Which is worse, the heat or the gas prices?!

As two wheel enthusiasts we're now faced with an interesting dilemma. When gas prices go up, we've traditionally used our two-wheeled machines for getting around town in addition to fun. Now... the heatwave that's sweeping the nation is creating a situation where we have to decide which is worse: the cost of gas or the heat!

Gas is worse. I can't just wash extra money into my pocket, however, I can wash sweat down the drain when I shower. I ride every day to save gas regardless of heat or rain (unless there's lightning!)

i would say the gas because when your at speed it really isnt that bad.. when u have a meshy and jeans, but then you have to spend money on those, so i think its a draw

they are both rediculess, the humidity and heat are deadly and fuel is astronomical, i cant decide :scratch:

I guess you could say I'm split between the two. I ride for pleasure only. Work is in the driveway and cant carry many groceries on the bike. Heat may shorten my ride but gas prices have nothing to do with it.

Gas is worse. Heat's free.

i am split, I have a long commute so the gas is really bad, but it could be worse, but the HEAT, ohmigosh!!! normally I can handle it okay but I am on a med that really messes with my system, if I get the least little bit warm I get drenched :cry: and even tho when I am riding it stays cool enough, we have terrible tourist traffic down here 24/7 so I dont stay moving the whole time, thus I have a problem...i would love to ride but I have to look nice at work!!

i would love to ride but I have to look nice at work!! we've all seen the pics you submitted, I think we would all agree that youll look just fine no matter what the temp is, or what vehicle you take in. Chances of you NOT looking good......0% Anyway back to the point of the thread.LOL I LOVE the heat so it doesn't bother me to much. My truck hasn't moved more than about 50 miles in the last month. I just make quick trips when I need to get anything that doesn't fit in the bike. I would rather it be 100% everyday than ever dip below 60 Once its below 60 Im chilly, I can't ride if its much under 70. However, I live in a small town where traffic isn't a big deal and if you want to avoid stop lights it can be done easily and you can still get around so its possible to keep moving. If I was stuck in traffic a lot I would prob be in the truck a lot more.

the heat is only a problem at work. the gas isnt much of one. really i cant complain too much about either when riding, so split it is.

Nothing will hold me back from riding except for the heat. IMO its hard to wear leather in 90 degree weather. I can deal with the price of fuel........for now.:2cents:

I ride hard and need my protection hence wearing leathers no matter how HOT.:2cents:

I guess you could say I'm split between the two. I ride for pleasure only. Work is in the driveway and cant carry many groceries on the bike. Heat may shorten my ride but gas prices have nothing to do with it. :withstupi

I'm also going to say split. I tend to ride for fun, and occationally back to work from my lunch break. Lately I haven't even rode thru out the week because of the heat. I'm one to wear my gear at all times...even with the mesh jacket it's still so freakin hot. The humidity is making it the worst. The gas prices on the other hand are totally redicoulous.... but I'm only driving 3 miles to work one way. It still seems like I'm always at the gas pump though whether it be for the bike, car or truck.

I am one of the minority who voted for the heat... Gas prices are still VERY low... At least when compared to the rest of the world... when compared to the rest of the world... :wink: Go to Europe and you'll want to kill yourself... $7-$8 a gallon... Why are we freaking out about $3 a gallon? Not to say the oil fatcats aren't sticking to us, but we have it better than anywhere else...

The gas prices on the other hand are totally redicoulous.... but I'm only driving 3 miles to work one way. It still seems like I'm always at the gas pump though whether it be for the bike, car or truck. :sorry: Can't resist... Are the prices having an impact on your mileage? :fmer:

I voted heat. I hate extreme heat like we are having in PA right now. Gas sucks too but I'll pay it. What choice do we have. HEAT SUCKS.

Gas is worse. Heat's free. :iagree:

Gas prices are far worse. Ridiculous really:willy: I can live with the heat. But I have to admit the heat makes me a tad squidly when sitting in traffic, I make some lane changes I normally wouldn't make cause I'm tired of sweating my azz off in traffic.

