the concept of "peak Oil " is blarney

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by thomason2wheels

Soon there will be even more people riding on 2 wheels because the consumption of fuel by a 4 wheeler is increasingly being deemed financially impractical.

Except that few if any of the motorcycles I've owned - maybe a dozen over the years - could beat my Insight's mpg. Maybe the old 350 Honda I owned back in the '70s could - I don't remember for sure - but that's the only one. The rest would do around 50-60 mpg.

[NachtRitter]

Yep, difficult to consider a motorcycle getting only 60mpg when my car will get at (or nearly) the same FE while being a heck of a lot more comfortable, can carry more people and stuff, and is a lot more protective (from weather and other wandering vehicles). Yes, there are a few motorcycles that can get over 60mpg regularly, but of the 20 that do on this board, there are only 2 that I would find enjoyable to ride in the area I live.

[jalmir]

Originally Posted by thomason2wheels

Soon there will be even more people riding on 2 wheels because the consumption of fuel by a 4 wheeler is increasingly being deemed financially impractical.

I doubt it! Year long motorcycle is limited to a few ... there are tons of reasons why someone can't drive a motorcycle!

Take Canada for exemple, winter prevets us from driving it year long ... then you have provinces (like mine) that decided that motorcycle are dangerous so they jacked registration prices. Registering a scooter or a 125cc motorcycle for 6 months is 240$, 400cc and less is almost 350$ (again for 6 months).

Then you have people (like me) that drives the family around (me, the wife, the baby and the step parents), in the end, you add all that and for me (and many other I presume) a motorcycle isn't as usefull as one might think!

[niky]

Not in America...

[NeilBlanchard]

We have passed peak oil, for all intents and purposes:

[3-Wheeler]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Except that few if any of the motorcycles I've owned - maybe a dozen over the years - could beat my Insight's mpg. Maybe the old 350 Honda I owned back in the '70s could - I don't remember for sure - but that's the only one. The rest would do around 50-60 mpg.

James,

I hear you.

The Honda VF500 I have gets a maximum of 80 mpg on a very good day.

The Insight gets 150 mpg through repeated P&G driving.

Hopefully the motorcycle will get much better mileage next year.

Jim.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by 3-Wheeler

The Honda VF500 I have gets a maximum of 80 mpg on a very good day.

The Insight gets 150 mpg through repeated P&G driving.

I think you must drive/ride rather differently than I do: lifetime average on the Insight is a mere 71.4 mpg.

[3-Wheeler]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

I think you must drive/ride rather differently than I do: lifetime average on the Insight is a mere 71.4 mpg.

James,

When I bought the Insight, it had a lifetime average of 57 mpg I believe, and my first tank with the car was 55 mpg.

Have learned a little bit more since then!

Jim.

[NeilBlanchard]

And the boattail doesn't help at all...

[ChazInMT]

Originally Posted by 3-Wheeler

Two points to make on this topic.

One, our country is sending 5 billion dollars per week to a foreign country for their oil. We will never see this money again in our country.

Two, will it really matter how much oil the earth has for our use, if we discover that global warming is real, and now we've painted ourselves into a corner we can not get out of?

We are getting poorer and hotter. Or are we?

Something to think about.

Jim.

Just for discussions sake.

On point 1, where does the money go? Do the Arabs just bury the 5 billion dollars a week in the sand?

Sorry, but when people make this myopic point it sort of gets me going. Economics 101 taught me, US dollars are only good in the US. Japan has Yen, Europe Euros, Mexican Pesos....etc. You can't walk into a Saudi coffee shop and pay $5 for your morning joe, you gotta spend 20 Riyal for that.

So what's an Arab supposed to do with the US$ cash? Spend it in America. This means that a foreigner is the one buying real estate and shopping at expensive stores and eating really good meals, In the USA.

Now if you have a problem with Saudi citizens owning US property and eating our food and buying Gucci hand bags...That is a legitimate gripe. Not one I'd gripe about, but at least you'd be griping about a fact.

Point 2.



Above we see a graph showing the last 450,000 years of temperature here on Earth. Notice we're at sort of a peak. These peaks are short periods of time that exist in between Ice Ages, where 2 mile thick glaciers cover Chicago & such. Is Global Warming real? Hell yeah! But really, do we want the alternative?

So the real argument is "Why isn't the climate just like it was in 1966, or 1894, or....pick a year/decade." We really can't control the Earths climate that closely I'd guess. If we have disrupted the cycle and are stuck in a warm period, I for one will accept that over an Ice Age. I don't think worrying about what is the ideal climate has a high place on my priority list, just so long as the whole "80% of the habitable region of Earth being frozen year round" detail is left out.

In other words, I'll take palm trees in Chicago and Florida under 5 feet of water, over 2 mile thick glaciers in Chicago and 5% of the surviving human race living in small habitable pockets at the Equator.