Inexpensive Street Legal Bike Suggestions

 

Looking for very inexpensive alternative to driving the car. Dirt bike
suggestions welcome as well but must be street legal. TIA.

 

On 20 Sep 2005 17:14:08 -0700, phaedrus8@hotmail.com wrote:


A lot of us justify our bikes as saving gas, but if you look at the
whole picture--insurance, tires, replacing chains, etc., they're not
really that much cheaper.  Moderately-sized bikes should be much more
fuel-efficient than cars despite worse aerodynamics, but they're not
really.  Most good-sized bikes get no better than 35-40 mpg.  If you
already own a bike as a 'hobby', it's cheaper for a given trip than a
car, but I don't know if you could justify buying one just to save
money.

It depends on what kind of driving you do.  To get around a city all
you need is a scooter, between 50 and 150cc.  These get at least 60
mpg, sometimes over 100.  A 50cc bike tops out at about 35mph but t's
enough for city streets.  150cc is big enough for the occasional
freeway trip but you probably wouldn't use one to commute 15-20 miles
to work on the freeway.

There is a  new class of bigger scooters, like the Suzuki Burgman or
Honda Silverwing.  They're 400-650cc and get somewhere in the mid 40s.
They are good for all-around transportation, in fact many people cross
continents on them.  They're very easy to learn and easy to use, meant
for people who want 2-wheel transportation but not a 'motorcycle'.
They're new, though, and still fairly expensive.  You might find a
nice used Honda Reflex (250cc), they made these for years but I don't
know if they still do.  It was a nice little bike in its day.
Comfortable and stable.  It had a cult following.

Then we get into 'real' motorcycles.  For fuel economy, the smaller
the better.  They used to make bikes in the 250-450cc range that were
good cheap transportation, but motorcycles today are seen as
recreational devices, not transportation machines, so these days they
start around 500cc and go up.  (Way up!)  Fuel economy is not a high
design priority on bikes, though it's becoming more important as time
goes by.

You should know that tires on bikes only last about 10,000 miles
because they're made from softer, stickier rubber.  And they cost
about $100 apiece.  If the bike has chain drive you'll need to replace
the chain every 10,000 miles, and probably the sprockets too, and
that's another $100.  You're going to need, at the very least, a
helmet, gloves and a leather jacket (or special textile jacket made
for motorcycling) so that's another $200 (at least!)

Also I'd be wary of buying an older bike, say before 1990, even a
clean-looking low-miles one. You can expect to put some money into it
if you want a dependable daily rider.  You might be lucky enough to
find one that's already been gone through, but then of course you'll
pay more.  

 


   I have a 2002 Bajaj Legend scooter which I got for commuting to/from
the University and other local hospitals (medical student).  It's a 150cc
4 geared scooter (inportant for climbing hills in Seattle).  I get about
85mpg the way I drive (full throttle), and 95~100mpg with slower driving
and good shifting.  On flat pavement my scooter tops out at ~60mph, up
hill about 52mph.  BUT THAT's IT, there's no reserve for anything left
over.  I use it to commute everyday (even rain, although I replaced the
stock tires with Contentital Zippy 1).  It's a 15~30min drive each way in
the city.  
   I have ZERO dersire to take it on the freeway thou.  Even thou I can
sort of hang speed wise, it's so light that strong winds really scare me,
and like I said I have no reserve power for passing or dodging.
   I've pretty much desided that I LOVE my scooter, and have been riding
it everywhere.  I'm so in love that I'm actually going to upgrade to a
'real' motorcycle (Ninja 500?) because I want to go on the freeway and do
more 'lite touring'.
   You might want to look at the www.scooterbbs.com for more info, or
check out some of the yahoo groups.  

 

blazing laser <none> wrote:

Bullshit. My XV250 costs $75 a year for insurance and gets 77 mpg. It keeps
up with traffic on the interstates and it cost me $1000 from a dealer,
used, and I'm sure I overpaid. New, it runs around $5,000 tops.

Show me a car that can even approach that.

Insurance, tires, chains, etc. is also bullshit. Two tires instead of four,
a $50 chain every 4 years if you're an idiot, and $1,000 in protective gear
still gets you well below the cheapest new automobile on the market, and
will still out-accelerate it.

In short, total bullshit.

Did I mention it's total bullshit?

Yamaha still sells the Virago 250, and it's a kick-ass machine.

But it won't do 85mph or slug down gas like a frat boy keg party.

Damn.

Can't please everyone, I guesss.

Eh, Blaser?

 




Yes you did. 8^)

Wow, $5k is a lot for a 250!


Don't sugar-coat it for us, Doc, tell us how you really feel.  8^)