes)

As I understand it, you can substitute Diesel with Biodiesel, no?

I am very interested in a biofuel motorcycle too...

Also check out this new Centaurus bike, supposed to reach 125 km/h and one tank lasts for 600 km!

http://www.centaurus.de/

Great Free too bad it's not free

lol yeah, that would be cool, free motorcycles instead of free beer (although here the decision would be difficult).

But I dont think they are overpriced. If you get one of those plastic racer bikes they gonna cost you at least the same and then a lot of fuel....

As I've been driving around in my clunker plymouth grand caravan, I've been noticing a large increase in the number of motorcycles in my town. They all have the just off the lot look to them. Has anyone else in their town noticed an increase in the number of motorcycles? Personally I have been considering motorcycles because they make more sense for getting myself from point A to point B with a 40-50mpg range.

OVerLoRDI wrote:As I've been driving around in my clunker plymouth grand caravan, I've been noticing a large increase in the number of motorcycles in my town. They all have the just off the lot look to them. Has anyone else in their town noticed an increase in the number of motorcycles? Personally I have been considering motorcycles because they make more sense for getting myself from point A to point B with a 40-50mpg range.

Bikes I've noticed lots of the the European style mopeds/scootersl
Cars I've noticed many more of the smaller Japanese variety.

Jevons Paradox should sort this out

Oh and food is getting more expensive, one trick is to make the can size smaller and charge the same price. hehe

If your going for MPG I'd keep the size of the bike at or below 500cc displacement. Used to have an old Suzuki 750 2 stroke road bike back in the mid 1970's and I never got more than about 30-35 MPG max. I could milk almost 50 MPG from my 79' Civic by just keeping the speed down to 50 MPH. A small car is a much safer option especially the way people seem drive now a days.

My bike is 3 years old and looks brand new because it lives indoors during the winter and I like most bike owners baby it. I've been riding more often lately simply because it gets better mileage but yeah it's a cbr600 and I get about 37 mpg so it's far from amazing. Add in the fact that I run premium and it's just a tidge cheaper then my truck but worse then the wifes car.

I'd assume others are doing the same.

And as was pointed out above it's damn dangerous thanks to the other drivers.

I highly recommend the KLR650:



50+ MPG, MSRP $5199. I have had 2 different ones in my lifetime. They were great bikes. I currently have a street converted XR600R which is better for off road than the KLR.

We have some older small Hondas that we use around town. Actually the biggest is a 1972 CB350 that I use a lot, and my son uses his 100 or 125. The 100 gets 80 to 140mpg depending on use, and he is figuring ways to consistantly improve the mileage.

The problem with current motorcycles in the USA is that most of them are big sport bikes or cruisers or touring bikes, and small to mid sized fuel efficient transportation are hard to find in a new motorcyle. They make a much wider range of machines for sale in Asian countries and in Europe, but most of them aren't available in the USA.

I have been riding my 01 cbr 929 around every chance I get, for a large displacement sports bike I do pretty well with gas mileage; 45-50 on the freeway if I stay out of the gas. I have the fuel map running a bit lean for that purpose though.

Really if you are buying a new sports bike you aren't really going to save much money; tires last maybe 10k miles max and full coverage ins. is very expensive. It pretty much equaled out with 2.30 a gallon gas and is maybe saving me a bit of money at 3.00 a gallon which isn't really enough savings to deal with getting squashed by a soccer mom in a giant SUV talking on her cell phone. (nearly get killed by one daily it seems)

I ride my Honda Goldwing to work most days. I get 40 MPG. BMW makes a line of 1200 cc bikes and they are getting 58-60 MPG.

When I purchased my motorcycle there were lots of good used bike to choose from. Now I have noticed that there are far fewer used motorcycles for sale.

Meet the <b>Electric GPR</b>! [thanks to Make Podcast]



This is an electric motorcycle that looks like a standard sports bike, but:

Motor: Rare Earth Magnet
Power: 15 Peak Horsepower
Top Speed: 45 to 65 mph [72 to 104 kph] (adjustable)
Range: 20 to 40 miles [32 to 64 kms] (adjustable)
Brakes: Dual Hydraulic Disks
Charge Time: 3.5 hours

48 Volt SLA - $6,800
48 Volt SLA - $7,200 AC Drive system

Website over here. Download video of creator & bike in action here [MP4].

