Price of fuel/gas

[The afterburner]

I was interested by a comment in the new members section about the price of fuel/gas driving a member onto two wheels. He was complaining about the rising cost, I wondered if you, my colonial cousins, had the worries/ prices we are currently subjected to in the UK. At the moment we are paying about £1.40p for a litre of diesel, which is about $2.79.....which means that my Mitsibushi L200 2.5l pick up costs about £83.00 ($165.48) to fill up. This lasts for about 300 miles:shakehead:. I assume that you fare better.

 

[BranNwebster]

Sure you guys pay more but we are more dependent on it and consume three time as much. We are also a nation of 9.6 million sq kilometers and live 25 miles or more from work. So when gas prices double, even if it is still half of what you pay, it hurts the pocket book.

 

[The afterburner]

Fair comment, but a good percentage of the 70 million people in the tiny UK work more than 25 miles from their work....and public transport is rubbish.

 

[texasraider]

I bought my new FZ6 today mainly for just that reason.

One of my jobs is a 60 mile commute roundtrip so I figured it will save me $16 dollars per day (or thereabout) instead of driving my Tahoe.

 

[weswood151]

I would have to say that, the only thing I can't agree on is the Rubbish about public transit being Rubbish. If you have been to the "Colonies" as you say, you would know that we don't do public transit! It is appalling! No real train network and to ride a bus is almost suicide. Anyway, I just purchased a bike solely because of the cost of gas. I have full size v8 pick up that gets 15 MPG (you do the math) and at $4/ GL AND 25 gl tank = $100. That lasted me a week at the most if I only went to work.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the FZ6, but driven properly, one can get 50 MPG. (I am testing this right now.)
My point is that, simple economics states that the higher the demand for a finite product....the higher the price$ We all need to change our habits. I was hesitant, but this bike will pay for itself in 1 year and I can pat myself on the back and feel superior. I believe that is my right as an American.:america:
A little rebel humor from a Kiowa pilot won't hurt will it!

 

[The afterburner]

I would have to say that, the only thing I can't agree on is the Rubbish about public transit being Rubbish. If you have been to the "Colonies" as you say, you would know that we don't do public transit! It is appalling! No real train network and to ride a bus is almost suicide. Anyway, I just purchased a bike solely because of the cost of gas. I have full size v8 pick up that gets 15 MPG (you do the math) and at $4/ GL AND 25 gl tank = $100. That lasted me a week at the most if I only went to work.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the FZ6, but driven properly, one can get 50 MPG. (I am testing this right now.)
My point is that, simple economics states that the higher the demand for a finite product....the higher the price$ We all need to change our habits. I was hesitant, but this bike will pay for itself in 1 year and I can pat myself on the back and feel superior. I believe that is my right as an American.:america:
A little rebel humor from a Kiowa pilot won't hurt will it!

not at all.....but I think you would lose the sense of humour if you paid $2.79 a litre for your gas.

 

[Nelly]

My point is that, simple economics states that the higher the demand for a finite product....the higher the price$ We all need to change our habits.!

You have hit the proverbial nail on the head. Its all good and well saying they use more, they have it cheaper.
Ultimately we will all end up walking once the resource has gone.

Nelly

 

[cashcrzzy]

"diesel fuel" --- "north east U.S.A." --- $5.25 gallon
your price ?--- $10.55 a gallon ? is that right ?
That is just crazy ..

 

[Troubl]

Fair comment, but a good percentage of the 70 million people in the tiny UK work more than 25 miles from their work....and public transport is rubbish.

Been on your public transportation... you may think it's rubbish, but it's a hell of a lot better than we've got. Ours is practially non-existant compared to yours.

I went over to visit my fiancee (now wife), got off the plane and was shocked to see I could board the train right there at the airport. Got through London, switched trains and up to Peterborough then Spalding, then a bus that practically took me to her front door. I was in total awe. You won't find that here. If you don't have a car, you're dead in the water. (By the way, loved England when I was over there both times... can't wait for my wife and I to go over again!)

As far as gas prices, yes our prices are better than yours, but that still doesn't make our prices good. They're horrible.

 

[dark_isz]

..........

 

[VEGASRIDER]

I don't understand why that whenever the U.S. whines and cries about the rising cost of fuel, that they demand the oil producing nations to produce more oil so that our cost can come down. The U.S. still has the lowest prices of most industrialized countries but we still whine. Our friends across the pond were paying these kind of prices 10 years ago and must be laughing at us. Sometimes I'm embarassed the way we americans behave. We bitch about the cost of fuel while we still produce and drive vehicles that get less than 10mpg. Or we would be driving by ouselves. You just don't see too many Hummers and fuel sucking SUV's over there. If people can't afford to pay for fuel, they need to start making alternative decisions to combat the rising costs. For example, I bought my FZ6. We rely too much on our vehicles. We waste too much fuel. Federal and local government need to improve our public transportation. I can name about twenty major u.s. airports off the top of my head that don't have direct rail service, which is unheard of in Europe. Over there, you take the rail from the airport and save money, or you can take a cab and pay more than what you paid for your flight! Yeah, that's right, just take a cab the next time you fly into Heathrow or Gatwick and see what it cost to get you to the center of London. Make our public areas more accomodating for bicycles, etc. Grant it that the cost of goods and services have gone up as well due to the current spike, in addition our falling dollar isn't helping either, except for our exports. There comes a time that an immediate change by individuals must be made, rather than relying on other nations or our government. Maybe the time has come! Just my 2 pence.