Neither the heat nor the gas prices are bothering me much (and I live in Florida, where it's about the hottest, and gas ain't cheap either!) I rarely (except on weekends) ride in the middle/hottest part of the day, I wear mesh gear for summer, and there's little-to-no traffic on my commute, so as long as I'm moving (and stay well hydrated) the heat doesn't bother me much. And gas? Sure it's well over $3/gallon, but I barely spend $15/week (versus the over $50/week I'd be spending if I drove my Jeep daily), so it's not all that bad!

Neither the heat nor the gas prices are bothering me much (and I live in Florida, where it's about the hottest, and gas ain't cheap either!) I rarely (except on weekends) ride in the middle/hottest part of the day, I wear mesh gear for summer, and there's little-to-no traffic on my commute, so as long as I'm moving (and stay well hydrated) the heat doesn't bother me much. And gas? Sure it's well over $3/gallon, but I barely spend $15/week (versus the over $50/week I'd be spending if I drove my Jeep daily), so it's not all that bad! :iagree: Except that I ride my bike everyday to work, (granted it's only a 6 mile round trip) so the gas is far more better on my bike than my suv. But on the other hand, I just spend a year in a country where the heat in the shade is 110 degrees in the early morning, so this heat is not a bother for me.

I am one of the minority who voted for the heat... Gas prices are still VERY low... At least when compared to the rest of the world... when compared to the rest of the world... :wink: Go to Europe and you'll want to kill yourself... $7-$8 a gallon... Why are we freaking out about $3 a gallon? Not to say the oil fatcats aren't sticking to us, but we have it better than anywhere else... We drive more miles than europeans... but that's beside the point. Heat is unbearable at stop and go traffic. sweat would sting my eyes. engine heat would start to burn my legs. my upperbody isn't a problem, i just unzip my jacket. i tend to drive faster than normal when it's above 95 degrees to cool myself off and dry up the sweat. I make decent money so gas prices hasn't affected my lifestyle. Credit card interest rates is worse (my wife used a cc to purchase my bike). -a|ex

Gas prices are far worse. Ridiculous really:willy: I can live with the heat. But I have to admit the heat makes me a tad squidly when sitting in traffic, I make some lane changes I normally wouldn't make cause I'm tired of sweating my azz off in traffic. I split lanes when that happens. Only when traffic is stopped though. I can't wait for 10 cars to start rolling before I can.

I split lanes when that happens. Only when traffic is stopped though. I can't wait for 10 cars to start rolling before I can. Traffic lights sucks. They make heat unbearable.

Traffic lights sucks. They make heat unbearable. :yup:

I am one of the minority who voted for the heat... Gas prices are still VERY low... At least when compared to the rest of the world... when compared to the rest of the world... :wink: Go to Europe and you'll want to kill yourself... $7-$8 a gallon... Why are we freaking out about $3 a gallon? Not to say the oil fatcats aren't sticking to us, but we have it better than anywhere else... Because we are in america and F'in know better. Cause... we understand that when the cost of crude goes up say 2% we expect the cost of our gas to go up a coresponding 2%. But instead they jack it up 8%. So if their cost go up 2%, they pass that cost onto the consumer. NO BIGGIE! But when their profit margins go up 15% they are gouging! (sp?) PERIOD! END OF STORY! What... Exxon/Mobil turned the highest profit EVER recorded last year!!! More than Microsoft and WalMart combined! That is why we get pissed!

The worst is when you are out in the mid day sun gassing up the bike..

i still split between the 2

well it usually doesn't get higher than 91 here, but the gas gets as high as 3.75 a gallon, so you guys guess

Because we are in america and F'in know better. Cause... we understand that when the cost of crude goes up say 2% we expect the cost of our gas to go up a coresponding 2%. But instead they jack it up 8%. So if their cost go up 2%, they pass that cost onto the consumer. NO BIGGIE! But when their profit margins go up 15% they are gouging! (sp?) PERIOD! END OF STORY! What... Exxon/Mobil turned the highest profit EVER recorded last year!!! More than Microsoft and WalMart combined! That is why we get pissed! :clap: :iagree: you are so right on, gas man!

