MPG; Don't Jump from the Frying Pan into the Fire

[glennc]

Originally Posted By: 1sttruck
A coworker has been getting 64 mpg on his, which averagred with my 18 mpg if used 1/2 time would result in over 40 mpg combined.

If you do the math again you may arrive at the correct answer of 28mpg for splitting your mileage 50/50 between the two.

 

[ekpolk]

I'd also hasten to add that I'm not all about the math on issues like this. If I were, I'd already have a motorcycle myself. I had a brief riding history myself back in the late 70s when I was in high school. When my dad found out what I was up to, he forced me to sit down and talk with one of his tennis buddies who happens to be an orthopaedic surgeon. Alas, his stories, doubtlessly embellished at my dad's request, cured me forever of the motorcycle urge.

I'm not sure that there's any analytically valid way to account for such things, except for considering it an on/off condition. For me, I'd just not consider a bike, but again, that's just me.

I was at the local Toyota store a few days back waiting for a rep, and was eyeballing the stock (as I always do). Not surprisingly, they had a very large crop of Yarises (Yari???). I noticed that while almost all of the rest of the current Toyota line comes standard with side curtain airbags, the Yari does not. Not one of the dozen or so cars out there had them. That would be a total deal-breaking, non-starter for me (remember, I'd probably have died back in 2003 had my '02 Camry not had them).

I don't care how big or small a vehicle is -- no side curtains, and I won't buy it, no matter the price.

 

[1sttruck]

Accident rates these days are very high for middle aged riders, and the accident results tend to be bad as older folks don't heal as well. It's due in part to the trend to buy the largest bikes and not wear a helmet if possible, but in general senses, reflexes and a healthy respect for bikes is lower in middle aged folk than in younger folks. Accidents in genral are the 3rd leading cause of death in middle age. I drove street bikes for about 20 years, have over 250k miles on them, but I've been off of them long enough that I'll need to rewire my defense mechanism a bit.

 

[1sttruck]

"If you do the math again you may arrive at the correct answer of 28mpg for splitting your mileage 50/50 between the two."

Yes, one needs to use a harmonic average, so one would need to drive a bit over 3/4 of the time on the bike to get the same result.

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
I don't care how big or small a vehicle is -- no side curtains, and I won't buy it, no matter the price.


I'm more of a fatalist ..sorta. I HAVE used up all my "get out of death, free" cards and just don't put the demands on my driving that I did in the past. That is, MY injection of risk is radically reduced. Now one cannot account for the rest of the mix ..but

I find our society's movement in transportation being "as safe as possible" is too costly and taxing on the future of personal transportation. The cars are too heavy and the costs are too high. I don't know how Europe handles air bags and whatnot ..but I know that most of the stuff that we (finally) see is massaged so much that any worthwhile fiber in it is reduced to Coby beef in the whimpification and bloating.

I'd love to be able to buy a nice. simple, and economical car. Something like a Fiat 124 ..except not designed and built by frustrated lovers and "artistes".

Then again, we can always continue on our current path and install titanium shields in the roof for meteorite/massive hail storms ..fire suppression systems and whatever someone can pull out of their behinds to save 1/2 of 1% of those who fall into the probability profile. Keep in mind that one might have created a market for the available life boats on the Titanic ..or one may have made life boats so luxurious that no one could have afforded a ticket in the first place.

 

[glennc]

I agree with you Gary. I have ridden motorcycles all my adult life, probably over 1/3 million miles. I know I have been lucky many times. To me, by comparison, driving cars, even a bit too fast sometimes, is child's play. How could you possibly screw up?

Then again, perhaps I know not the risks I take.

 

[oilyriser]

Has someone made an airbag suit for bikers? It would be activated by radar, so if anything large and metal approaches you at high speed, you'd blow up like the Michelin Man, and be protected, or at least be launched out of harm's way.

 

[1sttruck]

I don't recall where I read it years back, probably 'Cycle', but they had what I thought was best advice for defensive driving; treat cars like they were rhinos - slow, poor eyesight, dumb, but don't get run over by one :^)

Another one that I learned was not getting emotional about the stupid things that people did; brake, turn, accelerate, whatever, but stay loose as the next stupid thing could happen a moment later. I guess it's a long way of suggesting to not lean into those hard punches.

 

[Cutehumor]

speaking of accidents...I had two patients this past weekend. one was a middle age mechanic who had a motorcycle accident. fractured jaw and left knee cap. said without a doubt, he would ride on his motorcycle when he gets out of the hospital. another was an 87 year old lady with cataract in her left eye in a 3 car accident when she reareneded someone when the light turned red. yes, she was driving. the family said "yeah, but she only drives during the day"

 

[BrianWC]

Bikes may be fairly safe, but I still worry about taking that step in the name of saving gas. I work on a national forest, and I've seen two life long bike riders get in rough accidents in the last year. The first was last fall, where one of my retirement-aged co-workers (bike rider for 40 years) was riding to work and a deer ran out in front of him. He was one big bruise, a broken collarbone, and a few broken ribs. He was out on sickleave for about three months (luckily, he had plenty to spare) and then on light duty for another two.

The second happened a few months ago to another co-worker (bike rider for 30 years) who was on a trip across the Southeast on his Harley. A truck somehow pulled out in front of him or sideswiped him on I-20 in Birmingham and left him with a broken back, lots of broken bones in both hands, a punctured lung and several broken ribs. He's expected to make a full recovery but will prbably spend the rest of his career in the office in a wheelchair.

It sucks for both of these guys b/c they were both probably more active and better employees than most of the guys half their age. I know people get in car wrecks all the time, but to me, motorcycle wrecks are only a step below plane crashes in terms of the fact that if something does go wrong...you're screwed.

 

[1sttruck]

I drive my truck like I did the bikes; no radio, eyes on the road, anticipate, and by doing so I've managed to avoid hitting a couple of people in the last month. One was a car, the other a minivan, both pulled out to make a left turn in front of me (also the classic motorcyle accident; car pull out, biker stomps on rear brake and locks up the wheel, goes down and slides into or under the car). I hit the brakes hard, and the dry road, decent tires, and good brakes allowed me to stop instead of center punching the driver's door. I also slow down in the evening and at night around here as there are lots of deer, and again have managed to avoid hitting any so far by being able to the reflections of their eyes in time as they tried to cross.

 

[Audi Junkie]

I came upon a guy who just whomped a deer in a cycle he was looking to purchase and took it out for a test ride. No other cars seemd to percieve what happened, withthe guy staggering down the road and the cycle leaning against a guard rail and leaking gas. I turned around and scooped the guy up....bloody, not broken.

I drive that road all the time, but don't stray that far from home on the bike. As as fuel-saving stragety, the bike is not that great, especially considering how riding it does wear you out a bit.