 

[dako81]

A gallon of gas has been worth relatively the same amount of gold as it has for the past 20 years. The value of our dollar has steadily declined in the amount of gold that it has been worth since they took away the precious metal backing that it once had. The gas isn't the thing that's getting really expensive. It is our money that is becoming less valuable, therefore taking more of it to purchase the same amount of gasoline.

So, when you're upset about gas/food/rent prices, thank the Federal Reserve System and the government for printing off more bills in effect devaluing the ones we currently hold.

 

[teeter]

Hey! We need cheaper petrol. Sometimes the Macdonald's is a few miles from the Wal-Mart and at 14mpg the Hummer is pretty thirsty.

----
:rant:
Public transportation is a serious downfall here in the states. Only the biggest cities have a decent system. I live just outside of Richmond, VA which has a population of only 200K, but the close suburbs round that out to over 500K. We have a bus system and that's it. And the schedule is horrible. I live and work in populated areas and when I looked into busing to work (a 30 minute ride/drive normally) I was amazed at the paltry options. The best I could do was start at a bus stop 5 miles from my house, take the bus down town, transfer to another bus which would take me back out of the city and drop me off 3 miles from work! And oh by the way... those buses don't all have bike racks! We're talking a 2 hour trip one way. Sorry, I'm not sacrificing 4 hours of my day.
/ :rant:

Between my 50mpg FZ6, 80mpg XT225, and my bicycle I'm not doing to bad. My little manual, 4 binger Honda aint to shabby either at 32+ mpg. Of course it has two too many wheels for my taste so it sits a lot anyway.



Sorry... I think I got a little off topic there...

.

 

[lonesoldier84]

personally i hope gas triples in price. itll make people buy more motorcycles

 

[Fred]

Lone, I agree. I'm going to hate paying that much, but nothing else is going to get this country to pull its head out of its butt and start being intelligent about energy usage.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

personally i hope gas triples in price. itll make people buy more motorcycles

Remember, the cost of goods and services are going to triple as well. Like tires and parts for your bike, food and everything else, while your salary or earning most likely will remain the same like for the most of us!

 

[Scott64a]

Yup, the rising cost of fuel was what motivated me towards getting back on two wheels. There are added features, such as getting a thril from even the most mundane commutes with a mere twist of the wrist.

I am under a tremendous workload with school work and clinical rotations, and commuting is actually something I look forward to now.

I'm still wiped-out tired, but at least I can exercise some soul-stretching maneuvers into my drive.

Good stuff there.

Yes, public transportation blows a$$monkeys here in the states, especially in Atlanta, the mot pedestrian UNfriendly city we have. Try and take a walk around downtown ATL and you'll see what I mean. No sidewalks to speak of, homeless rooters on every corner and in the buses, and long distances from place to place make this a good city to drive a scooter or motorcycle in. Boston was way better with it's rail lines. For a uck or two, one can hop a train in Western MA and go into any area in the city with minimal hassle.

Not so in ATL; you have to drive to a park and ride lot, pay to park there, get on a bus full of poor people, and then endure a two hour ride into the third canto of Hell. Yucch...

 

[lonesoldier84]

Remember, the cost of goods and services are going to triple as well. Like tires and parts for your bike, food and everything else, while your salary or earning most likely will remain the same like for the most of us!

until people in industry find more cost effective sources of energy

thing is, its GOING to run out. not in our lifetime no. but when it does the world wont be ready for it unless the roots are laid soon. some major oil sources are gonna run dry in OUR lifetime even with forecasts of 20-40 years. whats going to happen when it does? in richer countries we'll suffer a bit, but in poorer countries food will become so expensive nobody will be able to afford it and holy moly watch out for that.

if things increase in sudden spikes it really gets peoples attention gradual increases not so much people compensate for it gradually getting accustomed to it. if demand for oil plummets as people make huge changes in industry and the private sector....then demand will increase for alternate sources of energy. which is good.


UNLESS you look at eastern countries where they churn out and burn coal which is horrible for the environment. but at least that will give us the next target on our list and we are making progress. once we eliminate coal we will be clean and happy.

all the change ever in north america wont mean squat unless they stop burning coal in the east cuz its not like theres a massive barrier over those countries the pollution ruins it for everyone. but with oil out of the picture, we will have only one major target left. if by then the west gives the east economic incentives to go green it will be a push in the right direction, and over time it could lead to a good future. by then the incentive may have to come from within the eastern countries as the west will be PWNZERED by the massively sckyrocketing debt. hell china already owns huge chunks of the american economy.

 

[lonesoldier84]

also if the price of oil skyrockets my local economy BOOOOOOMS cuz i live in alberta. i wanted more people on bikes cuz it means for more selection in gear, in bikes, better prices, more riders, more cager awareness of bikes etc etc.

so it was pretty selfish. but my above post also is true

 

[HavBlue]

This is going to be a real loose explanation to a very very complicated issue. When you buy something at the store it is just there, the store doesn't necessarily need a public mass to buy it and it is not contacted for purchase. Oil (crude) doesn't work that way at all. Crude is sold under speculation and it is contracted through speculation on the world market. At present, the world producers are pumping at a maximum rate of roughly 85 million 42 gallon barrels a day. However, the demand is at an all time high which is roughly 87 million barrels a day. If you don't have a contract you aren't buying squat and to get a contract you have to have a seller. The speculation drives the price of oil and that speculation is relative to an ever increasing demand which may be in country X. Now, country X wants the oil and will pay the benchmark price where country Y wants to buy that same oil contract for something less. The oil flows to them.

The answer is in wheat and grain. Many OPEC nations buy US grain and wheat for roughly $7.00 a bushel. We buy crude at $139 a barrel. If we sell the wheat and grain at $80 a bushel OPEC can either buy our bushels or eat their oil..... Works for me...