Because we are in america and F'in know better. Cause... we understand that when the cost of crude goes up say 2% we expect the cost of our gas to go up a coresponding 2%. But instead they jack it up 8%. So if their cost go up 2%, they pass that cost onto the consumer. NO BIGGIE! But when their profit margins go up 15% they are gouging! (sp?) PERIOD! END OF STORY! What... Exxon/Mobil turned the highest profit EVER recorded last year!!! More than Microsoft and WalMart combined! That is why we get pissed! preach brother preach

Because we are in america and F'in know better. Cause... we understand that when the cost of crude goes up say 2% we expect the cost of our gas to go up a coresponding 2%. But instead they jack it up 8%. So if their cost go up 2%, they pass that cost onto the consumer. NO BIGGIE! But when their profit margins go up 15% they are gouging! (sp?) PERIOD! END OF STORY! What... Exxon/Mobil turned the highest profit EVER recorded last year!!! More than Microsoft and WalMart combined! That is why we get pissed! Not saying they aren't gouging us, just saying we still have it better than anyone else... Plus I have a hard time feeling bad for the people who complain the most at the pump... "it cost me $150 to fill up my Excursion"... Yeah... That's why you shouldn't buy an Excursion... Especially when you drive alone everywhere... The thing is, everyone complains, but nobody is really willing to make the sacrifices necessary to flex our consumer muscle... Check this out for example... Could you imagine what the oil companies profits would have looked like if everyone of able mind and body in the United States rode a motorcycle?... even just to commute during the summer! Oil companies would be beside themselves... No longer could they claim supply/demand issues as a mean to raise prices (which is bogus BTW)... Instead, we buy the biggest gas guzzling things we can, drive more than we need to, and blame the oil companies for turning a buck... The only thing that really makes me mad is that the oil companies lie about it... Just tell me you are turning a buck, don't blame it on supply shortages and whatnot... Is it right for them to gouge us? No... Is anything going to change by complaining about it? No... Are Americans willing to change their habits enough to make any impact? No... Is everyone just going to sit around complaining about it as we take it up the rear? Hell Yeah! :patr: I love USA!

Because we are in america and F'in know better. Cause... we understand that when the cost of crude goes up say 2% we expect the cost of our gas to go up a coresponding 2%. But instead they jack it up 8%. So if their cost go up 2%, they pass that cost onto the consumer. NO BIGGIE! But when their profit margins go up 15% they are gouging! (sp?) PERIOD! END OF STORY! What... Exxon/Mobil turned the highest profit EVER recorded last year!!! More than Microsoft and WalMart combined! That is why we get pissed! Good post. Rep points added.

Not saying they aren't gouging us, just saying we still have it better than anyone else... Plus I have a hard time feeling bad for the people who complain the most at the pump... "it cost me $150 to fill up my Excursion"... Yeah... That's why you shouldn't buy an Excursion... Especially when you drive alone everywhere... The thing is, everyone complains, but nobody is really willing to make the sacrifices necessary to flex our consumer muscle... Check this out for example... Could you imagine what the oil companies profits would have looked like if everyone of able mind and body in the United States rode a motorcycle?... even just to commute during the summer! Oil companies would be beside themselves... No longer could they claim supply/demand issues as a mean to raise prices (which is bogus BTW)... Instead, we buy the biggest gas guzzling things we can, drive more than we need to, and blame the oil companies for turning a buck... The only thing that really makes me mad is that the oil companies lie about it... Just tell me you are turning a buck, don't blame it on supply shortages and whatnot... Is it right for them to gouge us? No... Is anything going to change by complaining about it? No... Are Americans willing to change their habits enough to make any impact? No... Is everyone just going to sit around complaining about it as we take it up the rear? Hell Yeah! :patr: I love USA! Not to cut at you again... but you know I do have the name Gas Man for a few good reasons... Gas guzzling vechicles vs whatever... When many people, myself included, purchased our vechicles about 2 years ago. Gas was $1.30 - $1.50 a gallon. Now gas is on average around $3 a gallon. NOBODY!! I say again NOBODY would have seen a 200% increase in the price of gas. We are not talking about 20 or 30 cents. This week gas here was $3.15... that's well more than double what it was when I purchase my V-8 truck! Now many of us are in leases or our big vechicles have depreciated so much due to lack of demand for big vechicles (due to the price of gas DUH). So for example, you owe $22,000 on a 2 year old truck that you paid $30,000 for when new. But now its only worht $15,000. YOU ARE F'ED! So either it being a lease or the dpereciation we are stuck in our vechicles. So we still reserve our right to complaign! F the oil companies and what they are doing to the american people. The excutives or these oil companies are making money hand over foot...by breaking the backs of the american public. And this is my POV and I work in the industry. And thanks Marko for the rep!

