Rising Gas Prices Will Bring Increased Motorcycle Sales

The line was forming even before "customer appreciation night" had officially begun. The promise of a 20 cent per gallon reduction in the price of gasoline, for two hours one evening per week, never failed to draw masses from the community and surrounding areas. Vehicles now lined the parking lot of the gas station which usually serviced only a few customers at a time. In spite of the frantic gyrations of an employee in a painfully bright vest, drivers directed their vehicles circuitously, cutting in front of each other. I did a quick calculation of how much drivers were saving. If I needed fifteen gallons, at a discount of 20 cents, I would save the whooping sum of $3.00. I decided to return when sanity had been restored.

After all, I had a transportation option that didn't involve a gas-guzzling car. If people are so eager to save $3 that they would endure such chaos it won't be long before they too turn to more effective ways to save fuel. As my children began to need less chauffeuring my mini van become increasingly unattractive. Surely a more economical means of transport could be found. The smaller the vehicle, the more it would save, logically. A motorcycle is of course about as small as you can get and still obtain highway speeds.

Most motorcycles do indeed provide significant fuel efficiency. The Buell Blast I first rode achieved an astonishing 70 mpg. However, it quickly become clear that I needed something larger, especially when I needed to transport a child. The Suzuki 800 I now use still gives me over 50 mpg. As the bike gets larger and more elaborate its fuel efficiency falls. Some motorcycles do little better than full-sized cars.