I did mention in-town driving, which doesn't have to include interstates. For that matter, there are mopeds/scooters that can go cruise at 65-70 mph. Which should be enough to be on the interstate IMO.

 

Hi Monkey:

___Have you ever driving through a Chicago, LA, NY, San Fran, DC, (place the name of your major metropolitan area here …) nightmare? I think I can get by at 50 mpg in the Accord rather then place my life into somebody else’s hands on an electric or gas powered Moped or scooter If that scooter receives < 100 mpg, the Insight would be a far better choice in fact

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

Getting off-topic. Monkey, I knew an Insight driver that went by "Bad Bob". I thought maybe he was from your town where the Bad Bob lives - the one that made a cameo apperance in Anger Management .

 

My barber uses a 250cc Honda scooter as his only form of transportation (he's an unmarried boomer w/o kids). It can do 75mph and he gets low 60s mpg on the local 55mph roads. They're sort of pricey at approx. 5k new, but insurance is dirt cheap, and having no finance payments is always nice. Their total cost of ownership can make a $2000 dollar Accord's look expensive.

Whenever I start dreaming of the interior space of a supermicro like the upcoming Honda Fit, I think of his scooter and start appreciating what I have. Fully paid for cars that get 50mpg or more are hard to beat.

 

Hi Romir:

___You have to like a guy that drives a Honda Scooter - year round in Virginia! And the TCO is absolutely astounding! But, there are other solutions with much more safety and definitely comfort … I was also very lucky as well

2000 Red 5-speed w/ A/C and a 7 Yr./100,000 mile warranty cost $10,000.
2000 Red 5-speed w/ A/C and a 7 Yr./100,000 mile warranty sold for $9,695.00
State tax and registration: $735.00
Fuel used 401.92 gallons after 37K miles: $734.10.
Insurance cost over 1.4 years: $500
(6) Oil changes $65 for Mobil1 0W-20, $13.00 for SuperTech’s filters, and $9.3x for each change at the local Honda dealership (first one free): $125
Repairs: 1 cracked windscreen and 1 replacement RE92 (screw in the sidewall): $374.00

Depreciation: $305
TTL: $735
Fuel:$734
Insurance: $500
Maintenance: $125
Repair: $374

Total: $2,773

Cost/mile: $2,773/37.2K miles = $.074/mile

___I wonder if the Honda Scooter would last 37,200 miles? At least his fuel bill is only 30% higher then the Insight’s

___I know, I am playing the devils advocate … Please thank him the next time you are in for a haircut for me because I wish I had the cajones to do the same!

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

I have driven through Dallas at rush hour and can attest that I would not want to drive and would not want to drive a moped or scooter. Then again, I do not ever want to drive ANY vehicle in that nightmare.

In terms of mileage, not everyone is getting 100mpg with their Insight (or 50 mpg with their Accord), espeically in the 75 mph bumper to bumper freeway traffic. Considering that the Insight is around 19 or 21K depending on transmission, the 5K scooter has to drive many miles to make up a 14K to 16K difference in price even it it gets 30 miles less.

I couldn't find any conclusive answer to how many miles they last, just one website that said he heard of some lasting 100K. Many websites did state that the Hondas had excellent reliablity. I am not advocating they are for everyone, but if it was safer to ride them, it would work great for the times I have to drive 12 miles to work on city streets.

 

It's certainly possible, there are several hybrids here. I haven't seen any Insights, but there are several classic Priis.

 

The bad side of motorcycles and scooters is a pollution problem. Depending on what equipment it has (or lacks) there's something like 20x as much criteria pollutants coming out the exhaust of the bikes, even the 'clean' European ones with catalytic converters and fuel injection (and cost $30k) pollute much more than cars due to the nature of the tuning of the motors for power output and lack of regulation. It will change, but that may be a while.

 

Yeap, I found that too in my brief research. I remember hearing a little about a hybrid scooter by Honda. One article says it has 37% less CO2 than the normal version. I'm not sure how it would then compare to an automobile. Still, it is only a 50cc, so not for much besides residential driving. http://www.motorcycledaily.com/24august04_hybrid.htm

 

CO2 emissions are directly linked to fuel consumption, so it's not really the main concern when it comes to dealing with emissions from bikes, mostly what they put out is unburned fuel (HC) and the oxides of nitrogen, probably more CO too... It's a lack of regulations that lets manufacturers get away with using no real pollution control equipment. Honda is taking steps to clean up it's motorcycle fleet by using fuel injection and catalytic converters by 2007, but I haven't seen others make the same pledge.