Not to cut at you again... but you know I do have the name Gas Man for a few good reasons... Gas guzzling vechicles vs whatever... When many people, myself included, purchased our vechicles about 2 years ago. Gas was $1.30 - $1.50 a gallon. Now gas is on average around $3 a gallon. NOBODY!! I say again NOBODY would have seen a 200% increase in the price of gas. We are not talking about 20 or 30 cents. This week gas here was $3.15... that's well more than double what it was when I purchase my V-8 truck! Now many of us are in leases or our big vechicles have depreciated so much due to lack of demand for big vechicles (due to the price of gas DUH). So for example, you owe $22,000 on a 2 year old truck that you paid $30,000 for when new. But now its only worht $15,000. YOU ARE F'ED! So either it being a lease or the dpereciation we are stuck in our vechicles. So we still reserve our right to complaign! F the oil companies and what they are doing to the american people. The excutives or these oil companies are making money hand over foot...by breaking the backs of the american public. And this is my POV and I work in the industry. And thanks Marko for the rep! I appreciate your concern, but I thrive on a good debate... :wink: $1.50 going up to $3 per gallon is actually a 100% increase... You purchased your vehicle about two years ago... one year into the War in Iraq... as the gas prices began to climb... It's not like it's never happened before either (think gas crisis of the 70's - price increases were well over 200% then)... That sounds like a lack of foresight on your part... And how many of these people need Chevy Yukon's and Dodge Durango's? Most of these vehicles I see driving around only have one person in them and aren't hauling anything... Hell most of them don't even have a ball on the back... they never haul anything! Look, I do feel for you folks that have these gas guzzling monsters... That is those individuals who actually need to have a vehicle that size (landscapers come to mind)... That's not what I am talking about... The problem is, EVERYONE is quick to complain, but NOBODY does anything more... Ride your bike to work... Buy a $500 POS Honda Civic with 250k miles to use to go to the grocery store... and when it dies, sell it for $100 at the scrap yard to cover the cost for the tow (or if you have AAA it's free)... You'll make up the money from that investment in a few months with the gas you save... It's not like you don't have options... You can do something about it... if you so choose... However, you do make one very good point... You DO have the right to complain... That's the beauty being an American... You can complain about anything you want... right or wrong...

Sick.. my timeline was mostly a example... not nessc true timeline. For the record, when my lease of my 5.4 liter V-8 crew cab 4x4 F150 is up... I plan on getting a hummer for a replacement. I don't really care about the prices unless I think about the profits the oil companies are making... that's what pisses me off. But you have to remember... the more money they make, and moreso the more gas we all burn the more job secrurity I have. I use my truck all the time for a truck. See pics. The only reason I'm getting the hummer next time is cause most of the stuff I use it for I could get by with the cargo room in the hum. If its dirty dirty truck stuff I'll just use my work truck instead of my own truck...no biggie.

Sick.. my timeline was mostly a example... not nessc true timeline. For the record, when my lease of my 5.4 liter V-8 crew cab 4x4 F150 is up... I plan on getting a hummer for a replacement. I don't really care about the prices unless I think about the profits the oil companies are making... that's what pisses me off. But you have to remember... the more money they make, and moreso the more gas we all burn the more job secrurity I have. I use my truck all the time for a truck. See pics. The only reason I'm getting the hummer next time is cause most of the stuff I use it for I could get by with the cargo room in the hum. If its dirty dirty truck stuff I'll just use my work truck instead of my own truck...no biggie. It doesn't make me mad that the companies are turning a buck... or billions... That's capitalism... the basis in which our country was founded... It's our fault that gas prices rise because we will not take the necessary action to stop it... Buy the Hummer and complain about the cost of fuel, just don't expect anyone to listen, let alone care... Especially the oil companies... People are so angry with them, but keep playing right into their hands... Meanwhile, they laugh all the way to the bank... What makes me mad about the oil companies is that they lie about it.... Just tell me you are artifically inflating prices to make more profit... don't insult my intelligence (and the cumulative intelligence of the American public) by saying it's because of supply shortages or whatever the excuse of the hour is... That's what I will complain about... You want to gas prices to fall? Do something about it... Buy a petrol pincher POS Honda... Drive less... carpool... encourage others to follow suit... Demand falls, prices go down... Economics 101...

