TBrown
Silver Member
The flurry of posts lamenting the cost of fuel seems to have died away now that gas is below $2.50 a gallon in many areas, but the sting high prices left in my wallet is hard for me to forget. Like many TBN'ers, I drive a pick-up. In my case it's a small pick-up, a 2WD Dodge Dakota with the 318 V8... the smallest pick-up I can get away with and still safely tow my camper. The problem is that as a daily driver it's not all that fuel efficient. I commute four miles to work each morning and short runs like that kill my mileage. I've considered buying a small car to drive during the week and letting the truck sit until needed, but once I crunch the numbers it just doesn't make sense. The cost of insurance alone eats up any savings in fuel. So, after careful deliberation, I've decided to start driving this again...
Garelli
Yes, I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but that's a moped... the same one I rode in high school back in 1984. I've kept it in storage all these years, mostly because I'm a packrat who hates to part with anything, but never expected to ride it again. Yet of all my options the moped makes the most sense. I already own it, so there's no expense of buying another vehicle. It's cheap to register & insure. It doesn't require an annual inspection (of course, if anything like the lights, horn, tires etc. aren't up to snuff, I could get a ticket.). And it gets around a hundred miles per gallon. It actually used to get over a hundred mpg, but I'm a good 50 pounds heavier than I was in high school. I will have to leave for work a few minutes earlier as the ped only goes around 30 mph.
It sat for over 20 years without even getting turned over, so I half-expected that it would never run again. To my surprise all it required was a carb cleaning, new plug, & fresh gas. After putting new tires on it and replacing some broken lenses I had about 50 bucks into reviving it. Cheap enuff.
Now all I have to get used to is all the people laughing and pointing as I ride by. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Fortunately winter is coming so I won't get too embarassed for another five or six months, but if you guys could make fun of me now it might help to thicken my skin a bit...
PS... the GPz hiding behind the moped is mine also. I bought it new in 1985, but I haven't ridden it since my daughter was born, for reasons we'll label "in-law related". They don't think much of motorcycles, and it became easier to just park it than listen to the grief. It wouldn't be much of an improvement over the truck anyway (other than being a lot more fun) because it's expensive to insure, requires high-octane gas, and only got around 40 mpg.
Garelli
Yes, I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but that's a moped... the same one I rode in high school back in 1984. I've kept it in storage all these years, mostly because I'm a packrat who hates to part with anything, but never expected to ride it again. Yet of all my options the moped makes the most sense. I already own it, so there's no expense of buying another vehicle. It's cheap to register & insure. It doesn't require an annual inspection (of course, if anything like the lights, horn, tires etc. aren't up to snuff, I could get a ticket.). And it gets around a hundred miles per gallon. It actually used to get over a hundred mpg, but I'm a good 50 pounds heavier than I was in high school. I will have to leave for work a few minutes earlier as the ped only goes around 30 mph.
It sat for over 20 years without even getting turned over, so I half-expected that it would never run again. To my surprise all it required was a carb cleaning, new plug, & fresh gas. After putting new tires on it and replacing some broken lenses I had about 50 bucks into reviving it. Cheap enuff.
Now all I have to get used to is all the people laughing and pointing as I ride by. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Fortunately winter is coming so I won't get too embarassed for another five or six months, but if you guys could make fun of me now it might help to thicken my skin a bit...
PS... the GPz hiding behind the moped is mine also. I bought it new in 1985, but I haven't ridden it since my daughter was born, for reasons we'll label "in-law related". They don't think much of motorcycles, and it became easier to just park it than listen to the grief. It wouldn't be much of an improvement over the truck anyway (other than being a lot more fun) because it's expensive to insure, requires high-octane gas, and only got around 40 mpg.
