Fuel Conservation via Motorcycles

I think eveyone could agree that a little conservation of fuel could go a long way. Heck, even today a barrell of oil dropped below $69 because of “increased gasoline inventories”. To me, that means people are trying to conserve (their wallet) as much as possible and driving less. While that is an effective way to conserve, it does lack a certain amount of freedom. The other way to conserve is to improve the fuel economy. Enter the motorcycle

I’ve had every king of bike from all segments and the absolute worst fuel economy I ever registered was on my ‘97 Honda Valkyrie at about 35mpg. Those are numbers most people on four wheels would kill for, yet I was disappointed. My current Aprilias get 40+mpg and have about six galllons each (read: 240 mile range).

All this being said, it might be a wise move for the State and Federal governments to incentivize transportation via motorcycles.

On the State side, they could implement some monetary perks such as a reduced plate/tag fee…much like they do for alternative fuel vehicles. Second, the State gov’t could also enable better traffic management by allowing things like lane-spitting and lane-sharing. Yeah, it would take some getting used to, but wow does lane-splitting work.

On the Federal side, tax credits could be offered for all new purchased motorcycles made by a major manufacturer (I know – where do you draw the line?). The problem is that whenever a government entity touches something it has a quick transition into something worse with several unintended consequences and layers of bureaucrats.

I don’t have all the answers, but I do know that motorcycles are efficient…very efficient when you compare them to a cage with four wheels. Two ways to solve the fuel shortage: increase supply or reduce demand. Since one political party has all but neutered exploration, decreasing demand is where the answer lies. Motorcycles offer a small piece of the overall solution by providing an economic and fuel efficient transportation alternative.