Yeah... that's assuming the average american has some intelligence. :nonod: You know how many arguments I have here at work and their only proof that I'm wrong and they are right is the phrase "I saw it on TV" or "I read it on the internet." I know the people here can't think beyond getting dressed in the morning. :rant:

I really should stay out of this debate. I own and operate a truck for a living. The gas prices suck and I do complain. I sold my gas guzzling V10 pickup and replaced it with a gas guzzling 4 cylinder. Still getting twice the mileage. Not much I can do about the work side except offset the cost of doing business to my customers buy raising my rates. They intern raise the price of products I haul. The end consumer is the one that really has to pay for it when they go to the grocery store or Wall-Mart. That would be me also because I have to shop just like everybody else.

All I have to add is that I do not blame the gas companies for this. I wish I could find a product that everyone in this country needs and make a huge profit. More power to them. I wish I was one of them and couldnt care less if I was making a huge profit. I too was feeling the pinch of gas prices. When all this started happening, I had a Nissan Titan. Gas was killing me so I went and traded it in on an Altima and trailer to haul the bike on. So enough of the complaining and either do something or grin and bear it, because that is all we can do.

Are you kidding me? What is up with all this crap? Is this the same person who wrote that gibberish before?:bash: :wbs: :cursin:

Are you kidding me? What is up with all this crap? Is this the same person who wrote that gibberish before?:bash: :wbs: :cursin: Hope you said byby.:modowns:

You want to gas prices to fall? Do something about it... Buy a petrol pincher POS Honda... Drive less... carpool... encourage others to follow suit... Demand falls, prices go down... Economics 101... that doesn't apply to a necessity product. fuel will always be in demand. if less is used, then prices will still go up. There's no shortage in oil, just a shortage of honest politicians. -a|ex

Hope you said byby.:modowns: Good job Jeeps. These people need to stay off our boards.:cheers:

that doesn't apply to a necessity product. fuel will always be in demand. if less is used, then prices will still go up. There's no shortage in oil, just a shortage of honest politicians. -a|ex There is some partial truth to this, however complaining about it does no good... the only choice we have as consumers is to either take it or hit them where it hurts... There is a shortage of honest politicians... Actually there are plenty out there, but they don't get votes because people vote for that R or D next to the name they hear on TV... not bothering to listen to what anyone's saying... My question is, where are all the consumer advocacy groups who are quick to jump all over the big corporations? Don't mind the fact that most are huge 800lb gorillas themselves... Just to recap... Oil companies are sticking it to us, complaining does nothing, and the political landscape is an utter joke... Thank you, please drive through...:dthumb:

I really should stay out of this debate. I own and operate a truck for a living. The gas prices suck and I do complain. I sold my gas guzzling V10 pickup and replaced it with a gas guzzling 4 cylinder. Still getting twice the mileage. Not much I can do about the work side except offset the cost of doing business to my customers buy raising my rates. They intern raise the price of products I haul. The end consumer is the one that really has to pay for it when they go to the grocery store or Wall-Mart. That would be me also because I have to shop just like everybody else. Own and operate a truck for a living? You sound like you have a basis to complain... Complain away my friend...:cheers:

I only complaign because of the profits... I can handle the price...

Gas prices suck. Traffic where I work it nuts in the morning. I have to go through the circle of death so I'm sticking to my truck at 15mpg. The cops also set speed traps on my route. Gas is cheaper than tickets.