I want one!

Check this baby. Diesel Motorcycle 102 MPG

HDT Diesel Bike click on the D650A1Bulldog model


I ride a Hyosung GT650 ~ 60MPG

I remember the first Hondas to be sold in the US in the 60s. Kids were riding around on 50 and 90cc bikes, while the bigger kids were quite satisfied with the 160 or 305s. Of course, serious bikers still had their Harleys. I didn't get a bike till I was an adult in the 80s, and then a lot of guys considered me totally under powered on my 550. Later I got a 750, which got me cross country a couple of times. I only once saw a bike smaller than mine on the Interstate on those trips.

I suppose it's another example of our gluttony. Everything has to be supersized.

green_achers wrote:I suppose it's another example of our gluttony. Everything has to be supersized.

I regularly get made fun of because I only have 100 hp to move that 400 lbs of bike. Not one group ride goes by where I don't hear from someone that I should get a 1000 of some sort.

See. This is good. Rechargeable batteries eventually turn useless though after so many recharges right? There's an environmental cost with acid and heavy metal batteries, if I'm not mistaken. This is good, though. Hopefully, batteries that don't need to be replaced or have environmental costs can eventually be made.

Personally, I prefer air-cooled Honda single cylinders for reliability, durability, and fuel economy.

I have an older XRL 250 (dual purpose) that gets 60+mpg and cruises nicely at 55 mph. I wouldn't want to ride it cross country, but for short jaunts its great. Nimble, light weight, and forgiving. And it goes pretty good off-road too. Versatile, go-anywhere machine. Not great at any specific task but pretty good at most. A nice compromise.

Reliability approaches claw hammer status.

Performance-wise they certainly aren't as good as the newer liquid-cooled multi-cammed brethren.

Last year I too saw a noticeable increase in the number of m/c on the road. Mostly new too.

I found this about a year ago and am waiting for introduction into the US market. Folks in the UK can enjoy it now from what I understand. An electric Motorcycle with speeds up to 62mph and about a 100 mile range. Completely capable of long commutes.
http://www.vectrixusa.com/index3.html

Disclaimer: I have no association with Vectrix except that I would like to be a customer.

Motorcycles as a response to PO raise interesting questions. I too have wondered whether the US masses might gradually switch over to a huge motorcycle fleet. Consider, though, that

1. Motorcycles require more skill than cars to drive and even then are far more dangerous. Insurance rates and health care costs would soar.
2. Many car drivers, especially older ones, lack the physical ability to ever drive a motorcycle.
3. Motorcycles' cargo capacity is very limited---maybe a couple of bags of groceries.
4. In general, motorcycles require more maintenance than cars.
5. Motorcycles can't replace trucks, fire engines, ambulances, etc.
6. Motorcycles are impractical in cold, snowy, or rainy weather.

The bike I turned into a twisted clump of metal was a Yamaha FJ1100.
Spinal cord injury, be careful. It would be interesting to see statistics on motorcycle wrecks compared to cars. Pros of bikes being the ability to avoid wrecks with superior braking, acceleration and nimble handling, cons being exposure lot's of big bad energy and immovable objects, as well as a smaller profile which pilots of automobiles don't always see (or respect).
Obviously you don't want to be in a wheelchair post peak. Jeeze, I can't wait!

I do not own a car. My motorcycle is my only means of transportation.

From a purely financial standpoint, no motorcycle can beat a Toyota Yaris for cost savings.

Don't believe me? Run the numbers yourself. Figure the per mile cost for car versus motorcycle.

Factor into your caluculations:

- MPG
- frequency of tire replacement in miles and tire cost
- expected service life in miles
- depreciation from purchase price
- oil changes; frequency and cost
- oil filters, air filters, spark plugs; replacement frequency and cost
- chain replacement cost and frequency
- fork seals, shocks, and control cable replacement.
- brake pad life and replacement cost
- clutch life and replacement cost
- insurance cost
- financing cost if you can't pay cash (bikes have MUCH higher interest rates).

I challenge anyone to show me a motorcycle that can beat a Toyota Yaris.