[ronlarimer]

Well?

 

[Flatline]

It depends. It would have to be quite a bit more to make me take the bus or ride a bicycle on a daily basis, or give up riding my motorcycle a few hundred miles on the weekends just for fun. But it already makes me reconsider long driving trips that aren't family-related. (Which, unfortunately, most of mine are.)

 

[04blusv]

the way i look at is that i love my bike and car WAY to much to ever stop enjoying them to the fullest.  if gas gets rediculous then i will work harder and more to get more money and then i will appreciate my bike and car just that much more!

 

[AvidSV650Rider]

What kind of behavior change do you have in mind?  

SV is my only vehicle.  I don't even look at the price at the pump, I insert my card and pull the trigger on the pump without even wondering what the price is.  I generally walk everywhere I need to go, the SV gets used for recreation and weekend travel.


The U.S. needs to ditch fossil fuels sometime anyways.  Rising gas prices is a great incentive to start using cleaner, and perhaps more efficient technologies.  Sometimes I really wish I had a GM EV1 - too bad GM is crushing 'em.

 

[DrummerDaveB]

Im changing my behavior.
My wife & I carpool whenever possible.  I try to drive less.   I even ride the bikes less.  :'(
I dont ride a bike to work because it's like 25 miles, but I would if it were close.

My wife is willing to start carpooling on the SV (so we'll start doing that), since it gets about 17mpg more than the Honda.

 

[AvidSV650Rider]

Forgot to type this...

Since I switched to 15/44 gearing, I've really been enjoying the 60+ mpg .

 

[lkm]

I use it as another reason to ride my SV more. 4k miles since 4/27.

 

[ronlarimer]

6 replies and 3 votes? Come on people!

 

[Flatline]

I should say that my commute is about 5 miles, though, and my wife works at home and usually only drives her car to drop my son off at day care and come back.  I ride the SV to work whenever I can.  Honestly so far over the summer, 90% of our gas consumption has been me riding the SV on weekends, and a couple of long trips to see family.  

 

[donniej]

$2 per gallon did it for me, that's when I got into the veggie oil.

It's not the money that *really* bothers me, it's the principle.

 

[67GTONUT]

I voted $4.00 a gal.......... but in reality, I dont think that would change my habits too much.

 

[PaPa-G]

I've already started changing.

I've decided this winter (i live in indiana) I'm driving the bike as much as possible no matter how cold it is to work.
Work is roughly 30 miles total both ways.


I'll drive the car when I need groceries or when my g/f, the kid, and I go somewhere.

I've already begun searching for some good winter riding gloves(cold hands was my main problem riding in the cold last year), and I hope to get some riding pants, too.

 

[True Blue]

I definitely ride the bike as much as possible since it gets twice as good of gas mileage as my car. So in a way I guess it has already changed my behavior some. Makes me really glad that I don't have a long commute to work.

 

[shekshishekki]

Why you think I bought another bike in the first place...filling up on regular costs me $30+ already!!! and the Prices will only keep incrasing each year. My whole theory behind it is this: Everytime America has a war, the gas prices goes up because of this BS statement: "We might run out of fuel int he middle eastern countries we're fighting" So the evil corporations jack up the prices...then by the time the war is over, we as dumbass citizens are used to the gas prices already. So the oil companies just keep it the way they are till the next war...then the whole cycle starts all over again...and even when there's no war, they increase the gas prices during summer time because of high useage...but the prices only goes down like a few cents when fall and winter gets here, then next summer it'll just go higher again!!! These CEOs and large oil corporations have NO SOUL!!! They're raking in the money while we're getting shafted like crazy!!! Hell the prices are up in the $3.00+ ranges already...and I guarrantee you it won't go down...This is why I just really don't understand why SUV drivers love their SUVs so much...getting like 15 mpg on the damn highway and like 8 mpg on the local roads is just incomprehendable...spending like $60+ dollars each fill up just to drive around in a huge inefficent car cutting everyone off on the road like they own it... assholes...I'm sticking to my bike whenever I can and when I get my financial matters straight, I'm buying a hybrid car!!! ahhahaha even though they look like shiet!!! I don't konw why they can't make hybrid cars look like normals cars instead of some badly made futuristic plastic box...either way 45+mpg is nice!!! Hell this one guy on cnn is getting like 250mph with some mods!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!! the way gas prices are rising...its' going to break the damn economy...and piss off a LOT of ppl...I think the CEOs and leaders of all these major gas companies are going straigh to HELL!!! because theres no way in hell it costs them this much for oil...

 

[toyozuki]

I have a 20 mile commute each way to work. I suppose I'll invest in some warmer riding gear and extend my riding season.

 

[syntheticton]

I am lucky enough to live only 10 minutes from my place of work... but I come home for lunch and sometimes travel across town to see my grandfather and the miles and gas add up on my Ford Escape. I recently just purchased a Ninja 500R that is great on gas (50-70 mpg) and it has become my daily commuter. I ride it every day anywhere as long as I don't need cargo room or weather conditions aren't nasty. I will prpbably just ride the SV on weekends now for fun twisty runs.

 

[imnot12]

I also ride the bike whenever possible and as long as the weather cooperates, leave the truck parked for weeks in the garage. It's great tho to have the truck to handle bigger tasks when needed (like haulin' the SV). $100 per tank/fill-up would really make me start thinking everytime I get in my truck. As of now, it doesn't bother me too much and I certainly don't think about it on the bike. It's simply "the cost of doing business" to me.

 

[RandyO]

my cage (82 BMW 320i) gets 32±mpg, my SV gets 38±mpg
my cage gets 50,000±miles per set of tires $250/4 mounted & balanced
my SV gets 10,000±miles per set of tires $300/2 mounted & balanced

with the price of gas, it's just getting more economical to ride than drive.... It won't change my habits, most of my milage is reimbursed anyway

 

[Abe Froman]

I use a combo of commuter train and metro to get to work everyday, so I only have to drive my 16-18 mpg truck about 6 miles per day to and from the station. Once I'm home I use the SV for everything as it's just much easier, and more enjoyable, to drive through city traffic than the truck. I probably fill the SV about 2x a week (about $8.00 each time) and my truck about every 10-12 days ($32-35). So I'd say gas would have to get pretty high before it would affect me. On the plus side to all of this is that I'll soon be moving to Hawaii where I can ride the SV a lot more than I can in Baltimore. Sure it's only a loop, but it still beats looking at the bike sitting out back in January.

 

[Guest]

Hmm it depends on what you mean by changing my behavior. If you mean riding my bike differently it will have to get hella high. However since the prices have gone up so much i ride my bike more. I get the same mileage from my bike for $10 as i do in my SUV for $40. Although i do have to say it is upsetting to spend $10 to fill up a bike.