I only complaign because of the profits... I can handle the price... Like I said, I transfer the cost of doing business down to my customers and they roll it on down the line. I guess I can handle it too. The problem with them making these huge profits fall on the guy/gall flipping burgers for a living trying to get started in life. They spend their whole pay day on gas bills alone while driving POS econo cars. No cost of living raises for these guys unless the government steps in. The price of those burgers will go up shortly before or afterwards. Its a loss loss situation! :cursin:

Heat I don't mind. When I grew up, the only place that was air conditioned was the movie theatre. Everywhere else used fans. I grew up on an island where the temp was 90 degrees and 90 percent humidity. I've never even owned a vehicle with air conditioning. Wimps. But gas. Before the first gas crisis in 1973, Sunoco 260, which was like 102 octane, was only 36 cents a gallon. When I was stationed in Oklahoma in 1971, I saw regular at 19 cents during a (good) gas war. What I can't believe is those 3-ton SUV's doing 85 on the highway. They must be getting 5 MPG.

Heres what I think. (Great, just what you have all been waiting for) If it wasnt gas prices it would be something else. The economy is fluctuating constantly, interest rates are going up, etc... Statistically gas is still considered very affordable when compared to other comforts of life in America. We will adapt, we will overcome.:twfrox: Heck, it could be worse. We could be living in the 20's & 30's during prohibition and the depression. Not to mention we wouldnt have such cool bikes to ride!!

I think this is just the wake up call... and call me paranoid, but I think a large portion of the "oil crisis" is being manipulated by the government. (ok, conspiracy theorists attack). The fact is, we as a working economy are dependent on a finite resource. The earth is not producing new deposits of oil. What we have is what we get. Electric cars have been available for 20 years or more (Yes the have / had serious issues), but without a demand curve, there was no cost incentive to improve the existing designs, and to do the R & D on new alternatives. People bitch about the "oil" president. But I don't underestimate him or his staff. If he personally has to be the scape goat for the rising oil prices, but the end result is a number of new viable technologies for replacing our dependancey on gasoline and other Petroleum products. I think he'd take the hit on personal approval to save the future for his kids. My mother drives a Honda civic Hybrid, she's had it about 6 weeks now, and is averaging (city and highway) 47 mpg - while running her air conditioning. yes it's a more expensive car. Society as a whole wouldn't have considered the cost reasonable before the current crisis. But she had to wait 7 weeks and put a significate down payment just to get this car becuase demand is currently out stripping supply in Michigan. When they marry the current Hybrid vehicles with the Multi-fuel engine, we'll have cars getting 35-40 mpg (the ethanol is slightly less efficient), but only 15% of that energy will be comming from oil. (the other 85 % from any starchy vegetable - the US currently uses Corn, but one of the south american countries exclusively uses sugar cane) 70% of the population switches to a hybrid / ethanol vehicle, we could run our ecomony solely on the petroleum deposits owned buy the US on soverign soil. Before the current crisis, the public wasn't paying any attention to this, but we were rapidly using up a finite resource. Now we're aware of the options, and with fuel prices this high, willing to invest in the R & D necessary to make them truely functional. Whether this is a natural development, or a government conspiracy to do what's best of us... it could explain why the gov't is looking the other way on current oil company profits... in another decade or so...they won't be the ones in control... and they won't have the product we need. :2cents: E-85 Information (http://www.e85fuel.com/index.php)

