The thought of buying a $20,000.00 or more Harley to save money on gas is humorous to me. My wife has a Yamaha Vino 49cc Scooter that she rides to work everyday. It cost her UNDER $10.00 to operate for all of 07. It gets 110 mpg and I paid $1000 for it two years ago. I ride a Harley because I want to, not because I save so much money on gas.

 

How well does that Vino do in the burnout pit?

 

Actually, I 'think' my 'runaround' Escort I bought for mpg, gets better mileage than either the pan or shovel. BUT I didn't build them for that purpose.
I really only know about one dealer, friends work there, and they are saying it is beyond 'dead' there. In fact, they laid ppl off just in the past few weeks, and it is getting springtime (NEVER know that by the snow and temps) here. But that is one dealership, in a 'medium' to 'small'sized market.

 

I used fuel prices as a major point to the wifey when I bought my sporty this spring. It costs me $20 a day to drive my Suburban to work and back. Unfortunatly, the weather hasn't been real cooperative this year with all the rain and colder weather. I still need to *invest* in better riding gear.

 

I agree. Some people just don't understand the high cost of financing. We have a guy at work that owned a small truck (paid for) that got him 22 mpg. He traded it in last spring for a new car to save some gas and it got him into a 5 year payment plan. Now, here's the good part... Last week, he came in driving another new car that gets 4 mpg more than the other one. He's bragging about how much gas money he's saving but forgets about the interest paid on the first loan plus the beating he took on the trade-in. Maybe he'll wise up when the first of 60 more loan payments is due ?

That scooter's a cheap ride but I don't think I'll be get'n one ! I have to look cool when I ride you know...

 

You bet!! It's what pushed my wife over the edge on me getting one!

 

Plus, riding the Vino to a Rally would kinda suck.


But I have to admit that I'm using the gas mileage thing on the wife. Just hasn't worked yet. Putting $10.00 a week in a Sportster to ride to work sure beats putting $60.00 (at current prices) a week in my "small" pick-up. And IT gets 22 mpg.

 

I doubt anyone that already knows how fun bikes are is buying for the gas mileage only. But, if you are having a blast AND getting where you need to go for a fraction of the cost of gas, why not inlcude it in the cost benefitsof owing it?

Us HD owners get to multiply our benefits in ways that car owners can only dream of. We get: Lower insurance, lower gas consumption, lower therapy bills (J/K), we get SPG (smiles per gallon), we get the wind in our faces, we get to have our significant others verrry close to us when we ride etc... Ya, I'd say a bike (even at 20,000) is a pretty good investment.

 

I commute to work because I love riding and my other vehicle is a HOG. A gas hog F-150. That sits mostly during the spring and summer. With gas hitting $4 a gallon, I save over $300 a month by riding if I ride all 20 work days in the month.

 

Those that buy bikes to save on gas are in for a surprise. I did not buy to save gas but it will save me some. I don't drive my truck anymore unless I'm going somewhere. If I saved 300.00 a month in gas I would have to ride it everyday for 43.33 months to have saved enough in gas to pay for the bike. This will not include dollars spent on Maint, Accessories, Ins, or anything. And I bought it used and it's paid for.