I think this is just the wake up call... and call me paranoid, but I think a large portion of the "oil crisis" is being manipulated by the government. (ok, conspiracy theorists attack). I think you give them too much credit... as I see it the oil companies are major lobbyists and our elected officials are just ignoring the issue. The fact is, we as a working economy are dependent on a finite resource. The earth is not producing new deposits of oil. What we have is what we get. Electric cars have been available for 20 years or more (Yes the have / had serious issues), but without a demand curve, there was no cost incentive to improve the existing designs, and to do the R & D on new alternatives. And more than half of our nation's power comes from coal... Another finite resource... Also keep that in mind the next time someone preaches about reducing air pollution by moving to electric vehicles... People bitch about the "oil" president. But I don't underestimate him or his staff. If he personally has to be the scape goat for the rising oil prices, but the end result is a number of new viable technologies for replacing our dependancey on gasoline and other Petroleum products. I think he'd take the hit on personal approval to save the future for his kids. Wow... You give him some serious credit... You'd think that if this were the case he would talk more about increasing the need for alternative fuels... My mother drives a Honda civic Hybrid, she's had it about 6 weeks now, and is averaging (city and highway) 47 mpg - while running her air conditioning. yes it's a more expensive car. Society as a whole wouldn't have considered the cost reasonable before the current crisis. But she had to wait 7 weeks and put a significate down payment just to get this car becuase demand is currently out stripping supply in Michigan. When they marry the current Hybrid vehicles with the Multi-fuel engine, we'll have cars getting 35-40 mpg (the ethanol is slightly less efficient), but only 15% of that energy will be comming from oil. (the other 85 % from any starchy vegetable - the US currently uses Corn, but one of the south american countries exclusively uses sugar cane) 70% of the population switches to a hybrid / ethanol vehicle, we could run our ecomony solely on the petroleum deposits owned buy the US on soverign soil. Hybrids are a step in the right direction, but most of the current potential soluntions are really viable on a large scale... The nation's power grid could not handle a massive switch to electric vehicles, plus you're still using a finite resource and polluting the hell out of the air... Hydrogen takes more energy to derive than it produces, so it's not economically viable to convert to hydrogen power (yet)... As for ethanol, I agree that it's probably the best option at this point. The South American country you mentioned is probably Brasil as they are the largest manufacturer of ethanol... I think I remember reading somewhere that they have reduced their dependency on foreign oil by 40% or so... Impressive... Of course they don't use 400 million gallons of gasoline each year like we do... Before the current crisis, the public wasn't paying any attention to this, but we were rapidly using up a finite resource. Now we're aware of the options, and with fuel prices this high, willing to invest in the R & D necessary to make them truely functional. Whether this is a natural development, or a government conspiracy to do what's best of us... it could explain why the gov't is looking the other way on current oil company profits... in another decade or so...they won't be the ones in control... and they won't have the product we need. :2cents: E-85 Information (http://www.e85fuel.com/index.php) That's a nice thought, but don't think for a second that these companies are going to go away... They will evolve to cover that market as well... Either way, it's not going to change the cost of fuel at the pump... What motivation would a company have to reduce the price at the pump? We are currently paying out the nose and not doing a damn thing about it... Why reduce profit margins if we will continue to pay to keep them up? There are only three things that will reduce the cost of fuel... Government intervention... Change in consumer habits... Or the apocalypse...

User's weight on TWF has been reduced to ZERO! :spam: :bash:

I for one am having a hard time seeing how any of this has to do with gas prices????:scratch:

gas prices blow, they are even higher here in Canada. This summer has been a hot one, but not hot enough to stop me from saving me a buck.

Bottom line. Gas prices suck. Heat sucks.

:scratch: ummmmm... i dont get it

:scratch: ummmmm... i dont get it It's hot. Gas is expensive.

It's hot. Gas is expensive. Some people just don't get it...:nonod: :lol:

Some people just don't get it...:nonod: :lol: It's sad really.:disapp:

It's sad really.:disapp: and only going to get worse.

So, with many people choosing to ride a bike despite the heat, due to gas prices. What kind of mileage are you getting? I filled the bike up for the first time during my ride today: 150miles / 3.26 gallons = 46 MPG...

Heat? I got snowed on yesterday. We took the Jeep up Mt. Evans, the highest paved road in the world. Saw a herd of seven Mountain Goats, and over 100 Elk. We were up at the top by noon and then the snow came. Plus, hail and lots of lightning. We headed down in thick fog and saw a few bikers heading up. Not much fun in a cloud, since there's no guardrails and 1,000-ft drops.

Neither are really a problem, but the heat is slightly more annoying. I still ride, though.

at 3.15$ a gallon there is no such thing as too hot, but i live in a hot area and grew up in an even hotter places... so the heat has never bothered me.. id rahter ride in 110 degrees any day over 10 degrees.

at 3.15$ a gallon there is no such thing as too hot, but i live in a hot area and grew up in an even hotter places... so the heat has never bothered me.. id rahter ride in 110 degrees any day over 10 degrees. :iagree: :cheers: